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Sure, AirPods are cool — but they won't survive a dunk like these waterproof headphones

Just as staring at the wall while furiously pedalling away at the gym is a one-way ticket to utter tedium, swimming back and forth in a pool isn’t always the most enthralling way to get your cardio hit in. Thankfully, distracting yourself with music or podcasts is an ideal means to keep you motivated, and that's why we've rounded up the best waterproof earphones around.

While regular over-ear or in-ear headphones fail miserably when it comes to swimming, there are plenty of specialised sports headphones — waterproof or water-resistant earbuds — designed for a prolonged dunk in the wet stuff. Although features such as sound quality, charging cases, a secure fit and waterproof rating differ between the featured models here, you can rest assured that they're all designed to survive a workout spent surfing, swimming, or just generally splashing about.

Some headphones might describe themselves as being water or splash-resistant but when you’re looking for a pair that can survive being submerged for long periods, you need to pay close attention to their all-important IP rating. You’ll want to choose a pair of headphones with an IP68, IPX8 or IPX7 rating, which shows that they have been tested to work when submerged in water. While ratings such as IPX4 or IPX5 mean you can trust a product to be splash, rain and sweat-proof, it won't be able to withstand the intensity and duration of submersion required by swimming. 

Before you go cannonballing into your nearest pool, you'll also want to check whether your headphones' charging points are sealed and have the correct ear tips and hooks fitted to maximise audio quality for your ear canals. Otherwise, a casual swim may quickly descend into an unwanted diving expedition.

Unless your smartphone was created with The Little Mermaid's Sebastian in mind, it probably doesn't think that everything is better down where it's wetter. So a pair of waterproof headphones with a built-in MP3 player may well be the most desirable option here. Especially since Bluetooth streaming from your smartphone to somewhere in the middle of a body of water can cause major connectivity issues. Better still, some of the headphones featured here will pair with a waterproof smartwatch such as the Apple Watch or Samsung Galaxy Watch 4. Both of which allow you to stream music and podcasts that have been downloaded for offline listening via Spotify, Apple Music and the like.

Sony’s wraparound buds go big on quality sound and battery life with 16GB of storage, up to 12 hours of playtime and playback controls to shuffle or repeat your swimming power song. And if you do forget to charge them up? A nippy three-minute top-up will cover you for an hour’s worth of swim time. £59.99. At argos.co.uk

Rather than relying on a pair of buds to deliver a perfect fit in challenging circumstances, Aftershokz's XTrainers instead use bone conduction technology to send sound through vibrations up your cheekbones towards your ears. There’s room to save around 1,200 songs in a design that can fit snugly under a swim cap. A sizable eight hours of battery life means you're covered for a solid amount of pool time before needing to grab the charger too. £139.99. At selfridges.com

These neckband-style open-ear bone conduction headphones are safe to be dunked in water and have a built-in music player that can store 1,500 songs. Onboard controls let you skip through to a more motivating track, and when you're back on dry land they work just like normal Bluetooth headphones saving you the necessity to spring for a pair of more everyday buds. £90.57. At naenka.com

These headphones double up as an MP3 player too, giving you up to 8GB of audio to keep you occupied. You can also pair them up to an Apple Watch and compatible Garmin and Samsung smartwatches to stream offline Spotify and Apple Music playlists. With an underwater Bluetooth range of about four inches, you'll need to strap any wearable to your goggles for optimal connectivity. £99.99. At amazon.co.uk

Tayago’s swim buds come with 2GB of storage capable of storing up to 2,000 songs. There are also controls to skip, crank up the volume or shuffle mode for those moments when you're in need of divine inspiration from the playlisting gods. Freshening up your roster of songs is as simple as plugging the music player straight into a spare port on your laptop. £57.99. At amazon.co.uk

If you’ve got a compatible smartwatch, then you can lock it in place under your swim cap and pair it with Finis’ Bluetooth headphones which fire sound to your ears using bone conduction technology. They're waterproofed up to three metres and have a solid six hours of battery time to comfortably cover a week’s worth of swim time. £156.39. At amazon.co.uk

Jukes’ Solo Wave wireless headphones are fit for both in and out of the water thanks to their use of a mix of silicone earplugs and bone conduction technology. There are controls for skipping back and forth through tracks and adjusting the volume, while a 16GB music player gives you space to store 3,000 songs for your swim sessions. £69. At myjukes.com

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