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We compare products from their published specs and features; the verdicts below are our independent editorial opinions.
Updated: 2026-10-01 · 7 min read · Independent comparison
If you want proven sweat-resistant in-ear sound with a huge 12-hour battery and Apple-friendly controls, choose Amazon Renewed Powerbeats3; if you need open-ear awareness so you can hear traffic and training partners while you run or ride, choose Rhyfell Bone Conduction Headphones.
• Amazon Renewed Powerbeats3 — biggest strength: Class 1 Bluetooth with roughly 100 m of range, up to 12 hours of playback, Fast Fuel quick-charging, and secure earhooks that lock the buds in during hard training.
• Amazon Renewed Powerbeats3 — biggest trade-off: It's a renewed unit with a 90-day limited warranty, it's an in-ear design that seals off your surroundings, and it charges over Micro USB rather than USB-C.
• Rhyfell Bone Conduction Headphones — biggest strength: An open-ear, 28 g frame that leaves your ear canals open so you stay aware of cars, cyclists and voices, plus IPX5 sweat resistance and USB-C charging.
• Rhyfell Bone Conduction Headphones — biggest trade-off: Bone conduction trades bass depth and isolation for awareness, Bluetooth range is a much shorter 10 m, and the ABS build feels more utilitarian than premium.
• Who each pick is for: Amazon Renewed Powerbeats3 is for the gym-and-treadmill athlete who wants big sound and long battery; Rhyfell is for the road runner and outdoor cyclist who values safety and all-day comfort.
The Powerbeats3 is the classic sports earbud formula done well. The flexible earhooks curve over the top of your ear and hold each bud in place, which is exactly the kind of stability you want when you're sprinting, doing burpees or bouncing through a HIIT circuit. The rubber-and-silicone build is sweat and water resistant, and the in-ear seal pushes the 20 Hz–20,000 Hz driver range right into your ear canal, so you get that full, thumping, high-performance sound that makes hard intervals feel easier.
The standout spec here is battery. Up to 12 hours of playback means you can string together several workouts across a week without thinking about the charger, and Fast Fuel is the detail that saves you on a rushed morning — five minutes plugged in gives you an hour of playback. Class 1 Bluetooth is another genuinely useful trait: with a rated range around 100 metres, you can leave your phone on a bench or in a bag and keep moving around a gym floor without dropouts. RemoteTalk on the cable lets you take calls, control playback and trigger Siri, and the set can connect to an Apple Watch, iPad and Mac at the same time with an iCloud account.
Rhyfell Bone Conduction Headphones: Who It's For
Rhyfell's approach is the opposite philosophy, and for a certain kind of athlete it's the better one. These are open-ear headphones: instead of plugging your canals, they sit against your cheekbones and send sound through bone, leaving your ears completely open. For a road runner, a cyclist sharing a lane with cars, or anyone training in a busy park, that awareness isn't a gimmick — it's the whole reason to buy them. You hear music and the world at the same time, which is why this category has become so popular with outdoor endurance athletes.
The comfort story is genuinely impressive on paper. The whole frame weighs 28 g, which is light enough that most people forget they have it on, and Rhyfell uses upgraded skin-friendly materials on the contact points. The hook-style open-ear shape is designed to stay put through running, cycling, gym work and hiking rather than sliding around when you sweat. Battery is rated at up to 13 hours at 80% volume with a full recharge in about two hours over USB-C — that's a long day of training, and USB-C means one cable for your phone, laptop and headphones. IPX5 water resistance covers sweat and light moisture, so rain sprinkles and heavy sessions are fine, though it isn't built for swimming or submersion.
Bluetooth 6.0 handles the wireless connection, and controls are physical buttons rather than touch, which is honestly the right call for gloves and sweaty fingers. The trade-offs are real, though. Bone conduction can't match the bass weight and isolation of an in-ear design, the enclosure is ABS plastic so it won't feel luxurious, and Bluetooth range is rated at only about 10 metres — fine for a run with your phone in an armband, less ideal if you like wandering away from your device. Who should buy it? Outdoor runners, cyclists, hikers and anyone who wants situational awareness and featherweight comfort. Who should skip it? Bass lovers, noisy-gym users who need isolation, and anyone who wants their music to block out the world.
Side-by-Side: Which Should You Choose?
• Best for battery life → Amazon Renewed Powerbeats3. Up to 12 hours of playback plus a five-minute Fast Fuel top-up that returns an hour of listening.
• Best for long Bluetooth range → Amazon Renewed Powerbeats3. Class 1 Bluetooth is rated to roughly 100 m versus about 10 m on the Rhyfell set.
• Best for all-day comfort on long runs → Rhyfell Bone Conduction Headphones. At 28 g with skin-friendly contact materials, it's built to disappear on your head.
• Best for charging convenience → Rhyfell Bone Conduction Headphones. USB-C with a full charge in about two hours beats digging out a Micro USB cable.
• Best for bass and immersive sound → Amazon Renewed Powerbeats3. The sealed in-ear fit and 13-ohm impedance deliver fuller low-end than an open-ear design can.
• Best for gym and indoor training → Amazon Renewed Powerbeats3. Secure earhooks and sweat resistance suit lifting, intervals and treadmill work where isolation helps.
• Best for cycling and road running → Rhyfell Bone Conduction Headphones. IPX5 sweat resistance plus open ears is the safer, more practical combo outdoors.
If I had to pick one, I'd buy the Rhyfell Bone Conduction Headphones — for sports use specifically, awareness and comfort win, and the 28 g open-ear frame with IPX5 resistance and USB-C charging fits the way most people actually train outdoors. That said, my recommendation flips if your training is mostly indoors: the Amazon Renewed Powerbeats3 gives you punchier sound, a far longer Bluetooth reach and that 12-hour battery with Fast Fuel, and for a gym athlete those matter more than hearing the room. Decide where you sweat most, then buy accordingly.
how to use sports headphones
Charge them fully first, pair over Bluetooth from your phone's settings, then seat them properly before you start moving. With the Powerbeats3 that means hooking the earhooks over your ears and choosing the eartip size that seals best; with the Rhyfell set you rest the transducers on your cheekbones in front of your ears so your canals stay open.
how to wear running headphones
Running headphones should sit stable enough that they don't shift when you sweat or turn your head. The Powerbeats3 uses flexible earhooks plus four sizes of eartips for a locked in-ear fit, while the Rhyfell's 28 g open-ear hook simply rests against your cheekbones — no canal seal, which is what keeps you aware of traffic.
how to pair jlab sport headphones
I can't speak to Jlab models here since this comparison covers the Powerbeats3 and the Rhyfell set. The general routine is the same across brands, though: put the headphones in pairing mode, open your phone's Bluetooth menu, and select the device. The Powerbeats3 pairs over Class 1 Bluetooth, and Rhyfell uses Bluetooth 6.0.
how to charge impact sport headphones
Charging differs by model, so match the cable to the port. The Amazon Renewed Powerbeats3 charges over Micro USB and supports Fast Fuel, where a five-minute charge gives about an hour of playback on the way to a full 12-hour charge. The Rhyfell set charges over USB-C and reaches a full charge in roughly two hours.
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