Adidas RPT-01 in the test: washable on-ear headphones for athletes Finally on-ear headphones for training. Because the ear pads of the Adidas RPT-01 can be removed and washed after exercise. TechStage tests the headphones. 2:00 p.m. tech stage

Athletes have little choice when it comes to headphones. Most headphones sit in the ear, a few either rely on bone noise (like the Aftershokz Trekz Air (test report) or use speakers in sunglasses (like the Bose Frames Tempo (test report). However, in-ear headphones are dominant, which are held in place either by small silicone wings in the ear or by brackets behind the ear during training. If you don’t like this format or if the plugs hurt, things look bleak due to the lack of alternatives. Of course you can use classic over-ear or on-ear headphones when doing sports, but these are affected by sweat. Not only does the artificial leather that most manufacturers use for their headphones suffer, over time the headphones simply start to stink – because they are difficult to clean.

The Adidas RPT-01 jump into this gap. The highlight: the ear pads can be removed with a slight counterclockwise turn, washed completely and dried. Even after sweaty activities you can clean the upholstery. We are testing the RPT-01 as part of our Sports Headphones theme world .

Immediately after unpacking, the fabric design catches the eye. We tested the gray variant, which looks good due to the somewhat coarse fabric. The ear cushions with the loudspeakers sit on a bracket that is wrapped in silicone. It bends easily but is rigid overall. The loudspeakers themselves can be pushed up and down and thus adapted to the respective head shape. Only at second glance do you see the four-way control button, with which you can conveniently control playback and volume. On the upper bracket, next to the fabric strap, there is a silicone inlay with which the headphones adhere to the hair without slipping.

The ear cushions can be loosened and removed from the actual speakers with a slight counter-clockwise rotation. You can then easily wash, dry and put them back on. The headband can also be washed off, but you have to be careful that no water gets on the actual speakers. In practice, however, this is easier than in the explanation. Putting on the dried ear cushions is easy and can be done quickly with a little practice – you just have to make sure that the recess for the USB-C socket is in the right place and that you don’t pinch a piece of fabric.

The RPT-01 weigh just under 210 grams. They are therefore significantly heavier than in-ears, but since the entire weight is distributed over the head, you don’t really notice it. Adidas doesn’t make the headphones itself, the technology comes from Zound Industries, which makes the Marshall Bluetooth speakers, for example. The RPT-01 rely on Bluetooth 5.0, but there are no additional audio codecs such as aptX, LDAC or AAC. The headphones themselves are protected against splash water according to IPX4, so they can withstand a sudden rain shower. The headphones are charged via USB-C, but you cannot listen to music via them. A jack connection is also missing.

In addition to the control button mentioned at the beginning (which we will discuss later), there is an action button on the left headphone, which can be assigned via the app. By default, you start the virtual assistant, such as Google Assistant or Siri, alternatively you can also call up the Adidas Running App or Spotify.

The headphones are intended for sports and must be stable even with jerky movements. This also works, the rigid brackets press the ear pads well against the ears. However, if you wear them all day, you might find them a bit uncomfortable. In sports, we ran in it several times despite the heat wave, but we found the RPT-01 comfortable and safe to wear.

In short, the four-way button control is awesome. A long press on the button turns the headphones on, a short press pauses playback. If you press it forward, you jump to the next title, the other direction jumps back. Pressing up increases the volume, pressing down decreases it. Especially in sports, this is much easier and more intuitive than the touch surfaces that the Jlab Go Air Sport (test report) use. The button is easy to find, and there were hardly any errors during operation.

The Adidas Headphones app (for iOS and Android) takes care of the firmware update, offers several equalizer presets and shows the charging status. In fact, you don’t necessarily need them, the default settings are good.

Sports headphones usually rely on a lot of bass. The Adidas RPT-01 does have it, but it’s not overly emphasized. On The Weeknd’s Blinding Lights , you notice him powerfully and punchily without obscuring the details. It’s similar with It’s Tricky by RUN-DMC (matching the Adidas look). The old-school hip-hop pops into your ears from the speakers, and details are not lost here either. Well-mixed songs, such as I’m Alright by Sportfreunde Stiller, are also a lot of fun on the headphones. We’ve listened to several genres of songs, and overall the Adidas RPT-01s sound balanced, perhaps with a slight emphasis on the bass – but that’s much less annoying than with bass machines like thatSkullcandy Crusher Evo (review) and fits well for sport.

39 hours! That’s right, in our tests, the Adidas RPT-01 lasted more than 39 hours at full volume. That’s enough for even the longest training sessions. The battery is recharged via USB-C in 60 to 90 minutes.

The recommended price for the Adidas RPT-01 is 169 euros, the street price is significantly lower. The color variant Signal Coral (blue/orange) is also listed on Amazon , but it is apparently not available at the moment.