Many of the child-friendly headphones we test have a look that mimics adult headphones, for kids who want to feel like grown-ups. The Onanoff BuddyPhones Cosmos take a different approach, with whimscal designs centered around themes like dragons and unicorns. The headphones are undoubtedly cute, though this feels somewhat at odds with the surprisingly adult inclusion of ANC (active noise cancellation). While the headphones deliver solid ANC performance for the price, you’re paying a premium for it at $99.99. And while audio performance is bass-forward and dynamic, it sounds wildly different with ANC engaged. Unless your child absolutely needs a pair of headphones with ANC, we recommend you save some money by picking up the $69.99 Pure Sound Labs JuniorJams, our Editors’ Choice winner.
A Playful, Unique Look
The BuddyPhones Cosmos are available in a bluish dragon-themed model or a pink unicorn-themed design. While the styling is either going to appeal to or repel your kid, the actual fabrication and quality of design is strong—the dragon and unicorn images on the earcups aren’t slapped on with a cheap sticker, but printed onto the panels in crisp, vibrant colors.
The earcups are large and plush, with anti-allergic leather-like covers, as is the headband, and the detail work—like raised lettering on the top of the headband—is a couple of steps beyond the competition. These may be more expensive than other models, but you can feel that higher-quality materials were used. The circumaural (over-ear) earcups feature memory foam padding, and house 40mm drivers internally. The fit is exceptionally comfortable.
The left earcup’s side panel houses the ANC on/off switch, while the right ear’s side panel holds the play/pause button (which doubles as the power/pairing button, as well as the call management control). There are track forward/backward buttons that also double as volume controls depending on how long you press them; we’re never fans of combining these two functions on the same button, as it’s far too easy to accidentally skip a track when you mean to adjust the volume. Pressing the play/pause and track forward buttons simultaneously is the hidden trick to adjusting the three volume limit modes (Toddler is 75dB, Kids is 85dB, and Travel is 94dB).
Like most of the kid-friendly models we’ve tested lately, the BuddyPhones Cosmos can be daisy-chained so that more than one person can listen to the same audio. A cable is included; it connects to the right earcup’s side panel and can also be used for wired, passive listening. A USB-A-to-micro-USB cable is also included; it connects to the right earcups’s side panel. Finally, the headphones ship with a sturdy hard shell zip-up case, an accessory most of the competing models lack.
Onanoff estimates battery life to be roughly 18 hours, but your results will vary with your volume levels. This is on the low end of the scale for wireless headphone battery life, but the included ANC is surely one of the reasons why.
BuddyPhones Cosmos Noise Cancellation and Audio Performance
The BuddyPhones Cosmos offer decent noise cancellation. The earpads themselves do a good job of tamping down surrounding noise, but the ANC circuitry also dials back a decent amount of low-end rumble like you’d hear on an airplane. The circuitry also blocks out a substantial swath of mids, but on a recording of a noisy restaurant, plenty of the high frequencies still came through. The ANC also emits a faint high-frequency hiss—this is common among less-expensive ANC headphones, and for $100, it isn’t bad.
That said, the noise cancellation here drastically effects the sound signature. This too is common with inexpensive ANC, but it’s one of the more notable examples we’ve heard. With ANC on, the highs are crisp, bright, and sculpted, while the lows are dialed back. With ANC off, the highs are less bright and the bass is dialed up. What’s happening? The ANC seems to be cancelling out the lows in the music itself—a good feature for airplane rumble, but not for music coming out of the headphones. It’s enough that it may make your child not want to use the ANC in certain scenarios where the bass will suffer.
We tested audio performance with the ANC off, given how much it affects performance. At maximum volume from an iPhone with the headphones set to Travel mode (94dB, the loudest), they were uncomfortably loud. I highly suggest switching to Toddler mode (75dB), which is the most effective volume limit mode by far. The middle mode (Kids) is supposed to top out at 85dB, but it’s substantially louder than the Puro Sound Labs JuniorJams. So, not only was ANC disabled for the audio tests, but we also used the Toddler setting.
See How We Test HeadphonesSee How We Test Headphones
The following tracks may not be on your child’s playlist, but they’re part of our regular testing suite and paint a clear picture of what the drivers are capable of. On tracks with intense sub-bass content, like The Knife’s “Silent Shout,” the BuddyPhones Cosmos deliver some palpable bass thump and, at maxed-out volumes, don’t distort. At more modest levels, the bass depth is still rich and robust.
Bill Callahan’s “Drover,” a track with far less deep bass in the mix, gives us a better sense of the general sound signature. The drums get powerful, heavy presence without sounding overly boosted, and Callahan’s vocals sound rich, graced with enough high-mid presence to lend them some treble edge. However, this is a bass-forward sound signature with the ANC off—less bright and crisp, more rich. With the ANC on, the sound signature becomes bright, crisp, and somewhat bereft of bass.
On Jay-Z and Kanye West’s “No Church in the Wild,” the kick drum loop receives less high-mid presence than we typically hear, while the high frequencies seem to be sculpted, so the attack of the drum loop is dulled (high-mids range), but the vinyl crackle and hiss is a little more audible (high-mids and highs). The drum loop gets some added bass thump, the sub-bass synth hits that punctuate the beat are delivered with respectable power, and the vocals get a clean delivery despite the high-mids feeling dialed back. Switch the ANC on, and the bass more or less disappears and the mix sounds crisper and clearer.
Movie audio and dialogue sound clear and dynamic in either mode, and since film bass effects are often dialed up, turning the ANC on for films may not be an issue—there will still be plenty of bass depth, and the dialogue will be crisper.
For Kids Who Need Noise Cancellation
The Onanoff BuddyPhones Cosmos offer something most other kid-friendly headphones don’t: active noise cancellation. That said, the ANC has a marked affect on audio performance, and the volume limits set by each mode are questionable. The lowest mode is indeed quite low, while the other two seem louder than they should be. I almost want to hand out different ratings for the different modes. Ultimately, our top pick goes to the $70 Puro Sound Labs JuniorJams, a pair that has fewer features, but that has a single volume limiting mode and better audio quality. If your child needs noise cancellation, however, the BuddyPhones Cosmos will get the job done.
