The best cheap wireless headphones to buy in 2020

As good as products like the Bose QuietComfort and AirPods Pro can be, you don’t have to spend more than $ 200 to get a perfectly matched set of wireless headphones. You can even drop below the price point for Samsung’s Galaxy Buds Plus and Jabra’s 75ts and still find something that will do the job just fine. For this set of recommendations, I’m going to stick with an MSRP of $ 100.

You can find an endless list of true wireless earbuds under this price on Amazon from random brands that you probably haven’t heard of. But I stick with some proven companies that are in stores and have established customer service operations. Just because you’re smart about money doesn’t mean you should be left out if something goes wrong.

These choices will not entirely match the audio fidelity or the full range of features of high-end headphones. You’ll be ditching things like active noise cancellation and wireless charging, but they’re still very nice on their own – and retain much of the convenience factor that makes true wireless headphones so appealing to begin with.

The best inexpensive wireless headphones for 2020

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1. Skullcandy Jib True

Best inexpensive wireless headphones for $ 30

Skullcandy has just released its most affordable pair of wireless headphones yet. The $ 29.99 Jib True – available in black or that very attractive mix of blue, red and yellow – manages to deliver a solid mix of specs and usable sound quality. Battery life lasts up to six hours, they have IPX4 sweat resistance status, and you can use either earbud independently. That last part is something that many more expensive headphones (hi, Jabra) still don’t offer.

Headphone controls aren’t customizable, but Skullcandy integrates just about any function you want (track skip / rewind, volume, voice assistant, and play / pause) into each headset’s single large button. They were easy to remember while I was testing the Jib True buds.

If there is a blockage with the Jib True, it is because Skullcandy has not really optimized them for use with multiple devices. While more expensive headphones tend to remember a handful of pairing sources, the company recommends that you remove them from their current device’s Bluetooth list before fixing them with another. It’s not the end of the world, but it’s also quite embarrassing.

As far as their sound goes, I found the Jib True to be a solid seal in my ear with the full size tips included. It always helps with bass response, and the Jib True definitely put most of its sonic weight behind the bass. It’s to the point where the low end is overrated and takes away the mid and high frequencies. I guess that’s partly intentional, as a more neutral sound signature would reveal the inherent weaknesses of the $ 30 headphones. Acoustic guitars lack warmth and everything here feels like it’s happening in the middle of your head, so the soundstage is quite narrow.

But… $ 30, folks. Jib True headphones have never made me want to tear them from my ears in audio agony, and I consider it a victory. I didn’t run into any syncing issues while watching videos either, and their connectivity proved to be robust and reliable as I walked the busy streets of Brooklyn. Perhaps most surprising of all, Skullcandy backs these $ 30 headphones with a two year warranty. If I have one complaint, it’s that they use a micro USB connector. We’re supposed to be long past that, but I can forgive it for the price. If you’re willing to spend more, upgrading to Skullcandy’s more expensive headphones like the $ 50 Evo Sesh will give you better audio and other features like built-in tile tracking.

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2. OnePlus Buds Z

Great cheap wireless earbuds for $50

Jokes about their troubles with customs aside, I wasn’t enthralled with the original OnePlus Buds. Hard plastic one-size-fits-all earbuds never work out well for me, and these weren’t an exception. But the newer (and less expensive) OnePlus Buds Z, on the other hand, are a much better fit. These ones have traditional silicone tips and sit way more securely in my ears.

Despite their $49.99 price, the OnePlus Buds Z include convenience features like auto-pause when an earbud is removed, and they also support Android’s NFC-based Fast Pair for quick setup. And they’re rated a surprisingly durable IP55 for dust and water resistance, making them a good pick for workouts — as long as you’re okay with no ambient sound mode.

Battery life is likely their biggest weakness. OnePlus estimates they can last up to five hours of continuous playback, but I’ve averaged a bit over four hours so far. But you at least get several full recharges from the case, which the company says has 20 hours worth of juice.

The controls are also a bit rudimentary. Out of the box, all you can do is double tap to skip tracks. If you use an Android phone that isn’t made by OnePlus, you can install the HeyMelody app to configure the earbuds’ tap controls a bit more; OnePlus phones will let you do this once the earbuds are connected.

I’ve been quite pleased with how the OnePlus Buds Z sound. They’ve got smaller drivers than the regular OnePlus Buds but still output a nicely rounded audio profile. Again, the emphasis is on bass (and the treble is boosted), but it’s not quite so blatant as with the $30 Skullcandys. Watching videos across a few devices worked fine, and I didn’t have any connectivity problems. Also, unlike the Skullcandys, the OnePlus Buds Z work nicely with more than one device. You can long-press either earbud for three seconds to switch back and forth between the two most recently paired devices.

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3.1More ColorBuds

Best inexpensive wireless headphones for style

1More is one of those companies that has a long history of making great audio products. With ColorBuds, the focus is on comfort – each bud weighs just 4.1 grams, barely more than an AirPod – and appearance. The sound quality is also a clear step above the previous two picks, with greater clarity, a wider soundstage, and more nuance overall. (There’s still plenty of kick drum, though.) You’re hoping for good sound at their $ 100 price tag, and those show up.

Battery life is up to six hours of continuous listening (22 with the case), and the ColorBuds are rated IPX5 for water and sweat resistance. While most of the picks on this list support the standard AAC and SBC Bluetooth codecs, 1More adds Apt-X to the mix on Android.

ColorBuds come in a handful of attractive colors that, combined with the price and great performance, might be enough to sway some people towards them instead of AirPods.

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4. Anker Soundcore Liberty Air 2

Best inexpensive wireless headphones for voice calls

Although they hit our price cap of $ 100, Anker’s Soundcore Liberty Air 2 remains one of the best pairs of true “budget” wireless headphones on the market. Their design looks a bit like AirPods, thanks to the long rods, but that translates to the best microphone performance of anything in this price bracket.

The Liberty Air 2 also have a long battery life, with up to seven hours of direct playback. (With the case, you get 28 hours of battery life in total.) Sound quality is nice but not what you would get with 1More headphones – and Anker’s plug controls can sometimes prove to be a problem. little difficult.

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Best Cheap Neckband Style Wireless Headphones

Not everyone likes the concept of wireless headphones that connect them, and if that’s you, the recent Beats Flex are a great option – and that still applies to Android phone users. These $ 50 headphones improve on the older Beats X in several ways: they charge via USB-C instead of Apple’s Lightning connector, they have a long battery life of up to 12 hours, and the built-in microphone is a reliable tool for Voice and Zoom calls.

The Beats Flex sound better than AirPods and many headphones in this price range and beyond. They also have a handy auto-pause feature when you clip the two earbuds together via their magnetic connection. Connectivity is free from interruptions or other issues, and iPhone owners can expect the usual instant setup process just by bringing the Beats Flex closer to their phone. But Beats also offers an Android app that lets you customize settings and view the percentage of battery remaining.

One downside is that the Flex Buds are not rated for water or sweat resistance so I cannot recommend them for the gym. But other than that, it’s a great choice. Sometimes it’s nice to let the headphones hang around your neck when not in use instead of bothering with a charging case.

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6. Sony WF-XB700 Headphones

The best cheap wireless headphones if you can find a deal

I’m a huge fan of Sony’s true entry-level wireless headphones, the WF-XB700. I’ve owned a pair for several months now, and have never had to put up with connection issues, battery frustration, or other bugs once. They also fit better and seal more tightly in my ears than pretty much anything on this list. Your results may vary, but there is something about the design that works extremely well with my ears.

The XB700 headphones last for up to nine hours of continuous listening and pack all the punch you could possibly want. It might go too far, but Sony does a good job of not letting the bass take over everything else. The mids and high frequencies are not drowned out. These headphones stick out a little more out of your ears than most, and they lack any kind of ambient sound mode – which some might consider negative considering how good the passive noise isolation is.

I quite like the matte finish of the XB700s and their charging case, and the headphones lock into the case with a stronger magnetic pull than usual; it always allowed them to juice as intended. They use physical buttons on each earbud for controls, which I prefer over touch gestures.

Technically, the Sonys cost over $ 100, but they’re on sale less regularly (recently as low as $ 68) than they’re still worth mentioning. There is a ton of things to love about them, even if there is nothing flashy about them. They are a great example of Sony keeping it simple and doing it right.

Photograph by Chris Welch / The Verge