How We Research
We compare products from their published specs and features; the verdicts below are our independent editorial opinions.
If you want a rugged, wired classroom headset built to survive daily handling by students, choose Avid AE-36; if you need a wireless kids' headphone with active noise cancelling and long battery life for travel and home, choose JLab.
• Avid AE-36 — biggest strength: A wired, education-focused build with a chew-resistant braided nylon cord, wipe-down leatherette earpads, and a padded adjustable headband made for all ages.
• Avid AE-36 — biggest trade-off: It's a wired 3.5 mm headset with no active noise cancelling and no wireless playback, so it's tethered to a single-jack device.
• JLab — biggest strength: Wireless Bluetooth 5.3 with 50+ hours of battery, active noise cancelling with three modes, and a 2-in-1 wired option for flexibility.
• JLab — biggest trade-off: It's designed around kids with a fun Purple/Pink look and a fixed push-button control scheme, and its 85 dB sensitivity is tuned for younger listeners rather than critical listening.
• Who each pick is for: Avid AE-36 is for classrooms, testing, and shared school devices; JLab is for kids who want wireless freedom at home, on trips, and on the go.
The Avid AE-36 is a single-purpose tool, and it knows it. Avid builds this as an education headset — the model name literally carries the classroom theme — and every design decision points at one job: giving a student a reliable headset that plugs into a device with a single 3.5 mm jack that handles both speakers and microphone, like many tablets, Chromebooks, iPads, and newer laptops. It's on-ear, wired, and finished in a plain white minimalist shell, so it reads as equipment rather than a toy.
The durability story is the real selling point. The cord is a 6-foot braided nylon run, chosen specifically to resist chewing — a detail that tells you exactly who this is built for. The leatherette earpads are permanent and wipe clean, and the padded headband adjusts to fit a wide range of head sizes, which matters when one headset passes between a first-grader and a teenager. Audio specs are modest but sensible for speech: dynamic drivers, 32 ohm impedance, and a 50 Hz–20 kHz range. It also lists Bluetooth as a wireless technology alongside the 3.5 mm jack, plus voice control and sound isolation, and it carries a one-year limited warranty.
So who should buy it? Anyone outfitting a classroom, lab, library, or testing environment where headsets get handed around, dropped, and chewed. The washable pads and braided cord are exactly the features a teacher cares about. Who should skip it? Anyone who wants wireless freedom, active noise cancelling, or a headphone for music enjoyment first. This is a communication and assessment tool, and I'd treat it that way.
The JLab JBuddies ANC is the opposite philosophy: it's a kids' headphone designed to be fun, wireless, and flexible. The headline number is 50+ hours of battery life, which is the kind of figure that matters on a long road trip or a week of after-school listening without a charger hunt. It runs Bluetooth 5.3, so pairing is straightforward with modern phones and tablets, and the purple/pink colorway and circular on-ear earcups make it clear this is aimed at younger listeners.
The feature I find most interesting is the noise control setup. JLab offers three modes — ANC On, ANC Off, and Be Aware — so a parent can block out airplane noise for focus, then switch to awareness mode so the child can still hear what's happening around them. That's a genuinely thoughtful safety-and-focus balance for kids. The 2-in-1 design also means it works wirelessly or wired via a 3.5 mm jack, which is a real convenience when the battery is low or a device doesn't do Bluetooth.
The earcups are plush, and the construction mixes faux leather and plastic. Sensitivity is listed at 85 dB with a 20 Hz–20,000 Hz range — a tuning that leans toward protecting young ears rather than delivering audiophile punch. Controls are push-button, which is easy for kids to learn. It ships with a cable and headphones, and JLab backs it with a two-year warranty. Who should buy it? Families who want one headphone for school, travel, and home that a kid can actually operate alone. Who should skip it? Adults wanting a serious listening headphone, or anyone who needs a rugged shared-device classroom headset first.
Side-by-Side: Which Should You Choose?
• Best for classroom and testing use → Avid AE-36. The education theme, single-jack compatibility, and wipe-down pads fit shared school devices.
• Best for noise control → JLab. Three modes (ANC On, ANC Off, Be Aware) versus the Avid's passive sound isolation only.
• Best for durability against rough handling → Avid AE-36. The chew-resistant braided nylon cord and permanent leatherette pads are built for exactly that abuse.
• Best for young kids who want wireless freedom → JLab. Bluetooth 5.3, push-button controls, and a kid-focused design make it easy for a child to use alone.
• Best for speech clarity on a budget-conscious school rollout → Avid AE-36. 32 ohm impedance and a voice-control-friendly design suit call-and-response classroom audio.
• Best for travel and long trips → JLab. Long battery life plus ANC and a wired fallback cover flights, car rides, and hotel rooms.
• Best warranty coverage → JLab. A two-year JLab warranty versus the Avid's one-year limited warranty.
If I were buying for a school, a testing lab, or any setting where one headset gets passed between many students, I'd buy the Avid AE-36. In my opinion, the chew-resistant braided cord, washable leatherette pads, and adjustable padded headband are exactly the features that survive a school year, and the wired 3.5 mm single-jack design keeps things simple. If I were buying for my own kid — for travel, home listening, and a bit of independence — I'd pick the JLab JBuddies ANC instead, because 50+ hours of battery and three noise-control modes are hard to argue with for that use case. Two different jobs, two different answers.
Adjusting headphones on an iPhone is mostly about fit and volume. On the Avid AE-36, you adjust the padded headband to fit the head, then use the device's volume controls. On the JLab JBuddies ANC, you adjust the headband for fit and use the push-button controls or the phone's volume for level.
How to adjust headphones?
Volume adjustment normally happens on the connected device. The Avid AE-36 is a wired headset with voice control and sound isolation, so you'd set volume on the laptop, tablet, or Chromebook. The JLab JBuddies ANC uses push-button controls, and you can also adjust volume from the paired phone.
Sound shaping depends on the source device and any app equalizer, not the headset itself in most cases. The Avid AE-36 covers a 50 Hz–20 kHz range with 32 ohm impedance, and the JLab spans 20 Hz–20,000 Hz at 85 dB sensitivity. For the JLab, the biggest "sound adjustment" is switching between ANC On, ANC Off, and Be Aware modes.
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