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If you want a kid-safe pair of wired headphones that works straight out of the box on a plane, a tablet or a school iPad, choose Planet Buddies Kids Penguin; if you need an adapter that lets you plug your own full-size headphones into an airline seat jack, choose Asobilor Dual 3.5mm.
• Planet Buddies Kids Penguin — biggest strength: a complete, ready-to-use on-ear headphone with an 85 dB volume limit, an inline mic and a foldable frame built for travel. Biggest trade-off: it's a wired 3.5 mm headphone aimed at children age 3 and up, so it isn't the pick for an adult who already owns better-sounding headphones.
• Asobilor Dual 3.5mm — biggest strength: a foldable, gold-plated adapter that switches between single and double plugs so your own headphones work on most airline seat jacks. Biggest trade-off: on its own it makes no sound — you still need a headphone you already like.
• Who Planet Buddies Kids Penguin is for: parents buying one small, safe, self-contained headphone for a young child.
• Who Asobilor Dual 3.5mm is for: travellers who want to keep using their own headphones in flight and just need the connection solved.
Think of this as the "one purchase, everything included" option for a young traveller. It's a wired on-ear headphone with a 3.5 mm jack, so it plugs into an iPad, a tablet, an e-reader or a phone without any pairing, charging or app. The headline spec is the volume ceiling: sensitivity is rated at 85 dB, which the brand ties to the WHO-recommended listening level, and the design intent is to keep a child's audio from creeping up to damaging levels. For a flight, that means you can hand it over and stop worrying about how loud the movie is.
The physical design is clearly aimed at kids on the move. It folds, it weighs about 0.32 kg, and it ships with a travel pouch, which matters more than it sounds like when you're cramming a carry-on. The headband is fully adjustable and the ear cushions are padded, and the brand says it fits children age 3 and above. The ear cups are round and on-ear rather than over-ear, and the enclosure uses 50% recycled material — a small detail, but it fits the animal theme and the eco angle the brand leans into. There's also an inline button control for play, pause, skipping tracks, muting and starting or ending calls, plus a built-in mic for hands-free talking.
Asobilor Dual 3.5mm: Who It's For
This is a different kind of product entirely — a tiny adapter, not a headphone. Its whole job is to bridge the gap between the headphone you already own and the seat-back entertainment system in front of you. The mechanism is simple: plug your headphone cable into the 3.5 mm female end, plug the other end into the aviation jack, and you're listening.
The clever part is the foldable plug. It folds into either a single or a double plug, which means you don't have to guess what the airline installed — it's built to suit most airline audio jacks and most devices with standard single or dual 3.5 mm outputs. That single design decision is why this thing earns its place in a travel pouch. The tips are gold-plated, which the brand says improves signal input and reduces external noise, and 24K gold plating is also claimed to reduce interference and extend service life. It weighs about 10 g and measures roughly 0.2 x 1.6 x 0.5 inches, so it disappears into a pocket.
Compatibility is broad and specific: it's listed as working with Bose QC2, QC3, QC15, QC20, QC25, QC35, QC35ii, NC700, SoundLink, SoundLinkII, AE2, AE2i and AE2W headphones, plus most devices with standard 3.5 mm jacks. The brand also backs it with a 12-month after-sales service and a 1-year warranty. Where it falls short: it adds nothing on its own. If your headphones don't isolate well or don't sound good, this adapter won't fix that — it just gets them connected. I'd skip it if you don't already own a pair of 3.5 mm headphones you actually like, or if your child needs their own headphone rather than an accessory.
Side-by-Side: Which Should You Choose?
• Best for a young child on a flight → Planet Buddies Kids Penguin. Volume-limited, foldable, padded, pouch included, one purchase.
• Best for single-plug vs double-plug uncertainty → Asobilor Dual 3.5mm. The plug folds to handle both.
• Best for hands-free calls and tablet use → Planet Buddies Kids Penguin. It has an inline mic and button controls.
• Best for packing light → Asobilor Dual 3.5mm. At roughly 10 g it's essentially weightless.
• Best for noise isolation → neither, strictly speaking. Planet Buddies relies on passive sound isolation; the Asobilor adapter claims reduced interference but adds no isolation of its own.
• Best for eco-minded buyers → Planet Buddies Kids Penguin. Its enclosure uses 50% recycled material.
• Best for a warranty → Asobilor Dual 3.5mm, which lists a 1-year warranty; Planet Buddies lists no warranty.
If I were buying for a child heading on a flight, I'd buy the Planet Buddies Kids Penguin. It solves the whole problem in one item: safe volume, a cable that never needs charging, a mic, a foldable frame and a travel pouch — and the 85 dB limit is the single most useful spec here for a parent. I'd only reach for the Asobilor Dual 3.5mm if I already owned a headphone I loved and just kept getting stuck with an airline jack that wouldn't fit. In that case the adapter is the smarter, smaller purchase. Different problems, different answers — but for a kid, it's the Penguin.
what headphones for airplane
For a child, a wired, volume-limited on-ear headphone like the Planet Buddies Kids Penguin is the straightforward answer — it runs off a 3.5 mm cable, needs no charging and caps output at 85 dB. For an adult, the better play is bringing your own headphone plus an adapter like the Asobilor Dual 3.5mm.
what is the best headphones for airplanes
There's no universal best — it depends on who's wearing them. The Planet Buddies Kids Penguin suits young children thanks to its 85 dB limit, adjustable headband and kid sizing from age 3 up. Adults who want to keep their own headphones should look at an adapter instead, since seat jacks often need a single or double plug.
what earphones for airplane
If you mean an in-ear or on-ear set, the Planet Buddies Kids Penguin is the child-focused option with a 3.5 mm jack and a built-in mic. If you mean getting your existing earphones to work with the seat-back system, the Asobilor Dual 3.5mm is the piece that does it, folding between single and double plugs.
what kind of headphones for airplane
Wired is the safe bet for flights, because there's no battery to run down mid-journey and no pairing to fight with. The Planet Buddies Kids Penguin is wired with a 3.5 mm jack and passive sound isolation. If you'd rather use your own wired headphones, add the Asobilor Dual 3.5mm so they fit the airline jack.
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