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If you want a single pair of headphones you can actually wear in the water, choose SAMVEK Swimming Headphones; if you need all-day, all-week open-ear earbuds for running, cycling and calls on dry land, choose EEXXYZ Open Ear Earbuds. These two look similar on paper — both are open-ear, bone-conduction-style designs with Bluetooth 6.1 — but they solve completely different problems. One is built around an IP68 waterproof body and 32GB of built-in MP3 storage. The other is built around a charging case, touch controls and a featherweight hook fit. Let's break down which one actually fits your routine.
• SAMVEK's biggest strength: a true IP68 waterproof build plus 32GB of onboard MP3 memory, so you can swim, snorkel and sweat without a phone anywhere near you.
• SAMVEK's biggest trade-off: no charging case and no touch controls — you get 8 hours per charge, physical buttons, and you must switch to MP3 mode underwater because Bluetooth doesn't work there.
• EEXXYZ's biggest strength: a 90-hour total playtime budget from a 400mAh charging case, 5g per bud, and touch controls that make it a genuine everyday earbud.
• EEXXYZ's biggest trade-off: it's an open-ear sport earbud, not a swim headphone — nothing in its spec sheet claims an IP68 underwater rating or built-in storage.
• Who each pick is for: SAMVEK → swimmers and water athletes who want music without a device; EEXXYZ → runners, cyclists and gym users who want light, long-lasting earbuds for land training and calls.
The SAMVEK X6 is the rare open-ear headphone that treats water as the main event rather than an afterthought. Its IP68 rating means it's fully waterproof, sweatproof and rainproof, and the brand positions it specifically for swimming, snorkeling and underwater sports — you're meant to wear it with a swim cap, goggles and earplugs. That's a very specific use case, and the design backs it up: a one-piece neckband-style body with an adjustable headband, 30 grams total, and a slim ergonomic shape that's built to stay put instead of bouncing around.
The clever part is the 32GB of built-in memory. Because Bluetooth doesn't reach underwater, SAMVEK gives you an MP3 mode instead — load up your tracks (MP3, WMA, WAV, APE and FLAC are all supported) and the headphones stop needing a phone entirely. Depending on file size, that storage holds thousands of songs, which is effectively a lifetime of lap-swim playlists. Battery life is rated at 8 hours of continuous playback, with a 2-hour full charge, so a week of pool sessions is realistic on a single top-up.
Where it fits: lap swimmers, open-water swimmers, snorkelers, and anyone doing wet-and-sweaty sports like surfing, cycling in the rain or fitness circuits who wants their ears open to traffic and surroundings. Bone conduction keeps your ear canals clear, which matters when you're sharing a lane or riding near cars.
Who should skip it: if you mainly want earbuds for the gym, commuting and phone calls, the SAMVEK is the wrong shape of product. It has no charging case, no touch controls (buttons only), no noise control, and Bluetooth is capped at a 10-meter range and simply doesn't function underwater. It's a specialist tool, not a daily driver.
The EEXXYZ YYK-Q102 plays the opposite game. Instead of one rugged waterproof unit, you get two independent open-ear buds at just 5 grams each, sitting outside the ear canal so there's no pressure or itching during long sessions. The ear hooks are flexible and skin-friendly, and the brand explicitly calls out compatibility with glasses and a grip that holds through sprinting, jumping and heavy sweating. If you've ever had a bud pop out mid-run, that's the problem this design is aimed at.
The headline number is 90 hours of total playtime: about 5 hours from the buds themselves, plus the rest from the 400mAh charging case, with a 1.5-hour Type-C fast charge to top everything back up. That's the kind of budget that means you charge the case once a week, not every night. Bluetooth 6.1 handles the connection, with automatic power-on and re-pairing the moment you lift the buds out of the case, and the spec sheet claims compatibility across iOS, Android and Windows.
It's also the more "connected" of the two. Optimized microphones with intelligent noise reduction are there for calls, and MFB touch controls let you manage music, answer calls and wake a voice assistant with a tap. For runners, cyclists, dog walkers and gym-goers who want situational awareness — hearing traffic and ambient sound while still getting high-fidelity audio — that combination is exactly the point.
Who should skip it: swimmers. Nothing in the EEXXYZ spec sheet claims an IP68 underwater rating, and there's no built-in MP3 storage — it relies on a Bluetooth connection to your phone, which is precisely what fails the moment you submerge. Treat it as a land-and-sweat earbud, not a pool headphone.
• Best for swimming and underwater use → SAMVEK Swimming Headphones. IP68 waterproofing and a dedicated MP3 mode are the whole reason it exists.
• Best for total battery life → EEXXYZ Open Ear Earbuds. Up to 90 hours combined via the charging case versus 8 hours per charge on the SAMVEK.
• Best for phone-free workouts → SAMVEK Swimming Headphones. The 32GB of onboard storage means no phone required at all.
• Best for calls and voice assistants → EEXXYZ Open Ear Earbuds. Microphones with noise reduction and touch controls; the SAMVEK has neither.
• Best for all-day comfort → EEXXYZ Open Ear Earbuds. 5 grams per bud with ear hooks is a lighter, less noticeable wear than a 30-gram neckband.
• Best for glasses wearers and sweaty sprints → EEXXYZ Open Ear Earbuds. The hook design is explicitly built to stay put and play nicely with eyewear.
• Best for rain, sweat and rough handling → SAMVEK Swimming Headphones. An IP68 body is the more rugged construction of the two.
• Best for a single do-everything pair → EEXXYZ Open Ear Earbuds, in my opinion — as long as "everything" doesn't include getting in the water.
If I had to pick one, I'd buy the EEXXYZ Open Ear Earbuds, because for most people most of the time, 90 hours of playtime, 5-gram buds, touch controls and clear calls cover far more of daily life than a swim-specific headphone does. But that recommendation comes with a hard caveat: the moment swimming is your primary activity, the answer flips. The SAMVEK's IP68 body and 32GB MP3 mode solve a problem the EEXXYZ simply isn't designed for, and no amount of battery life replaces that. Buy the EEXXYZ for land, the SAMVEK for water — and if you genuinely do both, they're different enough that owning each isn't redundant. Check the current price on Amazon before you commit, since that's the one variable that can tip a close call.
FAQ
Nothing in the EEXXYZ spec sheet claims an IP68 or underwater rating, and there's no built-in storage — audio comes over Bluetooth from your phone. I'd keep them for running, cycling, gym work and calls rather than pools or open water.
The EEXXYZ, clearly. It offers up to 5 hours per charge plus a 400mAh case for up to 90 hours total, with a 1.5-hour fast charge. The SAMVEK gives 8 hours of continuous playback per charge with a 2-hour full charge, and no case.
Both list a bone conduction driver and Bluetooth 6.1, and both have open-ear designs plus a 1-year warranty. The differences are elsewhere: SAMVEK adds IP68 waterproofing, 32GB storage and button controls; EEXXYZ adds touch controls, microphones with noise reduction and a charging case.
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