We compare products from their published specs and features; the verdicts below are our independent editorial opinions.
Updated: 2026-09-22 · 7 min read · Independent comparison
If you want a featherweight neckband you can wear all day and forget about, choose Qiilu Sx991; if you need proper over-ear immersion with big drivers and marathon battery, choose EKSA Headphones Over Ear.
• Qiilu Sx991 biggest strength: the neck-hanging, telescopic earbud design — 0.13 kg of ABS plastic that folds away when you're not listening, plus dual-device Bluetooth and a huge standby figure.
• Qiilu Sx991 biggest trade-off: it's an in-ear neckband, not a real headphone. You get earbud tips, Class 2 transmit power, and no wired jack at all.
• EKSA Headphones Over Ear biggest strength: over-ear cups, custom 40mm drivers, Hi-Res tuning up to 20 kHz, 6 EQ modes, app control, and a 90-hour battery life.
• EKSA Headphones Over Ear biggest trade-off: it's the heavier, bulkier object on this page, and its Hi-Res mode only works through the included 3.5mm cable — Bluetooth won't give you that.
• Qiilu Sx991 is for commuters, call-heavy workdays, and anyone who hates things pressing on their ears.
• EKSA Headphones Over Ear is for people who want to sit down, put cups over their ears, and actually listen.
The Qiilu Sx991 is best understood as a communication tool that happens to play music. It uses a hanging neck design with telescopic earbuds that pull out when you need them and retract when you don't. The whole thing is ABS plastic, weighs 0.13 kg, and folds up for storage. If you've ever had a headband dig into the top of your skull on a long train ride, that design choice will make immediate sense.
Where it earns its place is calls. Qiilu specifies CVC wideband noise reduction, so the mic is tuned to keep your voice intelligible in noisy surroundings rather than to flatter a bass line. It runs a CSR 5.0 Bluetooth chip with separate connection functions and can hold two Bluetooth devices at once — genuinely useful if you're flipping between a laptop and a phone all afternoon. Voice control, push-button controls, a call vibration reminder, and an EQ switch round out the feature set. Bluetooth range is listed at up to 10 metres, or about 32.8 feet.
The battery numbers are the headline: roughly 18 hours of talk time, at least 16 hours of playback, and 300 hours of standby, with a charge time of up to 3.5 hours. Practically, that means you can leave the charger at home for a week of meetings. There's no headphone jack anywhere on it — it's wireless only.
EKSA Headphones Over Ear: Who It's For
The EKSA Headphones Over Ear (model V16) is the traditional answer to the same question. It's an over-ear Bluetooth headphone built around custom oversized 40mm dynamic drivers, with a frequency range of 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz, 32 ohm impedance and 122 dB sensitivity. In plain terms: it's an efficient, easy-to-drive design that should get loud without much effort, and the claimed extended highs up to 20 kHz are what the Hi-Res Audio label is pointing at.
Read the fine print, though, because EKSA says it themselves: Hi-Res mode only works with the included 3.5mm cable. Over Bluetooth you're hearing the standard wireless path. That's normal for this category, but it matters if Hi-Res is the reason you're looking at this pair. The included cable is also your fallback when the battery eventually runs dry on a long flight.
Bluetooth 5.4 is the newer standard of the two on this page, and noise control comes via Environmental Noise Cancellation. EQ is handled through an app rather than a physical switch, and EKSA lists six EQ modes — so you can push it toward bass, vocals or something flatter depending on what you're doing. The battery side is the showstopper: 90 hours of average life and a 15-minute charge time. Fifteen minutes. That's a coffee break that buys you a full workday. A 2-year warranty is also part of the package.
Who should buy it? Someone who wants over-ear comfort, app-based tuning, wired Hi-Res listening when they want it, and battery they never have to think about. Who should skip it? If you can't stand anything on your ears, or you want something that disappears into a pocket, the Qiilu design is the better fit. The EKSA is the heavier, bulkier object here.
• Best for battery life → EKSA Headphones Over Ear. 90 hours versus roughly 17 hours, plus a 15-minute charge versus up to 3.5 hours.
• Best for calls in noisy places → Qiilu Sx991. CVC wideband noise reduction and a call vibration reminder are built around voice, not music.
• Best for sound quality potential → EKSA Headphones Over Ear. 40mm dynamic drivers, 20 Hz–20 kHz, Hi-Res mode over the included cable.
• Best for all-day comfort without ear pressure → Qiilu Sx991. Neck-hanging, telescopic earbuds at 0.13 kg with no headband clamping force.
• Best for wired listening → EKSA Headphones Over Ear. It has a 3.5mm jack; the Qiilu has no jack at all.
• Best for tuning flexibility → EKSA Headphones Over Ear. Six EQ modes through the app beat a single EQ switch on the neckband.
• Best for pairing multiple devices → Qiilu Sx991. It connects two Bluetooth devices at the same time, which the EKSA sheet doesn't claim.
• Best for travel and storage → either, depending on shape. Both fold, but the Qiilu's neckband format packs flatter.
• Best for newer wireless standard → EKSA Headphones Over Ear. Bluetooth 5.4 versus Bluetooth 5.0.
In my opinion, the EKSA Headphones Over Ear is the better buy for most people, and it's the one I'd pick. The 40mm drivers, 20 Hz–20 kHz range, app EQ, 3.5mm fallback and 90-hour battery simply cover more ground — music, movies, flights, work. The 15-minute charge is the detail I keep coming back to; it removes battery anxiety almost entirely.
That said, I'd genuinely recommend the Qiilu Sx991 to a specific buyer: the person who lives on calls, hates ear pressure, and wants something that folds into a bag and runs for days on standby. Neither is a compromise if you match it to the job. Before deciding, check the current price on Amazon for both — the value equation shifts with whatever each one costs today.
For calls specifically, yes — in my opinion. The Qiilu uses CVC wideband noise reduction and adds a call vibration reminder, and its neckband design keeps the mic close to your mouth. The EKSA has a microphone too, but its strengths are audio drivers and battery, not voice isolation.
That's the figure EKSA lists for average battery life, with a 15-minute charge time. Real-world numbers depend on volume and whether you're using noise cancellation or the app EQ. Even conservatively, 90 hours is roughly five times the Qiilu's playback estimate.
Depends on the trip. The EKSA folds and gives you 90 hours plus a 3.5mm cable for in-flight entertainment systems. The Qiilu folds too and is far lighter at 0.13 kg, but with no jack you're limited to Bluetooth. For long-haul flights I'd take the EKSA; for a day bag, the Qiilu.
No. The Qiilu Sx991 has no headphone jack — it's wireless only, relying on Bluetooth 5.0 with up to 10 metres of range. The EKSA is the one with the 3.5mm jack, and it's also the one whose Hi-Res mode requires that cable.
The Qiilu Sx991 does — its CSR 5.0 chip supports separate connection functions and two simultaneous Bluetooth devices. The EKSA sheet mentions dual connecting in its feature summary, so it's worth confirming which combination you need before you buy.
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See also: headphones bluetooth over ear, headphones over ear wired, DOQAUS Headphones Over Ear vs ZIOCOM Open Ear Headphones