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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 lightweight, budget-friendly pair of true wireless earbuds you can tuck in a pocket and forget about, choose JVC Soft; if you need a work-call headset that keeps your ears open, runs all day, and works with a big head, choose FARAROSS Open-Ear Bone Conduction.
That's the short version. The long version matters more than usual here, because these two products are barely competing for the same buyer. One is a tiny in-ear earbud built around comfort and price of entry. The other is an open-ear bone conduction headset built around voice pickup, battery life, and staying aware of your surroundings. If you're shopping for bluetooth headphones for remote work — or you're the person who always has to size up because every headset pinches — the choice comes down to which of those two jobs you actually need done.
• JVC Soft — biggest strength: a genuinely simple, comfortable in-ear earbud. Soft elastomer body, an extra set of ear tips in the box, and a 3-button remote with a mic. Nothing to learn.
• JVC Soft — biggest trade-off: a 5-hour battery and Bluetooth 4.2. That's a short workday, and an older wireless standard.
• FARAROSS Open-Ear Bone Conduction — biggest strength: it's built for talking. ENC noise reduction with DSP, a beamforming mic, a mute button, Bluetooth 6.1, dual-device connection, and up to 17 hours of calling.
• FARAROSS Open-Ear Bone Conduction — biggest trade-off: it's an open-ear design, which means you hear your room along with your audio, and you'll want to think about fit if you wear glasses or have a larger head.
• Who JVC Soft is for: casual listeners who want cheap, comfortable wireless earbuds for music and the occasional call.
• Who FARAROSS Open-Ear Bone Conduction is for: remote workers, truckers, and anyone who lives on calls and needs their ears free.
The JVC Soft (model HA-FX9BTB) is about as no-drama as wireless audio gets. It's an in-ear earbud with a soft elastomer body, rounded ear tips, and an extra set of tips included so you can dial in the seal. JVC calls it "GUMY reliability," and that's the whole pitch: soft, snug, and cheap to replace if you lose one.
What it does best is the basics. The 3-button remote handles volume up and down, play/pause, track skipping, and answering calls on both iOS and Android. The sound is tuned for punchy bass with clear treble — JVC's wording, not mine — which is exactly what most people want from earbuds at this level. It pairs over Bluetooth 4.2 with a 10-meter range, so you can leave your phone on the desk and walk to the kitchen.
Who should buy it? Someone who wants earbuds for music on the train, in the gym, or around the house, and who takes a call here and there. The built-in battery runs about 5 hours, which is fine for a commute or a workout block.
Who should skip it? If you're on video calls for six hours a day, the 5-hour battery is going to interrupt you, and earbuds that seal your ear canal aren't ideal when you need to hear a knock at the door or a colleague walking up behind you. There's active noise cancellation here, which helps you focus, but it also means you're cut off from your surroundings. I'd also flag that this is an in-ear design — if you've been hunting for the best gaming headphones for big head, a tiny rounded earbud isn't the shape you want.
The FARAROSS Open-Ear Bone Conduction headset (model Y18Mic) is a different animal entirely. It's an over-ear, open-ear design with a bone conduction driver, soft silicone build, and an adjustable mic boom. It weighs 32 grams. The whole point is that nothing goes inside your ear canal — you get audio through bone conduction while your ears stay open to the room.
For remote work, the call hardware is the headline. You get ENC noise reduction with DSP processing, plus a beamforming mic that locks onto your voice and pushes background noise down. There's a dedicated mute button, which is the feature I'd want most on a headset I use for meetings — one press and your mic is dead, no fumbling through software settings. Voice guidance in English and Japanese confirms what you've pressed.
Connectivity is where it pulls ahead of the JVC. Bluetooth 6.1, dual-device connection so your laptop and phone are both connected at once, and two EQ modes — one tuned for voice clarity, one for music. You can take a meeting on the PC and answer a call on your phone without repairing anything. Battery is rated up to 17 hours of calling, with fast charging and a magnetic charging connector that avoids the usual port-wear problem on a headset you plug in every night.
The fit notes matter. It's designed with an ergonomic open-ear curve and silicone surfaces to reduce pressure on the ear, which is what makes long wear tolerable. It's IP55 rated for water and dust, so sweat and light rain are fine. That's a dust-and-splash rating, not full immersion — if you specifically need the best ipx7 waterproof neckband headphones for big head, this isn't that category, and you should look at neckband-style sets instead. Similarly, if you want with mic open ear headphones for big head, this is the closest of the two to that description, but the adjustable boom and open-ear hook are what make it work on larger heads — not a sizing system.
Who should skip it? If you want maximum isolation for focused music listening, an open-ear design works against you. You'll hear traffic, coworkers, and your own keyboard. For some people that's the entire appeal. For others it's a dealbreaker.
• Best for remote work and meetings → FARAROSS Open-Ear Bone Conduction. Beamforming mic, ENC, mute button, dual-device Bluetooth 6.1.
• Best for long days → FARAROSS Open-Ear Bone Conduction. Up to 17 hours of calling versus roughly 5 hours on the JVC.
• Best for awareness of your surroundings → FARAROSS Open-Ear Bone Conduction. Open-ear bone conduction keeps your ear canal clear.
• Best for portability and simplicity → JVC Soft. It's a 10-gram in-ear earbud with a 3-button remote. Throw it in a bag and go.
• Best for music-first listening → JVC Soft. A sealed in-ear fit with active noise cancellation and a bass-forward tuning is the more conventional listening experience.
• Best for larger heads and glasses wearers → FARAROSS Open-Ear Bone Conduction. The open-ear hook and adjustable boom mic are far more forgiving than a rounded ear tip.
• Best for rain, sweat and outdoor use → FARAROSS Open-Ear Bone Conduction. IP55 water and dust resistance versus a design with no stated ingress rating.
• Best for a second pair you don't have to think about → JVC Soft. Extra tips included, iOS and Android friendly, nothing to configure.
For remote work — and especially if a big head has made every headset a compromise — I'd buy the FARAROSS Open-Ear Bone Conduction. In my opinion, the combination of a beamforming mic, a physical mute button, Bluetooth 6.1 with dual-device connection, and up to 17 hours of calling is exactly what a workday headset needs, and the open-ear hook design is the more realistic fit for larger heads. The JVC Soft is a fine, comfortable earbud, but a roughly 5-hour battery and Bluetooth 4.2 put it behind for anyone living on calls. If you mostly want music in your ears and a small, cheap pair to carry, I'd go JVC Soft instead.
FAQ
It depends on whether you need isolation or awareness. The JVC Soft gives you a sealed in-ear fit with active noise cancellation for focus. The FARAROSS Open-Ear Bone Conduction keeps your ears open so you can hear your household or office while staying on calls. For back-to-back meetings, I'd lean FARAROSS.
No — both of these are wireless-only and connect over Bluetooth, with no headphone jack on either. The JVC Soft uses Bluetooth 4.2 with a 10-meter range; the FARAROSS uses Bluetooth 6.1. Neither includes a wired audio option, so you'll need a Bluetooth-capable phone, laptop, or tablet.
The JVC Soft uses a 3-button remote for volume up and down, play/pause, track skipping, and answering calls on iOS and Android. The FARAROSS uses push-button controls with voice guidance and a dedicated mute button for calls. Both send commands over the Bluetooth connection rather than through a cable.
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