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We compare products from their published specs and features; the verdicts below are our independent editorial opinions.
Updated: 2026-09-30 · 7 min read · Independent comparison
• Riwbox TX8 — biggest strength: a true all-rounder. Bluetooth 5.3, 40mm dynamic drivers, touch controls, a built-in mic, 40 hours of playtime and a foldable over-ear design that also accepts a 3.5mm cable.
• Riwbox TX8 — biggest trade-off: it is not waterproof and has no water rating at all, so pools, showers and heavy sweat are outside its comfort zone. It also has no noise cancelling.
• Feiltik Swimming Headphones Underwater — biggest strength: IPX8 waterproofing plus a built-in 32GB MP3 player, so you can listen fully submerged without any phone nearby.
• Feiltik Swimming Headphones Underwater — biggest trade-off: Bluetooth simply does not work underwater. You must switch to MP3 mode before you get in the water, and there is no wired jack as a fallback.
• Who each pick is for: Riwbox TX8 for commuting, travel, TV, gaming and desk work; Feiltik for swimmers, snorkelers and anyone who wants music in the water.
The TX8 is a conventional over-ear Bluetooth headphone, and it plays that role well. The spec sheet lists Bluetooth 5.3, which is a current-generation wireless standard built to improve transmission speed, stability and latency compared with older versions. Inside are 40mm dynamic drivers covering a 20Hz–20,000Hz range, so you get the full audible spectrum with the bass emphasis that large drivers usually deliver. If you watch video or play games, the lower latency claim matters more than raw sound quality.
The control scheme is the part I find most interesting. Riwbox uses touch control on the ear cup rather than physical buttons: one tap for play/pause and for answering or ending calls. The built-in microphone means you can take a call without pulling out your phone. Volume control is also handled on the headset. For someone walking, cooking or working at a desk, that is genuinely convenient.
Battery life is the headline number here: 40 hours from a 400mAh battery, with a full charge taking about 2 hours over USB-C. Riwbox frames that as "over 400 songs or the soundtrack to multiple long-haul flights," and the math holds up — 40 hours is several days of normal commuting between charges. The included nylon 3.5mm cable is a real bonus: if the battery dies or you want zero latency for gaming, you can go wired. There is also a TF card slot for local playback without a phone.
On comfort and portability, the TX8 folds and retracts, uses a metal bearing connection at the hinge, and has high-protein foam ear cups. It weighs 300g, which is on the heavier side for a headphone you might wear for hours, though the over-ear padding spreads that weight. It comes in pink with a rubber-finished enclosure.
Who should skip it: swimmers and anyone who needs water protection. There is no IP rating listed, and no noise cancelling either — so if you fly a lot and want to mute engine drone, this is not that headphone.
Feiltik Swimming Headphones Underwater: Who It's For
The Feiltik is a specialist, and it is honest about it. It is fully IPX8 waterproof and built for swimming, diving, snorkeling and water sports. IPX8 is the highest common water-ingress rating — it means the hardware is designed to be submerged, not just splashed.
The critical design decision is that Feiltik does not pretend Bluetooth works underwater. Bluetooth signals do not travel through water, so the headphone carries a built-in 32GB MP3 player — enough for roughly 8,000 songs — and you switch to MP3 mode before you get in. That is the whole trick, and it is a sensible one: no phone, no signal, no problem. You load your music, put the headphones on, and swim.
The audio approach is bone conduction, delivered through an open-ear design. Instead of pushing a driver into your ear canal, bone conduction vibrates through the bone in front of your ear, leaving your ear canals completely open. In a pool, that matters for safety and awareness — you can hear what is happening around you. It also means no in-ear pressure, no soreness after long sessions and no fit problems from water getting into a sealed tip. The sheet explicitly contrasts this with in-ear buds that cause ear pressure and soreness.
Above water, the Feiltik switches to Bluetooth 6.0 — the newest version listed in either data sheet — and supports dual device pairing, so you can keep it connected to a phone and a laptop at the same time. Charging is magnetic, which removes the usual charging port opening and is a real durability advantage on a waterproof product. The box includes the headphones, a magnetic charging cable, a protective case, swimming earplugs and a manual. It comes in beige and is listed as suitable for both adults and kids.
Who should buy it: lap swimmers, open-water swimmers, snorkelers and triathletes who want music in the water without carrying a phone, and anyone who dislikes things shoved into their ear canals.
Who should skip it: anyone who wants one headphone for everything. If most of your listening happens on a train, at a desk or in front of a TV, the bone-conduction open-ear design trades bass depth and isolation for water resistance you will never use. There is no 3.5mm jack, so wired listening is not an option.
• Best for underwater listening → Feiltik. IPX8 plus a 32GB MP3 player is the only combination here that actually works in a pool.
• Best for battery life → Riwbox TX8. 40 hours of playtime versus a device you charge between swim sessions.
• Best for calls and voice chat → Riwbox TX8. It has a built-in microphone and touch answer/hang-up. The Feiltik sheet lists no microphone.
• Best for latency-sensitive use (gaming, video) → Riwbox TX8. Bluetooth 5.3 with reduced latency, plus a 3.5mm cable for zero-latency wired use.
• Best for ear comfort over long sessions → Feiltik. Open-ear bone conduction keeps the ear canal clear and avoids in-ear soreness entirely.
• Best for staying aware of your surroundings → Feiltik. Open-ear design means you are not sealed off from traffic, lane mates or your kids.
• Best for travel and commuting → Riwbox TX8. Foldable, retractable, over-ear, with a TF card slot and a wired fallback for flights.
• Best for using with two devices at once → Feiltik. Dual device pairing lets it stay connected to two sources simultaneously on land.
In my opinion, these are not really competitors — they are two different jobs. If you want one headphone for music, calls, films, gaming and travel, I would buy the Riwbox TX8. Forty hours of playtime, touch controls, a mic, Bluetooth 5.3 and a wired option is a genuinely flexible package, and folding it into a bag is easy.
If you swim, I would buy the Feiltik without hesitation — the Riwbox simply cannot go in the water, and no amount of battery life fixes that. The bone-conduction design and 32GB of built-in storage solve a problem most headphones ignore. Buy for the water, buy for the desk; buy the wrong one and you will be disappointed either way. Check the current price on Amazon before you commit, since that is the one variable I cannot speak to here.
FAQ
what headphones have transparency mode
which airpods have transparency mode
That depends on Apple's lineup rather than on these two products, but the short answer is that transparency mode comes with models that include active noise cancellation. If hearing the world around you is the goal, the Feiltik approach — leaving the ear canal open — gets you there without any electronics at all.
how to turn airpods to transparency mode
On supported models you switch modes from the stem controls or from the connected device's settings. On the headphones compared here there is nothing to switch: Riwbox TX8 has no noise control modes, and the Feiltik is open-ear by design, so ambient sound is always audible.
do all airpods have transparency mode
No. It is tied to specific models with active noise cancellation, not to the whole line. The same logic applies to this comparison: the TX8 and the Feiltik both list noise control as "None," so if transparency-style awareness is your priority, an open-ear design is the more reliable route.
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