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We compare products from their published specs and features; the verdicts below are our independent editorial opinions.
Updated: 2026-09-30 · 7 min read · Independent comparison
• FashionLive's biggest strength: It's a beanie first — soft knit fabric, elastic one-size fit, and removable speaker modules so the hat itself is washable. Warmth and music in one item.
• FashionLive's biggest trade-off: The audio is simple. You get V5.0 wireless pairing, a microphone and volume control built into the modules, but no noise cancellation, no EQ settings and no SD card slot. It's not waterproof either.
• iJoy Rick's biggest strength: It's a proper pair of over-ear headphones — passive noise cancellation, five EQ settings, touch controls, an SD card slot for device-free playback, and up to 30 hours of battery life.
• iJoy Rick's biggest trade-off: It's a plastic-and-silicone headset, not cold-weather gear. No fabric, no insulation, and nothing about it keeps your ears warm in a way a knit hat would.
• Who FashionLive is for: Anyone who wants hands-free calls and music while shoveling a driveway, walking the dog in January or sitting through an outdoor game — and who wants a hat they can actually wash.
• Who iJoy Rick is for: Rick and Morty fans who want an everyday pair of wireless over-ear headphones for commuting, gaming, studying or watching shows, with sound control that goes beyond play and pause.
The FashionLive beanie is best understood as winter clothing with a soundtrack. The fabric is a cotton, acrylic and polyester blend, medium weight, and the whole thing is built around a soft knitted shell with elastic that stretches to fit most adult head sizes. The wireless modules sit inside the liner, and that's the clever part — you pull them out and the hat becomes fully washable. Anyone who has owned a regular pair of earbuds knows how quickly they get gross; being able to launder the part that touches your head is a genuinely practical design choice.
Spec-wise, it's straightforward. Bluetooth V5.0 for pairing with phones, tablets, laptops and PCs. A built-in microphone for hands-free calls. Volume control on the module. The battery is rated up to 24 hours of music, 25 hours of talk time and 200 hours of standby, which is generous for something you'd wear on a commute or a walk. FashionLive also notes you can reposition the earbud modules to sit where they suit your ears — useful, because head shapes vary and a fixed position won't work for everyone.
Who should buy it: people who spend real time outdoors in cold weather and want music or calls without exposing their hands or ears. Skiers, joggers, dog walkers, delivery and truck drivers, anyone standing on a sideline in November. It's also an easy gift for a family member who'd never think to buy it themselves.
Who should skip it: if sound quality is your priority, this isn't the product for you. There's no noise cancellation, no equalizer, and the drivers are aimed at casual listening, not critical listening. It's also explicitly not waterproof, so heavy rain or sweaty workouts are a risk. And if you don't want a hat on your head, nothing here will convince you.
The iJoy Rick is the opposite kind of product: a real pair of over-ear headphones wearing a Pickle Rick paint job. It's officially licensed Rick and Morty merchandise, which matters if you're buying it as a gift — the branding is the point for a lot of buyers, and there are multiple design styles in the line. But strip the design away and the hardware still stands on its own.
You get over-ear cups in plastic and silicone, a 20Hz–20,000Hz frequency range, Bluetooth with a 33-foot range, and touch controls for play/pause, answering and hanging up, track skipping and volume. The feature list goes further than most budget headphones: passive noise cancellation to cut down background noise, five EQ settings so you can shift the sound toward bass, vocals or whatever suits your ears, and an SD card slot that lets you play music directly without pairing a phone at all. Battery life is rated at 30 hours with a 2-hour charge time, and there's a one-year manufacturer warranty.
Who should buy it: fans who want their headphones to say something about them, plus anyone who needs a daily driver for commuting, studying, gaming or watching shows on a laptop. The SD card slot is a nice touch for anyone who keeps a music library on a card and doesn't want to burn phone battery. Touch controls are convenient once you learn them.
Who should skip it: if you're shopping for winter warmth, this does nothing for you — it's a headset, not a hat, and it won't keep your ears warm the way knit fabric does. If you want physical buttons rather than touch surfaces, that's a personal preference worth weighing, since touch controls can be finicky with gloves on. And if you have no interest in the show, you're paying for a design you don't care about.
Side-by-Side: Which Should You Choose?
• Best for sound quality and control → iJoy Rick. Passive noise cancellation plus five EQ settings is a real step up from a basic play-and-pause module.
• Best for battery life → iJoy Rick. 30 hours of playback on a 2-hour charge, versus 24 hours of music on the FashionLive (which adds 200 hours of standby).
• Best for hands-free calls outdoors → FashionLive Music Hat Beanie. The mic sits in the hat, so you can take a call without pulling a phone out in the cold.
• Best for device-free listening → iJoy Rick. The SD card slot means you can play music without connecting anything.
• Best for a fan gift → iJoy Rick. Officially licensed Rick and Morty branding in a retail box is an easy pick for a fan of the show.
• Best for a practical winter gift → FashionLive Music Hat Beanie. It suits almost anyone with a head, in a unisex deep grey that doesn't need explaining.
• Best if you want one item to do two jobs → FashionLive Music Hat Beanie. It replaces a hat and a pair of earbuds. The iJoy replaces only the headphones.
If I had to pick one for myself, I'd take the iJoy Rick. The reason is simple: as a piece of audio hardware it does more — noise cancellation, EQ settings, 30 hours of battery, an SD card slot and touch controls — and it works year-round instead of only when it's cold. The Pickle Rick design is a bonus if you're a fan, not the reason to buy it. That said, I'd recommend the FashionLive Music Hat Beanie without hesitation to anyone whose real problem is cold ears on winter walks, outdoor jobs or winter sports, because no pair of headphones solves that. Buy the one that matches the season and the job, not the one with the longer spec sheet.
Yes — the wireless earbud modules detach from the fabric liner, and once they're out, the hat itself can be washed. Just remove the electronics first, every time.
No. There's an SD card slot, so you can load music onto a card and play it directly without pairing a device. Bluetooth is there when you want it, with a 33-foot range.
The iJoy Rick. It lists passive noise cancellation as a feature. The FashionLive beanie lists noise isolation, but it's a knit hat with small embedded speakers, so don't expect it to block out much background sound.
FashionLive lists jogging, running, skiing, snowboarding, hiking, camping and gym use among the intended activities, and the elastic one-size fit stretches to most heads. Just keep in mind it's not waterproof, so heavy rain or very sweaty sessions aren't ideal.
For a Rick and Morty fan, the iJoy Rick — it's officially licensed merch in retail packaging and comes with a one-year manufacturer warranty. For someone who spends winter outdoors, the FashionLive beanie is the more universally useful gift, and it's unisex.
If price is the deciding factor for you, check the current price on Amazon using the button on this page before you commit — I don't quote prices here because they move around.
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