The JBL Endurance Peak 4 are a set of truly wireless earbuds with ear hooks that offer a secure fit and great sound to make them one of the best running headphones to buy in 2026.
It builds on the solid-performing Endurance Peak 3 with a smaller design that still manages to stay put even when you pick up the pace. They sound great and now offer a wider range of sound modes, including ANC and spatial audio. That’s without budging from the mid-range price of the Peak 3.
JBL now also makes both the earbuds and case better protected against sweat and rain and delivers a battery life that can comfortably cover a good week’s worth of training.
Design & Key Stats
- Price: £89.95/$99.95
- Water resistance: IP68 (earbuds), IPX2 (charging case)
- ANC? Yes
- Transparency mode? Full awareness
- Battery life (buds): 12 hours (ANC off)
JBL Endurance Peak 4 Review
The Run Test: Likes
Tester Mike praised the secure and reliable fit of the Endurance Peak 4, with the buds staying in place thanks to JBL’s TwistLock design that ensures they stay in place around the ear. The included enhancer placed ahead of the ear tips does the job of improving fit inside of your ear.
The sound profile is pleasingly powerful and bass heavy, with a vast array of sound modes available in the JBL app to better match them up to your preferred audio. JBL also includes dedicated sports profiles that adjusts sound settings based on activity. So for outdoor runs, it’ll enable the ambient aware sound mode to keep you in tune with your surroundings.
Along with adding a new more immersive spatial audio mode, the introduction of adaptive noise cancellation is a big new feature foe the Peak 4. It offers good performance, particularly when running indoors and battling traffic noise outside.
Battery life is anywhere from 8 hours to 12 hours depending on listening modes. A fast charge mode will also give you a quick top up when you slip them into the charging case for 10 minutes.
The Run Test: Dislikes
The touch controls aren’t a great match for all running paces. Especially quicker sessions where it can be challenging to reliably tap and swipe on the pretty sizeable surface area where the controls live.
While the ANC performance is good in most scenarios, it struggled a bit in windier conditions. You can definitely enjoy more effective ANC on other sports earbuds that are a good match for running. That includes the Apple AirPods Pro 3 and the Beats Powerbeats Pro 2.
If you like a small and compact charging case, then you’re out of luck here. You can still slip it into a running belt, but you can definitely pick up running earbuds with smaller charging cases.
Verdict And Alternatives
The JBL Endurance Peak 4 are a great pair of running earbuds that offer a strong fit, good quality, customisable sound and solid battery life.
They’re cheaper than a host of ear hook-style earbuds including the likes of the Beats Powerbeats Pro 2. Shokz OpenFit Pro. Both of those buds also provide ANC with the Beats offering a better performance than the Endurance Peak 4. They do cost significantly more though. There’s also the likes of the JLab Go Sport+ to consider as a cheap alternative with a somewhat less premium design. You could also still look at the older Endurance Peak 3 if you’re not fussed about the ANC and other added sound modes.
If you own the Endurance Peak 3 and looking for reasons to upgrade, then the smaller design and abundance of added sound modes are reasons to do it. If you’re after earhook-style running earbuds that are a little more affordable than alternatives from Beats and Shokz then the Endurance Peak 4 are a great pick.