The quickest way to get me in a physical mood is by listening to my favourite tunes and forgetting about 20-40 sweating bodies around me…I am of course talking about working out (sorry to disappoint). Whether you are running outside, lifting weights or listening to a guided workout, the last thing you want is to be tethered to your phone or mp3 player and tangled up in cables. The Kinetic from KitSound is a wireless, Bluetooth enabled set of headphones with a neckband. Designed to be the ultimate in sports headphones, the Kinetic has a flexible silicone neckband that supports the earpieces to prevent them accidently hitting floor if you take them out. The neck piece is comfortable and stays in place even when sweating, there is a seam on either side which has the potential of causing irritation and the overall finish would be better without it. The ear pieces connect with a satisfying magnetic closure, however they only fit together one way which is impossible to see, so you need to twist it until it snaps in place. The charger has the same magnetic feature, it is small and compact and connects to a USB plug, taking about two hours for a full charge -  you will get about seven hours playtime. Pairing the headphones up to your device via V4.0 Bluetooth is straightforward and intuitive, the box boasts a connectivity range of 8 meters, but we struggled to get over 4 at times. For the best sound make sure you remain close to your device. The ear pieces house 9mm drivers that deliver an acceptable sound quality, the bass could do with a little more punch and there is a slight hiss from the Bluetooth connection, but it’s no more than I’d expect from the price range. Due to the magnetic connection the two ear pieces often connected to each other around my neck forming a necklace, this might not happen to everyone depending on the size of their neck (mine is rather slender), this actually straightened out the ear piece wires, when they weren’t connected the wires bend up and touch the side of my face which I found rather annoying and may be an issue for other users. I tested out the Kinetic over a variety of activities including, yoga, high intensity interval training, running and simply enjoying the music about the house, I found they performed well during all exercises. The neckband soaked up the movement and prevented and pull on the earpieces, it obviously moved about but remained comfortable even during burpees and jumping jacks, which surprised me. The neckband has three buttons that control volume, skip track, call handing, on/off and Bluetooth activation, they are responsive and can be easily identified just by touch. The Kinetic is a great choice for an active headphone on a budget, the sound quality or connectivity strength won’t win any awards, but they are more than good enough to get you through a sweaty session, whilst remaining comfortable and looking good at the same time. RRP £49.99

4 out of 5

Buy now

Pros

Comfortable

Secure in ear

Wireless

Intuitive interface  

Draw sting carry case

Magnetic connection and charger

Call handing

Reasonably priced

Cons

Poor connectivity range

Slight hiss in background

Lacks bass

Wires on earpieces can touch face and become irritating