Pros & Cons
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- Waterproof
- Decent sound for bone conduction headphones
- Local audio storage
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- Spotty Bluetooth connectivity
- Syncing audio files can be clumsy
H2O Audio Tri 2 Pro Specs
| Connection Type | Bluetooth |
| Type | Bone conduction |
| Water/Sweat-Resistant | |
| Wireless |
H2O Audio's Tri 2 Pro bone conduction headphones ($199.99) are designed for swimmers. They sound good underwater and let you store audio directly on the headphones rather than worry about a Bluetooth connection. They also have good battery life and come with a nice carrying case, though their above-water sound could be better. They're good for swimmers, but runners and other athletes should consider the Shokz OpenRun Pro 2 ($179.95) bone conduction headphones, which offer better audio quality for less money.
Design and Features: Built for Water
The Tri 2 Pro looks like most other bone conduction headphones. It has an ear hook design with a small pod on each side that rests outside your ear and makes contact with your temple. There’s a small module on either side. The left module houses the battery, and the right houses the charging port and controls. The headphones connect around the back of your head with a thin wire.
(Credit: Christian de Looper)A three-button controller on the right side includes a center button and volume buttons on the other side. A single press of the volume buttons changes the volume, while a double press skips forward or backward a track. A single press to the center button plays or pauses audio, a double press switches between Bluetooth and Memory modes, and a triple press shuffles your saved audio. You can’t customize the controls.
The headphones are completely waterproof. Their exterior is rubberized, and they have an IPX8 rating, which means they can withstand full submersion. Hours in the pool or pouring rain shouldn't be an issue. The charging case is not waterproof, however.
(Credit: Christian de Looper)The headphones support Bluetooth 5.3, though when you’re using them underwater, you’ll want to switch to local playback mode. They have 8GB of onboard storage and support the APE, FLAK, M4A, MP3, and WMA audio formats. They don’t support high-tech connectivity standards like Google Fast Pair or multipoint Bluetooth.
I found the Bluetooth connectivity inconsistent in testing. When paired with an iPhone 15 Pro Max, the headphones sometimes stuttered and skipped, even out of the water. This wasn’t the case when listening to locally stored audio.
(Credit: Christian de Looper)Battery Life
The headphones should deliver nine hours of playback per charge in Bluetooth mode or six hours via local storage. H2O Audio doesn't say how long it takes to recharge the headphones.
The included carrying case has an internal charging cable but not a battery. You can attach the internal cable to the headphones for in-case charging, but you will also need to plug a separate cable into the outside of the case. The package includes a USB-A-to-USB-C charging cable and a pair of swimming earplugs.
App Experience
The Tri 2 Pro headphones work with the H2O Audio app (available for Android and iOS).
The headphones operate in two modes: Bluetooth and Memory (local storage). You can access the settings for each mode in the app, regardless of which you're using. The main screen shows you the expected battery life, how much of the 8GB of internal storage is available, and the current firmware. A Library tab lets you organize tracks that are saved to memory.
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(Credit: H2O Audio/PCMag)The Load tab is where you access the headphones’ Playlist+ feature, which is only available on H2O Audio's Pro-branded headphones. Playlist+ is an audio recorder that lets you add music from your preferred streaming service to the headphones.
To save music to the headphones, begin playing a playlist from your preferred streaming service that contains the tracks you want saved, and then activate the Playlist+ feature. Playlist+ records the tracks in real time, so you need to play songs entirely to save them properly. If you want the tracks stored separately (rather than as one long track), you need to stop and start recording for each individual track.
Alternatively, you can load audio files directly from your computer via cable. When connected, the headphones show up as an external drive and you can drag and drop your tunes over. I sometimes found the wired connection unstable and had difficulty loading files this way.
There’s no EQ for tweaking the sound or any additional advanced settings.
Sound Quality
It’s important to note that a tight fit is imperative for bone conduction headphones. Simply placing them loosely on your ears will result in muddy audio response, which is why H2O Audio recommends placing them under a swim cap or the straps of your goggles.
(Credit: Christian de Looper)A bass-heavy track like The Knife's “Silent Shout” causes low frequencies to vibrate the headphones somewhat aggressively. They cannot produce super low frequencies but can handle the low-mid frequencies, which means they don't sound particularly crisp. While the high-end could have more detail, the percussion still cuts through, and the lead synth has some bite to it. I didn't notice these issues when listening in the pool.
The headphones can't reproduce the sub-bass frequencies of Kendrick Lamar's “Loyalty." The vocals don’t offer much cut, but both Lamar and Rihanna’s vocals are audible enough. They prioritize the acoustic guitar and vocals of Bill Callahan's “Drover.” The thumping kick drum that usually drives this song is hard to hear.
On orchestral tracks, like the opening scene of John Adams' The Gospel According to the Other Mary, the headphones don’t allow the strings to cut through the mix quite enough, and while the vocal can be heard, it isn’t very clear.
The microphone picks up my voice fine when using the iPhone's voice recorder app, but it is quiet and doesn’t fully capture high frequencies unless I speak loudly.