We compare products from their published specs and features; the verdicts below are our independent editorial opinions.
Updated: 2026-09-25 · 6 min read · Independent comparison
If you want serious sound quality with active noise cancelling and an IPX4-or-better sealed design for gym, commuting and sweaty workouts, choose SHANLING MTW200; if you need to actually submerge your headphones in a pool and swim laps without carrying a phone, choose Pmjebe Bone Conduction Swimming.
• SHANLING MTW200 – biggest strength: a genuinely hi-fi spec sheet — 10mm PEEK titanium dynamic driver, independent acoustic chamber, aptX Adaptive, 43dB dual-feedback ANC and 42 hours total playtime.
• SHANLING MTW200 – biggest trade-off: it's an in-ear bud, so the earbuds are IPX7 but the charging case is only IPX4 — it's built for sweat and rain, not for swimming.
• Pmjebe Bone Conduction Swimming – biggest strength: IP68/IPX8 sealing rated for submersion up to 5 metres for up to 24 hours, plus a built-in 8GB MP3 player so you don't need a phone at the pool.
• Pmjebe Bone Conduction Swimming – biggest trade-off: open-ear bone conduction with no noise cancelling and only 10 hours of battery — you trade isolation and richness for awareness and water resistance.
• Who each pick is for: the SHANLING is for the listener who cares most about audio quality and quiet; the Pmjebe is for the swimmer, runner or cyclist who wants music in the water and ears open to traffic.
The MTW200 is, on paper, an audio-first product. The 10mm PEEK titanium diaphragm moving coil driver sits in its own acoustic chamber to cut electromagnetic interference, and the aptX Adaptive codec automatically switches between aptX and aptX HD while adjusting bitrate and latency on the fly. That's the kind of hardware you normally associate with wired-grade listening, not a casual pair of buds. Add 43dB dual-feedback adaptive noise cancellation, a 32kHz MEMS microphone with ENC call noise reduction, and three modes (noise reduction, pass-through, standard), and you get a set clearly designed to disappear into your day rather than announce itself.
Battery is the quiet hero here. The buds themselves run 10 hours, and the Type-C charging case pushes total playtime to 42 hours — enough that charging becomes a weekly chore rather than a nightly one. Bluetooth 5.3 with dual-device connectivity means you can stay paired to a laptop and a phone at once, which is genuinely useful if you take calls while working. At 3.8g per earbud in a bean-style shell with six sets of ear cushions included, fit is meant to stay comfortable for long stretches.
Who should buy it: commuters, office workers, gym-goers and anyone who wants ANC, call clarity and a long battery in a compact in-ear package. The IPX7 rating on the buds means sweat and rain are not a problem, and the aluminium chassis adds a bit of durability. Who should skip it: swimmers. The charging case is IPX4, so it survives splashes but not a pool, and in-ear buds under water simply don't work the way an open-ear design does.
This is a purpose-built water headphone. The headline claim is IP68/IPX8 waterproofing, rated for submersion up to 5 metres deep for up to 24 hours — that's a fundamentally different class of sealing from a splash-resistant in-ear bud. The bone conduction driver sits outside your ear canal and transmits sound through your cheekbones, which is why the design is described as open-ear: nothing blocks your ear, so you stay aware of traffic, conversations and everything else happening around you.
The second thing that matters is the 8GB of built-in storage. That's roughly 3,000 songs you can load directly onto the headset and play without a phone, supporting M4A, MP3, WAV, WMA, AAC and FLAC. For swimming specifically, this is the whole point — you can't Bluetooth a signal through water reliably, so local playback is what makes lap swimming with music actually work. Bluetooth 5.4 is there for the dry-land sessions when you want to stream normally.
Comfort and fit are clearly the design priority: an ultra-light plastic build with a soft silicone frame, ergonomic and flexible, meant to hold steady through running, cycling and gym sessions without the pressure of in-ear tips. The 16mm drivers with a neodymium magnet unit aim for rich bass and crisp highs, though the open-ear format means ambient noise competes with your music. Battery is 10 hours, controls are physical push buttons (easier with wet hands than touch), and there's a one-year warranty.
Who should buy it: swimmers first and foremost, plus runners, cyclists and anyone who needs to hear their surroundings for safety. Who should skip it: anyone who wants noise cancelling, deep isolation or a long battery life between charges — this product does none of those, by design.
• Best for swimming → Pmjebe Bone Conduction Swimming. IP68/IPX8, 5m submersion, 24 hours underwater rating, plus 8GB of phone-free playback.
• Best for sound quality → SHANLING MTW200. 10mm PEEK titanium driver, dedicated acoustic chamber and aptX Adaptive are a much more serious audio chain than bone conduction can offer.
• Best for noise cancelling → SHANLING MTW200. 43dB dual-feedback ANC with pass-through and standard modes; the Pmjebe has no noise control at all.
• Best for battery life → SHANLING MTW200. 42 hours total with the case versus 10 hours on the Pmjebe, with no charging case.
• Best for calls and meetings → SHANLING MTW200. 32kHz MEMS mic, ENC and dual-device Bluetooth 5.3 connectivity.
• Best for hearing your surroundings → Pmjebe Bone Conduction Swimming. Open-ear design keeps vehicles, voices and other people audible while you listen.
• Best for wet-hand controls → Pmjebe Bone Conduction Swimming. Physical push buttons beat touch controls when your fingers are soaked.
• Best for everyday commuting and office use → SHANLING MTW200. The IPX4-and-up sealing is plenty for rain and sweat, and the sealed in-ear fit is far better for noisy environments.
In my opinion, most people should buy the SHANLING MTW200. It does more things well for more situations — ANC, aptX Adaptive audio, dual-device Bluetooth and 42 hours of total battery — and its IPX7 earbuds are more than enough for sweat, rain and hard gym sessions. I'd only steer you to the Pmjebe Bone Conduction Swimming if swimming laps is a genuine, regular part of your routine, because that IP68/IPX8 rating and the built-in 8GB player are things the SHANLING simply cannot match. Buy for the water, or buy for the sound — those are the two honest choices here.
FAQ
can i wear waterproof headphones in the shower
are headphones waterproof
Not automatically — "waterproof" is a rating, not a category. IPX4 covers splashes, IPX7 handles brief immersion, and IP68/IPX8 like the Pmjebe's covers sustained submersion. Always match the rating to what you plan to do, especially around pools and salt water.
can i use the SHANLING MTW200 for swimming
No. The earbuds are IPX7, which handles sweat and rain, and the case is only IPX4. More importantly, sealed in-ear buds don't deliver usable audio underwater the way an open-ear bone conduction design does. For swimming, the Pmjebe is the one designed for it.
do i need my phone to listen while swimming with the Pmjebe
No — that's its main advantage. The Pmjebe has 8GB of internal storage holding roughly 3,000 songs in M4A, MP3, WAV, WMA, AAC and FLAC, so you can swim with music using local playback alone. Bluetooth 5.4 is there for normal dry-land listening.
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See also: PocBuds Headphones vs Pmjebe Bone Conduction Swimming, GZCRDZ IPX8 vs sunvito Bone Conduction Swimming, Matast Earbuds vs Sanag Swimming Bone Conduction