6 Wireless Earbuds Under $100 That Don’t Sacrifice Quality

Before wireless earbuds, we all knew the feeling of reaching into a pocket or backpack for headphones and finding a tangled mess of wires. But, alas — no more!

We can finally pop these tiny little music machines into our ears and enjoy our favorite tunes without tangles.

But bluetooth earbuds can be expensive, so we’ve put together a guide featuring the best options on a budget — the best cheap wireless earbuds.

Whether you are looking for the cheapest pair or something that offers more (such as active noise cancellation and waterproofing), there’s an option for you.

Now, go meet your new best music friend.

Best Low-Priced Budget Wireless Earbuds: JLab Go Air Pop

Earbud prices are dropping fast! It won’t be long until you find a pair of wireless earbuds at your local bargain store, but that doesn’t mean they are decent. However, JLab Go Air Pop earbuds are.

These earbuds are super cheap at only $20, but they provide an experience that is respectable for the price tag. Not to mention a two-year warranty and a 30-day guarantee.

Offered in five different colors (black, lilac, rose, slate and teal), these tiny earbuds pack an impressive 32-hour battery life when paired with their portable charging case.

You can use both earbuds to listen to your favorite podcast or pop in a single earbud to take calls with the built-in microphones. Interchangeable ear tips allow a better fit too.

Built-in touch controls allow you to adjust the volume, start or stop audio and answer calls. You can even use JLab’s app to customize your sound preferences.

The bottom line

• Price — $20

• Battery life — 32 hours

• Waterproof — Yes

• Noise canceling — No

Best Budget Noise Canceling Wireless Earbuds: EarFun Air Pro

Sometimes we want nothing more than to pop in earbuds and cancel out the world around us. Luckily you can do that with the EarFun Air Pros — and still save money.

With a 32-hour battery life, these wireless earbuds can go all day long while also blocking out background noise using its noise cancellation technology.

If you do want to let the world in, you can enable transparent mode to hear everything as though you weren’t wearing earbuds.

Other great functions include compatibility with smart voice assistants (such as Siri and Google Assistant) and sweat and water resistance so you can enjoy your favorite music while working out — all for $80.

EarFun even backs everything up with an 18-month warranty if you have any issues.

The bottom line

• Price — $80

• Battery life — 32 hours

• Waterproof — Yes

• Noise canceling — Yes

Best Budget Long Battery Wireless Earbuds: Cambridge Audio Melomania 1+

Sometimes the most important feature is battery life. If you need a power-efficient option, we recommend the Cambridge Audio Melomania 1+.

You’ll get up to a 45-hour battery life on a single charge. The wireless earbuds hold a 9-hour charge, while the portable charging case offers up to another 36 hours so you can keep on rocking.

Built by a company that knows audio quality, you’ll get interchangeable ear tips for the best fit, along with a mobile app that allows you to personalize your equalizer (EQ) settings.

The Melomania 1+ earbuds also support high-quality audio codecs, including AAC and aptX, so you can stream the latest tunes with the best sound.

The best bit is that these earbuds were $140, but you can grab them now for only $60 — those are some cheap wireless earbuds.

The bottom line

• Price — $60

• Battery life — 45 hours

• Waterproof — Yes

• Noise canceling — No

Best Budget Sport Wireless Earbuds: Tranya T40

If you’re always moving, you need a pair of cheap wireless earbuds that can keep up. Our favorite option for workout warriors is the Tranya T40.

These wireless earbuds are IPX5 water- and sweat-proof, which means they’re impervious to jets of water from all angles. The Tranya T40 earbuds also feature ear hooks to ensure they stay in place — no matter how much you move at the gym.

Additionally, physical buttons ensure that you don’t accidentally change the song or adjust the volume.

You can enjoy a long play session too, as the Tranya T40 earbuds last up to 8 hours on a single charge.

Need to take a quick call while on the court? No problem, these wireless earbuds feature built-in microphones for phone calls. When you hang up, you can return your music to normal or Bass Boost mode for those more intense moments when you want to kick it up.

The bottom line

• Price — $80

• Battery life — 8 hours

• Waterproof — Yes

• Noise canceling — No

Best Budget Hi-Tech Wireless Earbuds: Sony WF-C500

Sony has been making electronics for quite some time — and produces some of the best wireless headphones on the market.

But we are here to talk about Sony’s best cheap wireless earbuds option: the WF-C500. (We know, Sony still isn’t great at product naming.)

With a 20-hour playtime, including the case’s extra charge, you can enjoy high-quality truly wireless earbuds that sport neodymium-magnet drivers with a frequency response from 20Hz to 20,000 Hz.

Translation: You’ll hear every detail of your music.

The Sony WF-C500 earbuds even support the immersive 360 Reality Audio, so you can listen as though you were in the middle of your music. The feature is available on supported streaming services, including Amazon Music, Tidal and Deezer.

The earbud design is also impressive, featuring a comfortable rounded shape and a sustainability focus to help reduce Sony’s environmental impact.

The bottom line

• Price — $100

• Battery life — 20 hours

• Waterproof — Yes

• Noise canceling — No

Best Budget Wireless Earbuds for Android: Google Pixel Buds A-Series

For the best mobile listening experience that integrates with an Android device, we like the Google Pixel Buds A-Series wireless earbuds.

Not to be confused with the Pixel Buds Pro, the A-Series is more affordable but still offers the ability to adapt to noise in your surroundings and provide up to 24 hours of listening with the charging case.

The Pixel earbuds are also water and sweat resistant, so you don’t need to worry about getting caught in the rain or working out too hard.

By the way, once you’ve completed that workout, you can simply say “Hey Google” into the earbud’s microphone to find the nearest froyo or smoothie spot. (Treat yourself!)

The bottom line

• Price — $100

• Battery life — 24 hours

• Waterproof — Yes

• Noise canceling — No

How We Picked the Best Cheap Wireless Earbuds

To find the best budget wireless earbuds for you, we reviewed the plethora of options, then determined the most important factors in picking earbuds and narrowed the field to earbuds that cost $100 or less.

We considered each price, sound quality, battery life, waterproofing and noise canceling abilities.

• Price: Just getting the basic tech for modern life (phone, computer, etc.) adds up quickly. To make your tech dollar go further, you looked at products that offer the best quality for the best price.

• Sound quality: If you only ask one thing of your earbuds, it’s, well, to hear things. You shouldn’t have to give up sound quality just to save money.

• Battery life: We wanted to ensure that each earbud offered at least 8 hours of battery life, so you could listen without your earbuds dying.

• Water/sweat-resistant: All of our picks have some level of water- and sweat-resistance, so you can work out and listen in all kinds of weather worry-free.

• Noise cancellation: Even though only one of our picks has noise cancellation, it’s a nice-to-have feature so you can ride in peace during your next subway commute or flight.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Michael Archambault is a senior writer for The Penny Hoarder specializing in technology.