8 Best Running Shorts for Men 2026

The phone pocket on the Pudolla shorts is stitched to the compression liner, not the outer shell, which means the phone sits against your thigh and stays there. No swinging, no hand in your pocket every mile, no armband. There’s a small zip pocket at the back waist for a key, and that pairing is the most thoughtful carry setup in this group.

We think that earns them their place, but they behave as running shorts too: the 5-inch shell doesn’t ride up, the liner holds everything without squeezing, and the pair stays put on longer efforts. If you run with a phone and hate belts, this is the design you want.

Sizing is the caveat. These run small for a fair number of builds, so measure your waist and go up rather than down, and wash them cold and air dry to protect the liner stitching.

Three inches is the shortest cut we cover here, and the G Gradual pair is the one that makes the case for it. There’s no fabric to bunch at the thigh, the mesh moves air, and on a hot, hard run you stop thinking about your shorts, which is the whole point. The trade is coverage — this is not the pair for the gym or the grocery store unless you’re happy being seen in a very short short.

Both front pockets zip, which is rarer than it should be at this length: a phone or a key disappears and stays gone. If you’ve never run in a 3-inch short, try it on a short, hot run first — the first mile feels exposing, and the fifth feels like nothing at all.

The MIER shorts are the lightest shell here, and that is the whole pitch. The fabric is thin enough that you feel moving air through it and it dries almost instantly, so it never develops that heavy, wet-shorts feeling on a humid run. It’s also thin enough that pale colors go sheer when wet — wear something dark underneath and it stops mattering.

Pockets are zippered and roomy enough for a phone, with a small key compartment, and the back pocket sits where it doesn’t jostle. For a short at this price, the detailing is better than we expected.

We reach for these on the hottest days of the set. They cost less than our top pick, they pack down to nothing in a bag, and thin fabric is a fair trade for the coolest runs in this group.

Cheapest in the group, and the surprise is how little you give up. The mesh is smooth and light, the leg openings are cut generously enough for bigger thighs, and the 3-inch length lands where it should rather than creeping up.

We like them best as a rotation pair: they’re unlined and airy, they dry on the walk back to the car, and at this price keeping a spare in the gym bag costs nothing. Sizing is more predictable than most here, and the size chart held for us.

What you don’t get is structure. There’s no liner, so we carried a key and left the phone behind on runs — no great loss on a short, hot effort, and part of what makes the price possible.

Buy these a size up. That’s the first thing to know about the Under Armour Launch shorts: they run small, you feel it at the waist, and ordering the size you wear in everything else will have you sending them back.

The liner is the second thing. It’s a snug brief, and it’s the most divisive part of the short: if you like a liner, it does its job, and if you don’t, cutting it out leaves the shell perfectly wearable. Decide that before you order rather than after.

The stretch woven shell is the most structured fabric here. It holds a crease, it doesn’t cling, and at 7 inches it gives more coverage than anything else in this group apart from the NORTHYARD’s 9-inch option. That makes it the pair for a cool start, a travel day, or a run that ends at a coffee shop.

Where it lands for us: this is the short to buy when you want length and structure from a name you trust, and you’re willing to size up to get it. If lightness matters more than coverage, the MIER is the better answer.

Two pairs in one order changes how you use a short. One goes in the wash, one stays in the drawer, and the midweek laundry panic disappears. That’s the practical case for the Gaglg set, and it’s a better argument than it sounds.

As shorts, they’re a straightforward 5-inch with zippered pockets, a light quick-dry shell, and a cut that sits above the knee without climbing. The pockets swallow a phone and a key fob, and the fabric is soft enough to wear straight off the line.

Our take: buy this set if you want several of the same short without thinking about it — a workhorse for the gym bag and the travel bag. We treat them as rotation shorts rather than the pair we save for race day, and for that job they’re good value.

Five pairs in one box is the entire idea: run most days, wash once a week, stop thinking about shorts. If your laundry pile is the reason you skip a run, that alone is worth the order.

They’re a proper 2-in-1, with a compression liner under a light shell and a phone pocket on the liner that grips a large phone in a case and keeps it from swinging. There’s a zip pocket at the back for a key.

Fit is snug in the way a compression-lined short should be, and the liner is what keeps them up rather than the waistband alone. The shell finishes just above the knee and stays there. If you dislike a tight liner, this set isn’t for you — the compression layer is the point.

Per pair, this is the least expensive route in the group, and for a first rotation that’s hard to argue with. We haven’t put enough washes through ours to promise they’ll outlast a more expensive pair, so treat the first few months as the test.