Libratone Track+ Sports Headphones Review

This premium pair are as expensive as it gets and while they’re good, they’re not the best

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You come at the king, you best not miss. You’d be forgiven for thinking that that iconic line from The Wire has little relevance to a Danish audio brand, but if your headphones are as expensive as any out there, you better make them damn near perfect. These are not perfect headphones.

They are good, though. The Track+ are sweat- and splash-proof and boast an exceptionally comfortable fit, eight hours of battery life on a one-hour charge, great sound with beefy bass and different levels of active noise cancellation so you can stay more aware of your surroundings or block them out entirely.

They’re wireless, but not truly wireless as a silicone strap connects the two buds. If you, like me, can never shake the feeling that truly wireless buds will one day fall out of your sweaty ears and down a drain, that strap brings welcome reassurance. The Track+ come with four sizes of buds and I found I could get a firm fit even without the wing attachments which make them even more secure.

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The chances of slippage are minimised even further by the smart design of the strap, which come to rest in a natural curl around the back of the neck and two control pads on the strap which sit on the collarbone. This avoids the problem I experienced with other wired wireless pairs where the controls dangle off the ear, gently tug at the bud and eventually dislodge it as you move.

This combination resulted in an almost spot-on fit during a couple of gym sessions – one an upper-body dumbbell workout, the other a bodyweight lower-body routine – and a couple of runs, but I did find there was a limit to the speed the Track+ could handle. As soon as I hit my tempo pace (I am not a serious runner so that’s not very fast) the strap seemed to catch some air resistance and begin to pull off my neck. I tried to reajdust it, even attempting to tuck it into my T-shirt, but to no avail. Not long after I gave up and slowed down.

The active noise cancellation, while as impressive as the fit, has its limits too. I tried cycling through the four levels available while someone spoke to me and there was a noticeable difference at each level, eventually making it seem like the other person was mouthing mutely. At the gym, the Track+ were also able to block out the gym’s playlist in favour of my music. While running outside, however, the noise cancellation wasn’t as effective and the differences between the levels of noise cancellations were imperceptible, at least to my ears.

The biggest problem I had though was when commuting by bike (only using one headphone). Like most wireless headphones at this price, the Track+ can connect to two devices at once, so, for instance, you can stream music from your laptop but your phone can cut in if you receive a call. However, I found that when preparing to cycle home with my laptop in my bag, the Track+ would connect to my phone, and then it would connect to my laptop and refuse to play whatever I was streaming from my phone. Resolving this involved multiple attempts at turning the headphones and music app off and on. It was incredibly frustrating and, while it’s easily solved by turning Bluetooth off on my laptop when I pack it away, I can’t help thinking I shouldn’t have to when shelling out £170 for a pair of headphones.

While I always expect minor frustrations with everything I review, I’m less inclined to forgive the more expensive models and that’s why, despite the plus points we started with, I’d say you’d be better off spending £170 on something like the Jabra Elite Active 65t headphones, which do virtually the same things but avoid the niggles, or if you’re keen on a wireless pair where the buds are connected by a wire, looking at the much cheaper Jaybird X3.

Buy from Amazon | £170

Jonathan Shannon
Editor

Jonathan Shannon has been the editor of the Coach website since 2016, developing a wide-ranging experience of health and fitness. Jonathan took up running while editing Coach and has run a sub-40min 10K and 1hr 28min half marathon. His next ambition is to complete a marathon. He’s an advocate of cycling to work and is Coach’s e-bike reviewer, and not just because he lives up a bit of a hill. He also reviews fitness trackers and other workout gear.