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As writers and testers for WIRED, we spend all day immersed in personal technology of all kinds. It’s probably no surprise that if we work on a computer during the day and enjoy gaming in our downtime, our kids do too. Reviewer Adrienne So has a 7-year-old and a 9-year-old who attended school remotely and play video games. Reviewer Simon Hill has a 12- and a 15-year-old. Between us, we—well, our kids—have tested most of the kid headphones on the market, including everything we’re recommending here.
These are our top picks, along with some advice—such as why you might want a pair of child-specific headphones. Don’t forget to check out our other parenting guides, such as the Best Kid Tablets and the Best Kid Podcasts. Looking for a pair for yourself? Check out our list of the Best Headphones.
Why Kid-Specific Headphones?
Some of the criteria that we use for evaluating adult headphones simply don’t apply for small children (although it’s still worth taking a look). Sound quality matters a little less. We look for ease of use, different colors (Adrienne’s daughter won’t use anything that’s not pink), comfort, and durability.
Most headphones that are explicitly for children have a feature called output limitation, which automatically reduces the volume to about 85 decibels. That is the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s limit for workplace exposure and about what you’d hear in heavy traffic. However, that’s still really high!
Even if your child’s headphones have volume output limitation, it’s a good idea to check on them every so often. To test whether the volume is too high I note whether my kid can hear me when I sit next to them and say, “Time to give your brother a turn.” If she can’t hear me, the volume needs to go down.
We have four kids between us, and they test every pair of cans. They use the headphones normally 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 different classes in school, which is a great way to test their broader appeal and durability. We also squeeze each set onto our own heads, where possible, to listen to the sound quality and to fully test noise limitation, noise cancellation, and any other notable features.
Updated November 2024: We added headphones from SteelSeries, Juice, BuddyPhones, and iClever, new sections for honorable mentions and how we test, removed discontinued headphones, and updated prices throughout.
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