Whether we wanted them to be or not, wireless headphones have become the norm. But losing headphone jacks and a wired connection comes with its own benefits. Wireless audio, when it works, can really feel like magic. And you don’t need to spend hundreds of dollars to get some of the best features of expensive wireless headphones anymore. There are mid-range options to consider, but if you’re hoping to spend $100 or less, even budget headphones can get you good audio performance, active noise cancellation (ANC), and a comfortable fit.
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Pocket-lint has covered finding the best pair of headphones from a variety of angles, whether you’re looking to be fully immersed or want something highly portable. For this guide we focused on finding headphones that worked well without breaking the bank, and the overall best is the Anker Soundcore Life Q30 had the right mix of comfort, ANC, and high-quality audio for a starting price that’s less than $100. For the rest of our favorite budget headphones, check out our guide below.
Best budget wireless headphones: Our top picks
Anker Soundcore Life Q30
1. Best overall budget wireless headphones
All the bases covered
The Anker Soundcore Life Q30 is a step up from the Q20, designed to have excellent active noise cancelation, and is even more comfortable to wear.
- 40mm drivers
- Up to 40 hours of battery life
- Memory foam helps with comfort
While its plastic build doesn’t hide the fact that it costs under $100, the Anker Soundcore Life Q30 is a noticeable improvement on the Anker Soundcore Life Q20, and our overall pick for the best budget wireless headphones. Their 40mm drivers make it even better equipped to reproduce high-res audio, and the improvements that have been made to the Life Q30’s battery life mean it can last up to 60 hours of battery life with active noise cancelation off, and 40 hours with active noise cancelation on.
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And you might want to have ANC on, because the Life Q30 is noticeably better at blocking out lower frequencies like the rumble of public transportation or the white noise of an airplane cabin, two places where you’ll absolutely want headphones. You’ll even have access to multiple ANC modes to accommodate the different kinds of settings you’ll be using the Life Q30.
Anker Soundcore Space One
2. Best premium-budget wireless headphones
Extra comfortable, premium specs, on a budget
The new kid on the block, the Anker Soundcore Space Ones offer better ANC and audio in an even more comfortable piece of hardware.
- 40 hours of battery with ANC on
- Support for High-Res Audio Wireless
- Adjustable, flexible ear cups
- ANC can’t catch all the bass frequencies
The Anker Soundcore Space One are more premium step-up from the Q20s, with a noticeably more comfortable design. The Space One has “floating axis” rotating earcups that let the headphones sit comfortably at a variety of angles on your head, paired with a soft headband to remove extra pressure and discomfort. They’re available in more than just black too. Soundcore also sells a “latte cream” (gold and off-white) and “sky blue” version.
Of course, other than how the headphones feel to wear, Soundcore still focused on ANC with the Space One, specifically offering two times more voice reduction when ANC is on, to drown out the busy coffee shop or bus around you. The headphones get less battery than the older Q20s at 40 hours with ANC on and 55 hours with it off, but that’s just one of the trade-offs of the sleeker design.
Sony WH-CH520
3. Best budget wireless headphones for Android
Affordable, but still high-quality
$40 $60 Save $20
Sony’s WH-CH520 doesn’t have any kind of ANC, but a long battery life and extensive support for Sony’s premium audio software features should make up for it.
- Up to 50 hours battery life
- Google Fast Pair
- Bluetooth multipoint capabilities
If buying an affordable, but still feature-packed pair of headphones is your goal, the Sony WH-CH520 are the ones to choose. They’ve got many of the software audio features of their more expensive sibling, the Sony WH-CH720N, just without any kind of active noise cancelation besides the physical seal headphones provide. Instead, you’ll get up to 50 hours of battery life and access to Sony’s companion app for adjusting EQ and other audio settings. They also include Sony’s Digital Sound Enhancement Engine or DSEE for improving compressed streaming audio.
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Key for Android users, the Sony WH-CH520 are one of the few options in our guide with support for Google Fast Pair, which makes connecting your headphones to your phone or other Android device a one-tap affair. Google Assistant is similarly easy to access, as is Apple’s Siri.
Sennheiser CX True Wireless Earbuds
4. Best budget wireless earbuds
Entry-level in-ear Sennheiser sound
$88 $130 Save $42
Sennheiser’s CX True Wireless Earbuds are an affordable introduction to wireless audio with commendable battery life and splash resistance.
- Up to 27 hours of battery life
- Bass Boost EQ mode
- IPX4 splash resistance
Wireless earbuds can be expensive, but you can get a lot of what you’d want from in-ear headphones for cheap with the Sennheiser CX True Wireless. They’re bigger and boxier than plenty of other headphones, and they don’t have all the premium features you might want, like active noise cancelation. But there’s just enough here to keep them as a solid option.
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The Sennheiser CX True Wireless gets up to 27 hours of battery life, which breaks down to nine hours from the earbuds alone, and an additional 18 hours in the charging case itself. There’s a companion app for adjusting settings and turning on features like voice assistants, and the earbuds support a Bass Boost preset to help with low-end audio. What’s more important is, if you buy them, you’ll get the bare minimum in terms of water resistance: an IPX4 rating.
JBL Tune 660NC
5. Best budget wireless headphones for fast charging
Fast charging and ANC
The JBL Tune 660NC come with ANC, multipoint Bluetooth, and a long battery life.
- Up to 40 hours of battery life
- ANC
- Physical buttons for controls
JBL makes many types of headphones, but the JBL Tune 660NC hit a sweet spot in terms of price and features. It has active noise cancelation for one, and physical controls that make it easier to answer calls or control playback of your music without having to whip out your phone. The real draw for the Tune 660NC is probably its battery.
The Tune 660NC gets up to 40 hours of battery life with ANC on, and 55 hours of battery life with ANC off. Better than that, with just five minutes of charging, you can add two additional hours of battery life. That’s not as fast as some other JBL audio devices, but it’s still pretty good. We have reviewed many JBL products, and if you are looking to add more than just a new headphone set to your audio set up this year, check out our guide on the best JBL speakers.
1MORE SonoFlow
6. Best budget wireless headphones for battery
Like cheaper Sony WH-1000MX5s
$75 $100 Save $25
The 1More SonoFlow are capable of premium audio features like lossless audio, with an impressive battery life to boot.
- Support for High-Res Audio Wireless
- Active noise cancelation
- Up to 70 hours of battery life (ANC off)
1More’s SonoFlow headphones come with 40mm dynamic drivers and support for lossless audio, and specifically the High-Res Audio Wireless standard. That gives you multiple options for getting higher-quality sound out of the headphones, on top of the ANC features they already ship with. The SonoFlow also have a long battery life, provided you’re comfortable turning ANC off. 1More says the headphones should get 70 hours of battery off of a single charge if ANC is turned off.
Combined with the option to listen to music through a wired connection, physical buttons for controlling playback, and Bluetooth multipoint for seamlessly switching between connection devices, they’re a solid option if you’re on a budget but want premium performance.
Skullcandy Jib True 2 In-Ear Wireless Earbuds
7. Best budget wireless earbuds for kids
They’re very hard to lose
$30 $40 Save $10
Skullcandy’s Jib True 2 wireless earbuds are as cheap as they come, but built-in Tile integration does make them a pretty great option for kids.
- Earbuds can be used separately
- Up to 33 hours of battery life
- Built-in Tile tracking
- Sound can be tinny
- Charges over Micro-USB
The Skullcandy Jib True 2 In-Ear Wireless Earbuds are designed not to be lost. With their modest specs and highly-affordable price, it might not be a very big deal to lose them anyway, but the earbuds’ built-in Tile tracking is a pretty great addition. Combined with IPX4 splash resistance, they start to seem like a pretty great first pair of wireless earbuds for kids.
Skullcandy includes other features, like the ability to use each earbud independently of the other — something that’s not always included on cheaper headphones — and claims the earbuds can get up to 33 hours of battery life. If you can accept that they might not sound as good as more expensive headphones, there are several solid features working in the Jib True 2’s favor.
Philips H6506
8. Best compact budget wireless headphones
No-frills, but do the job
$47 $100 Save $53
The Philips H6506 are as bare bones as they come, but still manage to have a respectable battery life, dedicated buttons, and ANC.
- Up to 30 hours of battery life (ANC off)
- Folds flat or inwards to fit in bags or pockets
- Physical controls for adjust playback
- Bluetooth multipoint
- No sweat or dust resistance
Philips’ H6506 are as simple and plain as headphones come, with next to none of the software bells and whistles of some of our other picks. What you get instead are 32 mm drivers for deep bass and clear sound while the headphones are on, active noise cancelation, and Bluetooth multipoint for seamless switching between your phone and laptop while taking a call or watching a video.
The H6506 only gets about 30 hours of battery life with the ANC off and around 25 hours with it on, which should still get you through a day. Although, you might be charging more often than some of our other picks. In a convenient design choice, the Philips H6506 can fold flat for sliding into a bag or drawer, or fold inward if you need to fit them into a smaller backpack pocket while traveling.
The bottom line: What are the best budget wireless headphones?
For most people, the Anker Soundcore Life Q30 are the best overall choice, offering many of the basic features a modern premium pair of wireless headphones have (ANC, support for high-quality audio, a comfortable fit) for a highly affordable price. The Anker Soundcore Space One are an improvement in terms of design, comfort, and ANC performance, but comes with some added costs. If the lowest possible price is your main concern, you can get Sony’s WH-CH520 headphones and get access to several software features none of these other headphones support.
Anker Soundcore Life Q30
Editor’s Choice
How do we pick the best budget wireless headphones?
Most of the wireless headphones Pocket-lint has tested fall in the premium or mid-range category in terms of price. Devices like the Sony WH-1000XM5 or Jabra Elite 8 Active are out of the $100 or less price range we set for this budget wireless headphones guide, but their features, and the ones that can reasonably show up on a cheaper pair of headphones, are a good guide.
We chose the headphones based on price first and foremost, with an eye towards battery life, comfort, and premium features like ANC. The headphones that made it on this list excelled in most or all of these categories, carrying over the best parts of the more expensive headphones that Pocket-lint is deeply familiar with, at a much more affordable price.
FAQ
Q: What’s the lowest price for good wireless headphones?
While less expensive options exist, for a good pair of budget wireless headphones look in the sweet spot between $40 and $50, especially if you’re buying from a known manufacturer you can trust. On the low end, that could be the Skullcandy Riff Wireless 2 we included in our guide, and on the higher-end, that’s a pair of headphones like the Sony WH-CH520.
Q: Are wireless headphones the best for bass performance?
Unfortunately, wireless connections over Bluetooth will naturally degrade the quality of the audio coming from your phone, laptop, tablet, etc. There’s just only so much data you can send over Bluetooth at a given time (that’s why some headsets use a dongle that can create a 2.4Ghz wireless connection for better performance).
Wired headphones don’t have that problem. And they frequently cost far less than their wireless counterpoints. The issue you run into with wired headphones, regardless of their price, is that many devices no longer include 3.5mm audio jacks. That means you’ll be stuck listening on your laptop or desktop computer, or using USB-C headphones.
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