We compare products from their published specs and features; the verdicts below are our independent editorial opinions.
Updated: 2026-09-28 · 7 min read · Independent comparison
If you want an over-ear wireless headphone built for all-day music listening with a customizable sound profile and a very long battery, choose Sony WH-CH520; if you need open-ear clip-on earbuds that stay put through sweat, rain and hard workouts, choose BUABMEQ Comfort Clip. Those two sentences are the whole decision. Everything below is just the reasoning behind them, so you can sanity-check it against how you actually listen.
• Sony WH-CH520 — biggest strength: over-ear comfort with soft earpads, a head cushion and silent joints, plus up to 50 hours of playback and EQ Custom tuning through the Sony Headphones Connect app.
• Sony WH-CH520 — biggest trade-off: it is wireless-only with no headphone jack, and it has no water-resistance rating, so gym sweat and rain are not what it was designed for.
• BUABMEQ Comfort Clip — biggest strength: an open-ear bone conduction clip design that never plugs the ear canal, with an IPX7 waterproof rating and a digital display charging case rated for up to 80 hours of total playtime.
• BUABMEQ Comfort Clip — biggest trade-off: open-ear sound leaks more than a sealed over-ear design, and there is no app-based EQ, just push-button controls.
• Pick Sony WH-CH520 if music quality, long listening sessions and desk or commute use matter most to you.
• Pick BUABMEQ Comfort Clip if you want headphones that survive running, gym training and wet weather without ever feeling stuffed in your ears.
The WH-CH520 is a Bluetooth over-ear headphone, and the spec sheet reads like Sony built it around one idea: keep the music going and keep it comfortable. Battery life is rated up to 50 hours, and quick charging gives you roughly 90 minutes of playback from a 3-minute top-up. That combination is genuinely useful if you are the kind of person who forgets to charge things — a few minutes plugged into USB-C and you are back in business for a commute or a workout-length session.
Sound is where this model makes its case for music listening specifically. The EQ Custom feature in the Sony Headphones Connect app lets you pick presets by genre or build and save your own, and DSEE is there to boost compressed music files so streaming sounds better than the raw file would suggest. Frequency response covers 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz, which is the standard full-range window. There is no active noise cancellation here — noise control is listed as none — so this is not the pick for silencing a plane cabin. It is the pick for hearing your music clearly in a quiet-to-normal room.
Comfort details matter more than people expect on an over-ear. Sony lists soft earpads, an additional head cushion and silent joints, plus a swivel design for compact carrying. Bluetooth multipoint pairing lets it hold two devices at once, so you can jump from a song on your laptop to a call on your phone without re-pairing. There is a built-in microphone for hands-free calls, voice assistant support for "OK Google" and "Hey Siri," and Google's Find My Device can locate the headphones by sound or last known location.
BUABMEQ Comfort Clip: Who It's For
The Comfort Clip takes the opposite approach. These are open-ear earbuds that rest on your ears with a clip-on hook instead of sealing into the canal, using bone conduction to deliver sound. The practical payoff is stated plainly in the design: no ear soreness, no stuffiness, no pressure, even after all-day wear. If in-ear buds normally make your ears ache after an hour, this is the form factor that fixes that problem.
The sport angle is the real story. The clip structure is described as ultra-light and stable enough to hold through head shaking, running and jumping, and the IPX7 waterproof rating covers sweat, rain splash and moisture. That rating is the difference between earbuds you can wear for a five-mile run in the rain and earbuds you quietly leave at home when the forecast looks bad. Battery is handled by a charging case with a digital display that shows remaining power for both the case and the buds, rated for up to 80 hours of total playback — which means you can go a long stretch of daily workouts between charges.
On sound, BUABMEQ describes an optimized acoustic cavity and tuned drivers aimed at stereo output with rich bass, clear vocals and stable treble, plus reduced sound leakage. The built-in microphone uses noise reduction to filter background noise for calls, meetings and voice chat. Connectivity is Bluetooth 6.1 with a stated range up to 10 meters, low latency for video, and automatic reconnection, working with iOS, Android, phones, tablets and laptops. Controls are physical push buttons rather than touch, which is honestly easier to operate with sweaty hands mid-run.
Buy it if you train, run or cycle and want earbuds that stay on, resist water and never block your ears — you can still hear traffic and gym announcements. Skip it if you want maximum isolation, app-based EQ, or the fuller sound an over-ear seal provides.
• Best for music quality and tuning → Sony WH-CH520. EQ Custom and DSEE give you actual control over how your music sounds.
• Best for long single-charge listening → Sony WH-CH520. Up to 50 hours on the headphones themselves, plus a 3-minute quick charge for 90 minutes of play.
• Best for workouts, sweat and rain → BUABMEQ Comfort Clip. IPX7 waterproofing and a clip fit built to survive running and jumping.
• Best for total playtime with a case → BUABMEQ Comfort Clip. The charging case is rated for up to 80 hours and shows remaining power on a digital display.
• Best for awareness of your surroundings → BUABMEQ Comfort Clip. Open-ear bone conduction leaves your ear canals unblocked.
• Best for calls and switching between devices → Sony WH-CH520. Built-in mic plus Bluetooth multipoint for two devices at once.
• Best for glasses wearers and people with sensitive ears → BUABMEQ Comfort Clip. No in-canal pressure and no over-ear clamping.
• Best for desk, commute and home listening → Sony WH-CH520. Over-ear earpads, a head cushion and silent joints are aimed at long stationary sessions.
In my opinion, the Sony WH-CH520 is the better buy for most people reading this, because "music headphones" is what the question is really about, and that is where it wins: app-based EQ, DSEE for compressed files, multipoint, a microphone, and up to 50 hours of battery in a comfortable over-ear shell. I would choose it for home, desk and commute listening without hesitation. The BUABMEQ Comfort Clip is the one I would recommend instead if your listening happens while moving — running, lifting, cycling — where IPX7 waterproofing, a secure clip fit and open-ear awareness matter more than sound tuning. Different jobs, different picks. If either one fits your routine, check the current price on Amazon before deciding.
How to make headphones music louder
Start with the source: raise the volume on both the phone and the app you are playing from, and check that any volume limiter is off. On the Sony WH-CH520 you can also shape output with EQ Custom presets in the Sony Headphones Connect app, which can lift the frequencies your music leans on. The BUABMEQ Comfort Clip uses push-button controls, so volume is adjusted on the earbuds or the paired device.
How to fix stereo headphones
First confirm the problem is the headphones and not the source by testing them with a second device over Bluetooth. If only one side plays, check the earbud or ear cup fit and re-pair the connection, then let the battery charge fully — a low battery can cause dropouts. Both models here connect over Bluetooth and support automatic reconnection, so a fresh pairing usually clears one-channel glitches.
How to test stereo headphones
Play a track you know well and listen for whether vocals sit center and instruments spread left and right. Sweep the volume from low to high to check for distortion, and test the microphone with a call or voice recording. On the Sony WH-CH520, switch between EQ Custom presets to hear how the tuning changes; on the BUABMEQ Comfort Clip, test the fit during movement, since open-ear sound changes if the clip shifts.
How to make stereo headphones
You cannot build a stereo pair out of a single Bluetooth headphone — each unit here is one self-contained set with left and right channels already built in. If you want stereo sound in two rooms or for two people, you need two separate devices or a splitter on a wired source. Note the Sony WH-CH520 has no headphone jack, so any wired sharing setup will not work with it.
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