The earbuds work (so far, I have only used them once) to both provide sound and keep water out of the ear while swimming laps. I did not try them at any depth.   The Freestyle comes with three sizes of easily replaceable three flange earplugs.  Only the largest worked in my ears (no surprise, I usually use large earplugs).  However, the Freestyle is NOT comfortable.  The flanges are just too stiff (not soft enough) and maybe too thin (they feel like a cutting edge in the ear) to be endured for more than a few minutes.  I ended up taking off the Freestyle and using normal earplugs, forgoing sound.

I bought these earbuds to use with my Speedo MP3 player while I swim.  I bought them to replace the ones that came with my player because a piece of one of the ear buds came off the original pair.  I tried to get a new pair of earphones like the original ones but Swim Outlet.com would not sell me a pair because they only sell the whole thing.  Speedo said the same thing.  I was reallyl annoyed and not in the best mood to spend the money on the freestyle pair but I did.  First, the cord between the earbuds and the player is way too long and cannot be shortened so I have to tuck it inside my swim cap.  Second, the earbuds are not at all comfortable.  They are too bigi to fit in your ears and not small enough to rest outside without digging into me.  If I put them under the cap they won't work and if I leave them outside the cap they work but I get a lot more water in my ears than I need to. The third time I used them one of the earbuds only gave out sound periodically and now that one rarely works at all.  They are not well constructed.

This is an o.k. product, however the part that plugs into the I Pod is curved so you can't use in all applications

Several of my swim "buddies" and I use these headphones with our waterproof players.  They're comfortable to wear and have good audio quality.  Our only complaint is they don't last long -- each of us goes through at least one set of headphones a month.  The first sign is that the volume starts to fade, then one earphone (right or left) fails, and we know it's time to replace the headphones.  That's why each of us always has another set handy.  Luckily, SwimOutlet usually has them in stock.  It is expensive to order frequently, but it's worth it for lap swimming.

Unfortunately, these headphones will not create a waterproof connection with the H2O waterproof housing for my Ipod shuffle. According to the directions, this will only be a water-resistant connection and can destroy the Shuffle if submerged. I will now need to return these headphones and order the compatible and I'm sure more expensive headphones.

Do not stay in your ears.
Agreed-NOT acceptable for lap swimming, or anything with any type of movement.