Walking in the woods and Sol Wireless headphones

There are some woods not far from where I live, and now the evenings are lighter the route is back on my running route list.  It’s still a bit damp so my trainers are getting very muddy each time!

I was recently sent some headphones- Sol Republic Relay Sport Wireless– so I have been wearing them on walks and runs to give them a good go. I failed the first hurdle as I forgot that they would need charging (the one teeny drawback of wireless ones) but they didn’t take long to charge. It has an award-winning FreeFlex™ secure fit, 8 hours of playtime and 10 min quick charge feature, and is one of the lightest sports headphones on the market.

My first impressions- I loved the colour. And yes I know you shouldn’t worry about that sort of thing, but the minty green is just so pretty. (They also come in black or white). I always used to have headphones with wires and didn’t think the wire was that annoying. Then a while back the blue-tooth disconnected on my phone and so I went back to the wired ones- it was so annoying! It gave me an incentive to fix the blue-tooth as I didn’t realise how many times in one run I would tug on the wire as my arms were swinging.

It came with a load of earbuds, and I ended up choosing the smallest size which made them a perfect fit. With other headphones I have ended up using a headband slightly over my ears to hold them on- fine in winter but not ideal in the summer. So far, I haven’t needed anything with these.

They charge via a little USB cable- you peel back a little cover to insert the plug and wait for the light to turn blue to show they are charged.

Connecting to my phone was very easy too- just turn on the blue-tooth, turn the headphones on (via a little button on the control panel bit) and then they pair right away- I didn’t need to enter a code or anything like that.

The sound quality was good- I tend to listen to podcasts rather than music so I have no idea about bass or stereo sound quality, but it can be annoying if you miss what was said as a car drives past or something. I didn’t need the volume up too high, so I could still hear things which of course is much safer (cars, birds, leaves rustling in the wind), but I could hear the podcasts clearly too.

I tried to take a few photos to show how well they fit.

They even stayed in on a fairly sweaty run so that’s a good thing. The little wire goes around the back of my neck (although when I am walking I leave it at the front), and you can tighten if it you wish. The little control panel also has a + and – button for the volume which I have used when my phone has switched to a new podcast as sometimes the recording levels can be different.

I’m not sure how you check the battery (I have one pair where you can check and it says “battery full/ battery medium/ battery low”- although I don’t know how many hours that equals)- I have charged them every few runs to be on the safe side.

Overall I am really impressed with them- headphones are one thing you can’t really try on before you buy, so you have no idea how well they will fit. These have stayed in place during all of my recent runs and walks, so they will definitely be my choice of summer headphone.

What do you like to listen to when you run or walk? Where do you like walking? Are you swayed by what things look like or do you just focus on the function?

*I was sent these headphones in exchange for a review. As always, all opinions are my own.