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
If you want a simple pair of wired USB-C earbuds that just plug in and play, choose MAS CARNEY USBC Headphones; if you need to keep a 3.5mm headphone alive on a phone with no headphone jack — while charging at the same time — choose MTAKYI 2-in-2. These two products look like they belong in the same shopping cart, but they solve completely different problems. One is the earphone. The other is the adapter that lets your old earphone survive on a modern phone.
MAS CARNEY USBC Headphones vs MTAKYI 2-in-2 at a Glance
• MAS CARNEY USBC Headphones — biggest strength: a true wired USB-C in-ear headphone with a built-in mic, a 120 ohm impedance rating, and a direct Type-C connection. No dongle, no adapter, no extra part to lose.
• MAS CARNEY USBC Headphones — biggest trade-off: it's a straight USB-C plug, so it only works with devices that actually have a USB-C port. It has no noise control, no charging passthrough, and no 3.5mm option.
• MTAKYI 2-in-2 — biggest strength: a magnetic Lightning + USB-C to 3.5mm splitter with an MFi certified chip, a built-in DAC supporting up to 48KHz/24-bit output, and music-plus-charging at the same time.
• Who each pick is for: MAS CARNEY for anyone who wants one cable, one device, done. MTAKYI for anyone with a good 3.5mm headset and a phone that dropped the jack.
The MAS CARNEY USBC Headphones (model TH7) are a wired USB-C in-ear headphone with a built-in microphone. The pitch here is simplicity: the earbuds terminate in a USB-C connector, so they go straight into the port on a compatible phone, tablet or console without any adapter sitting in between. The data sheet lists compatibility with iPhone 15/16/17, iPad Pro, Samsung Galaxy S26/S25/A53, Google Pixel and PS4 — in other words, the modern USB-C generation of devices rather than the older Lightning era.
Two specs stand out when you read the sheet properly. First, the impedance is rated at 120 ohm. That's on the higher side for a simple in-ear set, and in practical terms higher-impedance earbuds tend to draw less current and can behave a little differently from the typical low-impedance buds bundled with phones — they generally reward a source with a bit of output headroom, and they can help tame background hiss on noisier outputs. Second, there's no noise control listed at all. No active noise cancellation, no transparency mode. This is a passive, straight-wired listening tool.
The design is an in-ear shape in black, with the listing noting both plastic and metal shell options. It's rated at a very light 0.02 kg, so it's the kind of thing you forget is in your pocket. It carries the Amazon Standard Warranty and ships as a single item.
Buy it if you want zero fuss: one cable from your phone to your ears, a mic for calls, and a USB-C plug that matches the port your device already has. It's a sensible pick for commuters, students, office calls, and PS4 sessions where you just want to plug in and hear something.
MTAKYI 2-in-2: Who It's For
The MTAKYI 2-in-2 is a different kind of purchase entirely. It's a 2-in-2 Lightning + USB-C to 3.5mm adapter — a splitter that connects a phone without a headphone jack to a standard 3.5mm headphone, headset or speaker, and lets you charge at the same time. It is not an earphone. It's the bridge between the earphone you already own and the phone that refuses to accept it.
The headline feature is that dual input. The Lightning connector covers iPhone 14/13/12/11 families, while the USB-C connector covers iPhone 16/15 families, Samsung Galaxy S24 down through S21 and Note series, Pixel 4, Huawei, OnePlus and more. So one adapter spans both the old and new iPhone connector generations — genuinely useful if your household has a mix of devices.
The internals matter too. MTAKYI states the adapter uses an Apple MFi certified chip, which is the part that matters most in this category because it's what keeps the phone from throwing compatibility error messages at you. There's a built-in DAC chip supporting up to 48KHz and 24-bit audio output, plus what the listing describes as Super Noise Reduction Technology for a clean, stable signal without current noise. For anyone who remembers cheap unbranded dongles, that DAC spec is the reason a good adapter sounds like your headphones and a bad one doesn't.
Then there's the physical design. The magnetic connection is the signature trick: the two halves snap together when you want them tidy and pull apart when you need to separate charging from audio, which cuts down on the tangled mess a splitter usually creates. The shell is silver aluminium alloy, chosen for heat and corrosion resistance, and MTAKYI says the unit has been tested through 20,000+ bending cycles on the strain relief and 15,000 bending life cycles overall. It weighs 0.07 kg and carries a 12-month warranty.
Buy it if you own a decent pair of 3.5mm headphones and a phone with no jack, you want to listen and charge simultaneously, or you're juggling both Lightning and USB-C devices in one house.
Skip it if you don't own 3.5mm earphones, or if you'd rather not carry a dongle at all. If you're starting from scratch, buying an adapter plus headphones is more moving parts than buying one USB-C headphone.
• Best for a one-piece solution → MAS CARNEY USBC Headphones. Earbuds, cable, mic and connector in a single product. Nothing to attach, nothing to lose.
• Best for keeping your existing 3.5mm headphones → MTAKYI 2-in-2. It exists purely to make old wired gear work on jackless phones.
• Best for listening while charging → MTAKYI 2-in-2. The splitter is built for music plus charge at the same time. MAS CARNEY has no charging passthrough.
• Best for cross-generation device households → MTAKYI 2-in-2. Lightning and USB-C in one adapter covers both iPhone 14/13-era and iPhone 16/15-era phones.
• Best for the simplest USB-C phone setup → MAS CARNEY USBC Headphones. If your phone, tablet or PS4 has USB-C, you skip the adapter layer entirely.
• Best for audio conversion quality on paper → MTAKYI 2-in-2. A dedicated DAC rated to 48KHz/24-bit is a more specific audio claim than anything on the MAS CARNEY sheet.
• Best for light, minimal carry → MAS CARNEY USBC Headphones. At 0.02 kg it's a fraction of the adapter's 0.07 kg, and there's no second component to keep track of.
• Best for ruggedness claims → MTAKYI 2-in-2. The listed bending-cycle testing and aluminium alloy shell are durability-focused specs the earbuds don't attempt.
• Best for noise control → neither, honestly. MAS CARNEY lists no noise control; MTAKYI's noise reduction is signal cleanup inside the adapter, not active noise cancellation.
In my opinion, the right answer depends entirely on what's already in your drawer. If you have no wired headphones and your device has USB-C, I'd buy the MAS CARNEY USBC Headphones — it's the cleaner purchase, it does the whole job on its own, and there's no adapter to misplace. If you already love a pair of 3.5mm headphones and your phone has no jack, I'd buy the MTAKYI 2-in-2 instead, because no USB-C earbud will ever let you use the headphones you already own while topping up your battery. Neither is universally better. They're two halves of the same modern-phone problem.
FAQ
Yes — that's the core idea of the 2-in-2 design. It splits audio and charging so you can listen and power up at the same time. The MAS CARNEY earbuds use the port for audio only and don't offer charging passthrough.
The MAS CARNEY set lists compatibility with iPhone 15/16/17 and iPad Pro over USB-C. The MTAKYI adapter's USB-C side lists iPhone 16/15 families, and its Lightning side covers iPhone 14/13/12/11 — so it spans both connector generations.
They're not competing on the same job, so value depends on your setup. If you need headphones, the all-in-one MAS CARNEY avoids buying two parts; if you need to rescue existing 3.5mm headphones, the MTAKYI adapter is the only one of the two that can do it. Check the current price on Amazon for each before deciding.
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