UPDATE 9/18/17: Unfortunately the second pair of headphones also resulted in death by sweat. I’m now on my second replacement set, third pair total. Based on the unreliability thus far, I had to change my rating of these headphones to 2.75 out of 5 stars.
I usually listen to music when I run, especially on longer runs. I had a pair of wireless headphones that were about $40 and lasted about 3-4 years before finally succumbing to death by sweat. I sweat a lot, so the headphones that I use need to be able to withstand wetness. I also wanted headphones that can last around 6+ hours on charge, connect stably by bluetooth, and fit in my ears well. Of course, quality of sound is important too. I was especially thinking about having them while training for the Chicago marathon.
So I selected Bose due to their great reputation. In the past I have not been a fan of ear buds because they’ve been either uncomfortable, fall out of my ear while running , or sound monotone. But I decided to give Bose wireless Soundsport headphones a try because they had positive feedback on Amazon. Upon getting ready to order from Amazon, I saw that some of these headphones made prior to August 2016 had issues with dealing with sweat and were malfunctioning. Bose was replacing them with new ones that came out in August 2016 after Bose found the issue and made some changes. Knowing this, I had selected the ones that came out in August when I ordered my pair in December 2016. My thoughts on these headphones are below – I will probably have to provide an update in the next fews months. You will see why – read on.
A gift to myself, I opened up these headphones Christmas morning and began charging them. The boxing and presentation of the ear buds was very attractive. I paired them with my phone and pulled up some music. The ear buds seemed to fit snug and would not fall out of the ears easily. The sound quality was outstanding. After a few hours, my ears did begin to hurt some, but I found that over weeks of using them, this became less. I am not sure if I adapted to them or if they “break in”, but they did seem to get more comfortable. I began running with them, and they seemed to stay in and not move around much. There were a few times on windy days that one side kept falling out, and I was having to keep reinserting as I ran. It was always the same side, so maybe it is my ear?? Or it is the plastic piece designed to keep the speaker in the ear. I could live with this minor annoyance, however.
But the real test came on a recent hot morning while I was out running 10 miles. It was a very hot day, and around mile 6, my music cut off. I thought that was odd and briefly stopped running. My phone had Pandora on pause, which is usually what happens when there is a headphone issue or they become unplugged. So I pressed the power button on the headphones and it announced, “battery 10%”……wait, what?? I just charged them to 100% prior to running and was only one hour into the run. Then I heard some static and then silence. This time when I tried to turn the headphones back on, nothing happened. They breathed their last breath and would never turn on again — death by sweat!
UPDATE: Bose replaced that pair for free with brand new headphones, and so far they are working great! I have worn them on a 16 mile run with no issues, so maybe the first pair was just defective. Now that I have run with these headphones more, I can say overall I’m pleased. Occasionally I have a problem with the right ear bud coming out. It usually happens after I’m quite sweaty, but eventually I get it stay in again. I think the blue tooth connection range is pretty good. I use these headphones while at work too, and I can move a fair distance away from my phone and still hear what I’m listening to. I feel very confident that these headphones will last through the Chicago Marathon, although I know from previous experience that Chicago is one race that is so entertaining, music isn’t really necessary.
My rating is 4.7 /5.0 Stars