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We compare products from their published specs and features; the verdicts below are our independent editorial opinions.
If you want to add wireless Bluetooth audio to a PS5, Switch, PC or laptop and care most about low-latency gaming sound, choose Ugreen USB-C; if you need a pair of open-ear earbuds you can wear for hours while staying aware of your surroundings, choose Monster Open Ear AC322.
• Ugreen USB-C — biggest strength: a USB-C Bluetooth transmitter built around a Qualcomm chipset with aptX Adaptive/aptX LL, pushing audio delay under 100ms for synced game and video sound.
• Ugreen USB-C — biggest trade-off: it is a transmitter only, needs a source device with USB-C, and won't work with PS4, PS5 Portal, AirPods Pro 2, or dual-device pairing.
• Monster Open Ear AC322 — biggest strength: a self-contained open-ear Bluetooth 5.4 headset with 36 hours of battery, IPX5 water resistance, and an adjustable ear hook.
• Monster Open Ear AC322 — biggest trade-off: open-ear design means no noise isolation, no active noise control, and no wired fallback jack.
• Who each pick is for: Ugreen USB-C is for console/PC gamers who already own good headphones; the Monster AC322 is for runners, cyclists, and commuters who want one pair of earbuds for everything.
The Ugreen USB-C adapter is a tiny problem-solver. It's a 4-gram, matte-green dongle roughly the size of a thumbnail that plugs into a USB-C port and turns that port into a Bluetooth audio transmitter. That's the whole pitch: your PS5, Switch, or laptop has no Bluetooth audio output, and this fixes it without drivers or software.
The interesting part is what's inside. It runs a Qualcomm chipset supporting aptX, aptX Adaptive Low Latency, aptX Adaptive High Quality, aptX HD, and SBC, with a low-latency encoder that pulls audio delay under 100ms. For gaming that matters — lip-sync and gunfire cues stay tight instead of drifting a beat behind. You switch between codec modes with a button, and LED lights show which mode is active. The catch is that your headphones need to support the same standard; a low-latency transmitter paired with a plain SBC headset won't magically sync up.
Buy it if you're on PS5, Switch, a Windows or macOS desktop, or a USB-C laptop, and you want to keep using the headphones you already like. Skip it if you're on PS4 or Linux, if you use a PS5 Portal, or if you own AirPods Pro 2 — all explicitly out of scope. Also note the two operational quirks: on PS5 you have to pick "UGREEN-BT501" as the audio output and disable automatic output switching, and microphone support is off by default (double-click the multifunction button to enable calling mode, which resets on the next power-up). No dual-device pairing either, so it's one headset at a time.
The Monster Open Ear AC322 is the opposite kind of product: it's not an accessory for gear you own, it's the gear. These are open-ear wireless earbuds that sit outside your ear canal rather than sealing it, with Bluetooth 5.4 for a fast, stable connection and low latency. If you've never worn open-ear buds, the appeal is situational awareness — you hear traffic, coworkers, or your running partner while music plays.
Battery is the headline number here: 36 hours of average life, which is genuinely all-day-plus territory rather than a charge-every-night routine. IPX5 water resistance means sweat and rain are fine, so workouts and outdoor runs are squarely in scope. The ear hook is adjustable to fit different ear sizes, which is the practical answer to the classic open-ear complaint of buds that shift or fall out mid-run. Monster also uses a dynamic driver covering 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz, which is standard full-range coverage, tuned for what Monster calls Pure Monster Sound. Materials are plastic and silicone, and the whole thing weighs about 0.19 kg including its charging case.
Buy it if you want one pair of lightweight earbuds for running, cycling, gym sessions, and daily wear, and you like being able to hear your surroundings. Skip it if you want noise cancellation — there is none — or if you need maximum isolation on a plane or a loud train. There's also no headphone jack, so these are wireless only. Controls are touch-based on the earbud.
• Best for gaming on PS5 or Switch → Ugreen USB-C. It exists specifically to give those consoles wireless audio, and the sub-100ms aptX low-latency encoder is the reason to pick it over a generic dongle.
• Best for all-day battery → Monster Open Ear AC322. 36 hours is a different class of endurance than any small transmitter can offer.
• Best for workouts and rain → Monster Open Ear AC322. IPX5 plus the adjustable ear hook is built for movement; the Ugreen is a dongle that stays plugged into a device.
• Best for staying aware of traffic → Monster Open Ear AC322. Open-ear is the whole point — no canal seal, no isolation.
• Best for using headphones you already love → Ugreen USB-C. It transmits to your existing Bluetooth headphones or speaker instead of replacing them.
• Best for plug-and-play simplicity → Ugreen USB-C. No drivers, no software, one USB-C port. Just be ready for the PS5 output-setting step.
• Best single purchase for a commuter or runner → Monster Open Ear AC322. It's a complete audio product; the Ugreen is only useful if you already own a headset.
• Best for quiet, focused listening → neither, honestly. Ugreen needs your headphones to match its codecs, and Monster deliberately lets the world in. If isolation is the priority, that's a different product category.
In my opinion these two aren't really rivals — they solve different problems, and the "right" one depends on what's missing from your setup. If you're a console or PC gamer with a good pair of Bluetooth headphones and you're tired of wires or lag, I'd buy the Ugreen USB-C. It's a focused, single-purpose fix with a real low-latency story, and it makes hardware you already own better. If you'd rather have one pair of earbuds you can run in, sweat in, wear for 36 hours, and still hear the world through, I'd buy the Monster Open Ear AC322. For most people shopping casually rather than gaming specifically, the Monster is the more complete purchase; for the gamer, the Ugreen is the smarter one.
Yes, but with a step: after connecting, select "UGREEN-BT501" as the audio output in PS5 settings and turn off automatic output switching. It is not compatible with PS4 or the PS5 Portal.
No. It's an open-ear design with no noise control and no canal seal, so it lets ambient sound in by design. That's ideal for running and commuting, less so for flights.
No — AirPods Pro 2 are explicitly listed as incompatible, and the adapter doesn't support dual-device pairing. Your headphones also need to support the same codec for the low-latency mode to help.
Check the current price on Amazon for each — this page has a button for that. On specs, the Monster AC322 is the more complete product since it includes the earbuds, while the Ugreen is worth it only if you already own compatible headphones and a supported device.
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See also: Monster Open Free AC100 vs PWOFUN Cat-Ear, Qozybuds 6.0 vs Monster Open Ear AC336, MINISO MS219 vs Monster Open Ear AC390: Ipx5 Waterproof