We compare products from their published specs and features; the verdicts below are our independent editorial opinions.
Updated: 2026-10-06 · 7 min read · Independent comparison
If you want a lightweight everyday open-ear headphone for running, commuting and workouts, choose STAR4EVER Open-Ear; if you need a headphone for swimming that keeps playing music underwater, choose Laoziniu Bone Conduction Swimming. That is the short version, and it holds up once you look at what each one is actually built to survive. One is a featherweight bone conduction set with Bluetooth 5.4 and an 8-hour battery; the other is a wraparound swim trainer with built-in memory and a waterproof rating meant for the pool. For swimming, only one of these two is even in the conversation.
• STAR4EVER Open-Ear — biggest strength: a genuinely light 22 g metal-and-polymer frame with Bluetooth 5.4, an 8-hour battery and Type-C charging that you can share with your other gadgets.
• STAR4EVER Open-Ear — biggest trade-off: it handles rain, sweat and splashes, but the spec sheet is explicit that it is not for underwater immersion — so it is not a swim headphone.
• Laoziniu Bone Conduction Swimming — biggest strength: an IPX8 waterproof build plus a 32GB built-in MP3 player, so you can listen in the water without a phone or a Bluetooth signal.
• Laoziniu Bone Conduction Swimming — biggest trade-off: the underwater experience depends on loading your own music into that memory first, and the wraparound frame is a bulkier 30 g.
• Who each pick is for: STAR4EVER for the runner, gym-goer or commuter who wants the lightest possible all-day companion; Laoziniu for the swimmer who wants music in the pool and is fine switching to Bluetooth on land.
The STAR4EVER Open-Ear is a bone conduction headphone that sits outside your ear canal and sends sound through your facial bones. In practice that means two things: your ears stay open, so you hear traffic, footsteps and training partners, and nothing is jammed into your ear for an hour. For outdoor running and road cycling, that open design is the whole point — it is the reason people reach for this style in the first place. The frame is a metal and polymer build with skin-friendly silicone on the inner side, and at 22 g the spec sheet describes it as something you can almost forget you are wearing.
Where it stops: water. The sheet says it withstands general rain, sweat and splashes, which covers basically every land workout you can throw at it, but it is not suitable for underwater immersion or prolonged water exposure. If your idea of a workout is laps in a pool, this is the wrong tool, and I would rather say that plainly than let you find out the hard way. There is also a 1-year warranty if something goes wrong.
Laoziniu Bone Conduction Swimming: Who It's For
The Laoziniu Bone Conduction Swimming is built around one job: music in the water. The IPX8 rating is the key spec here — that is the level of sealing designed for pool training and water workouts, not just sweat. But the more interesting feature is the 32GB of built-in memory. That turns the headphone into a standalone MP3 player, which is the only way this actually works underwater: Bluetooth does not travel through water, so a swim headphone that relies on your phone is a swim headphone that goes silent the moment your head goes under. You load your songs, you swim, you listen. No phone on the pool deck, no pouch.
Away from the pool it flips into a normal Bluetooth headphone for running, walking, cycling, gym sessions and commuting. Charging is magnetic, and the sheet notes a 2-hour full charge for up to 10 hours of use — a longer rated runtime than the STAR4EVER, though part of that advantage comes from MP3 mode, which sips power compared with a live Bluetooth link. The whole unit weighs 30 g, and the wraparound frame is made of bendable silicone that folds to follow the curve of your head and packs away easily. Open-ear bone conduction keeps your ears free here too, so the awareness argument applies on land as much as it does on the STAR4EVER.
The honest trade-offs: 30 g is noticeably more on your head than 22 g, the wraparound shape is more headphone than the STAR4EVER's minimal band, and the underwater mode demands preparation. If you do not want to manage a music library, the 32GB memory is just unused space. It ships with a 1-year warranty description as well.
• Best for swimming → Laoziniu Bone Conduction Swimming. IPX8 sealing plus 32GB of on-board music is the only configuration here that works underwater.
• Best for running and general workouts → STAR4EVER Open-Ear. 22 g, no earplugs, and sweat and rain protection is all a run needs.
• Best battery rating → Laoziniu Bone Conduction Swimming. Up to 10 hours versus 8, with a 2-hour charge cycle.
• Best for all-day lightness → STAR4EVER Open-Ear. At 22 g it is the one you are most likely to forget you have on.
• Best charging convenience → STAR4EVER Open-Ear. Type-C means one cable for your phone, tablet and headphones; Laoziniu uses a magnetic cable you need to keep track of.
• Best for the newest wireless spec → STAR4EVER Open-Ear. Bluetooth 5.4 versus the Laoziniu's standard Bluetooth connection.
• Best if you hate carrying a phone → Laoziniu Bone Conduction Swimming. Load the 32GB and leave everything else in your bag, in or out of the water.
• Best for a swimmer who also runs → Laoziniu Bone Conduction Swimming. Two modes, one device: MP3 for laps, Bluetooth for the pavement.
If I had to pick one, I would buy the Laoziniu Bone Conduction Swimming — but only because it covers strictly more ground. It is the one of the two that can follow you into a pool, and it still does everything the land workouts ask of it: open-ear awareness, a secure wraparound fit, Bluetooth for running and commuting, and a longer rated battery. The STAR4EVER is the better pure running headphone — lighter, current Bluetooth, Type-C charging, and I would recommend it without hesitation to anyone who never gets in the water. But for swimming, the choice is not close, and the Laoziniu is the one I would keep.
FAQ
The same logic applies: light, secure, sweat-resistant, and open enough to stay aware of your surroundings. The STAR4EVER Open-Ear is the closer match here — it is an open-ear set rather than an in-ear bud, so there is no plug pressing into your canal over long distances. If you also swim, the Laoziniu covers both, since it switches between MP3 mode for the pool and Bluetooth for the road.
No. The data sheet states it handles general rain, sweat and splashes but is not suitable for underwater immersion or prolonged water exposure. Treat it as a land-workout headphone and you will be fine.
Bluetooth does not carry through water, so the 32GB MP3 mode is what makes underwater listening possible at all. You load your own tracks into the built-in memory, leave your phone behind, and swim. If you would rather not manage a music library, the STAR4EVER is the simpler choice — just understand it stays on dry land.
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