Six Running Gadgets and Training Essentials Worth Knowing About
From recovery and GPS watches to action cameras, portable charging and a serious home treadmill, these six products offer something different for today's runner.
As anyone who spends a lot of time running will tell you, there are plenty of gadgets and pieces of kit that can make training, recovery and everyday life a little easier.
I've been looking at six products that cover some very different aspects of running. They are aimed at very different budgets and needs, but each has something that could appeal to runners.
SHOKZ – OpenFit Air 2 - £129.00
OpenFit Air 2 is the most refined ear-hook earbuds yet from Shokz. Combining a featherlight design, secure fit, all-day comfort and powerful open-ear sound, the OpenFit Air 2 are made for athletes and delivers premium audio that is perfect for day-to-day life.
At just 7.2 grams per earbud, they are the lightest ear-hook earbud Shokz has ever released. Crafted from soft, skin-friendly materials, they sit gently on the ear without applying pressure and remain comfortable even during extended wear.
Beneath the lightness is a structure that is more reliable and versatile than ever. Built with a nickel-titanium alloy frame, the ear-hook structure maintains its shape under daily strain. Despite their lightweight and compact size, they deliver a bold and expansive listening experience. Shokz’s patented Bassphere driver produces rich bass and a full, expansive soundstage. Through Shokz APP, users can personalise their listening experience with four preset EQs and two custom modes.
Shokz’s signature open-ear design means listeners never lose touch with their surroundings, ideal for running, commuting or general outdoor activity.
The battery life is built for endurance, with the buds delivering up to 8 hours of listening on a single charge, extending to 36 hours in total with the charging case. When time is short, a 10-minute Quick Charge provides 3 hours of playback, enough to get through a long run, a workout, or an afternoon of calls.
Rated IP55 for dust and water resistance, OpenFit Air 2 earbuds handle sweat, sudden showers, and the unpredictability of daily life without hesitation, while the IP54-rated charging case adds an extra layer of protection.
Available in Ice Blue, Black and White colourways, OpenFit Air 2 represents a significant step forward in open-ear audio, bringing premium open-ear technology to a new, lower price point, retailing at £129 from 16 September 2026 in the UK.
Medisana - Mini Massage Gun - £34.00
Massage guns have become increasingly popular among runners over recent years. After a hard session, long run or race, they are a simple way of working on tired muscles and can be a useful addition to a wider recovery routine.
The Medisana Mini Massage Gun has a compact design, making it much easier to throw into a kit bag, take away for a race weekend or keep at home without dedicating half a cupboard to another piece of fitness equipment.
It comes with six different massage heads and five vibration levels, giving you plenty of flexibility depending on the muscle group you're working on. A round head is useful for larger areas such as the thighs, while more targeted attachments allow you to concentrate on smaller muscle groups.
The rechargeable USB-C battery is a useful feature, with around two to three hours of typical operation between charges.
For runners, the biggest advantage is its size; You are far more likely to use a recovery gadget that you can easily carry with you.
HAYLOU - Watch Hyper Smart Watch - $85.00
The running watch market is dominated by some very familiar names, but there are plenty of more affordable alternatives appearing with increasingly impressive specifications.
The HAYLOU Watch Hyper is a particularly interesting example. While its appearance is familiar, its price tag will be surprising.
Its headline feature for runners is the dual-band GPS, which is designed to improve positioning accuracy. That's particularly useful when running in towns and cities, where buildings can sometimes make GPS tracking less reliable.
The watch also includes offline maps and route backtracking, which gives it some genuine appeal for runners exploring unfamiliar routes.
Then there's the sheer number of sports modes. With more than 170 modes available, the Watch Hyper is clearly intended to be more than a basic running watch. It also provides a collection of health and training metrics including heart-rate monitoring, SpO₂, HRV and VO₂ max estimates.
The 1.97-inch AMOLED display makes information easy to read while running, while 5ATM water resistance means it can cope with anything the weather throws at it.
There are smartwatch features too, including Bluetooth calling and Strava integration.
Battery life is quoted as up to 24 days; that will, of course, depend on your usage scenarios, but I’ve found it to handle my daily training for over a week on a single charge.
For someone looking for an affordable everyday running and fitness watch, it's certainly worth a closer look.
XTU - S7 Pro 4K Action Camera - £110.00
Running and social media have become increasingly intertwined, particularly when it comes to trail running, races, travel and adventure.
An action camera can be a great way of capturing those experiences, and the XTU S7 Pro delivers great quality. It uses a 1/2-inch 48MP Sony IMX586 sensor and can record 4K video at up to 50fps. More importantly for runners, it features Super EIS 5.0 electronic image stabilisation and 360-degree horizon correction.
The camera features a 152-degree ultra-wide lens, front and rear displays, voice control and dual microphones. There's support for an external wireless microphone too, which could be useful if you're creating running content rather than simply recording scenery.
There is up to 200 minutes of battery life when recording at 1080p/30fps, although I found real-world use reduces that to around an hour: still enough time to capture some great content between charges.
For runners, trail runners and content creators who want to record their adventures without spending flagship-camera money, this is a great option.
Groov-e - 5000mAh Magnetic Power Bank - £19.99
This might be the least exciting product on the list, but it's potentially one of the most useful. With all today’s gadgets being power-hungry, the last thing you want it to run out of power while out and about.
For runners, a dead phone can be particularly inconvenient.
The Groov-e 5000mAh magnetic power bank is designed to provide a simple solution. It's compatible with MagSafe-style magnetic wireless charging and also features USB-C input/output. At around 149g, it's small and light enough to carry without becoming a noticeable burden.
The magnetic design is arguably its biggest advantage. Rather than carrying a cable around and trying to keep everything connected, the battery attaches directly to a compatible phone.
It's compact, light and does exactly what you need a backup battery to do.
NoblePro - Elite E10i - £3299.00
And now for something considerably bigger. The NoblePro Elite E10i is in a completely different category from the other products here, but this winter could prove an invaluable piece of kit.
This a serious home-running machine. The E10i has a 4.2HP DC motor, a maximum speed of 22km/h and incline adjustment up to 16%. The large running deck gives you considerably more room than many domestic treadmills, while the 15.6-inch HD touchscreen provides the central interface.
A maximum speed of 22km/h gives faster runners enough headroom for proper interval sessions, while the 16% incline opens up a huge range of hill workouts.
The E10i is heavily focused on connectivity and virtual training. It can connect with platforms including Zwift, Rouvy, Peloton, Kinomap, BitGym and Kinni, while Bluetooth connectivity allows compatible apps and devices to communicate with the treadmill.
You can turn an otherwise monotonous indoor session into a structured workout, virtual race or interactive training experience.
The entertainment options are another bonus, with access to services including Netflix, YouTube, Prime Video and Spotify.
For runners who find treadmill sessions mentally difficult, having entertainment and interactive training options built into the machine could make a genuine difference.
For a serious runner who regularly trains indoors, the combination of speed, incline, running-deck size and connectivity makes the NoblePro capable of handling all your training a little bit easier and making it more entertaining along the way.
