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Keep their ears safe while learning, gaming or watching their favourite shows
We tried different headphones at home for playing and homework, and when out and about
All our testers were big fans of these headphones. The Gecko has lots of brilliant features at a fair price point. The noise limiter gave us great peace of mind, as it doesn’t go above the WHO recommendations. And our testers didn’t ever mention the volume wasn’t loud enough, even on busy trains. These headphones fold up nice and compactly, too, so we were able to lob them in our bag and they survived to tell the tale.
These headphones have fairly large cups, and are perhaps more well-suited to older kids and teens. This is also because they’re high spec and have functions that a teen would probably get more use out of, such as the integrated mic in the cup and 20-hour battery life.
Kids will be drawn to these brightly coloured headphones. And once our testers realised they come with stickers to personalise them, they were even more keen. The cups on the headphones are a brightly coloured version of the headband. We went for pink, so the cups were neon pink.
Designed for kids aged six and up, mini gamers will love these shrunken gamer-style headphones. With a retractable boom mic that has a quick-mute button (great if your parents are shouting “It’s dinner time” for the 57th time in the background), these are ideal for multiplayer gaming. We liked the almost retro look on the adjustable cups – something our tester was oblivious to, but we appreciated them looking a bit cooler than some other gaming headphones out there.
Cute and lightweight, these headphones are great for younger kids – certainly our five-year-old tester was keen on the red pair we went for. The fully padded headband and small cups made wearing these lightweight headphones comfortable, and they were very easy to use – just plug in and go.
We were dumbstruck by the genius of these headphones (which are so much more than a set of headphones, by the way). They have “shields” on the cups, which connect to wifi and download stories to the headphones, so your child can listen to the audio wherever they go.
These headphones are a great midway point between younger kids’ headphones and ones for teens. They’re also very reasonably priced and have a good range of functionality.
Our mini tester loved these bright (but not garish) headphones. The cans are small, so perfect for young children. While our tester enjoyed the stickers to customise the headphones, we liked that the fabric on the cans was mesh and didn’t become sweaty like some others can. The fact they fold up makes them practical too, as does the 24-hour battery life.
These are one of the first bone-conducting headphones for children. If you’re not familiar with bone-conduction headphones, let us fill you in. These sit on your cheekbone, not in or on your ear. There are several benefits to this. One is that you can then still hear environmental sounds – great for kids walking to school. The next benefit is that people with hearing loss can use them, and hear the audio playing. One school of thought is that they reduce hearing damage, but the jury is still out on that one.
These have most of the features of our overall best, the Pogs gecko, except these ones are wired. The main benefit of this is that you don’t have to think about charging them. Plus, there’s no hassle in pairing them – you can just take them wherever you’re going without a second thought. Hugely handy if you have a child who likes to switch devices, or if you’re going on a flight.
If your teen has been asking you for AirPods, but you’re not sold on the idea, these might be the solution. These earbuds are truly wireless, meaning they’re not connected to a device or each other. They come with a case, which also holds charge, so when they’re nestled in the box they’re charging (you then charge the box). The headphones themselves hold five hours of charge, and the box another 19 hours.
OK, so after begging for days, you’ve finally caved and got them their most-wanted piece of tech – perhaps a fancy smartwatch or a Nintendo Switch, maybe even a tablet or a smartphone. Kudos to you, you could’ve just got them a Tamagotchi.
But as the days wear on, you’ve quickly come to realise that these gadgets just won’t stop bleeping and blooping. The noise these tech ‘must-haves’ create is deeply, well, annoying, and your poor ears can’t take any more of Yoshi shouting out his own name in that high-pitched voice. Kids’ headphones to your rescue…
Because children’s and teenagers’ ears are different to adults’, you can’t just sling them a pair of your cans to shut their devices up, we’re afraid. For one, their ears are smaller, but they’re also still developing. If children are exposed to loud sounds, it can cause irreparable damage to their hearing, and maybe even permanent hearing loss.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends 85dB as a safe maximum noise level for children for up to eight hours – that’s around the volume of heavy traffic. Some devices can go to 136dB when on maximum volume. Ouch.
But kids’ headphones, more often than not, have a volume limiter on them, so developing ears stay safe. In our round-up, we’ve listed the maximum volume on all headphone entries, so you know they’re definitely child-proof.
The best kids’ headphones come in all sorts of designs – in ear, on ear, wireless and wired. When choosing one for your child or teen, think about how they’ll use them. If they’re using them with an Apple device, they’ll probably want wireless headphones. Plus, they won’t get tangled up, but you do need to remember to charge them. Folding headphones, on the other hand, are handy if you travel a lot, or your teen is using them when they’re out and about.
We spent a solid four weeks testing headphones for kids and teens. During testing, we tried different headphones at home for playing and homework, and while out and about in the car and on trains. Our ideal headphones are lightweight and comfortable, with a noise limiter, natch. Sound quality was important, as well as the headphones being appealing to the wearer, whatever their age. Now, let’s make some noise (up to 85dB) for our best kids’ headphones.
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All our testers were big fans of these headphones. The Gecko has lots of brilliant features at a fair price point. The noise limiter gave us great peace of mind, as it doesn’t go above the WHO recommendations. And our testers didn’t ever mention the volume wasn’t loud enough, even on busy trains. These headphones fold up nice and compactly, too, so we were able to lob them in our bag and they survived to tell the tale.
We’re told the cups are super comfortable, and they’re made from hypoallergenic fabrics too. Pairing them is a breeze, and although the buttons on the cups (for controlling them) are fairly small, our four-year-old tester had no issues.
If you have multiple children tuning into the same device, you can daisy-chain them together with the anti-tangle cord included in the box. The Gecko headphones come in a range of stylish hues, which are fun without being too “out there”, so even the coolest of tweens and teens will be chuffed with them.
These headphones have fairly large cups, and are perhaps more well-suited to older kids and teens. This is also because they’re high spec and have functions that a teen would probably get more use out of, such as the integrated mic in the cup and 20-hour battery life.
If you have forgetful kids – who doesn’t? – who don’t remember to charge their headphones, you can get a full charge on these in just two hours. As well as being wireless, you can use them wired, if your battery life is waning.
Our tester liked the soft, tactile material on the cups, and the chunky, easy-to-use buttons. The active noise cancellation meant our tester wasn’t tempted to turn up the volume when background noises increased, keeping their precious ears safe. You can switch this mode on and off at a click of a button on the cup – great if they’re crossing roads or someone is trying to get their attention.
Kids will be drawn to these brightly coloured headphones. And once our testers realised they come with stickers to personalise them, they were even more keen. The cups on the headphones are a brightly coloured version of the headband. We went for pink, so the cups were neon pink.
These cups are cushioned well and very soft, but the headband isn’t cushioned. Our testers didn’t really clock this, but it’s worth noting for those that do mind these things.
An integrated mic meant they could chat with callers (mostly grandparents, if we’re honest) while roaming free and make the most of the wireless connection. The 30-hour battery life is one of the best we tried, and we were grateful for it. These headphones are great value and feel surprisingly premium for the price.
Designed for kids aged six and up, mini gamers will love these shrunken gamer-style headphones. With a retractable boom mic that has a quick-mute button (great if your parents are shouting “It’s dinner time” for the 57th time in the background), these are ideal for multiplayer gaming. We liked the almost retro look on the adjustable cups – something our tester was oblivious to, but we appreciated them looking a bit cooler than some other gaming headphones out there.
Both the cups and headband are cushioned, meaning our tester didn’t get ear ache, no matter how long they played. Speaking of endless use, the battery life is 22 hours, which should be more than enough for even the most avid user.
The JBuddies Play are wireless, but if your child prefers to be hooked up, there’s a wire to plug them in with a volume control on the cord – a nice touch, we thought.
Cute and lightweight, these headphones are great for younger kids – certainly our five-year-old tester was keen on the red pair we went for. The fully padded headband and small cups made wearing these lightweight headphones comfortable, and they were very easy to use – just plug in and go.
As parents, we liked the anti-tangle cord, too – and the fact it detached from the headphones. Of course, they’re made by Tonies but you can use them with any device that has a headphone jack.
With a noise limiter of 85dB, we felt really at ease with these headphones, knowing our younger children couldn’t get up to too much mischief.
We were dumbstruck by the genius of these headphones (which are so much more than a set of headphones, by the way). They have “shields” on the cups, which connect to wifi and download stories to the headphones, so your child can listen to the audio wherever they go.
You can even record your own stories on to shields, but StoryPhones has a huge library to choose from – our tester loved the Toy Story stories. There are also ZenShields, which have relaxing tracks for quiet time.
You can also use these as wired or wireless headphones with other devices and even daisy-chain them together. Comfort wise, they’re padded on the headband and on the soft, round cups.
These headphones are a great midway point between younger kids’ headphones and ones for teens. They’re also very reasonably priced and have a good range of functionality.
We liked that you can daisy-chain them together, using the cable included, so our kids could watch each other game (why is this even a thing?) and we didn’t have to listen to it. Win-win. These headphones also have an integrated mic for chatting to friends (invariably while gaming).
The buttons on the side are tactile enough for older kids, though under-fives will find them tricky (and that goes for most of the wireless headphones in this list).
The whopping 24-hour battery life is a big perk. We also liked that these headphones fold, so you can shove them into a bag for going back and forth to school.
Our mini tester loved these bright (but not garish) headphones. The cans are small, so perfect for young children. While our tester enjoyed the stickers to customise the headphones, we liked that the fabric on the cans was mesh and didn’t become sweaty like some others can. The fact they fold up makes them practical too, as does the 24-hour battery life.
The volume limiter on this set is adjustable, so you can have them loud at 94dB, or lower at 85dB. We didn’t find the need to rack up the volume on them too high, though, as the sound quality was pretty decent.
These are one of the first bone-conducting headphones for children. If you’re not familiar with bone-conduction headphones, let us fill you in. These sit on your cheekbone, not in or on your ear. There are several benefits to this. One is that you can then still hear environmental sounds – great for kids walking to school. The next benefit is that people with hearing loss can use them, and hear the audio playing. One school of thought is that they reduce hearing damage, but the jury is still out on that one.
Although the colours are muted, there are stickers included and our tester loved customising their set. The headphones do take a bit of getting used to, but we’re told they work great once you do. They’re lightweight and comfortable, with soft pads on the cheekbones.
The buttons on these headphones (to control them) are small – better for more-dexterous kids. But these headphones are definitely the most lightweight option we tried. They’re even water-resistant, too.
These have most of the features of our overall best, the Pogs gecko, except these ones are wired. The main benefit of this is that you don’t have to think about charging them. Plus, there’s no hassle in pairing them – you can just take them wherever you’re going without a second thought. Hugely handy if you have a child who likes to switch devices, or if you’re going on a flight.
You can daisy-chain them together, and they don’t need to be the same make (there’s a cable included in the box to do this). The headphones themselves are adjustable and well-padded. Our fussier tester happily wore them for a lengthy train journey without complaint. They’re also very durable, and fold up, so you can take them with you on the go.
If your teen has been asking you for AirPods, but you’re not sold on the idea, these might be the solution. These earbuds are truly wireless, meaning they’re not connected to a device or each other. They come with a case, which also holds charge, so when they’re nestled in the box they’re charging (you then charge the box). The headphones themselves hold five hours of charge, and the box another 19 hours.
These are no doubt better for older kids, as the controls are quite fiddly, requiring you to tap them the right amount of times to play/stop/control the volume and take calls.
The sound quality of these is very decent for the price, and we were relieved there was a noise limiter. A tween and teen will feel very grown up with them, and your wallet won’t feel as light as it would if you forked out for Apple’s version.
For the third year in a row, POGS gecko has taken the crown. For durability, functionality and value, we don’t think there’s anything better in the kids’ headphone market. Our testers wore them comfortably for hours, the sound quality is fantastic and they look great, too. For older kids and teens, you might want to lean towards the Belkin minis and JBLs – both are perfect for more-sophisticated tastes and have more grown-up functionality, too.
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