Club Benefits
I’ve finally reached the level of parenthood where my kids watch, listen to or play their own media. And honestly? I don’t always want to hear it — but I also don’t want to share my headphones with them.
I’ve started exploring kid-friendly headphones with a couple of goals in mind. They need to be durable, they have to have hearing protection audio levels, and they need to be comfortable to wear.
Cartoon Looks
Compared to the average black, white, or matte colorways of most adult headphones, the iClever Auraa is cartoonishly colorful, which is great.
The “boy” version comes in red and blue with pops of yellow and art that looks mechanical or more Gundam-inspired. The “girl” version is colored like a muted purple rainbow with art made up of stars and swirls. I think of these as the My Little Pony headphones.
Even with an adult head, the Auraa rests pretty comfortably on my head without needing full extension. The cups mostly covered my ears — kids are going to have no problem at all.
There is one pain point that I could see getting very uncomfortable over an extended listening session, and that is the headband.
There is a thin, cushy bit of foam that sits on your head. Underneath is a ridge of plastic that you can feel through the foam. At first, it’s not annoying, but you can feel the band the longer you wear the Auraa.
I have a pair of older BeyerDynamic Custom One Pro over-ear headphones that I use as my daily drivers. I’ve replaced the headband a few times through wear and tear over the years, but I’ve never felt that something was on my head in the same way.
For kids, if you’re limiting their headphone and screen usage, this may not matter as much. However, my son likes to wear the headphones around the house even if he’s not listening to music or using a tablet. Longer sessions with the Auraa are eventually going to become uncomfortable, even for little heads
Durability and battery life
For the most part, the Auraa headphones seem durable. They’re mostly made of plastic, apart from their foam headband and ear cushions.. I’ve noticed that the ear cushions are already showing signs of wrinkling, which has me concerned long-term.
Additionally, on the red and blue set, my son managed to pop off the little circular decal area, exposing the battery and wires. Note that the ‘Gundam’ Auraa’s have a blue detail that can be pulled off by roving fingers or catch stray clothing threads. The My Little Pony cans don’t have anything similar.
Lastly, the headphones can fold up for travel. I (carefully) tested the Pony headphones while letting my son go wild with the Gundam set. After a month or so, the hinges on the Gundam cans are a little loose, though nothing appears to be falling apart. Still, it’s something I’m keeping an eye on.
Battery life for the Auraa is listed at 47 hours, and without rigorous lab testing, it seemed to last about that long before needing a charge. The Bluetooth 6.0 connection worked well, and I never noticed any connectivity issues.
Sound quality
I wasn’t expecting great sound out of the Auraa headphones; what I was intrigued by was the 80dB noise level cap. That level is a constant loudness level recommended by OSHA and the World Health Organization over an eight-hour period. Anything louder or longer and you risk permanent hearing damage.
I didn’t go a full eight hours, but I did listen to various podcasts and a couple of albums at nearly full volume and never felt like I was pushing it. That said, kids’ ears are more sensitive than my nu-metal destroyed flesh tabs. Still, even at 75% or 50% it felt pretty comfortable.
Surprisingly, the Auraa had a decent soundscape. One song I use to test headphones is Tiesto & Sevenn’s Boom, which has a surprising depth of sound and, for my purposes, a gratuitous amount of bass. DJ Magic Mike, this isn’t, but it’ll get you there. For treble, I like anything from Metallica’s Kill ‘Em All album, which brings the treble.
The bass has a lot of depth on the Auraa headphones. Treble was all over the map. Metallica’s ‘Motorbreath’ sounded like I’d put a blanket over the speakers, while the solo in ‘Phantom Lord’ was nearly perfect.
I’ve been told by kids' headphone manufacturers that active noise cancelling is an important selling point because having it on means kids won’t want to turn the headphone volume up more to drown out competing noise.
I tried listening to music and just wearing the Auraa cans with ANC on and off. I share an office with my partner, whose job requires her to be on a lot of Zoom calls. ANC keeps me distraction-free.
There was some strangeness during my ANC testing. When I had ANC on, my partner’s voice was much quieter. However, voices from her Zoom calls coming through the speakers sounded exactly the same as they would if I took the headphones off. I’m not sure if this is a frequency issue, where the speakers pump out sound in a dead spot for the ANC. In general, I think the ANC does the job, but it won’t match the best noise canceling headphones.
One great thing to note is that the Auraa features a 3.5mm jack, awesome for devices that still support that connection, which should be all of them, but that’s my hill to die on.
What the kids are saying
My son is six years old and chose the blue and red Auraa headphones when given the option. According to him, the headphones are comfortable, and he really liked the Gundam aesthetic. He wishes they could turn into a mechsuit. Me too, buddy, me too.
He really liked the ANC, especially when he wanted to focus on a game or a show on the tablet while his sister was making noise. Though he expressed worry that if he had it on, he would miss out on his parents telling him when he could have ice cream — a universal concern.
“You should tell parents to get these headphones for kids,” he said. “They would have a really good time using them. Goodbye.”
Here’s his true, rambling review (edited for clarity): “You should make the review a comic book that you sell in stores where the headphones turn into a mechsuit and then go 'BOOOOOM!!!!' with the sound. But at the end, the last couple of pages should say, ‘This is not what the headphones can do, but they’re great.’”
Verdict
Audio-wise, I’m not worried about the Auraa headphones. The sound is pretty good, the Bluetooth connection is decent, plus with the 80 dB cap, I’m not as worried about hearing damage.
I am concerned about durability, especially with the “boy” set. And the headband seems like it could get uncomfortable over long use. Once the foam starts to degrade, that will get worse.
With a starting price of $50 (and I’ve seen them sold for as low as $25), the iClever Auraa headphones are ones you can take a flyer on for your kid.
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