We compare products from their published specs and features; the verdicts below are our independent editorial opinions.
Updated: 2026-10-04 · 6 min read · Independent comparison
If you want marathon battery life and a lightweight single-ear hook for all-day calls, choose Samudgate Headphone; if you need an over-ear sport set with big drivers and a bendable titanium frame for running and hiking, choose IHAO Open Ear Earbuds. Both are open-ear designs built for people who hate stuff jammed in their ear canals — but they solve the problem in two very different ways, and one of them is clearly the better bluetooth headset for calls.
• Samudgate's biggest strength: 16 hours of playback per charge, with a 15-minute top-up that gets you roughly 300 minutes of listening — the kind of battery math that actually survives a full workday of calls and music.
• Samudgate's biggest trade-off: It's a single open-ear earbud, not a stereo pair, so you get one earpiece and one sound channel rather than two.
• IHAO's biggest strength: A bendable ABS-and-titanium-alloy frame with 50mm drivers and a deep-bass tuning, plus a design that can be rotated so either ear works.
• IHAO's biggest trade-off: Battery life is about 6 hours per charge, which is fine for a workout or a commute but not for back-to-back meeting days.
• Choose Samudgate if you're on calls constantly and want an earhook that disappears on your ear.
• Choose IHAO if you want a sporty over-ear fit that stays put through running, hiking and cycling.
Samudgate's pitch is simplicity. This is a single open-ear headphone with an earhook that rests gently on top of your ear instead of plugging the canal. At 12.8g, the earpiece itself is light enough that you're not fighting gravity every time you turn your head, and the ultra-soft silicone cushion is there to keep long sessions from turning into a pressure headache. If you've ever pulled an in-ear bud out after two hours and felt that dull ache, the appeal here is obvious.
Where it earns its keep is voice. The microphone uses noise reduction, so in a call or video conference you can speak at normal volume and still be understood, and the open design means your own voice doesn't boom back at you the way it does with sealed buds. Combine that with Bluetooth 5.2 — faster pairing, steadier connection, roughly 10m of range — and one-step auto-pairing when you open the case, and you've got a headset you can put on and forget about. Controls are touch-based: answer and hang up, play and pause, skip tracks, adjust volume. No reaching for your phone mid-call.
Who should skip it? Anyone who wants a matched stereo pair in both ears. This is one earbud. If you want soundstage and two-channel immersion, look elsewhere. Also think twice if you need serious passive isolation — open-ear means you hear the room, which is the point, but it isn't for noisy trains.
IHAO Open Ear Earbuds: Who It's For
IHAO takes the opposite route: instead of one featherweight hook, you get a light over-ear frame — 33g total — made from ABS and titanium alloy that you can bend to fit your head. The open-ear air-conduction design routes sound toward your ear without sealing it, and the fit is described as resting on your cheekbones, which is what keeps the ear burden down over longer sessions. The frame is also rotatable, so both the right and left ear can wear it — genuinely useful if you like to keep one ear free for traffic or conversation.
Audio is where IHAO leans hardest. It uses 50mm large-aperture drivers with a deep-bass function and a frequency range of 20Hz to 20,000Hz, and the spec sheet calls out in-call stereo sound. Big drivers in an open frame usually mean more low-end presence than you'd expect from this category, so if you care about music weight while you run, that's the draw. Connectivity is Bluetooth 5.0 with a 10m range, and it works across iOS, Android, Mac, PC and tablets. It can hold a connection to two devices at once, which is handy if you're hopping between a laptop and a phone.
Battery is the compromise: a 180mAh cell, 2 hours to charge, roughly 6 hours of play time and about 10 days of standby. That's a solid workout-and-commute number, not an all-day number. IPX4 sweatproofing and a no-jack wireless-only design round it out.
Who should buy it? Runners, hikers and cyclists who want a set that won't budge, plus anyone who prefers a bendable over-ear fit to an in-ear seal. Who should skip it? People who live on conference calls — six hours won't cover a heavy meeting day, and the fit style is sport-first rather than headset-first.
• Best for calls and long workdays → Samudgate Headphone. Noise-reducing mic, 16 hours of playback, touch call controls.
• Best for battery life → Samudgate Headphone. 16 hours versus about 6, plus a 15-minute charge that yields roughly 300 minutes.
• Best for music weight and bass → IHAO Open Ear Earbuds. 50mm drivers with a deep-bass function and a 20Hz–20,000Hz range.
• Best for running, hiking and cycling → IHAO Open Ear Earbuds. Bendable titanium-alloy frame, cheekbone stability, rotatable for either ear.
• Best for lighter wear → Samudgate Headphone. A 12.8g single earpiece versus a 33g over-ear frame.
• Best for newer Bluetooth → Samudgate Headphone. Bluetooth 5.2 with one-step pairing beats Bluetooth 5.0 on paper.
• Best for switching between two devices → IHAO Open Ear Earbuds. It can hold two connections at once.
• Best for keeping one ear fully open → IHAO Open Ear Earbuds. The rotatable frame lets you choose which side you wear.
For calls, I'd buy the Samudgate Headphone. In my opinion, the combination that matters here is the noise-reducing microphone, the touch call controls and 16 hours of playback — that's a full working day on one charge, and the quick-charge figure means a short top-up rescues you if you forget. The 12.8g open-ear hook is the kind of thing you stop noticing, which is exactly what you want in a headset you wear while talking.
I'd pick the IHAO Open Ear Earbuds instead if music and movement come first. The bendable frame, 50mm drivers and rotatable fit are built for running and riding, and the lower battery life is a fair trade for that sport-first design. Before you commit, check the current price on Amazon for both — the numbers move around, and the page button will show you today's figure.
For calls specifically, Samudgate. It has a noise-reduction microphone, touch answer/hang-up controls and 16 hours of battery — roughly two and a half times the IHAO's 6 hours. IHAO does offer in-call stereo sound, but its shorter runtime makes it less suited to a full day of meetings.
It's a single open-ear headphone — one earpiece worn on one ear. The audio channel is stereo in the sense that the driver reproduces stereo sound, but you're only wearing one bud, so you won't get a two-ear stereo image.
Samudgate: about 2 hours to charge, 16 hours of playback, and a 15-minute quick charge for roughly 300 minutes of listening. IHAO: about 2 hours to charge, around 6 hours of play time and 10 days of standby from a 180mAh battery.
Both carry an IPX4 rating, which covers sweat and light rain. Neither is rated for swimming or heavy downpours, so treat them as sport-and-weather-resistant rather than fully waterproof.
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