The best budget wireless earbuds for 2025
Big-name brands like Apple, Sony, and Bose tend to dominate the headlines when it comes to wireless earbuds, but that doesn’t mean you need to spend a ton to get something good. It’s more than possible to find a pair with clean sound, strong noise cancellation and a rich set of features for less than $100. That said, there’s still plenty of junk in the bargain bin, so you need to be careful.If you’re looking to make an audio upgrade on the cheap, we’ve read countless reviews, compared specs and tested a few dozen models ourselves to find the best budget wireless earbuds you can buy. This is an extremely busy market with new releases arriving all the time, but we intend to keep this guide as up-to-date as possible as new contenders arrive. Best budget wireless earbuds for 2025 Other budget wireless earbuds we tested The Beats Solo Buds. Photo by Billy Steele / Engadget Note: This is a selection of noteworthy earbuds we’ve put through their paces, not a comprehensive list of everything we’ve ever tried. Beats Solo Buds The $80 Beats Solo Buds are comfortable and long-lasting, with an impressive 18 hours of battery life. But they sound a bit flat and are severely lacking in features. There’s no ANC, wear detection or official water-resistance rating, and the included case can’t wirelessly charge the earbuds on its own. You can read our full Beats Solo Buds review for more details. JLab Go Air Pop The $25 JLab Go Air Pop are decent if you just want a competent pair of wireless earbuds for as little money as possible. It has a light design with decent isolation, plus eight to nine hours of battery life, IPX4 water resistance and a full set of touch controls that actually work. As with the Go Air Sport, there’s no companion app but JLab lets you swap between three built-in EQ presets from the buds themselves. It’s still getting the EarFun Free 2S if you can afford it, as the Go Air Pop sounds boomier by comparison and isn’t as clear in the treble and upper-mids. But at this price, those shouldn't be dealbreaking trade-offs. JLab has a new variant that adds ANC for $30, though we haven't tested that one. EarFun Air Pro 3 The EarFun Air Pro 3 offers a similar shape, feature set and bass-heavy sound profile as the Soundcore Liberty 4 NC. Its call quality and IPX5-rated water resistance are a touch superior as well. But its battery life is shorter at six to seven hours per charge, and its ANC, while serviceable, is neither as comprehensive nor customizable. Anker’s pair also sounds better, with richer bass and greater clarity in the treble range. EarFun has an updated model called the Air Pro 4, which we're still in the process of testing. EarFun Free Pro 3 The EarFun Free Pro 3 are totally solid, but the Space A40 gets you superior ANC, longer battery life and a more comfortable design for a lower price these days. EarFun Air 2 Along those lines, the EarFun Air 2 are a good alternative to EarFun’s Free 2S if you’re partial an AirPods-style stem design, but they cost $10 more and aren’t significantly better. Baseus Bowie MA10 The Baseus Bowie MA10 are saddled with a ginormous charging case, a sloppy app and bulky earpieces that we found uncomfortable to wear over time. Baseus Eli Sport 1 The Baseus Eli Sport 1 have a fully open design that wraps around the ear and rests outside of your ear canal entirely. That’s nice for staying alert to the outside world, but it’s less so for getting the most detail out of your music. This is another pair with an oversized case, too. OnePlus Buds 3 The OnePlus Buds 3 have an excited sound and a stylish design in the same vein as the Soundcore Liberty 4 NC, and their mic is a bit clearer for phone calls. They fall short of Anker’s pair when it comes to noise cancellation and battery life, however. Skullcandy Dime 3 The Skullcandy Dime 3 deliver a surprisingly neutral sound profile for their dirt-cheap price, so they’re worth considering over the JLab Go Air Pop if you see them in the $25 range. Unlike that pair, they can also connect to two devices simultaneously. But their overall battery life is shorter, their call quality is poor and their physical controls are both unintuitive and uncomfortable, since they lead you to push the buds deeper into your ear canals. Skullcandy Smokin' Buds The Skullcandy Smokin’ Buds are another ultra-budget option with a sick name, brah, but they sound harsher in the treble than the JLab Go Air Pop and offer worse battery life through their charging case. This pair does use tap-based controls, but they can be finicky, and they still aren’t the most straightforward things to operate. Recent updates December 2024: We’ve lightly edited this guide for clarity and moved the aging JLab Go Air Pop and EarFun Air Pro 3 from honorable mentions to our “others we tested” section. September 2024: We’ve added notes on a handful of other budget wireless earbuds that we’ve tested but fall short of our to
Big-name brands like Apple, Sony, and Bose tend to dominate the headlines when it comes to wireless earbuds, but that doesn’t mean you need to spend a ton to get something good. It’s more than possible to find a pair with clean sound, strong noise cancellation and a rich set of features for less than $100. That said, there’s still plenty of junk in the bargain bin, so you need to be careful.
If you’re looking to make an audio upgrade on the cheap, we’ve read countless reviews, compared specs and tested a few dozen models ourselves to find the best budget wireless earbuds you can buy. This is an extremely busy market with new releases arriving all the time, but we intend to keep this guide as up-to-date as possible as new contenders arrive.
Best budget wireless earbuds for 2025
Other budget wireless earbuds we tested
Note: This is a selection of noteworthy earbuds we’ve put through their paces, not a comprehensive list of everything we’ve ever tried.
Beats Solo Buds
The $80 Beats Solo Buds are comfortable and long-lasting, with an impressive 18 hours of battery life. But they sound a bit flat and are severely lacking in features. There’s no ANC, wear detection or official water-resistance rating, and the included case can’t wirelessly charge the earbuds on its own. You can read our full Beats Solo Buds review for more details.
JLab Go Air Pop
The $25 JLab Go Air Pop are decent if you just want a competent pair of wireless earbuds for as little money as possible. It has a light design with decent isolation, plus eight to nine hours of battery life, IPX4 water resistance and a full set of touch controls that actually work. As with the Go Air Sport, there’s no companion app but JLab lets you swap between three built-in EQ presets from the buds themselves. It’s still getting the EarFun Free 2S if you can afford it, as the Go Air Pop sounds boomier by comparison and isn’t as clear in the treble and upper-mids. But at this price, those shouldn't be dealbreaking trade-offs. JLab has a new variant that adds ANC for $30, though we haven't tested that one.
EarFun Air Pro 3
The EarFun Air Pro 3 offers a similar shape, feature set and bass-heavy sound profile as the Soundcore Liberty 4 NC. Its call quality and IPX5-rated water resistance are a touch superior as well. But its battery life is shorter at six to seven hours per charge, and its ANC, while serviceable, is neither as comprehensive nor customizable. Anker’s pair also sounds better, with richer bass and greater clarity in the treble range. EarFun has an updated model called the Air Pro 4, which we're still in the process of testing.
EarFun Free Pro 3
The EarFun Free Pro 3 are totally solid, but the Space A40 gets you superior ANC, longer battery life and a more comfortable design for a lower price these days.
EarFun Air 2
Along those lines, the EarFun Air 2 are a good alternative to EarFun’s Free 2S if you’re partial an AirPods-style stem design, but they cost $10 more and aren’t significantly better.
Baseus Bowie MA10
The Baseus Bowie MA10 are saddled with a ginormous charging case, a sloppy app and bulky earpieces that we found uncomfortable to wear over time.
Baseus Eli Sport 1
The Baseus Eli Sport 1 have a fully open design that wraps around the ear and rests outside of your ear canal entirely. That’s nice for staying alert to the outside world, but it’s less so for getting the most detail out of your music. This is another pair with an oversized case, too.
OnePlus Buds 3
The OnePlus Buds 3 have an excited sound and a stylish design in the same vein as the Soundcore Liberty 4 NC, and their mic is a bit clearer for phone calls. They fall short of Anker’s pair when it comes to noise cancellation and battery life, however.
Skullcandy Dime 3
The Skullcandy Dime 3 deliver a surprisingly neutral sound profile for their dirt-cheap price, so they’re worth considering over the JLab Go Air Pop if you see them in the $25 range. Unlike that pair, they can also connect to two devices simultaneously. But their overall battery life is shorter, their call quality is poor and their physical controls are both unintuitive and uncomfortable, since they lead you to push the buds deeper into your ear canals.
Skullcandy Smokin' Buds
The Skullcandy Smokin’ Buds are another ultra-budget option with a sick name, brah, but they sound harsher in the treble than the JLab Go Air Pop and offer worse battery life through their charging case. This pair does use tap-based controls, but they can be finicky, and they still aren’t the most straightforward things to operate.
Recent updates
December 2024: We’ve lightly edited this guide for clarity and moved the aging JLab Go Air Pop and EarFun Air Pro 3 from honorable mentions to our “others we tested” section.
September 2024: We’ve added notes on a handful of other budget wireless earbuds that we’ve tested but fall short of our top picks, which remain unchanged.
June 2024: We’ve checked this guide to ensure that all of our picks are still in stock. Accordingly, we’ve removed the Nothing Ear Stick as an honorable mention, as it no longer appears to be available — though it remains a decent option if you do see it and want an unsealed alternative to the Amazon Echo Buds. We’re also still in the process of testing several other sub-$100 wireless earbuds for a future update.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/audio/headphones/best-budget-wireless-earbuds-130028735.html?src=rss
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