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If you want a kid-safe, volume-limited wired earbud you can hand to a child without worrying about the volume dial, choose LilGadgets BestBuds Ear Buds; if you need a cable to make an existing pair of headphones work with a modern USB-C phone or laptop, choose Asobilor USB-C Audio Cable. These two products look similar in a search results page — both are wired, both have an inline mic — but they solve completely different problems. One is a complete listening solution for a child. The other is an adapter-style cable that revives headphones you already own. For side sleepers, neither is a pillow-friendly design, so read carefully before you buy either one.
• LilGadgets BestBuds — biggest strength: a complete, kid-focused package: volume-limited in-ear buds, three sizes of SoftTouch earbud covers, a hard travel case, and a SharePort splitter for sharing audio with a second pair of buds.
• LilGadgets BestBuds — biggest trade-off: it's a 3.5mm wired earbud aimed at kids, so it needs a headphone jack (or an adapter) and isn't built for adult critical listening.
• Asobilor USB-C Audio Cable — biggest strength: a 4.4ft USB-C to 3.5mm cable with an inline mic plus volume and track buttons, so headphones you already own work with USB-C phones, tablets, laptops and PCs — no adapter required.
• Asobilor USB-C Audio Cable — biggest trade-off: it is a cable, not headphones. If you don't already own a pair of 3.5mm headphones (it names Beats Solo2/Solo3/Solo Pro, Studio2/Studio3/Studio Pro, Mixr and Executive models), it does nothing for you on its own.
• Who each is for: LilGadgets for parents buying a first set of earbuds for a child; Asobilor for anyone with a decent pair of wired headphones and a USB-C-only device.
The BestBuds is a rare thing: an in-ear headphone designed specifically for kids rather than a scaled-down adult product. The core idea is volume limiting — the sound is capped so a child can't crank it to dangerous levels, which is the whole reason a parent buys a kids' headphone in the first place. Around that sits a genuinely thoughtful kit: 10mm dynamic drivers, a 20Hz–20kHz frequency range, 32 ohms impedance and a rated power of 100mW, all wrapped in a rounded-tip in-ear shape with three sizes of flexible SoftTouch earbud covers. Fit is the thing kids complain about most, and three sizes plus a soft material is the right answer to that.
Who should buy it: parents of school-age kids who want wired earbuds with a mic for class, travel and shared listening, and who specifically want the volume ceiling. Who should skip it: adults who want serious sound quality, anyone whose device has no 3.5mm jack and who doesn't want to carry an adapter, and anyone shopping for a sleep headphone. In-ear buds with a rounded tip and a standard cable are not a side-sleeping design — lying on your ear presses the bud into the canal. If that's your goal, a low-profile neckband style is the shape to look at instead, and this isn't it. Note too that the spec sheet lists Bluetooth 4 under style while the actual connection is a 3.5mm wired jack — the wired cable with inline mic is the part that matters here, and that's what you're buying.
Asobilor USB-C Audio Cable: Who It's For
This is a cable, and the whole pitch is compatibility. It's 4.4 feet long with a 3.5mm jack on one end and USB-C on the other, so a pair of wired headphones plugs into a USB-C phone, tablet, laptop or PC with no adapter in between. That single sentence is the reason this product exists. The headphone jack has been disappearing from phones and thin laptops for years, and a lot of good headphones — the Beats models named on the sheet included — are still sitting in drawers because there's nowhere to plug them in.
What you get beyond the connector is the inline control pod. There's a built-in microphone plus click buttons: one press pauses or resumes, two skips forward, three skips back, and the two black buttons raise and lower volume. That's full hands-free control without touching the phone, which is exactly what you want on a call or while walking. Inside, Asobilor specifies an oxygen-free copper core with reinforced shielding for low-latency, noise-free audio, and the outer jacket is flexible TPE with strain-relief connectors and a bend-tested, tangle-resistant build. The cable is also listed as heat resistant.
Who should buy it: anyone with a decent pair of 3.5mm headphones and a USB-C-only device who wants to keep using them, plus people who take a lot of calls and want inline volume and mic controls. It's a sensible pick for online meetings, daily listening and studio work on a laptop. Who should skip it: anyone who doesn't already own compatible 3.5mm headphones — this cable can't create sound on its own. Also skip it if your headphones use a different connector type, and don't expect it to fix a headphone that has its own proprietary cable. One more note for the side-sleeper crowd: a 4.4ft cable and an inline control pod are not a bed setup. If you're searching for a bluetooth headset for side sleepers, this isn't that product either — it's a wired cable, and the pod will end up under your shoulder.
• Best for buying earbuds for a child → LilGadgets BestBuds Ear Buds. Volume limiting, three earbud cover sizes and a hard case are all built around kids.
• Best for reviving headphones you already own → Asobilor USB-C Audio Cable. It turns any compatible 3.5mm headphone into a USB-C headphone.
• Best for shared listening → LilGadgets BestBuds Ear Buds. The included SharePort adapter lets two pairs run off one device.
• Best for calls on a USB-C phone or laptop → Asobilor USB-C Audio Cable. Dedicated mic plus volume, play/pause and track buttons in the inline pod.
• Best for travel and storage → LilGadgets BestBuds Ear Buds. The hard travel case is included; the Asobilor is a cable you'll coil and pocket.
• Best for long cable runs and desk use → Asobilor USB-C Audio Cable. 4.4ft with strain relief and a tangle-resistant jacket suits laptop and studio setups.
• Best for a no-adapter connection to new devices → Asobilor USB-C Audio Cable. It's built for USB-C audio devices including recent iPhone and iPad models.
• Best for a complete, ready-to-use gift → LilGadgets BestBuds Ear Buds. Buds, covers, case and splitter arrive together; the Asobilor needs headphones you already have.
I'd buy the LilGadgets BestBuds if I were shopping for a child — the volume limiting, the three cover sizes, the hard case and the SharePort splitter add up to a complete package, and the inline mic makes it usable for calls and class. I'd buy the Asobilor USB-C Audio Cable if I already owned a good pair of wired headphones and just needed them to work with a USB-C phone or laptop; it costs far less than replacing the headphones and gives me back inline volume and call controls. The deciding question is simple: do you need the headphones, or do you need the connection? If you're a side sleeper, buy neither as a sleep headphone — look at a low-profile neckband design instead, because both of these put a cable and a control pod exactly where your pillow is. And check the current price on Amazon before you commit, since either one is a small, low-risk purchase.
FAQ
what is an inline mic on headphones
An inline mic is a small microphone built into the control pod on the headphone cable rather than into the earcup. Both products here have one: on the BestBuds it handles play/pause, answer call and end call, and on the Asobilor cable it adds volume and track-skip buttons as well. It lets you take calls and control playback without touching your phone.
Plug the 3.5mm end of your headphones into the 3.5mm jack of a USB-C audio cable like the Asobilor, and plug the USB-C end into your computer. The mic and inline buttons then work as they would on a phone — one press to pause or resume, two to skip forward, three to go back, with the black buttons for volume.
The BestBuds uses a 3.5mm jack, so on a phone with no headphone jack you'd need a 3.5mm-to-USB-C adapter. The Asobilor cable is the other route: it's USB-C on one end and 3.5mm on the other, so it connects compatible headphones to USB-C devices with no adapter required.
No — and I'd say that plainly. In-ear buds with a rounded tip press into the ear canal when you lie on your side, and a 4.4ft cable with an inline pod sits awkwardly under your shoulder or pillow. If you're specifically shopping for neckband headphones for side sleepers or an ANC kids headphone for side sleepers, neither of these fits that brief.
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