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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 pair of headphones built specifically to survive lap after lap in the pool with music stored on board, choose MARLALL Swimming Headphones-Bone Conduction; if you need a do-everything wearable for recording, translating and documenting your day on dry land, choose sucegi E12. These two look similar on the shelf — both are open-ear, bone conduction designs in black — but they are aimed at completely different people. One is a swim-first MP3 player you wear on your head. The other is a pocket-sized AI assistant you happen to wear on your head.
• MARLALL's biggest strength: a true IP68 waterproof rating plus 32 GB of built-in MP3 storage, so it keeps playing music underwater where Bluetooth simply cannot reach.
• MARLALL's biggest trade-off: you must switch to MP3 mode before you get in the water — Bluetooth does not work submerged, and the mic needs drying after a swim for clean calls.
• sucegi E12's biggest strength: a 3-in-1 camera, voice recorder and bone conduction headset with a dual AI system for real-time translation, meeting notes and object recognition.
• sucegi E12's biggest trade-off: IP65 means sweat, dust and light rain only — it is not built for immersion, so a pool session is off the table.
• Who MARLALL is for: swimmers, snorkelers and water-sports people who want music with no phone nearby.
• Who sucegi E12 is for: vloggers, business users, students and anyone who wants recording and translation on the move.
The MARLALL S800 is designed around one problem: how do you listen to music while your head is underwater? Bluetooth signals do not travel through water, so MARLALL sidesteps the issue entirely. There is 32 GB of internal memory on board — enough for roughly 8,000 songs according to the manufacturer — and you load it up over the included magnetic charging cable, which doubles as a way to manage playlists from a computer. Once you are in the pool, you switch to MP3 mode and the headphones play from their own storage. No phone, no armband, no pouch.
The build backs that up. The IP68 rating covers immersion, sweat, rain and dust, and the sealed nano-coated construction is meant to hold up against chlorinated pool water and saltwater alike. The frame is liquid silicone, which the brand describes as skin-friendly and pressure-free, and the whole unit weighs about 22.68 g — light enough that you are not fighting it during a set of laps. Bone conduction means nothing goes inside your ear canal, which matters when you are wearing a swim cap and goggles and want to stay aware of what is around you in open water. The adjustable straps let you snug it down so it does not shift mid-stroke.
Who should buy it: swimmers who train regularly, snorkelers, boaters, and anyone doing outdoor sports where they want their ears open and their phone left behind. It also works as an everyday Bluetooth 5.4 headset on land, with a 10-metre range and hands-free calling, so it is not a one-trick pool toy.
Who should skip it: if you want a single device for recording meetings, shooting video or translating conversations, this is not that product. And if the idea of manually transferring files to internal storage sounds like a hassle, the MP3-mode workflow will annoy you. Two practical notes from the spec sheet worth remembering: Bluetooth mode is not supported underwater, and the microphone should be dried after a swim to keep calls clear. MARLALL backs it with a one-year warranty.
The sucegi E12 is a very different animal. Its headline feature is the 3-in-1 integration: a camera, a voice recorder and bone conduction headphones in one unit. The pitch is about cutting down the gear you carry — instead of a camera, a separate recorder and a headset, you wear one thing. Around that core sits a dual AI system you wake by saying "Hi, Luma," which supports real-time translation, automatic meeting notes and object recognition, and is compatible with OpenAI and Tongyi Qianwen.
For audio itself, the E12 uses a 10 mm dynamic driver with 32 ohm impedance, a 20 Hz frequency response and 105 sensitivity, with 60 ms of latency — the kind of numbers that suit speech and casual listening more than critical music sessions. Controls are touch, push-button and voice, and there is no active noise control, which is consistent with the open-ear approach: the earhooks are aviation silicone and leave your canals unblocked so you stay aware of traffic, coworkers and surroundings. It connects over Bluetooth (the sheet lists Bluetooth 6.0) with a 33-foot range.
Battery is a genuine strong point. A full charge takes about 1.5 hours and delivers roughly 10 hours of playback, and a 10-minute quick charge gets you about an hour of audio — useful when you are heading out the door and realise you forgot to plug in. Protection is IP65, meaning sweat, dust and light rain are fine, but submersion is not. It ships with a cable and user manual and carries a one-year warranty.
Who should buy it: vloggers and outdoor creators, business people who want meeting documentation and translation, students learning a language, and anyone who takes a lot of calls and wants their ears open while doing it. Who should skip it: swimmers, snorkelers and anyone who wants to take audio into the water. IP65 will not survive a lap pool, and there is no built-in music storage here — playback depends on a connected device.
• Best for swimming → MARLALL Swimming Headphones-Bone Conduction. IP68 plus 32 GB of MP3 storage is the only combination here that works underwater.
• Best for recording and note-taking → sucegi E12. The built-in camera, voice recorder and AI meeting notes are features MARLALL simply does not have.
• Best for battery life → sucegi E12. Around 10 hours per charge with a 10-minute quick charge for an hour of playback.
• Best for water resistance → MARLALL. IP68 immersion protection versus IP65 splash and sweat resistance.
• Best for translation and language learning → sucegi E12. Real-time translation through the "Hi, Luma" AI system.
• Best for phone-free listening → MARLALL. 32 GB of internal storage means you can leave your phone in the locker.
• Best for everyday calls and commuting → either, but it depends. MARLALL offers Bluetooth 5.4 and a 10-metre range; sucegi offers Bluetooth 6.0, a 33-foot range and touch/voice controls.
• Best for a single do-everything device → sucegi E12, provided your "everything" happens on dry land.
If I had to pick one, I would buy the MARLALL Swimming Headphones-Bone Conduction — for the simple reason that it does something the sucegi E12 cannot do at all. IP68 immersion protection combined with 32 GB of onboard storage solves a real problem, and the MP3-mode workflow is a fair trade for music in the water. In my opinion, the sucegi E12 is the smarter buy only if your priorities are recording, translation and meeting notes rather than swimming. Decide which of those two problems you actually have, and the choice makes itself. Either way, check the current price on Amazon before you commit, since both sit in very different feature brackets.
No. Bluetooth signals cannot be transmitted underwater, so you must switch to MP3 mode before swimming. That is exactly why the 32 GB of internal storage exists — it plays music without any wireless connection.
I would not recommend it. The sucegi E12 carries an IP65 rating, which covers sweat, dust and light rain, not immersion. It is built for vlogs, outdoor recording, business use and daily calls, not pool laps.
Both handle calls over Bluetooth, but they work differently. The MARLALL uses Bluetooth 5.4 with a 10-metre range and needs the microphone dried after a swim. The sucegi E12 uses Bluetooth 6.0 with a 33-foot range plus touch and voice controls.
The sucegi E12 lists around 10 hours of playback with a 1.5-hour full charge and a 10-minute quick charge for about an hour of audio. MARLALL does not publish an equivalent playback figure in its specs, so the E12 is the clearer choice if long runtime is your priority.
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