Best True Wireless Sports Earbuds With Ear Hooks

November 17, 2022 David Carnoy

Tranya T40


Best budget sport earbuds with ear hooks





    $32 at Amazon
Soundcore by Anker Sport X10


Best new ear-hook style true-wireless earbuds





    $80 at Amazon
Beats Powerbeats Pro


Most popular ear-hook style sport earbuds





    $200 at Amazon
Skullcandy Push Active


Best with voice commands





    $80 at Amazon
Cleer Arc


Best new open sport earbuds with ear hooks





    $130 at Amazon

Bose Sport Open Earbuds


Best-sounding open earbuds with ear hooks





    $179 at Bose
Tribit MoveBuds H1


Durable ear-hook earbuds





    $77 at Amazon

    Truth be told, I’m not a huge fan of earbuds with ear hooks that wrap around the top of your ear. It’s a design that Beats popularized with its Powerbeats line of earbuds, and it’s not for everyone. But many people love these types of wireless sports buds because they add an element of security: While your buds may fall out of your ears, the hooks keep them attached to your head, preventing you from losing them or having them drop to the pavement, which may lead to some damage. That’s an important feature, particularly if you wear earbuds while running and biking.?
    Here’s a look at the top true-wireless earbuds with an ear-hook design, all of which we’ve tested. Most of them are affordable, with most costing less than $100. We’ll update this list as new sports earbuds hit the market.
    Read more: Best Workout Headphones for 2022

     David Carnoy/CNET



    Tranya T40

    Best budget sport earbuds with ear hooks

    If you like the style of the Beats Powerbeats Pro but don’t want to spend $150 or so on them, there are plenty of budget alternatives out there. I like the Tranya T40s, which sound quite good for the money, fit comfortably and securely and have good battery life (up to 8 hours). I also like how they have physical buttons for controlling playback and volume rather than touch controls. They’re IPX5 splash-proof.?
    Their charging case, which charges via USB-C, doesn’t feel terribly sturdy and is somewhat bulky, but in all these are a good value.?

    $32 at Amazon

     David Carnoy/CNET



    Soundcore by Anker Sport X10

    Best new ear-hook style true-wireless earbuds

    The new Soundcore Sport X10 have an interesting design with rotating swiveling ear hooks that flip up when you’re using them and flip down when you want to set them in their charging case, which has a smaller footprint than a lot of buds with ear hooks.?
    As long as you get a tight seal, they sound good, with powerful, punchy bass and good detail. They also have active noise canceling, which is effective though not as good as Sony or Bose’s noise canceling. They’re also fully waterproof with an IPX7 rating, which means they can be fully submerged in up to 3 feet of water for 30 minutes. Battery life is rated at up to 8 hours with an additional three charges in the charging case.

    $80 at Amazon

     Beats



    Beats Powerbeats Pro

    Most popular ear-hook style sport earbuds

    The Beats Powerbeats Pro earbuds have been on the market for a few years but remain popular and are now available in several color options. Their jumbo charging case is a notable drawback, but they offer many of the same features as Apple’s AirPods 2 (they’re equipped with Apple’s H1 chip) but have better sound so long as you get a tight seal (they should fit most — but not all — ears well). There’s no active noise canceling but battery life is strong at up to 9 hours and they’re IPX4 splash-proof. ?
    Note that the Powerbeats Pro are frequently on sale, so you should only buy them if they’re substantially discounted. Read our?Powerbeats Pro review.

    Read our Beats Powerbeats Pro review.

    $200 at Amazon

     David Carnoy/CNET



    Skullcandy Push Active

    Best with voice commands

    With so many new wireless earbuds and headphones being released on what seems likely a weekly basis, it’s not easy for companies to differentiate their products in the marketplace. Skullcandy hopes its new voice-driven platform, Skull-iQ Smart Feature Technology, will do just that. Similar to the Apple AirPods’ “Hey Siri” feature, Skullcandy’s version allows you to say “Hey, Skullcandy” to issue hands-free voice commands without touching a button. Skull-iQ debuts on the sports-oriented Push Active, and the $100 Grind Fuel, which will be firmware updatable via the Skullcandy App.
    With their ear-hook design, they’re essentially a more affordable version of the Beats Powerbeats Pro and they fit my ears slightly better than the Powerbeats Pro. I’m not usually a fan of ear-hook style buds, but this is one of the better ones.?
    The Push Active True earbuds are equipped with Bluetooth 5.2, are IP55 splashproof, have built-in Tile Finding Technology and are rated for up to 10 hours of battery life on a single charge at moderate volume levels.?

    $80 at Amazon

     David Carnoy/CNET



    Cleer Arc

    Best new open sport earbuds with ear hooks

    Cleer’s Epic Arc buds are similar to Bose’s Open Sport Earbuds (see below) but are actually a little more comfortable to wear thanks to their swiveling hinge. Like the Bose buds, they rest on the top of your ear just above the ear canal and fire sound into your ears. They’re open so they let ambient sound in (that’s a plus if you’re a runner or biker and want to hear traffic), but their 16.2 mm drivers provide ample bass and volume. They don’t sound quite as good as the Bose Open Sport Earbuds but they’re pretty close.
    I liked the case, which is a little big but pretty thin. While it has an integrated USB charging cable (that’s nice), like the Bose Open Sport Earbuds case it doesn’t have a rechargeable battery so it’s basically a dock for charging the earbuds, which are also available in black. Battery life is rated at up to 7 hours and they’re IPX5 splash-proof.
    Some of these types of ear-hook-style earbuds have physical control buttons but these have touch controls. I found they worked pretty well but not great. The buds do have a companion app that allows you to upgrade the firmware and tweak the sound profile. ? ??

    $130 at Amazon

Bose Sport Open Earbuds

Best-sounding open earbuds with ear hooks

    As far as headphones go, Bose’s Sport Open Earbuds are funky. Not to be confused with the company’s more traditional in-ear?Sport Earbuds?and?QuietComfort Earbuds, they feature an open design without a tip, meaning the earpiece sits on top of your ear and doesn’t penetrate your ear canal.?
    Geared toward runners and bikers who want their ears open to the world for safety reasons — or to people who don’t like to have any sort of bud in their ears — they sound surprisingly good. I ended up liking them, but their design isn’t for everybody, and how comfortable you find them will determine how much you like them. They’re IPX4 splash-proof. Read our?Bose Sport Open Earbuds review.

    Read our Bose Sport Earbuds review.

    $179 at Bose
    $150 at Target
    $149 at Amazon

     David Carnoy/CNET



    Tribit MoveBuds H1

    Durable ear-hook earbuds

While the Tribit MoveBuds H1 only sound decent, not great, there’s a lot to like about them. They feel sturdy and are fully waterproof with an IPX8 rating. They also have very long battery life — up to 15 hours — and support Qualcomm’s AptX audio codec. Many Android smartphones offer AptX Bluetooth streaming. ?

    $77 at Amazon