We compare products from their published specs and features; the verdicts below are our independent editorial opinions.
Updated: 2026-10-02 · 7 min read · Independent comparison
If you want a versatile open-ear daily driver for cycling, running and gym sessions with the newer Bluetooth and the lightest build here, choose SilisoundTek Bone Conduction Headphones; if you need built-in storage and true underwater listening for swimming and surfing, choose LOBKIN Bone Conduction Swimming. That is the short version. The longer version is what this page is for, because the two products look almost identical on a spec sheet and behave very differently once you actually wear them.
• SilisoundTek biggest strength: a true all-rounder — IP68 sealing, Bluetooth 5.3 with multi-pairing, hybrid noise cancellation, voice control and a very light 32 g titanium wrap frame that survives being bent and shoved in a bag.
• SilisoundTek biggest trade-off: no built-in music storage. Everything runs off Bluetooth, and Bluetooth does not travel through water, so despite the swimming-friendly accessories in the box it is explicitly not a swim headphone.
• LOBKIN biggest strength: 32 GB of on-board memory. You load your tracks, leave the phone behind, and the headphone plays music with no connection at all — which is exactly what you need underwater.
• LOBKIN biggest trade-off: thinner feature set on land. No noise cancellation, a slightly heavier charging routine at 2 hours, and a plain push-button control scheme.
• Pick SilisoundTek if you ride, run, lift or commute and want the most headphone for the widest range of dry-land sports.
• Pick LOBKIN if the pool, the lake or the ocean is the whole point and you refuse to leave your music on the poolside bench.
The SilisoundTek S800 is built around the idea that you wear it all day and barely notice it. The frame is titanium alloy and rated for 360° bending without deforming, which matters more than it sounds — a wrap-around headband that keeps its shape is a headband that still fits your head in month six. At 32 g it sits in the "forget you have it on" category, and the open-ear design means your ear canal stays completely clear. On a bike that is the whole safety argument: you hear traffic, bells and your riding partner while still hearing your music.
Here is the catch, and it is a real one: the manufacturer states plainly that these are not suitable for swimming. The IP68 rating protects the hardware; it does not make Bluetooth work through water. So the earplugs and straps are useful for heavy sweat, rain, and maybe a shower, not for laps. Buy these if you cycle, run, hike, lift, drive or work out and want one headphone that covers all of it with the best connectivity here. Skip them if your training is pool-based — you will be disappointed by the silence.
LOBKIN Bone Conduction Swimming: Who It's For
The LOBKIN X21 solves the one problem SilisoundTek cannot: it carries its own music. There is 32 GB of internal memory, which the spec sheet frames as room for thousands of tracks, and the headphone plays from that storage in MP3 mode with no phone, no signal and no pairing. That is the entire reason this product exists. Water blocks Bluetooth, so a swim headphone has to be a music player first and a headphone second. LOBKIN gets that, and it is rated for extended time at depth — the kind of submersion you get doing laps, not just getting rained on.
Around that core idea the rest of the package is sensible. Bluetooth 5.4 is the newer version of the two here, with low latency and a claimed ability to hold a connection through walls, which is nice for indoor training. There is a noise-cancelling microphone for calls, though noise control on the headphone side is listed as none — so this is not the one for blocking out a noisy gym. Battery life is rated at 10 hours with a 2-hour magnetic charge. At 29 g it is actually a hair lighter than the SilisoundTek, and it uses a flexible titanium alloy frame with memory foam ear tips and a soft skin-friendly coating for grip during movement.
Who should buy it: swimmers, surfers, and anyone who wants music without a phone on their body — open-water swimmers, triathletes, and people who hate carrying a handset on a run. Who should skip it: buyers who want noise cancellation, the lowest-latency gaming-grade connection, or who mostly ride and lift on dry land and would rather have the richer feature set. If you never get in the water, you are paying for storage you will not use.
• Best for swimming → LOBKIN Bone Conduction Swimming. 32 GB of on-board memory plus an IP68 rating designed around underwater playback is a combination SilisoundTek simply does not offer.
• Best for cycling and road safety → SilisoundTek Bone Conduction Headphones. Open-ear sound, a stable titanium wrap frame, Bluetooth 5.3 multi-pairing and hybrid noise cancellation make it the more complete road companion.
• Best for leaving your phone behind → LOBKIN. MP3 mode means no handset, no signal dropouts, no armband.
• Best connectivity and pairing flexibility → SilisoundTek. Bluetooth 5.3 with multi-pairing across phone and laptop.
• Best for calls → SilisoundTek. Both have noise-cancelling mics, but SilisoundTek also adds hybrid noise cancellation on the listening side and voice control.
• Lightest on the head → LOBKIN at 29 g, though SilisoundTek at 32 g is close enough that most people will not feel the difference.
• Fastest charging → SilisoundTek at roughly 1.5 hours versus 2 hours, both magnetic.
• Best for gym, hiking, driving and everyday wear → SilisoundTek. It is the broader tool.
In my opinion, if you are shopping with cycling, running and general training in mind, buy the SilisoundTek Bone Conduction Headphones. The Bluetooth 5.3 multi-pairing, hybrid noise cancellation, voice control, faster magnetic charging and the 360° bendable titanium frame add up to a more capable headphone for the way most people actually train — and the open-ear design is genuinely the right call on a bike. I would only steer you to the LOBKIN Bone Conduction Swimming if water is non-negotiable and you specifically want music while swimming, in which case its 32 GB of storage makes it the only one of the two that can actually do the job. Check the current price on Amazon for both before you commit, since the value calculation shifts depending on what you are paying on the day.
FAQ
Only the LOBKIN does. It has 32 GB of internal memory and plays in MP3 mode underwater, because Bluetooth cannot transmit through water. The SilisoundTek is IP68 rated but the manufacturer states it is not suitable for swimming — so it is fine in rain and heavy sweat, not in a pool.
Functionally, very little for most buyers. SilisoundTek uses 5.3 with multi-pairing; LOBKIN uses 5.4 with low latency. Both give a stable wireless connection at around 10 meters. The bigger difference is that LOBKIN can also play without Bluetooth at all.
The SilisoundTek, in my opinion. Open-ear sound keeps you aware of traffic, the titanium frame stays put over bumps, and the multi-pairing plus hybrid noise cancellation make it the more flexible everyday headphone. LOBKIN works for cycling too, but its strengths only pay off in the water.
No, and that is the point. You load tracks into the 32 GB of memory and switch to MP3 mode, so the headphone is fully independent of your phone underwater. With the SilisoundTek you would need a Bluetooth connection, which is exactly why it is not a swim headphone.
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