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We compare products from their published specs and features; the verdicts below are our independent editorial opinions.
Updated: 2026-09-27 · 7 min read · Independent comparison
• MARLALL Soft Liquid Silicone, biggest strength: a true swim-first design — IPX8 immersion protection, an ear-hook fit that stays put in water, and 32GB of built-in storage so you can play music with no phone nearby.
• MARLALL Soft Liquid Silicone, biggest trade-off: it only works as advertised underwater in MP3 mode. Bluetooth does not carry through water, so you have to load tracks onto the internal memory first.
• Yistao Bone Conduction Headphones, biggest strength: all-day versatility — a charging case that takes total playtime to 30 hours, IP68 sealing against rain and sweat, plus RGB lighting for night visibility.
• Yistao Bone Conduction Headphones, biggest trade-off: no built-in music storage and no swim-rated underwater playback story. It is built for land sports, commuting and workouts, not laps.
• Who each pick is for: MARLALL for swimmers and water-sports people who want phone-free music in the water; Yistao for runners, cyclists and commuters who want long battery life and to be seen after dark.
The MARLALL Soft Liquid Silicone is a specialist. Nearly every design decision points at one job: keeping music playing while you are submerged. The IPX8 rating means it resists water immersion, which is the category that matters for swimming, snorkeling and surfing. The overmold liquid silicone is skin-friendly and soft, and the ear-hook shape spreads pressure instead of clamping down on one spot — useful when you are wearing them for a long session in chlorinated water.
The clever part is the 32GB of internal storage. Because Bluetooth does not work underwater, MARLALL built in an MP3 player instead. You load your playlist onto the headphones themselves, and the music plays without any phone or connection involved. A magnetic charging cable doubles as the data path, letting you plug straight into a computer to manage those playlists. Charging takes about 1.5 hours and returns up to 7 hours of playback, which covers most training sessions and then some. At 22.68 g it stays light, and the open-ear design keeps you aware of your surroundings — traffic on a run, or other swimmers and lifeguards in a pool.
Who should buy it? Swimmers, triathletes, and anyone doing water sports who is tired of leaving their phone on the pool deck. Who should skip it? If you mostly want headphones for the gym, the commute or the office, the swim-first compromises are not worth it. You would be paying for waterproofing and internal storage you never use, and you would be managing playlists manually instead of just pairing over Bluetooth.
Yistao Bone Conduction Headphones: Who It's For
The Yistao Bone Conduction Headphones are the generalist of this pair, and they are built around a very different priority: get you through a full week of activity without babysitting a charger. On a single charge you get up to 7 hours, and the included charging case adds up to four more recharges for a total of roughly 30 hours. That is the kind of number that makes a difference if you run daily, commute, or just hate remembering to plug things in.
The audio side is where Yistao puts its engineering story. Bone conduction drivers send sound through vibration rather than into the ear canal, and the brand's SonicBoost Tech 2.0 is described as enhancing vocals by 24% for clearer conversation and lyrics. SonicDirect Tech 2.0 is aimed at reducing sound leakage by 18% so people around you hear less of your audio, and Harmonic Amplification Technology is said to lift mid-to-high frequencies by 50% for more detail. I take those figures as the manufacturer's own design targets rather than independent measurements, but the direction is clear: this is a pair tuned to sound richer than a bare-bones bone conduction set.
The standout feature for outdoor athletes is the RGB lighting. Yistao describes a 100mcd dynamic lighting design with brightness comparable to a single bicycle taillight LED, which meaningfully raises how visible you are on a night run or ride. The open-ear fit also keeps you aware of traffic and your surroundings. One caveat straight from the specs: playtime in Aurora Mode drops to 3 hours, so if you leave the lights blazing, the battery math changes.
Fit-wise, each earbud weighs less than 0.24 oz — the brand compares it to a single coin — and the oval contact surface is shaped to follow the ear's contour, with skin-friendly silicone keeping things comfortable. Yistao also says this generation is 22% lighter than the previous one. The IP68 rating covers rain, humidity and heavy sweat, and a hydrophobic coating helps prevent water buildup so the headphones stay cleaner and last longer.
Side-by-Side: Which Should You Choose?
• Best for swimming → MARLALL Soft Liquid Silicone. IPX8 immersion protection plus MP3 mode is the only combination here that works underwater.
• Best for phone-free music → MARLALL Soft Liquid Silicone. The built-in 32GB player means no device, no pairing, no signal to lose.
• Best for total battery life → Yistao Bone Conduction Headphones. Up to 7 hours per charge and around 30 hours with the case.
• Best for night running and cycling → Yistao Bone Conduction Headphones. The RGB lighting is specifically there to make you more visible in low light.
• Best for rain and sweaty workouts → Yistao Bone Conduction Headphones. IP68 plus a hydrophobic coating is aimed at exactly this.
• Best for a secure fit in water → MARLALL Soft Liquid Silicone. The ear-hook design is built to resist slipping and shifting during sport.
• Best for commuting and everyday wear → Yistao Bone Conduction Headphones. Lighter per earbud and paired with a charging case for grab-and-go use.
• Best if you want richer tuning claims → Yistao Bone Conduction Headphones. The vocal, leakage and frequency work is the more detailed audio story of the two.
In my opinion, the right pick comes down to one question: is water the point? If you swim, snorkel or surf and you want music with you, I would buy the MARLALL Soft Liquid Silicone. The IPX8 build and 32GB MP3 player solve a problem no ordinary pair of open-ear headphones can solve, and the ear-hook fit is designed for exactly that environment.
If you never get in the water, I would buy the Yistao Bone Conduction Headphones instead. The 30-hour total playtime, IP68 sealing, lighter per-earbud weight and night-visibility lighting make it the more useful everyday companion. Whichever you lean toward, check the current price on Amazon before deciding — the numbers move, and the specs above are what should actually drive your choice.
FAQ
how to bone conduction headphones work
Bone conduction drivers vibrate against the bone near your ear and send sound straight to your inner ear, bypassing the ear canal. That is why both of these stay open-ear: your ears are never blocked, so you keep hearing traffic and surroundings. On the Yistao, the brand layers extra vocal and frequency tuning on top of that basic principle.
Rest the transducers on the bone just in front of your ear, not inside the canal, and adjust until the fit feels even. The MARLALL uses an ear-hook shape that spreads pressure for long sessions, while the Yistao uses an oval contact surface shaped to the ear's contour. Both are designed to sit lightly rather than clamp.
how to use bone conduction headphones
For land use, pair them over Bluetooth and play from your phone — that covers the Yistao and the MARLALL in dry conditions. For swimming, the MARLALL must be in MP3 mode with tracks loaded onto its 32GB internal memory, since Bluetooth does not work underwater. Note that phone-app music cannot be copied directly to that memory card; you load files via the magnetic cable and a computer.
are these good for swimming
The MARLALL Soft Liquid Silicone is the one built for it: IPX8 immersion protection, an ear-hook fit, and a 32GB MP3 player for phone-free playback in the water. The Yistao is IP68 and handles rain, sweat and humidity, but it has no built-in storage or underwater playback mode, so it is a land-sports headphone. In my opinion, swimmers should go MARLALL without much hesitation.
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