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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 fully self-contained, wire-free swimming headphone with onboard MP3 storage, choose GZCRDZ IPX8; if you need a wired 3.5mm headphone that plugs straight into a phone or MP3 player for pool and gym sessions, choose ciciglow Water Proof Earphones.
• GZCRDZ IPX8 — biggest strength: IPX8 waterproofing plus two listening modes (Bluetooth 5.3 and a built-in 32GB MP3 player), so you can swim without carrying a phone.
• GZCRDZ IPX8 — biggest trade-off: bone conduction means no ear-tip seal, and the 10-hour battery needs a magnetic charging session roughly every other swim.
• ciciglow Water Proof Earphones — biggest strength: an IP68 rating stated for swimming, surfing and diving, a wired 3.5mm connection and three sizes of silicone eartips for a snug, noise-isolating fit.
• ciciglow Water Proof Earphones — biggest trade-off: it is a wired headphone with no battery and no Bluetooth, so it depends entirely on a device with a 3.5mm jack.
• Pick GZCRDZ IPX8 if you want standalone music in the water and hate cables.
• Pick ciciglow Water Proof Earphones if you already carry a phone or MP3 player and want the simplest possible plug-and-play option.
The GZCRDZ X7S is built around one idea: let you listen in the pool without a phone nearby. It carries an IPX8 waterproof rating, which is the higher of the two water-resistance levels discussed here, and it does that while weighing around 30–32g. That is light enough that the headband-style bone conduction fit should stay put through laps rather than needing constant adjustment.
The interesting part is the dual-mode design. You can run it as a normal Bluetooth 5.3 headphone with a 10-meter wireless range, or you can switch to the built-in MP3 player and play straight from 32GB of internal memory. That second mode matters for swimmers specifically, because Bluetooth signals do not travel through water — a phone left on the pool deck is not a reliable source once your head goes under. With 32GB onboard you can load thousands of tracks, plus audiobooks and podcasts, and leave the phone in the locker. Supported audio formats include MP3 and WMA.
Battery is 200mAh, quoted at 10 hours of music and 10 hours of talk time, with about 300 hours of standby and a 1–2 hour charge over magnetic contacts. Controls are physical push buttons, which is the right call for wet hands. The 20Hz–20KHz frequency range and 32-ohm impedance are ordinary consumer numbers — nothing exotic, just a normal listening profile.
ciciglow Water Proof Earphones: Who It's For
The ciciglow pair takes the opposite approach. It is a wired, in-ear headphone with a 3.5mm jack and a stated IP68 water-proof rating, positioned for swimming, surfing and diving. IP68 is a demanding ingress-protection class, and it is the headline feature here — the whole product is organized around getting audio into your ears while you are wet.
The fit story is more developed than you would expect at this level. You get soft silicone eartips in three sizes, and the ergonomic shell is shaped to sit snugly and stay put during vigorous movement. That combination does double duty: a proper seal is what makes the noise-isolation claim meaningful, and it also keeps water from flushing the eartip loose mid-stroke. The audio description points to rich bass and accurate mids, which is the typical tuning for a sealed in-ear design.
Compatibility is the other selling point. Because it terminates in a standard 3.5mm plug, it works with most smartphones, tablets, MP3 and MP4 players, and anything else with a headphone jack — including laptops. The trade-off is obvious and worth stating plainly: there is no battery, no Bluetooth and no internal storage. Everything depends on the source device being within cable reach and staying dry.
Who should buy it: swimmers who already take a phone or MP3 player to the pool, gym-goers who want isolation from background noise, and anyone who prefers a wired connection because it never needs charging. Who should skip it: people who want to leave their phone on the deck, and anyone whose current phone has dropped the 3.5mm jack — you would need an adapter, and adapters and water are a bad combination. Note also that the listing's own spec table includes contradictory entries, listing the water resistance level as "Not Water Resistant" and connectivity as "ethernet," which reads like catalog noise rather than product facts; the IP68 claim in the title and feature copy is the one to weigh, and it is worth confirming before you buy.
Side-by-Side: Which Should You Choose?
• Best for swimming without a phone → GZCRDZ IPX8. The 32GB MP3 mode is the single most useful feature for anyone whose device stays on the pool deck.
• Best for battery life and untethered use → GZCRDZ IPX8. Around 10 hours of playback and roughly 300 hours of standby, versus no battery at all on the ciciglow.
• Best for passive isolation → ciciglow Water Proof Earphones. Sealed silicone eartips in three sizes block pool and gym noise; bone conduction deliberately leaves your ear canal open.
• Best for simplicity → ciciglow Water Proof Earphones. Plug in and go. No pairing, no charging, no file management.
• Best for audio formats and file loading → GZCRDZ IPX8. Drag-and-drop from a Mac or PC, with MP3 and WMA support and thousands of tracks of room.
• Best for device compatibility → ciciglow Water Proof Earphones. A 3.5mm plug reaches phones, tablets, MP3/MP4 players and laptops; GZCRDZ needs Bluetooth or its internal memory.
• Best for awareness while training → GZCRDZ IPX8. Bone conduction keeps your ears open, which many runners and open-water swimmers prefer.
In my opinion, the GZCRDZ IPX8 is the more complete swimming headphone, and it is the one I would buy. The reason is not the water rating — both are rated for immersion — it is the 32GB MP3 mode. Bluetooth simply does not work underwater, so a phone-dependent design has an inherent limitation in the pool, and GZCRDZ solves that outright while still being a normal Bluetooth headphone on land. The ciciglow is the smarter pick if you want isolation, hate charging, and always have a 3.5mm device within reach. Just rinse the GZCRDZ contacts with fresh water after every session and keep it out of salt water for long stretches. Check the current price on Amazon before deciding, since that is the one variable I cannot weigh for you.
are headphones waterproof
Not by default. Water resistance is a per-model rating, not a category-wide trait. Here, the GZCRDZ IPX8 carries an IPX8 water-only rating, and the ciciglow states IP68 in its title and feature copy — though its own spec table confusingly lists the water resistance level as "Not Water Resistant," so verify before buying. Neither should be taken as suitable for prolonged salt-water exposure.
are headphones water resistant
Does the GZCRDZ IPX8 need a phone to play music?
No. It has two modes: Bluetooth 5.3 with roughly a 10-meter range, or a built-in MP3 player with 32GB of storage. You copy files from a Mac or PC by drag-and-drop and play them directly, which is what makes it usable in the pool where Bluetooth signals do not carry through water.
No. They are wired headphones with a 3.5mm jack and no battery or Bluetooth. That means zero charging and zero pairing, but it also means the audio source has to be physically attached by cable — so your phone or player needs to stay dry and within reach.
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