Sweat-Friendly Listening: H2O Audio’s RIPT Ultra and Lite Headphones

Those of us who spend a lot of time on our bikes indoors through the winter know just how much sweat is generated during our sessions, and we’re also all-too-familiar with the amount of destruction all that sweat can do to our equipment. Which is why, if you’re like me, you’ve always been wary to use your favorite headphones for those workouts. But what if you could get something that offered excellent sound quality and are also sweat proof? H2O Audio recently sent us a few products that offer both those qualities. Today we’ll talk about a couple of products from the RIPT line and, next week, we’ll delve into the company’s TRI 2 Multisport Waterproof Bone Conduction Headphones.

RIPT Ultra (US$249/ C$364)

The RIPT (Real Isolation Performance Technology) Ultra Headphones are over-ear sweat proof headphones that manage to be very comfortable while providing surprisingly good audio quality. The headphones come with two sets of interchangeable ear cushions. The silicone “sweat” cushions are designed for workouts, while the leather “lounge” cushions are for casual listening. They fit snugly to your head without being uncomfortable, so you don’t have to worry about them moving around as you are working out. In addition to the interchangeable ear cushions that can take some sweat abuse, the headphones just feel solid.

There are three buttons on the right side that allow you to turn them on, connect to Bluetooth, adjust the volume and skip tracks. The buttons are easy to find and hit, even during the hardest sessions. On the left side there’s a button that turns on Active Noise Cancelling (ANC). The battery life appears to be really good – I used the Ultra for a week and, every time I turned the headphones on, got the same message – “battery level high.”

In terms of sound quality, the Ultra’s are impressive – as long as you have ANC on. There are 45 mm drivers that offer powerful, full sound, but you won’t really enjoy that sounds without ANC activated. My first take with the Ultra was not great – the sound was pretty flat. I hit the left button, heard the (very loud) voice tell me that Active Noise Cancelling was on, and in addition to the 30 db of external noise isolation, the sound quality changed dramatically. No, it doesn’t top my Sony WH-1000XM4s (which are so good I can’t for the life of me justify upgrading to the XM5), but the sound quality is very decent thanks to the 45 mm drivers that provide some decent bass. The big difference here? I wouldn’t ever dream of wearing my high-end Sony head phones for a two-hour bike ride on the rollers. I have no qualms about doing that wearing the RIPT Ultra.

That does mean, though, that you’re not going to get the same listening experience when you have the headphones set in transparency mode. That wasn’t a big deal for me while working out indoors, but if I was going to use these for running outside, I would use that transparency mode option.

One other note – I used the Ultra headphones while I was coaching a Zoom bike workout with my training group and the gang said the microphone worked well and they had no issues hearing me.

RIPT Lite (US$99/ C$146)

I’ve never been as hesitant to wear my AirPods Pro earbuds for working out, but I do have to admit they can get a bit gunked up as I put them through some torture sessions in the basement. So I was very interested to try the RIPT Lite earbuds, which feature a very similar design to the Apple AirPods. Instead of the soft tips, though, the tips on these are a bit firmer and offer a decent, comfortable fit in your ears. I didn’t have any issues with them coming out.

As the name would suggest, they are very light – 3.7 g – and they are also designed to be sweat proof. (They have an IPX5 waterproof rating.) You get about five hours of playtime on a charge, with the charging case offering up to 30 additional hours of use. The case even offers a battery level display for the buds, which is a nice touch. The buds have really easy to use controls – a solid touch on the left or right allows you to change the volume, manage a call or move through tracks.

As with the Ultra headphones, the Lite buds offer excellent noise cancelling (30 db) and the 13 mm drivers provide pretty decent sound quality. The quality isn’t nearly as good as my AirPods Pro earbuds provide, but it’s not far off what you’ll experience with regular AirPods. For the price, you’re getting some decent sound quality and you won’t have to worry about destroying them after a winter of indoor training in your pain cave. (My son used to go through a set of headphones every winter during his winter suffer-tests.)

There’s another option available to you from the folks at H2O Audio in the way of workout headphones – the company also produces the Tri 2 Multi-Sport Waterproof Bone Conduction Headphones. I’m just getting started with my review of those. For now, though, I can confidently say that those looking for over the ear headphones or in ear buds for working out have a viable option with H2O Audio’s RIPT Ultra and Lite Headphones.

Tags: