As a writer and As testers at Wired, we’re immersed in all kinds of personal technology all day long. It’s probably no surprise that if we work on computers during the day and enjoy gaming in our downtime, so do our children. Reviewer Adrian Xu has a 7-year-old and a 9-year-old who attend school remotely and play video games. Reviewer Simon Hill has a 12-year-old and a 15-year-old. Between us, we—well, our kids—have tested most of the kids’ headphones on the market, including everything we’re recommending here.
Here are our top picks, along with some advice—like why you might want a pair of kids-specific headphones. Don’t forget to check out our other parenting guides, like the best kid tablets and the best kid podcasts. Looking for a pair for yourself? Check out our list of the best headphones.
Why headphones specifically for kids?
Some of the criteria we use to test adult headphones don’t apply to toddlers (though it’s still worth looking at). Sound quality matters a little less. We look for ease of use, variety of colors (Adrienne’s daughter won’t use anything that isn’t pink), comfort and durability.
Most headphones intended expressly for children have a feature called output attenuation, which automatically reduces the volume to about 85 decibels. That’s the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s limit for workplace exposure and what you’ll hear about in heavy traffic. However, it is still really high!
Even if your child’s headphones have a volume output limit, it’s a good idea to check them every so often. To test if the volume is too high, I note if my child can hear me when I sit next to them and say, “Time to turn your brother.” If she can’t hear me, the volume needs to be turned down.
We have four kids between us, and they test every pair of cans. They typically use the headphones for at least a week, which means some gaming, video streaming, chatting with friends, and maybe even studying. Simon’s wife is also a teacher, so she uses the headphones with various classes at school, which is a great way to test their wider appeal and durability. We squeeze each set over our heads, where possible, to hear the sound quality and fully test the noise threshold, noise cancellation, and other noteworthy features.
Updated November 2024: We’ve added headphones from SteelSeries, Juice, BuddyPhones, and iClever, new sections for honorable mentions and how we test, removed discontinued headphones, and updated prices. Let’s date.
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