Most runners—except you ultra-marathoners doing desert runs—needn’t worry
too much about dust protection ratings, but water and sweat resistance are
crucial, so make sure you know the IP rating beforehand. Plenty of
manufacturers claim a product is “waterproof” when it actually has a low IP
rating and can’t withstand any real water pressure.
BATTERY LIFE AND CHARGING CASES
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the worst last only three or even two hours. This is why charging cases with
docking areas and an internal battery that can carry several more full charges
are a critical part of true wireless design.
That said, I don’t see many runners carrying a charging case and docking
earpieces for extra battery life. But this is also because—again, ultra-
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for runs. Of course, battery life relies heavily on volume levels, so you can get
better results by listening at lower levels.
IN-EAR FIT
Let’s move on to something nearly all true wireless headphones are good at:
staying in place. It’s critical that the earpieces are both lightweight and notably
larger than earpieces for wired earphones. This larger contour will typically rest
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are also crucial for keeping the earpieces in place and ensuring solid ear-to-ear
audio balance and bass depth. That’s why models such as Apple AirPods don’t
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