How We Research
We compare products from their published specs and features; the verdicts below are our independent editorial opinions.
If you want slim on ear headphones built for kids with a wired, shareable, volume-limited setup, choose Skullcandy Grom; if you need a thin fabric headband that stays comfortable against a pillow for sleep and workouts, choose LC-dolida Sleep Headphones Headband. These two products are aimed at completely different buyers, and once you see how they're built, the choice stops being close.
• Skullcandy Grom's biggest strength: a kid-first wired design — volume limited to a kid-safe 85 dB, adjustable headband, folding frame, and a 3.5 mm AUX plug that never needs charging or pairing.
• Skullcandy Grom's biggest trade-off: it's a wired over-ear headphone for ages 6+, so it's not something you'd wear to bed or in place of a sleep mask.
• LC-dolida Sleep Headphones Headband's biggest strength: ultra-thin speakers tucked inside a breathable, washable fabric band — the earpieces are detached so the band itself can go in a household machine.
• LC-dolida Sleep Headphones Headband's biggest trade-off: fully wireless only — no 3.5 mm jack, 13 hours per charge, and 2 hours to top up.
• Pick Skullcandy Grom if you're buying for a child who needs durable, travel-ready headphones with a share port for two kids on one device.
• Pick LC-dolida if you want to listen lying on your side, on a run, or in bed without a hard headband digging into your head.
The Grom is a wired over-ear headphone with a very specific mission: survive a kid. The adjustable headband strap and kid-specific ear cups are sized for smaller heads, and the whole thing collapses down for travel. There's a 3.5 mm AUX cable, so it plugs straight into a tablet, a seat-back screen, or a handheld console with zero setup. For a parent, that's the quiet win — no pairing, no charging, no "it's dead again" ten minutes into a road trip.
The details that matter most are the kid-safety ones. Volume is limited to a kid-safe 85 decibels, with a Volume Limit Override for loud environments like air travel. Controls are deliberately simple: one big main function button and a volume wheel. There's also a built-in microphone with call and media controls, plus voice assistant activation. The Share Audio Port is the feature I'd point to first if you have two kids — two sets of headphones, one device, one movie.
Who should skip it? Anyone shopping for themselves, anyone who wants wireless freedom, and anyone who needs something to wear in bed. It's built for ages 6+, it's over-ear, and at 140 g it's light but not something you'd roll onto at night. It's also worth noting the spec sheet lists Bluetooth 5.2 and a 10 m range alongside the wired connection and a 45-hour battery figure — but the product is sold and described as a wired headphone with a 3.5 mm jack, so I'd treat the wired connection as the headline and not plan around wireless. If you want the current price, check it on Amazon.
The LC-dolida is a different category of product entirely. It's a stretchy, breathable fabric headband with flat speakers sewn inside, so you listen without putting anything hard on your ears. The speakers are thin enough that pressing your head into a pillow doesn't turn into a pressure point — that's the whole reason side sleepers gravitate to this design. It doubles as a sweatband, which is why the listing leans on running, yoga, and gym use alongside sleep and insomnia.
Connectivity is Bluetooth 5.4 (the bullet text also references a 5.2 chip, so treat the exact revision as a minor detail), with a stated 33 ft / roughly 45 ft range depending on which line you read, and compatibility with most Bluetooth devices. Battery is 13 hours of talk or playback on a 2-hour charge. The earpieces detach, so the band itself can be washed and dried in a normal household machine — that's a genuinely practical detail for something worn against your skin and hair.
Trade-offs are real. There's no headphone jack at all, so if the battery is flat, you're simply not listening. 13 hours is fine for a night or a week of workouts, but it's a fraction of the 45-hour figure on the Grom's spec sheet. Noise control is sound isolation rather than anything active, and the fit depends on the band stretching to your head — there's no adjustable headband, no fold, no boom mic positioning. And while the sheet notes over-ear placement, this is not over-ear in the traditional sense; it's a band. If you're buying for a young child, this isn't the pick.
Side-by-Side: Which Should You Choose?
• Best for kids ages 6+ → Skullcandy Grom. Kid-specific ear cups, 85 dB volume limiting, and simple controls.
• Best for workouts and sweat → LC-dolida. Breathable, stretchy, washable band that doubles as a sweatband.
• Best for travel with two kids → Skullcandy Grom. The Share Audio Port lets two listeners use one device.
• Best for battery life → Skullcandy Grom. 45 hours on the spec sheet versus 13 hours for the LC-dolida.
• Best for zero-setup reliability → Skullcandy Grom. A 3.5 mm AUX cable works with no pairing and no charging.
• Best for wireless freedom → LC-dolida. Bluetooth only, no cable to snag on a treadmill or a pillow.
• Best for washing → LC-dolida. Detachable earpieces mean the band goes in the machine.
• Best for durability around rough handling → Skullcandy Grom. Collapsible plastic and TPE construction with a 1-year limited warranty.
In my opinion, these aren't competing for the same buyer, so the honest answer is that you should pick by use case rather than by brand. If the person wearing them is a child, I'd buy the Skullcandy Grom — the 85 dB limit, the share port, the folding frame, and the wired connection are exactly what a kid's headphone should be. If the person wearing them is you, lying in bed or heading out for a run, I'd buy the LC-dolida headband, because no over-ear headphone solves the pillow problem the way a flat fabric band does. I'd only hesitate on the LC-dolida if you hate charging things or need a cable backup.
are on ear headphones good
They can be, and it comes down to fit and use case rather than the category. The Skullcandy Grom uses over-ear cups with an adjustable headband and volume limiting to 85 dB, which suits kids who want immersion without the cups pressing on their ears. The LC-dolida takes the opposite approach — no cups at all, just thin speakers in fabric — which is better for lying down but offers less outside-noise blocking.
are on ear headphones comfortable
Comfort depends on clamping force, cup size, and how long you wear them. The Grom's adjustable strap and kid-specific ear cups are designed for a snug fit on smaller heads, and at 140 g it's light for an over-ear design. If your problem is pressure against a pillow rather than against your ears, the LC-dolida's ultra-thin speakers and stretchy band avoid that entirely.
are headphones less harmful than earphones
That's less about headphone versus earphone and more about volume and duration — which is exactly why the Grom caps output at a kid-safe 85 dB with an override only for loud situations like air travel. The LC-dolida doesn't publish a volume limit; it relies on sound isolation and a 13-hour battery. Either way, lower volume and shorter sessions matter more than the form factor.
what are the best open ear headphones
"Open ear" usually means nothing sits inside your ear canal. The LC-dolida headband fits that idea loosely — the speakers sit against your head through fabric rather than in your ears, and they're thin enough to wear against a pillow. The Grom is the other direction entirely: a closed over-ear cup with passive noise cancellation that blocks more of the outside world.
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See also: LC-dolida Sleep Headphones vs Perytong 2: Noise Blocking, LC-dolida Sleep Headphones vs MUSICOZY Sleep Headphones Bamboo, LC-dolida Sleep Headphones vs Lavince Sleep Headphones