How We Research
We compare products from their published specs and features; the verdicts below are our independent editorial opinions.
For children, my top pick is the Skullcandy Riff — it's the simplest, lightest, most kid-friendly pair here, with a no-slip headband, on-ear plush pads, and a quick-charge feature that gets you two hours of listening from a ten-minute top-up.
• Skullcandy Riff — best for younger kids and first-time headphone users; pick this if you want something light, simple, and hard to break, with Bluetooth 4.1, a 3.5 mm jack backup, and a 10-minute charge that buys 2 hours of play.
• BOSBM Bose QuietComfort 35 — best for older kids who need to focus in a noisy house or car; pick this if adjustable active noise cancellation, a 20-hour battery, and a noise-rejecting dual-microphone system matter more than size.
• Amazon Renewed Beats Studio3 — best for tweens and teens who want adaptive noise cancelling and long battery life; pick this if up to 22 hours with noise cancelling on (or up to 40 hours with it off) and a 100-meter Bluetooth range sound like the right fit.
• Skullcandy Crusher ANC 2 — best for teens who love bass-heavy music and movies; pick this if you want adjustable 4-mic noise cancelling, multipoint pairing, and up to 60 hours of battery with ANC off.
The Riff is an on-ear Bluetooth headphone built around the idea of "nothing unnecessary." That's exactly what makes it my first recommendation for children. The controls are physical buttons — volume, track skipping, and a tap-tech control for activating a voice assistant — so a kid doesn't have to learn a touch interface or a companion app. It just works.
Two specs stand out for family use. First, the quick-charge function: ten minutes of charging gives two hours of listening, which is the difference between a meltdown on a car ride and a quiet one. Second, there's a 3.5 mm jack alongside Bluetooth 4.1, so when the battery does run down, the headphones still work with a cable. The no-slip headband and plush on-ear pads matter too — on-ear designs are lighter and less bulky than over-ear ones, and the soft-touch finish survives being tossed in a backpack.
The trade-offs are real, and you should know them going in. There is no noise cancelling at all, so these won't hush a loud bus or a sibling's TV. The Bluetooth range is 10 meters, and the version is 4.1 rather than the newer standards, so the connection is fine around the house but not remarkable. Battery life is listed as up to 12 hours, which is a full day of casual use but not a week of heavy use.
In my opinion, the Riff is the right answer for a first pair. If your child is rough on things, young enough that buttons beat apps, or you want a wired fallback for the inevitable dead battery, this is the one I'd hand over first. If your kid needs silence to concentrate, read on.
The QuietComfort 35 (Series II) is a limited-edition over-ear model in Triple Midnight with three levels of active noise cancellation. That adjustability is the interesting part for families. Full cancellation for homework at a noisy kitchen table, a middle setting for the car, and a low setting so your child can still hear you call them for dinner. You're not locked into one mode.
Day-to-day, the specs translate into a genuinely comfortable, long-session headphone. It's an over-ear design with rounded earcups and a plastic enclosure, so it rests around the ears rather than pressing on them. Battery life is rated at 20 hours, which covers a long travel day or several days of school commutes. There's also a noise-rejecting dual-microphone system, which means video calls and voice chat come through more clearly to the person on the other end — useful for remote classes and chatting with grandparents.
Voice control is a headline feature here: the headphones are Alexa-enabled, and you can control them through the Bose Connect app, push buttons, or your voice. Bluetooth 5 with NFC pairing makes connecting quick, and there's a 2.5 mm jack for wired listening. The app also handles noise-cancellation levels, connection management, and software updates.
The trade-off is that this is a bigger, heavier adult-oriented headphone. It weighs more than the Riff and the age range on the sheet is listed as adult, so it suits an older child or teen rather than a small kid. The 2.5 mm jack is also an unusual size, so a standard 3.5 mm cable won't fit without an adapter. It's the pick for focus and quiet, not for a first-grader's backpack.
This is a renewed Beats Studio3 in Shadow Gray, and it's the pick I'd suggest for tweens and teens who care what their headphones look like and want serious noise cancelling. Pure Adaptive Noise Cancelling actively blocks outside noise, and the soft over-ear cushions use venting plus ergonomic pivoting to fit a range of head shapes — a practical detail when a kid is between sizes or sharing with a sibling.
Battery life is the standout number. You get up to 22 hours with noise cancelling on, or up to 40 hours with it off in low-power mode. Fast Fuel adds three hours of playback from a short charge. For a teen who forgets to plug anything in, that's forgiving. Bluetooth range is listed at 100 meters, which is far longer than the Riff's 10 meters, so wandering around the house without dropping the connection is realistic.
Apple households get extra value here. With the Apple W1 chip and iOS, one press pairs the headphones, and switching between an iPhone and a MacBook is meant to be seamless. Multifunction on-ear controls handle calls, music, and Siri. For a kid doing homework on a tablet and taking calls from a parent, that's genuinely handy.
Skullcandy Crusher ANC 2
The Crusher ANC 2 is the enthusiast pick. It uses patented multi-sensory Crusher Bass technology: two full-range 40 mm drivers plus dedicated dual bass drivers, so bass is something you feel rather than only hear. For a teen into hip-hop, gaming, or action movies, that's the whole point of buying these. You can dial the bass level in with a custom EQ, which means it doesn't have to be overwhelming — a parent can help set it sensibly.
Noise cancelling is adjustable across four microphones, and there's a Stay-Aware mode alongside it. That's the feature I'd point a parent to: Stay-Aware lets some outside sound back in, which is what you want when a kid is walking to school or crossing a street. Multipoint pairing connects two devices at once, so a phone and a laptop can both stay linked with seamless switching — no re-pairing every time.
Battery life is the headline: up to 60 hours with ANC off, and Rapid Charge gives four hours from ten minutes of charging. Bluetooth 5.2 is the newest standard in this group. The package includes a protective case and a USB-C charging cable, and there's a 3.5 mm jack for wired use. It carries a one-year manufacturer warranty.
The trade-offs are size and bulk. At 332 grams it's the heaviest headphone here by a wide margin, and the over-ear, oval-cup design with faux leather and silicone is built for older users — the sheet lists the age range as adult. It also relies on button controls and the Skullcandy app for the finer settings, so it's not the simplest option for a young child. For a teenager who wants the most features and the longest battery, though, it's the most capable pair on this list.
I compared the published specifications and feature sets of these four models — battery life, noise control type, Bluetooth version and range, ear placement, weight, controls, and included accessories — and judged them against what actually matters when the listener is a child. The ranking is my own editorial opinion, shaped by simplicity, comfort, durability, and safety features like transparency or Stay-Aware modes. No brand paid for placement, and no brand was involved in this selection.
On-ear models like the Skullcandy Riff are lighter and less bulky, which suits younger kids. Over-ear designs like the Bose QuietComfort 35 and the Beats Studio3 surround the ear, which usually means better noise isolation and longer comfort for older children.
It's a setting that pipes some outside sound back into the headphones instead of blocking everything. The Skullcandy Crusher ANC 2 includes a Stay-Aware mode. It's worth having if your child wears headphones while walking, cycling, or moving around others.
Active noise cancelling reduces background sound, which can help concentration, but it also makes it harder to hear traffic, alarms, or someone calling your name. Adjustable systems like the Bose QuietComfort 35's three levels, or a Stay-Aware mode, let you keep some awareness instead of full isolation.
All four have a headphone jack, so yes — with one caveat. The Skullcandy models use a 3.5 mm jack, the Beats Studio3 uses 3.5 mm, but the Bose QuietComfort 35 uses a 2.5 mm jack, so you'd need the matching cable or an adapter.
For children, my final recommendation stays with the Skullcandy Riff as the best starting point: simple buttons, a no-slip headband, plush on-ear pads, a wired backup, and a quick charge that turns ten minutes into two hours of listening.
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