We compare products from their published specs and features; the verdicts below are our independent editorial opinions.
Updated: 2026-09-19 · 7 min read · Independent comparison
If you want marathon battery life, a metal headband and app-tuned sound for commuting, work and gaming, choose iKF R1; if you need a 29 g open-ear pair that survives laps in the pool with 32 GB of built-in MP3 storage, choose MARLALL Liquid Silicone Swimming.
• iKF R1 — biggest strength: huge feature spread for a single pair of on-ear headphones: 75 hours of playtime, Bluetooth 5.3 with dual-device switching, ENC call noise reduction, ambient sound mode, spatial audio movie mode and a 35 ms low-latency gaming mode, all controlled through an app.
• iKF R1 — biggest trade-off: it is an on-ear, Bluetooth-only design. No headphone jack, no water rating, 210 g on your head, and passive noise cancellation only — it will not go near a pool.
• MARLALL Liquid Silicone Swimming — biggest strength: a genuinely swim-ready build: IP68 waterproof bone conduction with open-ear fit, Bluetooth 5.4, and 32 GB of onboard memory so you can keep listening underwater where Bluetooth cannot reach.
• MARLALL Liquid Silicone Swimming — biggest trade-off: no noise control at all, a 22.68 g / 29 g featherweight body (per the listing and description) that gives up bass weight and passive isolation, and you have to manually switch to MP3 mode before you get in the water.
• Pick iKF R1 if your listening happens above water — commuting, office, gym floor, movie nights, long calls.
• Pick MARLALL Liquid Silicone Swimming if your listening happens in the water — lap swimming, plus running, cycling and hiking with your ears open.
The iKF R1 is built around one idea: keep a single pair on your head all day and let it do everything. The 75-hour battery average life is the headline — that is days of commuting and work listening between charges, and it removes the nightly charging ritual that most wireless headphones force on you. The metal steel band is the other structural decision worth noting. It is a sturdier material than the plastic you usually find at this tier, and the extendable headband can be worn over-head or around the neck, so the fit adapts instead of you adapting to it. At 210 g with an on-ear, circle-shaped earpiece and a retro silver finish, this is a wear-it-everywhere object rather than a specialist tool.
Who should buy it: commuters, remote workers, students, casual gamers and movie watchers who want one pair with a big battery and a lot of switches to flip. Who should skip it: swimmers and heavy sweaters who need water protection, anyone who wants active noise cancellation, and anyone who needs a wired 3.5 mm fallback — the R1 is Bluetooth connection only.
MARLALL Liquid Silicone Swimming: Who It's For
The MARLALL Liquid Silicone Swimming is a different species of product. It is an open-ear bone conduction headphone with an IP68 waterproof rating, and the design logic follows from that: sound is created by vibrations that travel through your cheekbones to your inner ear, so nothing ever enters your ear canal. The payoff is twofold. First, hygiene and comfort — no pressure inside the ear, nothing to feel gritty after a long session, and the silicone body conforms to your head. Second, safety — because your ears stay open, you hear cars, bikes and other people while running, hiking or cycling. The adjustable straps are there to keep the fit locked without slippage.
The swimming part is where this model separates itself. Bluetooth signals do not travel through water, so the S800 carries 32 GB of internal memory and an MP3 mode — the description puts that at roughly 8,000 songs — and you switch to MP3 mode before you get in. That is the entire point of the product: music in the pool without a phone anywhere near the water. On land, Bluetooth 5.4 handles the wireless side with a 10 m (33 ft) range, stable connection and hands-free calling across iOS and Android. At 22.68 g in the spec sheet (29 g in the description) it is about as light as headgear gets.
Who should buy it: lap swimmers first and foremost, then runners, cyclists and hikers who want situational awareness. Who should skip it: anyone who wants deep bass, isolation from a noisy office, or noise control of any kind — the spec sheet lists noise control as "none," and open-ear bone conduction is inherently a leaky, ambient design.
• Best for battery life → iKF R1. 75 hours versus a small MP3-mode/Bluetooth cycle on the MARLALL; there is no contest for all-day, all-week listening.
• Best for swimming → MARLALL Liquid Silicone Swimming. IP68 waterproof plus 32 GB of onboard storage is a combination the iKF R1 simply does not offer.
• Best for calls → iKF R1. ENC noise reduction and dual-device connection make it the better desk and street-call tool.
• Best for outdoor safety → MARLALL Liquid Silicone Swimming. Open-ear bone conduction keeps traffic audible; the iKF R1 has ambient mode, but it is an on-ear headphone with a band across your head.
• Best for gaming and movies → iKF R1. A 35 ms low-latency gaming mode and spatial audio movie mode are features the MARLALL does not list.
• Best for long-wear comfort → MARLALL Liquid Silicone Swimming on paper, at 22.68 g with nothing in your ears; the iKF R1 counters with an extendable steel band that adapts to head shape.
• Best for app control and customization → iKF R1. EQ adjustment, button remapping and device locating live in the companion app.
• Best for a single do-everything pair → iKF R1, unless "everything" includes water.
In my opinion, the iKF R1 is the better buy for most people, because most listening happens on dry land and the R1 covers far more of it: 75 hours of battery, dual-device Bluetooth 5.3, ENC calls, ambient mode, a gaming mode and app customization in one 210 g package. I would only steer you to the MARLALL Liquid Silicone Swimming if swimming is a real, recurring part of your routine — in that case its IP68 rating, bone conduction open-ear fit and 32 GB MP3 mode make it the only one of the two that can actually follow you into the pool. Decide which of those two lives you lead, check the current price on Amazon for the one that matches, and you will not second-guess the pick.
FAQ
Expect less low-end punch than the iKF R1's 32 mm dynamic drivers. Bone conduction sends vibrations through your cheekbones, and the open-ear design deliberately lets outside sound in, so bass feels thinner and the soundstage is more ambient than immersive.
The iKF R1. It lists ENC call noise reduction, Bluetooth 5.3 and dual-device connection so you can stay paired to a laptop and phone at the same time. The MARLALL handles hands-free calling over Bluetooth 5.4, but it lists no noise control and its open-ear fit lets the room in.
Yes — that is its second job. Because your ears stay open you hear traffic and other people, and the 22.68 g silicone body with adjustable straps is built to stay put. Bluetooth 5.4 covers wireless playback within a 10 m range when you are out of the water.
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