I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, there are a lot of sports wireless ear buds to choose from. We’ve got big and small brands just flooding market. Almost every other week a new pair gets released and we’re at a point where I cant even name them all. But arguably the Bose soundsport free and Jaybird run are the among the most popular and the Soul X-Shock is the under dog I didn’t expect to like so much. 

Usually a decent pair of truly wireless sports ear buds retails between $150 and $200. Below that you’ll might get questionable build quality or below average battery life or connection quality performance. And if you’re paying more than $200 for a pair of wireless ear buds I personally think you’re over paying. Thats why I picked these three wireless ear buds today. The Soul X-Shock are currently selling for $149.99, the jaybird run currently retails for $179.99 and the Bose SoundSport Free now has a price reduction from $250 to $200. If you want to pick either of these ear buds up I’ll have links in the description below, and if you use the links it really helps out the channel. 

All three of these wireless earbuds have a few things in common, they all have a slightly larger carrying case than the AirPods, they all have on board buttons to control your music playback, and they all have one ear bud thats the master and one ear bud thats the slave. But each of these ear buds also have a unique feature that sets them apart from one another. 

First off lets start off with the most significant one and thats battery life. Personally when I’m picking sports wireless ear buds for working out I’m not really concerned about amazing sound quality. I’m looking for something that fits well and has a very long battery life. And battery life is what the X-Shock has going for it. For reference I go to the gym 4 times a week for 2 hours. The jaybird Run have a total advertised battery life of 12 hours, and usually they last me 4 full workouts. By the fifth workout I have to charge them back up or else they’ll die mid session. The Bose Soundsport Free have a total advertised battery life of 15 hours and they’ll usually last me 6 full workouts. But the Soul X-Shock has a 3000 mili amp hour battery built into its carrying case. On a full charge I managed to go a month and 1 week without having to charge the X-Shock and I even used X-Shock carrying case to keep my phone from dying mid workout on the last day of testing. The X-Shock has an advertised battery life of 60 hours so theoretically I could go almost 2 months without having to recharge the carrying case with my workout frequency. Now the X-Shock aren’t the first and they aren’t the only wireless earbuds that also always you to use their carrying case as a battery bank for your phone, but from what I can tell they do have the largest built in battery and over all battery life on the market. Sure the X-Shock’s carrying case is huge, but if you’re like that has a pair of dedicated workout ear buds and just stashes them in your gym bag then the X-Shock are a god send. One of my biggest Peteeves is getting ready for a workout and then just realizing your ear buds are out of juice so you have to wait by a charger for 10 minutes before you can actually start working out. And its even worse if they require a propereary cable like the Jaybird X3. 

Now when it comes to fit the X-Shock fit me just fine, but you only have 2 ear tip sizes to choose from. The Bose SoundSport Free come with 3 silicone ear tips to choose from but still they’re not going to fit everybody. What the Jaybird Run has going for it is fit and customization. The Jaybird Run have round and oval silicon ear tips to choose from and you can mix and match the ear fins anyway you want. Once you find that perfect fit, the jaybird run do the best job of staying locked in place while working out here. The X-Shock do just fine staying in place but you are going to have to readjust them from time to time. The ear buds on the Bose Soundsport Free are the biggest and heaviest here. While weight lifting the Bose stay in place very well, but when I do my post workout cardio or for a runner who’s constantly moving up and down the Bose do have a tendency to wiggle out. Although the Jaybird Run do a very good job of staying locked in place, the ear hooks on the Powerbeats 3 are one of the reasons I still like them so much. 

And the defining characteristic the Bose Soundsport Free has is their over all build quality. Their case and ear buds are the most premium feeling ones here. Like I said in the initial review, the jaybird run have a pretty cheap case, I’m worried the lid is just going to snap off eventually and I hate how the ear buds don’t magnetically align themselves to the case which has resulted in me frequently dropping the Jaybird Ear buds. Regarding build quality on the Soul X-Shock… I’m neutral, its not amazing but its also not bad. All three of these ear buds are water and sweat resistant but the Bose SoundSport free are just built like a tank. 

Now regarding sound quality, all three of these ear buds sound very different. Personally I think the X-Shock are the worst sounding ear buds here. They have a good amount of base, but they also have a good amount of tinning. The Bose Soundsport Free are the clearest sounding ear buds here and the Jaybird Run are the best sounding ear buds here. You can even make them sound how ever you’d like through jaybirds app. 

But even though the Jaybird Run are the best sounding ear buds here, they don’t get as loud as the other two ear buds. The Bose Soundsport free manage to get a little louder but they also let a lot of ambient sound in. Personally I like to listen to the X-Shock most cause they manage to block out as much sound as the jaybird run, but they also get louder and have the bass that I want when I’m working out. 

But like I said in my Bose Soundsport free review, when deciding to use truly wireless ear buds you do give up the convince an inline controller offers like the one on the Powerbeats 3 or Jaybird X3. Bose did include a full set of buttons on their Ear buds so you can play or pause your music, skip a track, go back a track, and activate Siri but the buttons on the Bose are so hard to press its just easier to use your phone. The same thing can be said about the Run and X-shock, their controls are much more limited so you’re going to find yourself whipping out your phone more frequently as well. Having an inline controller is another reason why I still gravitate towards the Powerbeats 3, I don’t have to touch my phone as much when I’m working out.

Now the last thing I want to touch on here is connectivity. First off none of these ear buds are good for watching youtube videos, they all have varying degrees of latency. But one of the biggest problems I’ve had with the Jaybird Run is that their connection isn’t very stable. But depending on what phone you have your results may vary, my jaybird run have a really hard time not skipping a track when used with my iPhone 6s Plus (and yes they have the latest firmware). But on the other hand, both the Bose and the X-shock have no problem keeping a clear and stable connection with my phone. And no matter how good any pair of ear buds sound or how long their battery life is having a poor bluetooth connection is not acceptable. 

Now remember, this isn’t a full review on either of these ear buds, I’m just trying to point out the most important differences between them so I can help you with your purchase decision. If you want to learn more about either of these ear buds then watch their full reviews. Personally I like the Soul X-Shock the most here because of their incredibly long battery life, low profile design, and having the option to charge my phone with their carrying case is great. I don’t have to interrupt my workout; I can just plug it in and keep going. The Bose SoundSport Free are also good but they are on the higher end of the price spectrum and those ear buds are just so huge. The Jaybird Run are also good, but their connection stability is a problem for me, you might have better results with a different phone. But still they don’t get loud enough for me. Not to mention their battery life is the shortest here so you’re going to have to remember to charge them more frequently.