These durable, dynamic ear canal phones deliver full, rich sound while staying in place and taking what you dish out in your most strenuous workout. Size adapters for a perfect fit and a carrying pouch are included.
Sennheiser and Adidas teamed up a few years back to make exercise-friendly earphones, and the line was recently updated. The CX 685 SPORTS, at $69.95 (direct), is another well-designed, sweat-proof, moisture-resistant in-ear option from this collaboration. It delivers deep bass at top volumes without any distortion and balances things wonderfully with crisp, but never overly-bright or harsh highs. Alas, the CX 685’s only real flaw is what it lacks: There’s no inline remote control or microphone for mobile devices—an odd choice for an exercise earphone pair in the era of app-based workouts.
The CX 685$53 uses a blue, silver, and black color scheme, with blue silicone ear tips and black support fins protruding from the earpieces to rest against the ear and provide superior stabilization. The fit, therefore, is quite secure. A Sennheiser logo subtly graces the left earpiece, and the Adidas logo graces the right.
On tracks with strong sub-bass content, like the Knife’s “Silent Shout,” the CX 685 does not distort, even at maximum (and unsafe) listening levels. Not only does it deliver the audio cleanly, but it does so with quite a bit of deep bass thump. This is not really an overly-bass heavy earphone pair, but it definitely packs some sub-bass boosting. Since this is an exercise-focused pair and not a critical listening tool, we’ll consider this a positive characteristic.
– Para-aramid-reinforced cables for superior strength and durability
– Perspiration and water resistant
– Fine-tuned 10mm transducer delivers optimal sound performance
– EarFin holding system for secure and comfortable fit
– Slide-to-fit mechanism
producer: sennheiser
