We compare products from their published specs and features; the verdicts below are our independent editorial opinions.
Updated: 2026-10-02 · 6 min read · Independent comparison
If you want proven active noise cancellation with marathon battery life, choose Sony ZX110NC; if you need a featherweight open-ear set built for kids and safe all-day wear, choose Mehomeli Kid Headphones.
These two headphones share exactly one thing: a 3.5 mm wired jack. Everything else about them — the fit, the audience, the whole idea behind the design — pulls in opposite directions. One is a travel-oriented over-ear noise canceller from a major audio brand. The other is a 20-gram open-ear set aimed at school kids. I'll walk through what each one actually does well, where each one falls short, and which one I'd hand to a specific buyer.
• Sony ZX110NC — biggest strength: Active Noise Cancellation that cuts ambient noise by up to 95%, paired with a rated 80 hours of battery life for the noise-cancelling circuit.
• Sony ZX110NC — biggest trade-off: It's an on-ear design in adult sizing with a bulky-ish plastic build and a carrying case, so it's not something you'd hand to a small child.
• Mehomeli Kid Headphones — biggest strength: Open-ear, air-conduction design at just 20 grams with a foldable frame, sized for ages 3–16.
• Mehomeli Kid Headphones — biggest trade-off: No noise cancelling at all, and an open-ear fit means you hear the world around you by design.
• Who Sony ZX110NC is for: Adults who want to mute a noisy commute, flight, or open office.
• Who Mehomeli Kid Headphones is for: Parents buying a first wired headset for school, tablets, and outdoor play.
The ZX110NC is built around one job: making noise disappear. Flip the switch and the active noise cancelling circuit goes to work, and Sony rates the reduction at up to 95% of ambient noise. That's the kind of figure that matters on a plane, on a bus, or in a room full of people talking. The 30 mm dynamic drivers cover a 12–22,000 Hz range, and the high-energy neodymium magnets are there to keep bass deep and highs clear even when the cancelling is active. In my opinion, this is a commuter's headphone first and a music headphone second — the noise cancelling is the headline, not a bonus.
The battery story is the other standout. Sony lists 80 hours of battery life and an 80-hour charge time for the cancelling circuit. Read that as: you're not charging this thing every night. You also aren't locked out if the battery dies — the ZX110NC works as a standard wired headphone without power, which is a genuinely useful fallback that a lot of noise-cancelling sets don't offer. The Y-shaped cord runs 3.94 feet, and the swivel, folding earpads collapse down for travel, with a carrying case included.
Who should buy it: adults who want one wired headphone that can quiet a commute and still fold into a bag. Who should skip it: anyone shopping for a young child. The age range is listed as adult, the fit is on-ear with rounded earpieces, and the enclosure is plastic with an integrated active circuit — not the profile of a knock-around kids' set. If you want a set a 6-year-old can toss in a backpack, this isn't it.
The Mehomeli set is designed from a completely different starting point: comfort and safety for small heads. It's an open-ear, air-conduction design, which means the drivers sit outside the ear canal and redirect sound toward your ears rather than sealing you in. Mehomeli describes a nozzle shaped to optimize acoustic reflections and steer soundwaves precisely while limiting leakage and lifting bass. The practical upshot is that a kid can still hear a teacher, a parent, or traffic while wearing them — which is exactly why open-ear makes sense for school and outdoor use.
The weight is the number that jumps out: 20 grams. For long wear during a class period or a long car ride, that's a real advantage over anything with a headband and sealed cups. The frame uses nylon and titanium in the enclosure, folds for storage, and the earpieces are sized for ages 3–16. The 16.2 mm dynamic drivers cover 20 Hz–20,000 Hz with 85 dB sensitivity. The 3.5 mm jack plugs into Chromebooks, tablets, iPads, smartphones, PS4, Xbox One, and Switch — basically anything with a standard headphone port.
Who should buy it: parents who want a lightweight, open-ear wired headset a child can wear for hours without clamping pressure. Who should skip it: anyone who needs to block out surrounding noise. There's no noise cancelling here, and the open-ear fit deliberately lets sound in. If your goal is silence on a flight, this is the wrong tool.
• Best for blocking noise → Sony ZX110NC. Up to 95% ambient noise reduction with a dedicated active circuit.
• Best for long battery life → Sony ZX110NC. Rated at 80 hours on the cancelling circuit.
• Best for young kids → Mehomeli Kid Headphones. Sized for ages 3–16, 20 grams, open-ear fit.
• Best for all-day comfort → Mehomeli Kid Headphones. At 20 grams with no sealed cups, there's minimal pressure on the head and ears.
• Best for travel and commuting → Sony ZX110NC. Folding swivel earpads, a carrying case, and noise cancelling made for loud environments.
• Best for school and outdoor play → Mehomeli Kid Headphones. Open-ear means awareness of surroundings, plus a foldable frame for a backpack.
• Best for wider frequency range → Sony ZX110NC. 12 Hz–22,000 Hz versus 20 Hz–20,000 Hz on the Mehomeli.
• Best for a shared household device → Mehomeli Kid Headphones. A standard 3.5 mm plug that works with consoles, tablets, and Chromebooks without fuss.
If I were buying for myself, I'd take the Sony ZX110NC. The active noise cancelling, the 80-hour battery rating, and the ability to keep using it as a plain wired headphone when the battery is flat make it the more versatile pick for an adult who deals with noisy spaces. In my opinion, the Mehomeli Kid Headphones win only on the axis they were designed for — a 20-gram open-ear fit for a child — and if that's your use case, they're the right call and the Sony is simply wrong for it. Buy the Sony for you, the Mehomeli for your kid.
how to headphones work
A headphone takes an electrical audio signal and drives it through a dynamic driver, which moves air and produces sound you hear. On the Sony ZX110NC, a 30 mm dynamic driver handles that job and an active circuit adds noise cancelling. On the Mehomeli set, a 16.2 mm dynamic driver sits in an open-ear housing that directs sound toward your ear instead of sealing it in.
how to headphones on iphone
Plug the 3.5 mm jack into the phone — but note that recent iPhones use a Lightning or USB-C port, so you'd need an appropriate adapter for a wired connection. Both the Sony ZX110NC and the Mehomeli Kid Headphones use a standard 3.5 mm jack. The Mehomeli set also lists iPad and smartphone among its compatible devices.
how to headphone mode off
"Headphone mode" usually refers to your device routing audio to the jack instead of the speaker — it switches off when you unplug the cable. Since both of these are wired headphones, simply removing the 3.5 mm plug returns audio to your device's speakers. The Sony's noise cancelling is separate: flip its switch off to stop the active circuit while keeping the audio.
how to headphones
Start by matching the plug to your device: both sets here use a 3.5 mm jack, which covers consoles, tablets, and Chromebooks. Then pick by purpose — the Sony ZX110NC if you want noise cancelling and long battery life, the Mehomeli Kid Headphones if you want a 20-gram open-ear fit for a child aged 3–16. Check the current price on Amazon before you commit.
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