Tested & Reviewed: These Are The Best Cheap Wireless Earbuds Under $100
It’s crazy how quickly technology moves. Even just a few years ago, the best wireless earbuds and wireless headphones were prohibitively expensive. But as time has progressed, it’s gotten easier to find a quality set of wireless earbuds for a price that won’t break your bank account. There are plenty of fantastic brands that provide great options if you’re looking to save money.
If you’re willing to buy products from a brand that’s not as fancy likes of Apple, Samsung or Beats, you’ll still find plenty of worthy options. In fact, many of the brands on this list have premium features like waterproofing, easy pairing and long-battery life. And truth be told, many of them sound great too. In this product category, shopping for budget brands no longer means you’ll have to forgo a good pair of buds.
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With that in mind, our SPY editors have tested and ranked the best cheap wireless earbud, all for under $100, so you can score a great pair of buds on a budget. Because going wireless shouldn’t cost you your last paycheck, check out our selections for the best cheap wireless earbuds.
The Best Cheap Wireless Earbuds At A Glance:
1.Best Overall: Anker Soundcore Liberty Air 2 – $59.99 at Amazon
2. Also Great: EarFun Free – $39.99 at Amazon
3. Budget Pick: JLab Go Airtones – $24.99 at Amazon
4. Great For Exercise: Back Bay Runner 60 – $59.99 at Amazon
5. Best Design: 1More ComfoBuds Mini – $84.99 at Amazon
6. Comfort Pick: SkullCandy Mod – $59.99 at Amazon
7. Best for Gaming: Urbanista Seoul – $89.90 at Amazon
8. Great Sound Quality: Treblab X3 Pro – $69.97 at Amazon
9. Adjustable EQ: Jabra Elite 3 – $79.99 at Amazon
10. Worth Consideration: SkullCandy Grind – $78.81 at Amazon
How We Tested The Best Cheap Wireless Earbuds
Surely, if you’ve landed on this page, you want to know which wireless earbuds strike the best balance between a low price tag and being loaded with features. Here’s the method we used to find those proverbial diamonds in the rough:
Sound Quality: What good is a pair of headphones, even if they are inexpensive, if they don’t sound good? We listened to all of these headphones using both flat EQs, and the best preset EQs (when available) to determine which one’s sounded the best.
Comfort & Design: Fewer things are more annoying than constantly playing with your earbuds trying to keep them in your ears. Same goes for earbuds that become uncomfortable to wear after long stretches of use. We tested headphones while sitting around, working out and going about our daily routines to see which ones are the most comfortable.
Battery Life: You want your earbuds to sip battery, and without ANC (which many of them don’t feature), they should. All of the cheap earbuds below have at least six hours of battery life (not including the charging case.
Price: We’d be remiss for not admitting that price didn’t play a huge factor in our budget wireless headphone rankings. All of the picks below are wireless earbuds for under $100, but we gave exception to earbuds that sounded great and kept the price tag even lower.
Using these guidelines, we’ve ranked and tested the best cheap wireless earbuds on the market so you can still get premium sound and battery life, and still afford to go out for food on your lunch break at work. Here are our top 10 choices.
1. Anker Soundcore Liberty Air 2
BEST OVERALL
Anker Soundcore Liberty Air 2
Anker Soundcore Liberty Air 2
Right out of the gate, the Anker Soundcore Liberty Air 2 sets itself apart from other budget wireless earbuds with the inclusion of ANC. That’s a feature typically not found in the sub $100 price point. You can expect about six hours of use before they need to be put back into the case for a charge. The case holds an additional 23 hours of battery totaling in close to 30 hours of battery life. You can customize the EQs, but even left at default, our SPY editor was impressed by the bass, overall sound quality and the quality of the ANC feature. Considering all of the above with a sub $70 price, this is our pick for the best cheap wireless earbuds.
Full Review: Anker Soundcore Liberty Air 2
2. EarFun Free
ALSO GREAT
EarFun Free
Price: $49.99 (orig. $55.99) 11% OFF
Buy Now
With a recent price drop from $60 down to $40, these are a steal even by cheap wireless earbud standards. But don’t let the price tag fool you, these earbuds sound great and get plenty loud. Admittedly, the earbuds are a bit on the bulky side and during testing, the left one would feel like it was going to pop out during activity like going for a run. So, even though they are IPX7 rated, which means even if you’re the heaviest sweater, your earbuds will be fine, they seem a bit too bulky for lots of activity. The battery life is great (with two hours of blaring music playing, there was 88% battery life left), but more impressively, a ten-minute charge provides two hours of playtime. We recommend these as a great option for home listening or earbuds for the office.
3. JLab Go Airtones
BUDGET PICK
JLab Go Airtones
Instead of being flashy with vibrant colors like radiating red or neon green like you might expect from an earbud maker like Beats, JLab Go Airtones take a different approach with their skin tone color palette. The small earbuds fit snugly inside of your ears and with seven different skin tones; the headphones essentially disappear when you put them in. Aside from the unique color design, these headphones only cost $25, which is affordable by affordable standards. They produce a decent amount of bass, even if they aren’t the most sparkling, pristine listening experience. And while they don’t have active noise canceling, the tight seal in the ear canal does a great job for passive noise cancelation. And you can score these for less than lunch at most sit-down restaurants in the city.
Full Review: Budget-Friendly Earbuds That Come In 7 Different Skin Tone Shades
4. Back Bay Runner 60
GREAT FOR EXERCISE
Back Bay Runner 60
Price: $50.98 (orig. $69.99) 27% OFF
Buy Now
These budget wireless earbuds have a lot going for them. For starters, earhooks make them an ideal candidate for your gym or outdoor activity earbuds. The body of the earbuds is a little bulkier, as wearing them for a few hours can cause some ear fatigue. On the flip side, the extra bulk affords room for bigger drivers which translates to more bass. There’s even an enhanced bass mode which gives the bottom end a real push. When the volume is cranked with the bass-enhanced mode going, the sound can start to become a little muddied, but if you don’t need them at full blast, it’s a rich and full listening experience. Mix in good battery life with the ear hooks and you have a recipe for strong sports earbuds at an affordable price.
5. 1More ComfoBuds Mini
BEST DESIGN
1More ComfoBuds Mini
Finding ANC on a pair of budget wireless earbuds is certainly rare, but with assistance from the 1More app, you can fire up true ANC on these earbuds. Moving beyond the ANC, the design is equally impressive. The name “ComfoBuds Mini” really does tell the story; these earbuds are both tiny and insanely comfortable. That being said, some of the touch controls suffer from the tiny surface area. The sound quality is decent at default, but using the personalized EQ, it shines up the listening experience. With ANC you can expect around four hours of battery life and up to five without it. For those who appreciate comfort, these are a great budget wireless earbud pick.
Full Review: 1 More ComfoBuds Mini
6. SkullCandy Mod
COMFORT PICK
SkullCandy Mod
While the 1More ComfoBuds Mini makes a case for the most comfortable wireless earbuds, the SkullCandy Mod are just as much if not more comfortable. The design is so lightweight that after a few minutes, you may forget that they are even in your ears. Even after long periods, the buds remain comfortable. With the app, you can adjust the EQ and use presets to quickly jump to a sound profile that sounds best for what you are listening to, like movies, music or podcasts. There’s even a transparency mode you can activate, much like the AirPods Pro, to hear your surroundings better when you have the earbuds in. You can expect seven hours of battery life and a total of 34 when you include the case. The sound quality is a bit thin, even with preset EQs selected. That’s mostly due to the lack of bass production. For someone who listens to podcasts regularly won’t notice, and will appreciate long battery life and all-day comfort.
Full Review: Are The SkullCandy Mod Worthy Buying at $60
7. Urbanista Seoul
BEST FOR GAMING
Urbanista Seoul
Buy: $90 at Curacao
Uniquely geared towards gaming, the Urbanista Seoul wants you to ditch the gaming headset and go with these less bulky and inexpensive buds. With eight hours of battery life, you won’t have to worry about stopping gameplay and charging these buds in the middle of a battle royal. Speaking of which, these are one of the few budget wireless earbuds you can find that sport wireless charging. But when it’s time to talk some trash after “pwning a noob,” the noise-canceling microphone that isolates your voice and blocks out background noise will ensure you are heard loud and clear. Earbuds for gaming are a thing, and these are the ones you want.
8. Treblab X3 Pro
GREAT SOUND QUALITY
Treblab X3 Pro
Price: $55.00 (orig. $69.97) 21% OFF
Buy Now
If features like ANC and wireless charging aren’t as important to you, but fit and sound quality are, the Treblab X3 Pro is the best cheap wireless earbud for you. These earbuds were one of our SPY tech editor’s favs when it came to headphones for running and biking. The fit is great, the sound quality is clear and the headphones get plenty loud. Plus, nine hours of battery life is among the best in this category. They also look great in your ears as well. Sure, they lack some features, but that’s to be expected at this price point. The Treblab X3 Pro is a sneaky good pair of earbuds, especially if you’re active.
9. Jabra Elite 3
ADJUSTABLE EQ
Jabra Elite 3
Many of the apps for earbuds are gimmicky and don’t provide real value for the listener. That couldn’t be further from the truth with the Jabra Elite 3 Wireless Earbuds. Jabra has a great reputation for premium headphones and their affordable Elite 3’s follow suit. For hip-hop, the Bass Boost setting in the app adds the extra bass and fullness to make tracks bump, while the Speech setting highlights vocals making podcasts extra crisp. Beyond the adjustable profiles, the app will tell you how much battery life is left in each earbud, so you can wave goodbye to guessing. And after about two hours of listening there was still about 80% of battery left, so the battery life is legit too. If you want a recognizable name at an affordable price, the Jabra Elite 3 is a solid choice.
10. SkullCandy Grind
WORTH CONSIDERATION
SkullCandy Grind
While the SkullCandy Mods are more comfortable, the Grind earbuds sound better and have more features. Through the app, you can pick between EQ presets to dial in audio. But the Grind also features a voice AI. Just say, “Hey SkullCandy” to activate it, and then you can use prompts like “pause song” and control your audio without your hands. That’s a unique feature at this price point. Between the case and the earbuds, you get 40 hours of battery life which is equally as impressive. The sound quality is good too for sub $100 earbuds, but they don’t get quite as loud as others in our lineup. Overall, these are definitely worthy of your consideration.
Full Review: Testing the New SkullCandy Grind Earbuds
About the Author: Jonathan Knoder
Jonathan Knoder is a contributing writer for SPY.com and covers a variety of topics from tech to lifestyle, but he has a particular affinity for audio gear and smart home tech. His writing has been featured in Top Ten Reviews, Security Sales and Integration and Salt City Hoops. Previously for SPY, he’s reviewed the Prosenic M8 Robot Vac and Lockly Vision Elite Smartlock. In his free time, he is usually playing guitar or drums, going for a run, or throwing the Frisbee to his dog.
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