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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 single wearable that keeps your music, calls and training data on your wrist while you ride, choose iPhanmis X17; if you need earbuds that stay hooked on your ears through wind, sweat and traffic, choose OceanSounds Open Ear Headphones. Both are decent travel companions, but only one of them makes sense for a long flight or a day of cycling, and it is not the same one for everybody.
• iPhanmis X17 — biggest strength: it is a watch and a pair of earbuds in one device, with a 1.27-inch round AMOLED screen, Bluetooth calling and health tracking, and a 205mAh watch battery that can recharge the earbuds for about two cycles.
• iPhanmis X17 — biggest trade-off: the buds only run around 3.5 hours of music per charge, and the whole thing is aimed at women with a youth-oriented, gold, round-watch look.
• OceanSounds Open Ear Headphones — biggest strength: a proper open-ear hook design with Bluetooth 5.4 and a swappable battery system, so you can keep going by swapping a magnetic battery module instead of hunting for a wall socket.
• OceanSounds Open Ear Headphones — biggest trade-off: no active noise control at all, so nothing blocks out engine drone, traffic or gym noise.
• Who each is for: the iPhanmis X17 suits someone who wants one gadget for calls, steps and sleep on the move; the OceanSounds pair suits cyclists, runners and travelers who want their ears open to the world.
The X17 is an unusual little thing: a 43mm round smartwatch with a 1.27-inch 360×360 AMOLED touch display, and a pair of tiny TWS earbuds that live inside it. The watch charges the buds for roughly two full cycles, which is the whole pitch — you carry one object instead of two, and you never dig around for a charging case because the watch is the case.
As a fitness and daily-life device it covers the basics well. There is 24-hour continuous heart rate monitoring, sleep tracking, blood oxygen (SpO2), a pedometer with calorie and distance logging, multi-sport modes, and a female cycle tracker. Add Bluetooth calling, call rejection, message alerts, weather, alarms, a find-my-phone function and shake-to-take-photos, and it behaves like a normal budget smartwatch with a party trick. It pairs with Android 4.4+ and iOS 8.0+ through the FitCloudPro app, and it is IP67 waterproof, so rain and splashes are not a problem.
The buds themselves are deliberately small and shallow-fitting — the design notes describe them as having almost no grip and a shorter shape to reduce long-term wear pressure. Controls are all taps: double-tap to answer or hang up, double-tap to play or pause, triple-tap left for previous and right for next, and a four-tap gesture to wake Siri or the Android voice assistant. Earbud Bluetooth is 5.0 while the watch runs Bluetooth 4.0.
Who should buy it? In my opinion, someone who wants one wrist-worn gadget that also handles quick calls and music, values the round gold look, and mostly listens in short bursts. Who should skip it? Anyone who needs hours of uninterrupted audio, or who wants a headset that feels anchored during hard exercise. The buds are mini by design, the music time per charge is about 3.5 hours, and there is no ear hook holding them in place.
The OceanSounds pair is built around a completely different idea: never put anything inside your ear canal. The open-ear, ear-hook shape sits outside the ear, so you hear your music and the world at the same time — cars, conversation, a bike bell behind you. During cycling that awareness matters more than bass depth, and it is the single strongest argument for this design.
The second headline feature is the swappable battery. Instead of waiting for a recharge, you replace the battery module in seconds and keep listening. The box includes two magnetic replaceable battery modules plus a charging case, so a long ride, a hike or a travel day does not end when the first battery does. Connectivity is Bluetooth 5.4, which is the newer of the two standards here and generally means faster pairing, a more stable link and lower latency across phones, tablets and laptops.
Comfort is the other selling point. The non-in-ear structure reduces the pressure and fatigue you get from plugging silicone tips into your ears for hours, and the housing is ABS plastic with a light overall build — the listed item weight is 120g for the package. There is a 360-day warranty from the brand, which is a reassuring detail for something you plan to sweat on.
The trade-offs are real, though. Noise control is listed as None — there is no ANC and no passive sealing, so on a plane you will hear the engines, and in a noisy gym you will hear the room. There is also no wired option: no jack, wireless only. And the skin-toned finish is a specific look, not a neutral black.
Who should buy it? Cyclists, runners, walkers, gym-goers and travelers who want situational awareness, long sessions without ear fatigue, and the ability to swap a battery instead of charging. Who should skip it? Anyone who wants to silence the world around them, or who prefers a traditional in-ear seal.
Side-by-Side: Which Should You Choose?
• Best for airplane travel → OceanSounds Open Ear Headphones. The swappable battery modules mean you can cover a long flight without a charging break — just accept that you will hear the cabin.
• Best for one-device simplicity → iPhanmis X17. Watch, calls, music and fitness tracking in a single object, no separate case to lose.
• Best all-day comfort → OceanSounds Open Ear Headphones. Nothing enters the ear canal, so pressure and fatigue stay low over many hours.
• Best for health tracking and notifications → iPhanmis X17. Heart rate, SpO2, sleep, steps, cycle tracking, weather and call alerts on your wrist.
• Best for newer Bluetooth → OceanSounds Open Ear Headphones. Bluetooth 5.4 versus 5.0 on the X17's buds.
• Best for quiet listening in loud places → neither, honestly. The X17 buds are tiny and unsealed, and the OceanSounds pair has no noise control — if blocking noise is the priority, these are the wrong tools.
• Best for a female-focused everyday wearable → iPhanmis X17. The round gold case, 43mm width and youth styling are clearly aimed that way.
If I were buying for myself, I would pick the OceanSounds Open Ear Headphones. For cycling and for airplane use — the two situations where I actually care about audio on the move — the ear-hook fit, the Bluetooth 5.4 link and the swappable battery solve problems the X17 simply does not address, and the open-ear awareness is a genuine safety feature on a bike.
The iPhanmis X17 is clever and I like the watch-charges-the-buds concept, but 3.5 hours of music per charge and buds with "almost no grip" are hard limits. If your priority is one gadget that tracks your body and takes calls, the X17 wins that argument. If your priority is listening while you ride or fly, the OceanSounds pair is the better buy for me.
FAQ
For cycling, the OceanSounds pair. The ear hooks hold the buds securely during movement, and the open-ear design lets you hear traffic and surroundings — two things the small, unanchored X17 buds are not designed for.
Both handle calls wirelessly. The X17 specifically lists Bluetooth call, call reminder and rejection plus tap-to-answer controls, and it wakes your phone's voice assistant. The OceanSounds pair lists clear-call tuning in its own materials but, per its spec sheet, has no noise control, so cabin noise will reach your caller.
No. The spec sheet lists noise control as None. The open-ear shape is intentionally unsealed so you stay aware of your surroundings, which is the opposite of noise isolation.
The OceanSounds pair has the edge for long trips because you swap in a fresh battery module instead of waiting to recharge, while the X17 buds give about 3.5 hours of music per charge and rely on the watch to top them up roughly twice. Prices change constantly, so check the current price on Amazon before deciding — the page has a button for that.
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