We compare products from their published specs and features; the verdicts below are our independent editorial opinions.
Updated: 2026-10-04 · 6 min read · Independent comparison
If you want a swim-first set that doubles as an everyday open-ear Bluetooth headphone, choose MARLALL Liquid Silicone Swimming; if you need the longest Bluetooth battery life and the widest file-format support for exercise, choose RR SPORTS IP68. Both are bone conduction, open-ear designs with built-in MP3 memory, and both are aimed squarely at people who want music in the water without plugging their ears. The difference comes down to how you actually train.
• MARLALL biggest strength: A 32 GB MP3 mode that holds far more music, plus an adjustable strap system and a light 22.68 g build for long, comfortable wear.
• MARLALL biggest trade-off: Bluetooth 5.4 with no published battery-life figure, so how long it runs in wireless mode is simply not stated on the spec sheet.
• RR SPORTS biggest strength: Bluetooth 6.0 with a stated 7 hours of battery life, plus support for MP3, WMA, WAV and FLAC files.
• RR SPORTS biggest trade-off: Less built-in storage in practice — around 7,000 songs versus roughly 8,000 — and no published weight figure.
• Who MARLALL is for: Swimmers and outdoor athletes who want maximum music storage and an adjustable, secure fit.
• Who RR SPORTS is for: Swimmers and runners who care most about wireless runtime and file flexibility.
The MARLALL set is a bone conduction headphone that sits outside your ear canal rather than inside it. Sound travels by vibration through your cheekbones, which means your ears stay completely open. That matters more than it sounds: on a bike, on a trail, or on a busy road, you still hear traffic and other people. The silicone enclosure and open-ear placement also mean nothing is jammed into your ear for hours at a time, which is the whole point of a comfortable open ear headphone for exercise.
Its standout feature is the 32 GB of built-in memory. In MP3 mode you can carry roughly 8,000 songs on the headset itself, no phone required. That is the mode you use in the water, because Bluetooth simply does not transmit underwater. You load your music, switch modes, and swim. The adjustable straps are designed to keep the headset locked in place without slipping, and at 22.68 g it is genuinely light on the head. The 29 g figure quoted in the description refers to the same lightweight design intent.
Bluetooth 5.4 handles everything above the waterline: calls, audiobooks, streaming, with a 10-meter range and iOS and Android compatibility. Frequency response spans 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz, and the 32-ohm impedance is a standard, easy-to-drive figure.
RR SPORTS IP68: Who It's For
The RR SPORTS headset takes the same core idea — bone conduction, open ear, silicone body — and leans harder into the wireless side. Bluetooth 6.0 is the newest version in this comparison, and RR SPORTS states up to 7 hours of battery life with a 10-meter range. For a long run, a marathon, a multi-hour ride or a full training block, that is the number that decides whether the thing dies on you halfway through.
The 32 GB MP3 mode is here too, with a magnetic charging cable used to load files from a computer. It supports MP3, WMA, WAV and FLAC, so if your library is in lossless or Windows Media format, this one plays it. The capacity is quoted at around 7,000 songs — slightly fewer than MARLALL, but more than enough for anyone's realistic playlist.
The IP68 rating is the other headline: fully waterproof and moisture-resistant, able to handle submersion up to 2 meters. RR SPORTS specifically says the headset can be worn with swim caps and goggles, and that a sealed build plus a nano-hydrophobic coating keeps sweat, rain and pool water out. For a sweat resistant ear clip style headphone used in exercise, that is exactly the reassurance you want. The description also notes a simple maintenance habit: dry it with a soft cloth after a workout and make sure it is dry before charging.
Who should buy it? Swimmers who want the waterproofing spelled out in detail, and runners or cyclists who need a stated 7-hour wireless runtime. Who should skip it? Anyone who wants the absolute largest on-board library, or who prefers a headset with a published weight — RR SPORTS does not list one. There is a 1-year manufacturer warranty, and the package includes the magnetic charging cable and a user manual.
• Best for battery life → RR SPORTS IP68. It is the only one of the two with a stated runtime, up to 7 hours.
• Best for music storage → MARLALL Liquid Silicone Swimming. 32 GB holding roughly 8,000 songs beats roughly 7,000.
• Best for audio file formats → RR SPORTS IP68. MP3, WMA, WAV and FLAC versus MP3 mode on the MARLALL.
• Best for the newest Bluetooth standard → RR SPORTS IP68. Bluetooth 6.0 versus Bluetooth 5.4.
• Best for a very light build → MARLALL Liquid Silicone Swimming. 22.68 g with an adjustable strap system.
• Best for detailed waterproofing guidance → RR SPORTS IP68. It states submersion up to 2 meters and wear with caps and goggles.
• Best for lossless-library swimmers → RR SPORTS IP68. FLAC support means no re-encoding before you load your files.
• Best for a simple, strap-secured fit → MARLALL Liquid Silicone Swimming. Adjustable straps are the core of its fit story.
For exercise, I would buy the RR SPORTS IP68. In my opinion, a stated 7-hour Bluetooth runtime is the single most useful number on either spec sheet, because wireless mode is what you use for running, cycling, lifting and commuting — and it is the mode where a headset either lasts your session or does not. The Bluetooth 6.0 connection and the FLAC/WAV/WMA support are real, usable advantages for anyone with a large music library, and the IP68 detail about wearing it with a swim cap and goggles tells me the design was genuinely thought through for swimmers rather than adapted from a running product.
The MARLALL is the better pick if your priority is squeezing the largest possible song library onto the device itself, or if you want the lightest possible headset with an adjustable strap fit. But since neither brand publishes a perfect spec sheet, I would check the current price on Amazon for both before deciding, and go with the one whose strengths line up with how you actually train.
what is ambient aware on headphones
Ambient aware — sometimes called aware mode or transparency mode — is a feature that pipes outside sound into your ears on purpose so you can hear traffic, announcements or a training partner. Neither headset in this comparison has active noise control or an aware mode listed; both are open-ear bone conduction designs, so you hear your surroundings naturally all the time.
how to turn off aware mode bose headphones
That is a Bose-specific setting, usually cycled through the Bose app or a button on the earcup. It does not apply here. Neither the MARLALL nor the RR SPORTS headset has an aware mode to turn off, because bone conduction leaves your ear canal open by design.
how to turn on aware mode on bose headphones
On Bose models you typically toggle it in the companion app or with a dedicated control. On these two headsets there is no such mode and no app-based control listed, so there is nothing to switch on — the open-ear fit already gives you continuous awareness of what is around you.
how to turn off aware mode on jlab headphones
JLab handles that through its own app or button controls, depending on the model. Not relevant to this pair. Both the MARLALL and the RR SPORTS use bone conduction drivers with no noise control of any kind, so ambient sound is simply always present.
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