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We compare products from their published specs and features; the verdicts below are our independent editorial opinions.
If you want a sweatproof in-ear sport earbud with a customizable sound signature for hoops and hard training, choose Jaybird Tarah; if you need a non in ear, open-ear design that keeps a kid aware of their surroundings while doing schoolwork or shooting around in the driveway, choose Mehomeli Kids Headphones. That's the whole decision in one line, and it's really a question of who is wearing them and what the ears need to hear — especially for basketball, where one design seals you off from the court and the other deliberately doesn't.
• Jaybird Tarah's biggest strength: IPX7 sweatproof and waterproof protection plus a secure silicone eargel fit — it's built to stay in during high-intensity, sweaty activity. Its trade-off: it's an in-ear design that seals the ear canal, so you're more isolated from what's around you.
• Mehomeli Kids Headphones' biggest strength: a true open-ear, air-conduction design with an 85dB volume limit and a 30-gram, 360°-bendable frame. Its trade-off: the open design lets in the world, which is exactly the point for kids but means less isolation in noisy rooms.
• Battery in plain numbers: Jaybird Tarah runs 6 hours per charge with a 10-minute fast charge giving a full hour; Mehomeli runs up to 20 hours on a 165mAh battery.
• Who Jaybird Tarah is for: adult athletes, gym-goers and runners who want sealed, sweatproof in-ear sound with app-based EQ.
• Who Mehomeli Kids Headphones is for: kids and parents who want non in ear, ear-safe listening with volume limiting and environmental awareness.
The Tarah is a Bluetooth 5.0 sport headphone with a 20Hz–20,000Hz dynamic driver, an IPX7 rating, and a design philosophy centered on one thing: staying put while you move. The spec sheet makes that clear — three interchangeable pairs of ultra-soft silicone eargels, a Speed Cinch to tighten the cable behind your head, and a Shirt Clip to keep the wire from whipping around. If you've ever had a bud pop loose mid-sprint, you know why those accessories matter.
Battery life is 6 hours per charge, and the fast-charge figure is the interesting one: 10 minutes of charging buys a full hour of playback. On a practical level, that means you can plug in during a quick warm-up and be back to music before tip-off. The integrated microphone handles calls and on-cable controls handle volume, track skipping and mute, so you're not digging for your phone mid-workout.
The honest trade-off is the form factor. The Tarah is an in-ear headphone that seals into the ear canal, and sealing means isolation. For lifting, running, or zoning into your own playlist, that's a feature. For anything where you need to hear a coach, a teammate, or traffic, it works against you. There's no active noise cancellation here — the isolation is purely physical, a byproduct of the eargel seal. It's also an adult-oriented product with a stated adult age range, so I wouldn't hand it to a young kid.
Mehomeli Kids Headphones: Who It's For
The Mehomeli is a different species of headphone entirely. This is an open-ear, air-conduction design — meaning the driver sits outside the ear canal and delivers sound directionally rather than plugging the ear. That single design choice drives everything else. Kids can hear the surrounding environment while they listen, which is the safety argument the product is built around, and an 85dB volume cap keeps output at a level intended to prevent hearing damage.
The comfort story is unusually specific for the category. It weighs 30 grams, uses a high-strength memory titanium neckband with food-grade pads, and is rated to bend 360° without deforming. That matters for kids, who are hard on gear. The structure is also designed to play nicely with glasses and helmets — a detail that a lot of kids' headphones simply ignore. Bluetooth 5.2 handles pairing with a stable connection up to 33 feet, and a 16.2mm full-range dynamic driver plus a MEMS microphone covers music and calls.
Battery life is the headline number: up to 20 hours on a 165mAh battery. For a school day plus after-school activities, that's a charge-once-a-week kind of rhythm rather than a nightly ritual. Water resistance is rated IPX5 for sweat, dust and moisture — enough for outdoor play and light sport, though I'd read it as splash-and-sweat resistant rather than something to swim in.
Who should skip it? Anyone who wants deep bass isolation or a sealed, immersive listen. The open design leaks sound in both directions, and there's no noise control of any kind. If your priority is blocking out a noisy bus, this isn't that product. It's also, by name and by design, aimed at kids — an adult looking for a serious training earbud will find the volume ceiling and open tuning limiting.
Side-by-Side: Which Should You Choose?
• Best for sweatproof, high-intensity training → Jaybird Tarah. IPX7 is a full waterproof rating, not just a splash rating, and the silicone eargel plus Speed Cinch system is engineered for movement.
• Best for battery life → Mehomeli Kids Headphones. Up to 20 hours versus 6 hours on the Tarah.
• Best for staying aware of your surroundings → Mehomeli Kids Headphones. Air conduction leaves the ear canal open, so ambient sound comes through.
• Best for customizable sound → Jaybird Tarah. The Jaybird app EQ lets you tune and save a personal profile to the buds.
• Best for kids, school and glasses/helmet wearers → Mehomeli Kids Headphones. The 30-gram bendable frame and glasses-compatible structure are built for that.
• Best for calls on the move for an adult → Jaybird Tarah. On-cable controls plus mic let you manage calls without stopping your workout.
• Best for durability against rough handling → Mehomeli Kids Headphones. The 360° no-deformation titanium neckband is designed to survive being bent, stuffed in a bag and bent again.
If you're specifically hunting open ear headphones for basketball — or earphones for basketball where you still want to hear the court — the Mehomeli's non in ear design fits that brief far better than a sealed in-ear. If you want the best low latency headphone for basketball in the sense of a rock-solid, gym-proof connection that never slips, the Tarah's secure-fit sport build is the one I'd point to. Different jobs, different tools.
For basketball and any sweaty, high-movement training where you want sealed, secure, sweatproof sound with app-tuned EQ, I'd buy the Jaybird Tarah — its IPX7 rating, silicone eargel fit and Speed Cinch are purpose-built for exactly that, and the 10-minute fast charge is genuinely handy. If the buyer is a kid, or if the goal is non in ear listening that keeps the ears open and the volume capped at 85dB for basketball, school and outdoor play, I'd choose the Mehomeli Kids Headphones instead. In my opinion the deciding question isn't which is "better" — it's whether you want your ears sealed for focus or open for awareness. Check the current price on Amazon for whichever one matches your use case before you commit.
FAQ
The driver sits outside your ear canal and pushes sound toward the ear without blocking it, so ambient noise still reaches you. The Mehomeli uses this approach with a 16.2mm dynamic driver, which is why it can keep a kid aware of their surroundings while they listen.
There's no single "best" — it depends on the job. For an open, ear-safe, volume-limited design aimed at kids, the Mehomeli's 85dB cap, 30-gram frame and 20-hour battery make a strong case. For a sealed, sweatproof adult sport earbud, the Jaybird Tarah's IPX7 build is the better fit. Match the design to the wearer.
You seat the eargel into the ear canal so it seals and stays put. The Jaybird Tarah ships with three interchangeable silicone eargel sizes plus a Speed Cinch and shirt clip to lock the fit — pick the size that seals comfortably without pressure, since the seal is what holds the bud in during activity.
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