Android Central Verdict
Bottom line: The lightweight, open design makes the headphones comfortable to wear for long periods of time. With a max volume of 85dB, your child's hearing will be preserved, but the design can sometimes mean that the lower volume is difficult to hear in louder environments.
Pros
- +
Lightweight design
- +
Good battery life and charge time
- +
Safe listening volume
- +
Open design allows for environmental sounds
Cons
- -
Headset shifts around too much when wearing it
- -
Volume not loud enough for this style of headphones
- -
Doesn't fit smaller heads well
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When choosing a set of headphones for a child, the best kids headphones must have safety features to protect their hearing. That's exactly what the Ear-care Kids Headset from imoo has, with a special form-factor that's similar to the amazing Aftershokz Aeropex headphones' bone conduction shape. After testing the excellent hardware of imoo Z6 Watch Phone, I was excited for the prospect of an imoo Ear-care Kids Headset review.
I've used the Aftershokz for years when exercising; they help me hear my surroundings when I'm out for a run. So, the idea of a similar design for my son intrigued me. While the imoo Ear-care Kids Headset isn't actually bone conductive, the style is similar, allowing him not to be entirely blocked off from the world around him. With an 8-year-old, it's hard enough to get him to pay attention even without headphones, so this design gave me hope.
imoo Ear-care Kids Headset: Price and availability
The imoo Ear-care Kids Headset was available for purchase in January 2021 for $59 via Amazon and imoo's website. The headset comes in a single color, Aura Green, and is currently selling for the launch price of $59 at the same retail outlets.
imoo Ear-care Kids Headset: What's good
At first glance, the imoo Ear-care Kids Headset may not be immediately recognized as headphones. The basic design isn't original, but it is unique in the kids' headphone space. While traditionally, headphones go over the head and rest on the ears, these go around the back of the head, then loop over the ears; they use Soundbeaming technology to direct the sound back into the ear canal.
This open ear design is helpful in many ways, as it allows kids to remain aware of the outside world. So, after explaining how these worked to my son, we pressed the single button on the imoo Ear-care Kids Headset to power it on. The Bluetooth 5.0 signal paired quickly to his Amazon Fire HD 10 Pro Kids tablet.
| Specs | imoo Ear-care Kids Headset |
|---|---|
| Weight | 30g |
| Battery | 185mAh8 hours of use1 hour recharge |
| Volume Limit | 85dB |
| Colors | Aurora Green |
| Water and Dust resistance | IP54 |
| Connectivity | Bluetooth 5.0 |
| Sensors | Wear detection |
After deciding on what he wanted to try the headset out with first, we started the movie and he smiled as the sound came from the headphones. When I asked my son if the sound was loud enough, he nodded yes, then realized that he could hear me as well as the movie — that made us both happy.
Because there are no volume buttons on the imoo Ear-care Kids Headset itself, the device that it's paired with controls the volume levels. The max volume for the headphones is 85dB, which is the World Health Organization's recommended level to protect kids' ears from damage. This means that no matter what your child is listening to, your child's ears are going to be ok.
The silicone-wrapped titanium alloy keeps the headset at a very light 30 grams, and the pads on the sides of the ear add to the comfort of wearing them.
The imoo Ear-care Kids Headset has a 185mAh battery that reportedly gets 8 hours of continuous listening, and while I didn't let my son listen for that long, we never had a problem with it dying during use. A wearing detection sensor helped keep some battery in the tank by pausing the headset when he'd take it off. After a few minutes without use, the headphones would turn off automatically. After a few sessions, I would be sure to plug them in for a recharge that only takes about 1 hour to go from empty to full.
imoo Ear-care Kids Headset: What's not good
The imoo Ear-care Kids Headset is lightweight and comfortable, designed to work for kids ages 4-15. The materials used are flexible enough to fit a wide range of children. However, it's so flexible that, unfortunately, it may not fit some kids properly.
Along with my 8-year-old son, I also have a 5-year-old. When he put the headset on, it kept rotating around his ear, which would point the directional speakers away from his ears. He kept asking if we could turn up the volume, but it was at its max, and without holding the headset in place, he couldn't hear what he was listening to.
Unfortunately, even with my oldest son, the headset rotation issue was still present. I would watch him regularly have to adjust the headphones so that the sound would be beamed towards his ears as intended. The imoo Ear-care Kids Headset would do a commendable job of staying put when he was sitting still, but when my son would be up and moving around, the shifting was a bit of an issue.
The other issue we found pertained to the maximum volume in conjunction with the product design. On paper, the open ear design and the recommended 85dB are great ideas, but in practice, we found that the volume level wasn't enough in even slightly noisy environments. Because the imoo Ear-care Kids Headset isn't bone conduction, the Soundbeaming must compete with outside noise to get into the ear.
In these instances, I'd find my son putting the speaker portion of the headset onto his ear to hear the audio better. This was both uncomfortable and a bit annoying to him — and myself since he couldn't hear me if I needed him for something. Eventually, my son would take the headphones off entirely.
imoo Ear-care Kids Headset: Competition
While there are many options out there for kids' headphones, you won't find them in the same design as the imoo Ear-care Kids Headset. But for wireless kids' headphones in general, a great option to consider is the BuddyPhones Cosmos. These headphones offer the same safe listening features but with more audio flexibility with options for 94, 85, and 75dB.
The BuddyPhones Cosmos also has active noise cancellation to block outside noise when kids need to focus or calm down from overstimulation. There's a standard headphone jack to plug the headphones directly into an audio source to save battery life or to connect to another set of headphones to share audio.
If you are looking for a non-conventional headphone style for your child, then the CozyPhones may be the ticket. These are over-the-ear headphones inside of a soft, stretchy headband. The CozyPhones aren't wireless, but the high-quality thin speakers have a maximum volume limit of 90dB for safe listening.
The comfortable headband is great for travel, as it can easily roll up and fit in a bag. There's no active noise cancellation, but the speakers and headband will help block out some noise — but not all, leaving some outside noise to make its way to your child's ears. There are also many cute design choices, from fun animals to popular characters like Paw Patrol and Batman.
imoo Ear-care Kids Headset: Should you buy it?
You should buy this if ...
- You want open ear design headphones for your child.
- You want comfortable, lightweight headphones for your child.
- You want headphones with good battery life and fast recharge time for your child.
You shouldn't buy this if...
- You plan on your child using them in noisy environments.
- You child has a smaller head.
- You want a wired connection option.
The design of the imoo Ear-care Kids Headset has its pros and cons. Allowing your child to safely listen to their audio while still having the ability to hear what is going on around them is helpful in many ways. However, if what's going on around them is noisy, it may be difficult for your child to hear what they actually want to hear. The lightweight design is comfortable for most kids, but if your child is younger or has a smaller head, the headphones may not fit properly.
As my son's first pair of Bluetooth headphones, his favorite thing to do when wearing them was to pair the imoo Ear-care Kids Headset to his TickTalk 4 and stream music while at home. I was happy knowing that if I needed to get his attention, he'd be able to hear me even at max volume. In quiet environments, the 85dB limit is plenty — in fact, I could even hear it — but in noisier areas, the headset became difficult for him to hear.
The imoo Ear-care Kids Headset has a comfortable design that most kids will appreciate. The soft, flexible materials are forgiving enough not to squeeze too tightly on older kids' heads, but may not be able to hold on tightly enough to keep the headset in place on younger kids' smaller heads. All in all, the imoo Ear-care Kids Headset is a great option for some kids in some environments but won't work as well for others.
imoo Ear-care Kids Headset
Bottom line: Your child will be able to safely listen to their favorite audio thanks to the maximum volume of 85dB, and with the open ear design, hear you as well. The headphones have solid battery life and a quick recharge time. But the imoo Ear-care Kids Headset struggles in noisy areas and for younger children.
