H2O Audio TRI 2 PRO x Lucy Charles-Barclay: Review and Price
Lucy Charles-Barclay has trained in bone conduction headphones for years, and she has finally put her name on her own edition. The H2O Audio TRI 2 PRO, in a limited LCB version, went on sale in a blue and white colourway designed by the IRONMAN world champion herself. 500 units, sold exclusively through h2oaudio.com.
How this works underwater at all
The TRI 2 PRO are bone conduction headphones. Sound reaches the inner ear through vibrations in the skull, bypassing the eardrum. The ears stay uncovered, so a swimmer hears their surroundings and has music at the same time while swimming.
The model carries an IPX8 rating with submersion to 12 feet, about 3.6 metres, with no time limit. It comfortably handles a full pool or open water session.
The catch is that Bluetooth does not work underwater. That is not a flaw in this model, just the physics of radio waves in water. No headphones get around it. H2O Audio solves this with its patented PLAYLIST+ technology, which records the Bluetooth stream straight to memory built into the headphones. A swimmer heads out with music saved from the previous session on land, with no manual MP3 file transfer needed.
What’s in the spec sheet
The build is 5 mm slimmer than the previous TRI generation, a difference that is noticeable under a swim cap. The manufacturer states 6 hours of playback in memory mode and 9 hours over Bluetooth. That second mode is useful on the bike and the run, where a connection to a phone or watch makes sense. Bluetooth is version 5.3, with 8 GB of memory.
In the box: the headphones, a USB cable, a case, ear tips and an instruction manual.
The LCB edition itself adds the colourway designed by the athlete and a voice message recorded by her. The rest of the spec sheet is identical to the standard TRI 2 PRO.
What it costs, and how to get one
The catalogue price of the LCB edition is $219.99, sold only through H2O Audio and capped at a run of 500 units. The brand ships internationally at no charge above $150, so the headline price travels further than it looks. What it does not cover is import: buyers outside the US pay their own VAT or sales tax and any carrier handling fee at customs, which is why the landed cost depends on the destination rather than the sticker.
The standard TRI 2 PRO, without the special edition, has thin retail distribution outside the US, so for most buyers that one also means ordering direct.
Who this makes sense for
For anyone who swims with music and gets annoyed re-loading files before every session, PLAYLIST+ genuinely solves that problem. It is the one reason worth paying extra for the PRO version.
For anyone training in a group, where communication matters, an uncovered ear is a plus. Even so, it makes more sense to leave the headphones in the bag.
The limited edition is a gesture for fans, not a functional advantage. It brings a different colour and a voice recording, not better sound or a longer battery. Anyone after the technology alone gets exactly the same from the standard TRI 2 PRO.