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We compare products from their published specs and features; the verdicts below are our independent editorial opinions.
Updated: 2026-09-27 · 7 min read · Independent comparison
• WOWRIO's biggest strength: roughly 16–17 g of memory-alloy neckband with a 15.4 mm dynamic driver, ENC call noise reduction, and up to 8 hours per charge — a commuter-and-runner design that stays put and keeps you aware of traffic.
• WOWRIO's biggest trade-off: it's sweat-resistant, not waterproof. The spec sheet explicitly says no showering and no swimming.
• PSIER's biggest strength: an IPX8 waterproof rating plus a hybrid bone-conduction + air-conduction dual-driver system, with 32 GB of onboard MP3 storage so you can swim without your phone.
• PSIER's biggest trade-off: no noise control at all, and a 2-hour charge time for the same 8 hours of playtime.
• Buy WOWRIO if you want the lightest, cheapest-feeling-on-your-head option for work calls, cycling and rainy commutes.
• Buy PSIER if your workouts happen in water and you want music with no phone nearby.
The WOWRIO Airlio (model A5) is built around one idea: keep your ear canal completely open so the world stays audible. It's a neckband, not a pair of buds. The flexible memory-alloy band wraps behind your neck, and the earhooks rest the drivers just outside your ears instead of plugging them. At roughly 16–17 g, you'll forget it's there, and because nothing presses into the canal, there's zero of that stuffed-up feeling you get after an hour in normal earbuds. If you wear glasses, the earhook geometry is specifically designed to sit alongside the arms rather than fight them — that's a real pain point for a lot of open-ear designs, and WOWRIO addresses it directly.
The audio side is more interesting than the price bracket suggests. A 15.4 mm dynamic driver is large for this category, and WOWRIO pairs it with directional acoustics that push sound toward your ear while limiting how much leaks out to the people around you. Frequency range runs the full 20 Hz–20,000 Hz, so you get usable bass rather than the thin, tinny output that plagues cheap open-ear sets. For calls, ENC (environmental noise cancellation) works on your voice rather than on what you hear — the built-in mics filter background noise so the person on the other end isn't listening to your street. Bluetooth 5.2 gives fast pairing and a rated range around 12–13 m, which is enough to leave your phone on a desk and wander the room.
Battery is a clean 100 mAh cell rated for up to 8 hours, recharging magnetically in about 1.5 hours — a genuinely quick top-up compared to the PSIER's 2 hours. Controls are push-button taps for music, calls, volume and voice assistant, and it works with iOS, Android, tablets and laptops.
PSIER IPX8: Who It's For
The PSIER X34 is a different animal entirely. Its headline claim is the IPX8 waterproof rating, which is the classification for continuous immersion — the reason this product exists is swimming. But the more unusual spec is the hybrid driver system: PSIER combines a bone-conduction driver with an air-conduction driver in the same unit. Bone conduction handles the mid and high frequencies by vibrating through your cheekbone, while the air-conduction driver handles the low end, and PSIER claims the combination delivers roughly 30% more deep bass than a conventional bone-conduction headphone. That matters underwater, where ordinary speakers sound muffled and thin. Bone conduction keeps working when your ears are full of water.
The second feature that changes how you'd actually use these: 32 GB of onboard MP3 storage. You load your music onto the headphones themselves and leave your phone in the locker. That's the difference between "waterproof headphones" and "headphones you can actually swim laps with," because Bluetooth doesn't transmit reliably through water anyway.
The trade-offs are real, though. Noise control is listed as none — no ENC, no ANC, nothing. If clear voice pickup on calls is a priority, WOWRIO is the better tool. Controls are touch-based rather than push-button, which some people love and some people trigger accidentally with wet hands. Charging takes 2 hours for the same 8-hour rated playtime, and the enclosure is plastic in matte black. It's a minimalist, purpose-built device for one environment.
Who should buy it: lap swimmers, open-water swimmers, triathletes, and anyone who wants music in the pool without a phone on the deck. Who should skip it: anyone whose workouts don't involve water. You'd be paying for an IPX8 rating and 32 GB of storage you'll never use, while giving up the ENC call clarity and lighter neckband that make WOWRIO better on dry land.
• Best for swimming → PSIER IPX8. IPX8 means immersion-rated; WOWRIO is sweat-resistant only.
• Best for all-day wear and comfort → WOWRIO Open Ear. Roughly 16–17 g with a memory-alloy neckband is about as light as open-ear gets.
• Best for phone calls → WOWRIO Open Ear. ENC noise reduction and built-in mics versus PSIER's "noise control: none."
• Best for phone-free workouts → PSIER IPX8. 32 GB of onboard MP3 storage means no handset required.
• Best for glasses wearers → WOWRIO Open Ear. The earhooks are specifically engineered to coexist with glasses arms.
• Fastest recharge → WOWRIO Open Ear. About 1.5 hours to full versus 2 hours for PSIER.
• Best bass in an open-ear design → PSIER IPX8, in my opinion, because the hybrid bone + air driver system is designed to add low end that pure bone conduction usually lacks.
• Best for awareness while cycling or commuting → WOWRIO Open Ear. Bluetooth 5.2 with a rated 12–13 m range and an open design that lets traffic noise through.
If I had to pick one for the average person reading this, I'd buy the WOWRIO Open Ear. Most of us need headphones for commutes, calls and runs far more often than we need them underwater, and WOWRIO wins on the things you use every day: weight, call clarity, glasses compatibility, and a faster charge. The 15.4 mm driver is also a serious piece of hardware for this category. I'd only steer you to the PSIER IPX8 if swimming is your primary sport — in that case its IPX8 rating and 32 GB of storage aren't extras, they're the whole point. Check the current price on Amazon before deciding, since that's the one variable I can't speak to here.
how to wear air conduction headphones
Rest the driver pod just in front of your ear canal rather than inside it, then hook the band behind your head or around your neck so the pod sits lightly against your cheekbone area. On the WOWRIO Airlio, the memory-alloy neckband goes behind your neck and the earhooks settle over your ears — including over glasses arms. Nothing should press into the ear canal.
how to use air conduction headphones
Pair over Bluetooth, then use the on-board controls for playback, volume and calls. WOWRIO uses push-button taps and pairs via Bluetooth 5.2 with iOS, Android, tablets and laptops. The PSIER X34 adds 32 GB of internal MP3 storage, so you can load tracks directly onto it and swim without carrying a phone — useful because Bluetooth signals travel poorly through water.
how to put on air conduction headphones
Hold the band behind your head, bring the earhooks up and over your ears one side at a time, and adjust until the drivers hover just outside the canal. WOWRIO's ~16–17 g neckband and glasses-friendly hooks are designed so the band rests on the back of your neck, not clamped against your skull. For PSIER, the same principle applies, but expect to reposition after pulling goggles on.
how to pair goodmans air conduction headphones
Goodmans is a different brand, so its pairing steps don't apply to either model here. On WOWRIO, turn the headset on, enable Bluetooth on your phone, and select the device from the list — Bluetooth 5.2 handles fast pairing. The PSIER X34 pairs the same way; its 32 GB storage is separate from Bluetooth and works independently once tracks are loaded.
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