Puro Sound Labs has a well-deserved reputation for offering some of the best kid-friendly headphones on the market. The company is focused on designing headphones that combat NIHL (Noise Induced Hearing Loss), and manages to do so with headphones that still offer studio-grade sound and a stylish look. The latest entry in the Puro line-up are the new JuniorJams. The company sent me two sets of these headphones to try out. Why two? Read on…
JuniorJams: Aimed at Kids, High-Performance Audio
The downfall of many headphones marketed for kids is poor audio quality. I’ve reviewed several Puro headphones over the past several years and I can say that the company pays a great deal of attention to delivering high-quality audio, while still providing parents with a headphone option that’s safe. When I tested the Puro BT2200 kid-safe headphones in 2015, I was so impressed with that combination of sound quality, style, and hearing safety that I bought another pair. They still see daily use by my teenage daughter and my wife.
JuniorJams are the latest offering from Puro. They are solidly built, to withstand the abuse kids and teens can put their gear through. They are comfortable to wear, with plenty of padding on the headband and ear cups, a flexible aluminum band, and cups that rotate and pivot as needed. They fold up easily for storage and carrying (a zippered hard case is included). They’re wireless, with up to 22 hours of battery life—plug in the included 3.5mm audio cable if the battery runs down before you get a chance to recharge them. They even support voice calls with a smartphone, something that teens, in particular, would find useful. And they’re stylish, with bright color options. My review units were black/purple and white/green.
Despite being marketed as kids headphones, Puro didn’t cut corners on audio. The JuniorJams offer surprisingly good sound.
And parents will appreciate the fact that volume is limited to 85dB in both Bluetooth and wired mode. No need to go into the settings on their music source to try enabling sound limit settings, the functionality is built into the JuniorJams.
These latest Puro headphones also have a secret weapon that will make them even more appealing to parents.
Daisy-Chain Audio Sharing
With the JuniorJams, Puro is introducing daisy-chain audio sharing.
What does this mean? Two kids wearing the headphones can listen to the same audio source simultaneously. That means the ability to share music—even parents can join in with a second pair of JuniorJams. It also means two kids can watch one screen without having to plug in a splitter cable or play it out loud over a speaker. For example, the road trip with an iPad in the back seat being used to play a movie scenario. With a pair of JuniorJams each, two kids can enjoy the movie without the sound reaching their parents.
Doing so does require a USB cable between the headphones (supplied), but the connection to the source can be either wired or wireless. That cable is about three and a half feet long, so that’s the maximum physical separation between listeners, unless you pick up a longer one. It works quite well and the plus side of using a cable instead of attempting to do this wirelessly is that it’s plug and play—no fussing around with trying to pair the headphones to each other, simply plug in the cable and the audio routes to the second set of headphones.
Junior Jams Key Specs
• 40mm custom dynamic drivers tuned with Puro Balanced Response curve
• Volume limited to 85dB
• Bluetooth 4.2 with AptX support, 3.5mm jack
• Aluminum frame, folding design
• Protein leather headband and ear cushions
• Integrated microphone for voice calls
• Battery rated at 22 hours play time, 260 hours standby
• Supports daisy-chain music sharing
• Carry case, USB charge cable, 3.5mm audio cable, Micro USB to Micro USB daisy-chain cable included
• Blue, pink, green or purple
• MSRP $79.99
Should You Buy Them?
As mentioned, I’ve always been impressed with Puro headphones and JuniorJams are a great addition to the company’s line-up. As a parent, the volume limiting—which does not interfere with audio quality, by the way—is a key feature. So is the build quality, which makes them very durable. The JuniorJams are a little tight on my head, but they’re wearable. For kids and teens, they are the perfect size, and they’ll love the bright color options. The daisy-chain audio capability is just an added bonus for parents…
You can buy JuniorJams directly from Puro, or on Amazon, and for the holidays the company is discounting the headphones from $79.99 to $69.99, making them an even more affordable gift idea.
Disclosure: Puro Sound Labs provided headphones for evaluation but had no input into this review.
Would you suggest the junior jams over the bt2200 model? I can’t seem to figure out the difference! Thanks in advance for your help!
That’s a good question… The B2200s have been out for several years (I reviewed them in 2015) and don’t have the daisy chaining or the latest Bluetooth support. The battery also doesn’t last quite as long as the Junior Jams. I wasn’t able to do a direct listening test and Puro doesn’t publish frequency response specs for the Junior Jams, but I’m going to go out on a limb and say that the B2200s likely have an edge in audio quality. Overall the Junior Jams still have respectable audio (especially for kids’ headphones) plus the advantages of newer tech –and some brighter color combos.