Picture this. One child wants to watch TV while the other is into a video on their tablet or device. The competing sound from both — sheer cacophony. This is where a good pair of headphones come in handy. Not for you (although that’s not a bad idea), but for your child. Even better, those headphones are wireless so no one’s inadvertently ripping headphones from their sockets. Enter BuddyPhones Wave Wireless Waterproof Headphones.
At First Glance: Cute & Compact
The BuddyPhones Wave Wireless Waterproof Headphones come in four different styles: Unicorn (Pink), Robot (Blue), Monkey (Green), and Bee (Yellow). The designs are cute for little ones, although older kids may not want to sport the unicorn or monkey designs.
Each pair folds compactly without ruining any part of the headphones and fits into a handy pouch that’s included. The pouch is big enough to fit all charging wires and the headphones, so you don’t have to worry about losing any accessories. This is a great plus when traveling because the headphones are compact and light. Accompanying name tags help prevent kids from losing them.
The earpieces are soft and light so your child doesn’t feel like they have huge, heavy cans around their ears. The headband that fits around the top of their head is soft and doesn’t dig in. It’s also adjustable so your child can find the perfect fit.
Putting Them to the Test
The BuddyPhones Wave Wireless Waterproof Headphones boast the ability to function up to 20 hours on one charge. From our usage, I found this to be true. This is a big plus because who wants to discover headphones have stopped working after just a few hours, especially when traveling?
For me and my kids, the big draw was that the headphones are wireless. Any other headphones they’ve used had to be plugged into the device they were using. This limited mobility could be a nuisance at times.
BuddyPhones’ easy-to-follow instructions show which button on the side of the headphones to press for pairing them to a device. If your kids are anything like mine, patience can be minimal, so they want to be able to pair them quickly for use. While this was the case the majority of the time, there were a few instances where the pairing just wouldn’t work right away. I had to turn the headphones off, put them back on, and pair them again for them to work.
Once you’re synced up, you and your kids have the option to choose one of four volume modes; toddler (75 decibels), kids (85 decibels), travel (94 decibels), and study (94 decibels). You can tell which mode the headphones are on by the colors of the lights on the side of the headphones. To make sure your kids have them on the right mode, either memorize the color codes or have the instructions handy.
Another great feature is the built-in microphone. If you sync the headphones up for a Skype or Facetime call, your child can talk to grandma without running around the house with your phone.
For older kids listening to music, there’s also a track back and track forward feature on the side of the headphones so they can choose which songs they want to listen to.
The headphones have a 30-foot Bluetooth range. They’re also waterproof, so if kids are at the beach or near the pool, you don’t have to worry about them being ruined should they get wet.
How Do They Sound?
Headphones are only as good as they sound, right? Both my kids tried them for listening to music and watching videos on different devices. They could hear well from both devices and I couldn’t hear any sound leaking out, so a win-win on both sides. I tried the unicorn headphones for myself. The sound was clear and the headphones didn’t squeeze my head.
The Bottom Line: Hear This…
After testing these headphones with my 8- and 10-year-old daughters, we found them to be functional, convenient, and easy to use for the most part. The visual instructions come in handy for kids to follow (parents, too) without being overwhelming and technical. The different volume modes are appreciated and made me feel safe my kids weren’t hearing sound that was too loud and could hurt their ears.
Besides the sporadic pairing problems we had, these headphones were easy to connect and had long-lasting battery power. That’s a huge bonus because it can get frustrating when you have to continuously charge something your child is using. We’re all excited to continue using these headphones daily and especially to take them on our next road trip.