Best swimming headphones: 7 fully submergible options

If you’re someone who likes to workout to a particular playlist, or needs an audiobook to see them through the longer training days, it may be time to invest in some waterproof swimming headphones that can keep you company while you swim.

Whether you prefer a pair of dangling headphones for your indoor laps, or a robust headset that can handle open water, there are a number of options to consider below. We’ve even included a set of earphones that can be paired to a coaching radio so you can receive specific feedback on your form without leaving the water.

So if you’re looking to tune out the rest of the world during your next water workout, take a look at our list of the best waterproof headphones for swimming.

Best swimming headphones in 2025

H20 Audio Tri 2 Pro Multi-sport 

Quick specs
Price	$242 / £189
Waterproof rating	IPX8
Memory	8GB
Bluetooth	Yes
Design	Over-ear bone conduction

There are similar designs of submergible headphones on the market already, but this is the first time I’ve tried the Audio Tri Pro 2 Multisport over-ear bone conduction variety from H20 Audio. Here you get a hard  case, the headphones, a pair of earplugs and a charging cable plus leash to attach the headphones to your goggles (in case you’re worried about losing them!). For an extra £47 you can also buy a case that charges during storage. So far so good.

But what I really love about these headphones is how easy it is to transfer music onto them. You can use Bluetooth on land but not in water. But various methods of adding tunes for swimming includes the brand’s Playlist+ function, where the headphones listen to music playing on your phone and ‘record’ it, a bit like taping music off the radio. For any other dinosaurs like me is a dream of simplicity. 

Three buttons are easy to operate even in the water. The unit can be submerged to 12ft for unlimited time (some on the market have a limit).  On land sound quality was superb. I happily used these to listen to music and podcasts. Once swimming the sound was  naturally a little less clear due to water sounds and bubbling when breathing (ok, I’m a noisy swimmer!). But it was clear enough to motivate my swims. I’ll be adding these to my kit bag for this season’s long swims!

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Shokz Openswim

Quick specs
Price	$149.95 / £139
Waterproof rating	IP68
Bluetooth	No
Storage	4GB

Shokz (previously Aftershokz) is the first brand we’re aware of to bring bone conduction technology to market, several years ago now.

These hook over your ears and sit under your swim cap, with the conduction pads sitting just in front of your ears.

Sound quality was superb here, especially when worn in the water with earplugs, plus there’s a second setting you can use to enhance sound underwater versus using them on dry land.

Downloading music onto them was a bit of a faff in these days of streaming, but that goes for all of these units, as you can’t stream with Bluetooth underwater.

Once we had a playlist in place, though, these did a great job and with IP68 rating are fully waterproof, with eight-hour battery life (fair play if you can swim for that long!).

Our only niggle was that over long swims the top of the ‘wires’ started to press on our ears a bit painfully under our swim cap. It’s a minor niggle, though, for great sound.

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H20 Audio Sonar Pro

Quick specs
Price	$159.99 / £151
Waterproof rating	IPX8
Storage	8GB
Bluetooth	Yes
Design	Bone-conduction

The H20 Sonar Pro again works by bone conduction, but the ‘headphones’ are two units that clip onto your goggle straps to sit by the side of your ears.

That was a bit fiddly to get right at first, but once in place they sat well and avoided the irritation of having a band over your ears as with the others here.

This brand has also come up with a solution to needing to put music files onto the app in a time when most of us stream our sounds.

You download an app which links to the unit and ‘listens’ to music as you play it with your phone. It then essentially records it and allows playback through the unit.

It’s time-consuming, as you have to play the song in its entirety, but is still easier than downloading and converting files.

Sound quality was superb and we liked the simple, chunky buttons for use in the water.

Of course, you can’t use it out of the water (without goggles), but other units from H2O Audio are more versatile with the same tech.

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Creative Outlier Free Pro

Quick specs
Price	$129.99 / £89.99
Waterproof rating	IPX8
Bluetooth	Yes
Storage	8GB

Comparing the Creative Outlier Free Pro to the Shokz is inevitable and the features are genuinely rather impressive, with 8GB of music storage and a 10-hour battery life.

They’re Bluetooth-enabled and feature a built-in microphone for phone calls, a bonus over the Shokz.

Meanwhile, sound quality is decent, though lacking depth on some tracks.

While suitable for underwater listening, these earphones have their limitations, such as a 40-minute submersion limit (despite the IPX8 rating) and unsuitability for saltwater.

Oh, and you have to pop a plug into the mic hole before swimming, too, which is easily overlooked if you’re in a rush.

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Underwater Audio Swimbuds Sport Waterproof Headphones

• $60 / £62

Designed to be both comfortable and rugged, these earbuds from Swimbuds have a variety of tips available so you can find the best fit for your ear.

These include tree tips and fin tips, which have been specifically designed to keep out water, providing a tight seal while you swim.

Weighing just over 28g, they have a waterproof standard of IPX8 so you can take them into the water as far down as three metres, although it’s advised you don’t push them past this threshold.

Tayogo Waterproof MP3 Player

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These headphones have an IPX8 waterproof rating which basically means they can be submerged up to three metres deep. Tayogo says they won’t fall out while you swim, either, thanks to the adjustable band and snug earbud design.

With a built-in memory capacity of up to 8GB, you should be able to store 2,000 songs so it’s unlikely you’ll run out of your favourite albums anytime soon. You can even switch to an ebook on a longer training swim, with buttons on the back designed to help you control your audio.

These headphones are said to take between 90 minutes and two hours to fully charge, which Tayogo says will give you between four and seven hours of play time once you hit the water.

H20 Stream Waterproof MP3 Player

This MP3 player and headphone set is fully waterproof down to a depth of 3.6 metres for an unlimited time, so you won’t have to worry about cutting your training short, with 8GB of storage that will hold up to 2,000 tracks of your choice so you can play whatever gets you in the zone.

The headphones have been ergonomically designed to stay snug in your ears and the player comes with a handy clip that can be attached to the back of your goggles or swim cap.

While this set does have the option to pair with your smartphone using Bluetooth, it can’t stream music this way while underwater so this add-on would be be better suited to sitting poolside before or after your dip.

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