2025 budget wireless earbuds

Wireless earbuds from Apple, Sony, Bose and other well-known brands may dominate the headlines, but nowadays, you no longer need to spend triple-digits to find quality options. If you want to upgrade without bankruptcy, we have spent countless hours digging and reviewing top contenders in bargaining bins over the past few years. This is the best budget wireless earbuds we've tested so far.

Table of contents

• 2025 budget wireless earbuds

• Other budget wireless earbuds we tested

• Best wireless earbuds on a budget: FAQ

• Latest updates

2025 budget wireless earbuds

Other budget wireless earbuds we tested

Note: Here are some notable earplugs we made through their pace, not a comprehensive list of everything we have tried.

Defeat Solo Buds

The $80 beat solo bud is comfortable and long-lasting, and the battery life commands impressingly. But they sound a little flat and lack functionality. There is no ANC, wear detection or official waterproofing rating, and the cases contained in them cannot be collected wirelessly for the earbuds on their own. You can read our full beat solo bud review for more details.

jlab go pop anc

If you just want a pair of capable wireless headphones, the $30 Jlab Go Pop ANC is worth a look. This is the cheapest collection we tested with active noise cancellation and transparent modes, although neither of these features are so effective. Like the Go Sport+, it also relies on a short USB-C cable to tie it to its case. But it actually sounds good: not particularly wide or detailed, but not demanding, with decent energy and bass punches. The tiny headphones fit and passively isolate a lot of background noise. They are also IP55 levels, and this situation is similarly compact. There is no automatic startup, but you can connect to two devices at once, the touch controls work properly, and JLAB's app can easily adjust settings. Battery life can also last between six and seven hours, although if you answer the phone outside, it's another one that's going to be destroyed by the wind.

jlab go pop+ is another option here. It abandons ANC, IP55 rating and multipoint connectivity, but reduces it by $5 and has a longer battery life.

Earfun Air Pro 4

We loved the message we heard in the Earfun Air Pro 4 for about a day or so – and then an earbud broke, apparently deciding that it would only work at extremely low volumes from then on. We have seen some users report the same problem, while others notice the cracking noise of a single headset. The couple has been praised by other media and we usually like its predecessor, so we will try to provide replacement settings for the next update. Until then, we can't recommend something that dies before the test can be completed.

Earfun Free Pro 3

The Earfun Free Pro 3 is totally stable, but the Space A40 gives you a great ANC, longer battery life and a more comfortable design for a lower price.

Earfun Air 2

Along these lines, if you're an AirPods-style STEM design, the Earfun Air 2 is a great option for Earfun Free 2s, but they cost another $10 and aren't much higher.

Baseus Bowie MA10

There is a huge charging case on the Baseus Bowie MA10, a sloppy app and bulky headphones, and we find it uncomfortable to wear over time.

Basics Eli Sport 1

The Baseus Eli Sport 1 has a completely open design that can be wrapped around the ear and placed completely outside the ear canal. This is great for being alert to the outside world, but the most details you get from your music are not that little. This is another super-large case.

Oneplus Buds 3

The OnePlus Buds 3 has the same intravenous excitement sound and sleek design as the Soundcore Liberty 4 NC, while their microphones are much clearer for the phone. But, they fell into Anker's pair when it comes to noise cancellation and battery life.

Skullcandy Dime 3

The Skullcandy Dime 3 is surprisingly offering surprisingly neutral sound profiles for its small amounts, so if you see them in the $25 range, it's worth considering on the JLAB GO POP ANC. Like that pair, they can also be connected to two devices at the same time. But their overall battery life is slightly shorter, their call quality is poor, and the body control is neither intuitive nor comfortable, as they cause you to bring buds deeper into the ear canal.

Skullcandy Smoked Buds

Skullcandy Smoky Buds is another overbudget option Sick name, brother, But they sound more demanding than the Jlab Go Pop ANC in the treble and offer worse battery life through the charging case. This pair does use faucet-based controls, but they are probably picky, and they are still not the most direct thing to operate.

Best wireless earbuds on a budget: FAQ

Jeff Dunn

What is the biggest difference between cheap earbuds and more premium models?

Higher prices cannot guarantee higher quality. We'll choose a pair of alternatives like the Anker Soundcore Space A40 for over $100. Broadly speaking, however, the more expensive components used by the best wireless earbuds make them produce more detailed, broader sound, more powerful active noise cancellation, and a more complete list of features such as multipoint connectivity, faster pairing, wear detection, or wireless charging. Their hands usually feel less fragile, and their companion software tends to get smaller and smaller. Battery life may also be longer. But you have to look at these things on a case-by-case basis: Some earplugs justify their cost, while others don’t.

Can you improve the sound of your budget wireless earbuds?

Evaluating audio quality is always subjective to some extent – I find “swelling” that you can think of as “interesting” or “lively”. Often, if a set of earbuds is not well tuned or built with cheap materials, you won't be able to magically solve this problem. However, most new pairs allow you to adjust their EQ curves through software, so you can engrave the frequency range in a way that suits your taste better. Also, remember that the right one is the King: If your in-ear headphones don't have a tight enough seal, it will inevitably sound less meticulous, have weak bass responses, and have poor isolation from external noise. Consider trying different ear tips in this case.

Do cheap earbuds sound as good as airpods?

Some are OK, of course! I'll get the top AirPods Pro 2 on any of the top draft picks in this guide, but they're far from being undeductible. Meanwhile, the AirPods 4's unsealed design prevents them from being really deep bass, and I find them sound a bit blinding in the treble. (They are still above Amazon Echo Buds, though.) The biggest draw of AirPods is how well they integrate with other Apple devices: You open them with your iPhone, and they just work. No other earbuds can be copied cheaply or otherwise, as Apple uses proprietary technology to prevent competitors from offering the same features. Likewise, the price and advertising budget have nothing to do with the goodness of a set of earbuds. (This is a stupid question, but we know some casual buyers will inevitably ask.)

Latest updates

April 2025: JLAB GO Sport+ replaces the older JLAB GO AIR Sport as our “Best Workout” draft. We also added test notes on the Earfun Air Pro 4 and Jlab Go Pop ANC, removing our mess for their ex in the process.

December 2024: We have made easy edits to this guide with clarity edits and have moved the aging JLAB GO AIR POP and EARFUN AIR PRO 3 from the respectable mention to our “Others We've Tested” section.

September 2024: We added notes on a handful of other budget wireless earbuds we've tested, but none of our preferred choices have yet to change.

June 2024: We have checked this guide to make sure all of our picks are still in stock. So we've removed the Nothing Ear Stick an honor mention because it doesn't seem to be available anymore, although if you see it and want a good option and want a good option and an unsealed alternative. We are still testing several other Bluetooth earbuds under $100 for future updates.

This article originally appeared on Engadget