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We compare products from their published specs and features; the verdicts below are our independent editorial opinions.
Updated: 2026-09-26 · 6 min read · Independent comparison
If you want a do-everything pair for commuting, calls and everyday listening — with real noise canceling and a transparency mode you can switch on whenever you need to hear the world — choose Coby Noise-Canceling Earbuds w/Charging; if you need headphones that keep working when your head goes under the water, choose Feiltik Swimming Headphones Underwater.
• Coby's biggest strength: three listening modes — active noise canceling, transparency and normal — plus Bluetooth auto pairing, touch controls and a companion app for EQ tweaks and GPS finding.
• Coby's biggest trade-off: it's a standard wireless earbud, so it's built for land and daily wear, not for swimming; the listed average battery life is 8 hours per charge.
• Feiltik's biggest strength: full IPX8 waterproofing with a built-in 32GB MP3 player, so it keeps playing music underwater where Bluetooth can't reach.
• Feiltik's biggest trade-off: no noise canceling and no transparency mode — it's an open-ear bone conduction design that trades isolation for awareness and water resistance.
• Pick Coby if your day is commutes, offices, gyms and phone calls. Pick Feiltik if your day includes laps, snorkeling or any time in the water.
This is the pair I'd hand to someone who lives most of their audio life above water. The headline feature is the three-mode system: active noise canceling to shut out a bus engine or open-plan office, transparency mode to let announcements, traffic or a coworker's question back in, and a normal mode for everything in between. You cycle those modes from the earbuds or through the Coby Smart app, which also gives you an EQ customizer and a GPS locator for the buds themselves — a genuinely useful extra for anyone who has ever lost an earbud under a car seat.
The rest of the package is built for routine, not adventure. Bluetooth auto pairing means the buds reconnect to your phone the moment you pop them in, touch controls handle play/pause, skipping and calls without reaching for your phone, and the USB-C charging case keeps them topped up through the day. The listed average battery life is 8 hours, with a 10-hour playtime figure in the product description, so a normal workday or a long flight is well within range. The dynamic drivers cover a 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz range, which is the standard full-range span you'd expect for music and podcasts.
Who should skip it? Anyone whose main listening happens in a pool. There's no waterproofing rating in the specs, and noise canceling and transparency are features that make sense on a train, not underwater. If you swim laps, this simply isn't the tool. Also worth noting: it ships in white, in-ear, with a 90-day manufacturer warranty and no headphone jack — it's wireless only.
Feiltik solves a problem most earbuds can't even attempt. Bluetooth signals don't travel through water, so the T05 doesn't try — it carries a built-in 32GB MP3 player instead. You load your music onto the headphones themselves, switch to MP3 mode before you get in, and keep listening while you swim, dive or snorkel. That's the whole trick, and it's why these exist at all. The listed 32GB is enough for roughly 8,000 songs, which is more than any swimmer needs for a session.
The second half of the story is the fit. These are open-ear bone conduction headphones, meaning they sit outside your ear canal and send sound through the bone instead of plugging you up. No in-ear pressure, no soreness after an hour in the water, and your ears stay clear — which matters when you're moving and want some awareness of your surroundings. The IPX8 rating is the top end of water resistance, and the magnetic charging design removes the usual port that water loves to find. On land, Bluetooth 6.0 handles wireless duty, and dual device pairing lets you stay connected to two devices at once.
The trade-offs are real, though. There is no noise canceling and no transparency mode here — the open-ear design means you hear the world all the time, on land and off. And the Beige color with swim earplugs, a protective case and a magnetic charging cable in the box tells you exactly where Feiltik expects you to use these. It's rated for adults and kids, and it comes with a 1-year manufacturer warranty.
• Best for noise canceling and transparency mode → Coby. Three switchable modes, including a transparency setting for staying aware on the street.
• Best for swimming and water sports → Feiltik. IPX8 waterproofing plus MP3 playback that works where Bluetooth cannot.
• Best for phone calls and touch controls → Coby. Built-in touch controls for answering calls, skipping tracks and play/pause.
• Best for long sessions in the water → Feiltik. Open-ear bone conduction avoids the ear pressure and soreness of in-ear buds.
• Best for app features → Coby. The Coby Smart app adds EQ customization, mode cycling and GPS earbud tracking.
• Best for carrying your own music without a phone → Feiltik. A 32GB MP3 library lives on the headphones themselves.
• Best for everyday commuting and travel → Coby. Auto pairing, a USB-C charging case and up to 10 hours of listed playtime suit a full day out.
• Best for pairing two devices at once → Feiltik. Bluetooth 6.0 with dual device connection.
My Verdict
Transparency mode is a feature found on earbuds and headphones with active noise canceling, because it uses the same microphones and processing to let outside sound back in. The Coby Noise-Canceling Earbuds w/Charging are one example — they list transparency as one of three modes alongside active noise canceling and normal. The Feiltik Swimming Headphones Underwater do not have transparency mode, since they have no noise canceling at all; their open-ear bone conduction design simply leaves your ears unblocked.
How to turn airpods to transparency mode
On AirPods, transparency mode is typically toggled by pressing and holding the stem, or through the connected device's Bluetooth or Control Center settings. The Coby earbuds work on the same principle — you cycle through noise canceling, transparency and normal using the earbuds' touch controls or the Coby Smart app. The exact gesture depends on the model, so it's worth checking your own device's controls before you rely on it mid-commute.
Which airpods have transparency mode
Transparency mode arrived with the AirPods Pro line and has since spread to other models with active noise canceling. The pattern to remember is that transparency and noise canceling travel together: if a pair advertises one, it usually offers the other. That's why the Coby earbuds list all three modes, while the Feiltik swimming headphones skip them entirely — bone conduction is about letting sound in, not filtering it out.
Do all airpods have transparency mode
No. Transparency mode is tied to models that include active noise canceling, so basic AirPods without that hardware don't offer it. The same logic applies to any brand: check whether the specs list active noise canceling before assuming transparency mode is included. If that feature matters to you, the Coby earbuds are the pick here — the Feiltik is designed for underwater MP3 playback, not for mode switching.
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