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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 design that keeps your ears completely unblocked during runs, rides and gym sessions, choose Monster Open Ear AC336; if you need marathon battery life, a neckband that stays put, and built-in extras like a TF card slot and a voice-return karaoke mode, choose YUEPOOL Neckband Headphones.
These two headphones sit at opposite ends of the same idea. Both are wireless, both use Bluetooth 6.0, and both are aimed at people who move. But Monster solves the problem with a featherweight ear hook that never enters your ear canal, while YUEPOOL solves it with a flexible neckband that carries a huge battery and a few genuinely unusual features. Neither is "better" in a vacuum — it comes down to what you actually do with your headphones.
• Monster Open Ear AC336 — biggest strength: a true open-ear hook design with 13mm drivers, Qualcomm apt-X HD decoding and IPX6 water resistance, so nothing blocks your ear canal and sweat is not a threat.
• Monster Open Ear AC336 — biggest trade-off: battery life is a 21-hour total figure with the charging case, and the case is what you have to remember to carry; there is no active noise cancellation and no wired fallback.
• YUEPOOL Neckband Headphones — biggest strength: a rated 100 hours of playback from one charge, plus a TF card slot so you can listen without a phone at all, and a voice-return mode for practicing singing or a foreign language.
• YUEPOOL Neckband Headphones — biggest trade-off: it is an in-ear neckband, so your ear canals are sealed, the neckband is always around your neck, and the controls are physical buttons rather than touch.
• Pick Monster Open Ear AC336 if you want awareness of traffic, your surroundings and your own breathing while you train.
• Pick YUEPOOL Neckband Headphones if you want to charge once and forget about it for days, or you want offline playback and vocal practice built in.
The AC336 is built around one decision: nothing goes inside your ear. The drivers sit outside the canal on a shape-memory hook, and Monster pairs that with a 13mm dynamic driver, a dedicated digital audio processor and Qualcomm apt-X HD decoding. In practice that combination is aimed at people who care about detail in their music but refuse to trade away awareness. You hear the track and you hear the car behind you. For runners on open roads, cyclists in traffic and anyone working out in a shared gym, that is the whole point.
The second thing the spec sheet tells you is that this is a light, forget-it's-there design. Monster describes the hooks as thinner, lighter and more secure than typical headphones, using a shape-memory hardshell that holds its shape over long wear. Bluetooth 6.0 gives you a stable link up to 33 feet, and auto power-on and pairing means they connect the moment you lift them out of the case. Calls get ENC processing, which filters background noise so your voice comes through on a busy street or in a café. Touch controls handle playback, and IPX6 means sweat and rain are not a problem.
The trade-offs are real. Battery is 7 hours on a single charge at moderate volume, extended to 21 hours total by the compact case, with USB-C fast charging that gives roughly an hour of playback from a 10-minute top-up. That is plenty for a week of workouts, but it is nothing like a hundred hours. There is also no active noise cancellation — the design deliberately lets the world in. And with an open-ear hook, bass will never hit like a sealed in-ear. If you want maximum isolation or you simply dislike the feeling of a hook over your ear, this is not the model for you.
YUEPOOL takes the opposite approach and leans hard into endurance. The headline number is 100 hours of playback, driven by a large-capacity lithium-ion battery and a low-power chip, with a percentage battery readout and volume display so you always know where you stand. If you are the kind of person who resents charging something every couple of days — long shifts, multi-day trips, back-to-back training blocks — that single figure reframes the whole purchase.
Then there are the features you will not find on most headphones at any level. There is a TF card slot: load your own tracks onto a memory card, four-click the power button, and you are listening with no phone involved at all. That is genuinely useful for a run where you would rather leave the phone at home. There is also a real-time sound return mode — a karaoke-style function that pipes your own voice back through the earbuds so you can hear yourself clearly. YUEPOOL positions it for people practicing singing or spoken foreign-language drills, and it can be toggled on or off with the button. Add a noise-cancelling microphone for clearer calls in noisy outdoor settings, Bluetooth 6.0, and a flexible adjustable neckband with soft in-ear tips in an IPX5 sweat- and dust-resistant build.
The costs of all that are straightforward. It is an in-ear neckband, so your ear canals are sealed and the band rests on your neck all day — comfortable for many people over long sessions, but not for everyone, and not the right choice if you want to hear traffic. The controls are push buttons, which some people prefer and others find fiddly. And the extras only matter if you will actually use them; if you will never touch the TF slot or the voice-return mode, you are carrying the neckband for battery life alone.
• Best for all-day situational awareness → Monster Open Ear AC336. Open-ear hooks mean traffic, training partners and announcements all come through.
• Best for battery life → YUEPOOL Neckband Headphones. 100 hours versus 21 hours total with the Monster case is not a close contest.
• Best for high-fidelity listening specs → Monster Open Ear AC336. 13mm drivers, a dedicated audio processor and Qualcomm apt-X HD decoding are the more serious audio package on paper.
• Best for phone-free playback → YUEPOOL Neckband Headphones. The TF card slot lets you leave the phone behind entirely.
• Best for vocal or language practice → YUEPOOL Neckband Headphones. The real-time sound return mode is a feature nothing on the Monster side matches.
• Best for sweat-heavy outdoor training → Monster Open Ear AC336. IPX6 is the higher water-resistance rating of the two.
• Best for call clarity in noisy places → YUEPOOL Neckband Headphones. It pairs a noise-cancelling microphone with active noise cancellation.
• Best for quick top-ups → Monster Open Ear AC336. USB-C fast charging gives about an hour of playback from a 10-minute charge.
• Best for a lighter, less noticeable fit → Monster Open Ear AC336. Hooks versus a neckband is a genuine comfort preference, but the AC336 is the more minimal option.
If I had to pick one for myself, I would take the Monster Open Ear AC336. In my opinion the open-ear hook is the more useful design for the way most people actually use sports headphones — short, frequent sessions where hearing your surroundings matters more than squeezing out maximum runtime. The 21-hour total battery is more than enough for a week of workouts, and the audio package with apt-X HD and 13mm drivers is the one I would rather listen to critically. I would only switch to the YUEPOOL Neckband Headphones if battery life is my top priority or I specifically want the TF card slot and voice-return practice mode. Both are worth checking the current price on before you commit.
YUEPOOL by a wide margin. The neckband is rated at 100 hours of playback on a charge, while the Monster AC336 gives 7 hours per charge and 21 hours total using its charging case.
Only the YUEPOOL supports that. It has a TF card slot, so you can load music onto a card and switch to it without any Bluetooth connection. The Monster AC336 is wireless-only and needs a paired device.
YUEPOOL does — it has active noise cancellation and an in-ear seal. Monster does not; the open-ear design intentionally leaves your ear canal open so you stay aware of your surroundings.
The Monster AC336 carries the higher IPX6 water-resistance rating, so it is the safer bet against sweat and rain. YUEPOOL is rated IPX5, which still handles sweat and dust but offers less protection.
That depends on what bothers you. Monster uses light shape-memory hooks that stay off your ear canal, while YUEPOOL uses a flexible neckband with soft, adjustable tips but keeps a band around your neck the whole time.
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