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We compare products from their published specs and features; the verdicts below are our independent editorial opinions.
If you want an open-ear sport headphone built for land training with long battery life, choose KOAIEZ IP7; if you need headphones you can actually take underwater for swimming, choose Soveign Waterproof Headphones.
• KOAIEZ IP7 — biggest strength: Bone conduction audio with an IPX7 rating, a secure neckband-plus-ear-loop fit, and a quoted battery range of 6–10 hours per 2-hour charge. Best for runners, cyclists, gym-goers and hikers who want their ears open to traffic and surroundings.
• KOAIEZ IP7 — biggest trade-off: It's a land-and-sweat design. IPX7 covers splashes, rain and heavy sweat, but it is not positioned as a swimming headphone, and there's no built-in MP3 memory.
• Soveign Waterproof Headphones — biggest strength: An IPX8 rating plus a 32GB MP3 player mode, so you can leave your phone behind and keep music going while you're in the water.
• Soveign Waterproof Headphones — biggest trade-off: Bluetooth is limited underwater — you have to switch to MP3 mode for swimming — and the build is plastic with a bendable frame rather than a wrapped neckband.
• Pick KOAIEZ IP7 if your workouts happen on land and you want the simplest possible setup.
• Pick Soveign Waterproof Headphones if swimming or diving is the whole point.
The KOAIEZ IP7 is an open-ear, bone conduction sport headphone. Instead of pushing sound into your ear canal, it sends vibration through your cheekbone to the cochlea, which is why the brand describes the result as a fuller sound with clearer mid-range and high frequency. In practice that's the appeal of this whole category: your ears stay unblocked, so you hear cars, bikes, gym announcements and training partners while music plays. If you've ever pulled an earbud out at a red light, you already understand the point.
The fit is the other half of the story. The neckband is wrapped in rubber so it hugs your head, and the drivers loop over the tops of your ears. That combination is what stops the headphone from bouncing off mid-sprint. The frame is described as small and light enough to slip into a clothes pocket, and the silicone surfaces are there to stay comfortable over long sessions. Bluetooth 5.3 handles the connection with multi-pairing support, so you can move between devices, and the built-in mic uses environmental noise reduction for calls. Charging takes about 2 hours; the brand quotes 6–10 hours of playback per charge, and a transmission range of about 10 meters.
Who should buy it: runners, cyclists, gym and hiking regulars, and anyone who wants one headphone for training and calls without thinking about it. Who should skip it: swimmers. IPX7 is a strong water-resistance rating and it will shrug off rain, sweat and splashes, but this is not sold as an underwater headphone and it has no onboard music storage. If pool time is your priority, look at the other option.
The Soveign Waterproof Headphones are aimed squarely at water. The headline spec is IPX8, a deeper water-resistance rating than IPX7, and the brand is explicit that the whole headphone is wrapped in waterproof silicone so it can be worn underwater and stay submerged for a long period. That's a meaningfully different promise from a sweat-and-rain rating — it's the difference between "survives your gym session" and "survives your swim."
The second thing that matters here is the MP3 mode. The Soveign set has a dual-mode system: Bluetooth for normal use, and a 32GB MP3 player mode that the brand says holds more than 6000 songs. That's not a gimmick — it's the fix for a real limitation. Bluetooth signals don't travel well through water, and the brand says so directly: use MP3 mode when swimming, because Bluetooth will be limited. So you load your music once and swim without your phone anywhere near the pool.
The rest of the design is built around durability and simplicity. The frame bends up to 360 degrees, which the brand frames as protection for the middle joint — the part that tends to fail on bendy sport headphones — and it lets you shape the fit to your head. Controls are physical buttons: volume, playback and call answering, all reachable with one hand so you're not stabbing at a touch panel with wet fingers. Bluetooth 5.3 handles the wireless side.
Who should buy it: swimmers, divers and anyone who wants music in the pool without a phone. Who should skip it: people who mainly train on land and want a wrapped, hug-the-head neckband — this one is plastic with a bendable frame, and if you never go near water, you're paying in complexity for a capability you won't use.
• Best for swimming → Soveign Waterproof Headphones. IPX8 plus MP3 mode is the only combination here that works underwater.
• Best for running, cycling and gym work → KOAIEZ IP7. The rubber-wrapped neckband and ear loops are designed to stay put through movement.
• Best for battery life → KOAIEZ IP7. The brand quotes 6–10 hours of continuous playback from a 2-hour charge.
• Best for phone-free workouts → Soveign Waterproof Headphones. 32GB of onboard storage means no device required.
• Best for open-ear awareness on the road → KOAIEZ IP7. Both are open-ear designs, but this one is the purpose-built sport fit.
• Best for calls → KOAIEZ IP7. It has a built-in mic with environmental noise reduction and multi-pairing.
• Best for adjustability → Soveign Waterproof Headphones. The 360-degree bendable frame lets you shape it to your head and protects the mid-joint.
• Best for simplicity → KOAIEZ IP7. Bluetooth 5.3, one pairing, no mode switching to remember.
In my opinion, the right pick comes down to one question: do you get in the water? If you don't, I'd buy the KOAIEZ IP7. It does the job an open-ear sport headphone is supposed to do — stays on your head, keeps your ears open, runs for hours, takes calls — with the fewest moving parts and the least to think about. If you swim, I'd buy the Soveign Waterproof Headphones instead, because IPX8 and 32GB of MP3 storage are the two things that make pool audio actually work, and no amount of sweat resistance substitutes for them. Check the current price on Amazon before you commit, since that's the one variable I can't weigh for you.
are headphones waterproof
It depends entirely on the rating. The KOAIEZ IP7 is rated IPX7, which means it handles sweat, rain and splashes but isn't intended for swimming. The Soveign Waterproof Headphones are rated IPX8, a deeper water-resistance level, and the brand explicitly positions them for swimming and diving — with the caveat that you switch to MP3 mode underwater.
are headphones water resistant
Can I use Bluetooth while swimming with the Soveign Waterproof Headphones?
No — and the brand says so plainly. Bluetooth signals are limited in water, so you should use MP3 mode when swimming. That's exactly why the 32GB onboard player matters: you load your songs beforehand and swim with no phone and no wireless signal needed.
Yes. The KOAIEZ IP7 is a Bluetooth 5.3 headphone with multi-pairing and no onboard storage, so it needs a paired device within its roughly 10-meter transmission range. The Soveign set is the one that can play on its own, thanks to its MP3 mode.
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