Bose’s StayHear+ tips are one of those small pieces of engineering nobody quite matched, a soft wing that tucks under the ridge of your ear and simply refuses to move, and the SoundSport Wireless is built around them. Beyond the fit you get around 6 hours of battery, IPX4 sweat and weather resistance, Bluetooth 4.1 with NFC pairing, and a 15-minute quick charge worth about an hour. They originally sold for $129.95. The housings are large by any modern standard and the charging port is microUSB, which tells you roughly where in time this product sits.
The sound holds up better than the spec sheet suggests, which is very Bose. Reviews describe a balanced approach with moderate, controlled bass that doesn’t swamp everything else, and generally land around 7 out of 10, still a good option for workout sound. Codec support is SBC and AAC only, no aptX, though for a workout earbud that matters less than it would at a desk. Isolation is weak, so a gym stays audible. This is not a product that will embarrass itself; it just isn’t competing with anything current.
The StayHear+ tips are the genuinely enduring bit, and I still haven’t worn a sports earbud that beats them for staying put, giving excellent fit security during exercise despite housings that look enormous by modern standards, and the plastic build is robust in the way Bose gear usually is. Battery actually comes in slightly above the advertised 6 hours, which is a nice change. But six hours in 2026 is short, the housings are bulky, connectivity is only middling with occasional dropouts, and a full charge takes a couple of hours over microUSB, a port you may not even own a cable for any more.
Bluetooth 4.1 with NFC pairing and about 33 feet of range, which was competitive when these launched and is behind everything now. No multipoint, no noise cancelling, and no app worth mentioning. Charging is microUSB rather than USB-C, with a 15-minute top-up worth about an hour and a couple of hours for a full charge. Codec support is SBC and AAC only with no aptX, which matters less on a workout earbud than it would at a desk, but it’s still a gap worth knowing about.
Buy these if what you want above everything else is an earbud that will not move while you exercise, because the StayHear+ fit is still one of the better answers anyone has shipped to that problem. Skip them if you need long battery, since six hours is short, or noise cancelling, or USB-C charging, because current sports earbuds at half the original price will beat them on all three. They still rate around 7 out of 10 for workout sound, which reads about right: the fundamentals are good and everything around them is simply from an earlier generation.
Pros
• StayHear+ tips still give an excellent workout fit
• Balanced, controlled sound rather than boomy
• Robust build in the usual Bose way
• Real battery slightly beat the six hour claim
Cons
• Six hours is short by any current standard
• MicroUSB charging and Bluetooth 4.1
• No noise cancelling and no multipoint
• Bulky housings and weak isolation
Our score: 5.5/10