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We compare products from their published specs and features; the verdicts below are our independent editorial opinions.
If you want a headphone you can actually swim and submerge with, choose AYI Professional Swim Headphones; if you need all-day battery and touch controls for running, gym and office life, choose Psadhi Open Ear Clip.
Both are bone conduction earphones. Both leave your ears open. That's where the similarity ends. One is built around water. The other is built around stamina and everyday convenience. Here's how I'd split them.
• AYI biggest strength: IP8 waterproofing plus a patented sealed sound chamber, so it's designed to stay submerged and keep playing while you swim.
• AYI biggest trade-off: No charging case, no touch controls, and only up to 8 hours per charge — you manage everything from the remote and you charge it more often.
• Psadhi biggest strength: Up to 60 hours total playtime with a magnetic charging case, plus touch control and a built-in mic for calls.
• Psadhi biggest trade-off: IPX7 sweat and water resistance covers workouts and rain, not swimming, and it relies on its case to hit that headline playtime.
• AYI is for: swimmers and multi-sport users who want music in the water without a phone.
• Psadhi is for: runners, gym-goers and office users who want long battery, calls and tap controls.
The AYI CS05 Black is the one piece of gear here that treats water as the main event rather than a hazard. It carries IP8 waterproof, dustproof and sweatproof protection, and the design uses a patented full-seal sound chamber so the headphone can stay underwater for long stretches. In practice that means pool workouts, open-water swims, laps, and yes, showering. If you've ever killed a pair of earbuds in a pool, you understand why that matters more than any spec sheet number.
It also solves the phone problem. There's a 32GB built-in memory mode that stores a large library of songs locally, and you switch between that MP3 mode and Bluetooth 5.4 depending on whether you're near your phone. Around the water, that's the whole point — you leave the phone in the locker and the headphone keeps going. The open-ear bone conduction design delivers sound through your cheekbones, so your ears stay clear for lane awareness, and the hook-style fit keeps things in place.
Who should skip it? Anyone who lives on calls. There's no microphone mentioned in the specs and no touch control — you're working from a remote. Battery is up to 8 hours per charge with fast charging to top up, which is fine for a swim session but not for a full workday. And if you dislike managing a separate charging routine, the lack of a case will annoy you. The audio driver is a bone conduction driver with a 20 Hz – 20,000 Hz range, so expect the open, ambient character bone conduction is known for rather than deep isolation.
The Psadhi J500 Plus is a different animal. It's an open-ear clip design that sits outside the ear canal rather than plugging into it, so you keep hearing traffic, gym announcements and coworkers. The specs list a 15.3mm dynamic driver, which is a large driver for this category and suggests fuller sound than a lot of clip-style buds — the brand's own framing is rich audio with clear instrument and vocal reproduction, and clear calls via a built-in mic.
The headline is endurance. The spec sheet says up to 80 hours of standby, 12 hours of continuous play on a single charge, and an additional 48 hours from the included magnetic charging case for a combined 60 hours. The case itself charges in about an hour over Type-C. For someone who hates charging, that's a genuinely different lifestyle: toss the case in your bag, top up once a week, forget about it.
Connectivity is Bluetooth 5.4 with multi-point support, which is useful if you're hopping between a laptop and a phone. Controls are touch-based, so you tap to manage music, volume and calls — no remote dangling anywhere. It's IPX7 sweat and water resistant, which covers running in the rain, heavy sweat and splashes.
Here's the honest trade-off: IPX7 is not IP8, and nothing in the specs claims swimming capability. It's a fitness and office headphone, not a swim headphone. There's also a 3-month warranty listed, which is shorter than I'd like for something you'll sweat on daily — worth knowing before you commit.
• Best for swimming → AYI Professional Swim Headphones. IP8 plus a sealed sound chamber designed for submersion.
• Best for battery life → Psadhi Open Ear Clip. 12 hours per charge and up to 60 hours total with the case, versus 8 hours on a single charge for the AYI.
• Best for phone-free listening → AYI. The 32GB of built-in memory means no phone, no signal, no problem in the water.
• Best for calls → Psadhi. Built-in mic, multi-point Bluetooth 5.4 and touch control for answering.
• Best for controlling without your hands → Psadhi. Touch control beats fishing for a remote mid-run.
• Best for gym, running and cycling in the rain → Psadhi. IPX7 handles sweat and weather without a case getting in the way.
• Best for showering and heavy water exposure → AYI. IP8 is the higher water rating here.
• Best for someone who wants one headphone for everything → Psadhi, unless swimming is on your list — then it's AYI.
If I swim, I buy the AYI. The IP8 rating, the sealed chamber and the 32GB local storage make it the only one of the two that solves the actual problem of music in the water, and no amount of playtime makes up for a headphone that can't go where you're going. If I don't swim — if my training is running, lifting and desk work — I buy the Psadhi. Sixty hours of total playtime, a charging case, a mic and touch control is a much better daily-life package. In my opinion, the deciding question isn't which is better. It's whether you get wet on purpose.
FAQ
how to bone conduction earphones work
how to wear bone conduction earphones
You rest the transducer against your cheekbone just in front of your ear, with the hook or clip holding it in place. The AYI uses a hook-style open-ear fit; the Psadhi uses a clip that sits outside the ear canal. Neither goes inside your ear, so positioning matters more than pressure — snug, not tight.
how to use bone conduction earphones
Power on, pair over Bluetooth, then play from your phone as normal. The AYI adds a second mode: load songs into its 32GB memory and switch to MP3 mode so you can leave the phone behind. The Psadhi is controlled by tapping the earpieces, with the case handling recharges.
how are bone conduction earphones different from regular earbuds
Regular earbuds seal or plug your ear canal, which blocks outside noise. Bone conduction leaves the canal open, so you keep situational awareness — better for traffic, shared gyms and open water. The trade-off is less isolation, and the Psadhi leans on a larger 15.3mm dynamic driver to compensate for fullness.
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See also: JoySpark Kids vs Psadhi Open Ear Clip, flymory Bone Conduction Headphones vs AYI Professional Swim Headphones, SilisoundTek Bone Conduction Headphones vs MKKLTUOP Open Ear Clip