The Best Cheap Headphones never cease to surprise us. We've been listening long enough to remember when cheap headphones were really bad, but today's bargains surpass even the expensive headphones we used to save up for.

The Best Cheap Headphones never cease to surprise us. We’ve been listening long enough to remember when cheap headphones were really bad, but today’s bargains surpass even the expensive headphones we used to save up for. The incredible audio advances in the best wireless headphones and the best wired headphones are quickly affecting more affordable models, and you no longer have to spend big bucks to get great sound.

Perhaps “affordable” is a better word than “cheap,” because the latter implies poor quality – and the best affordable headphones are anything but. We’re talking high-quality, high-performance headphones from some of the biggest names in audio, and there are some absolutely brilliant options for noise-canceling headphones, headphones for listening to podcasts, and headphones for the gym. The best cheap headphones are ideal for anyone looking for a cheap headphone or earphone that still sounds good.

If you’re looking for a pair of in-ear headphones that cost less than $100 (£70 or AU$150), you’re spoiled for choice. There are plenty of earbuds that sound great, but many at this low price usually have few fatal flaw, whether it’s lesser build quality, incompatibility between different devices, or they just don’t fit your ears well enough to be comfortable. We have found that it’s difficult to find a pair of headphones that meet all your needs without breaking the budget.

With the 1MORE Triple Driver in-ear headphones, that has changed. If you have not heard of 1MORE, you should definitely listen up, because this company deserves to be on your radar. 1MORE offers a range of  in-ear and over-ear headphones, but the Triple Driver in-ear headphones are the company’s flagship. We’ve spent the last few weeks with them and were blown away by how much they offer in this price range.

The Soundmagic E11BTs are impressive, there’s no doubt about that. The neckbuds are incredibly light at 25g, so most of the time you don’t feel like you have anything on your neck at all, and the handmade aluminum earbuds complete the high-end look despite a sub-£70 price tag.

This theme continues with the battery, which offers an unbeatable 40-60 hours of runtime on a single charge and a charge time of around two hours. Of course, it’s the sound that matters most, and here again the E11BTs shine with balanced, well-defined sound reproduction without a hint of tweakiness or harsh highs at any volume. For the price, the Soundmagic E11BT earphones are certainly hard to beat.

SoundMagic, which was a relative flash in the pan compared to many other audio companies, has gone from obscurity to winning multiple awards, especially with its affordable in-ear headphones. The SoundMagic E11C headphones are another pair that have won a variety of awards. We’re happy to report that they’re still pretty magical compared to in-ear headphones in this price range.

They feature an improved driver and silver-plated copper cable compared to their predecessors. The better driver makes for improved sound, but it’s still unmistakably SoundMagic the bass is lush, with plenty of warmth and depth to envelop you while the top end is unaffected. And the midrange has decent clarity and shows great energy and control.

Sony’s new WF-C500 wireless earbuds have an attractive $99.99 price tag and come with a sleeker, more traditional design than the WF-XB700 headphones they replace. Aside from the improved look, they also offer support for Sony’s Headphones Connect app, which lets you customize the EQ to your liking. The WF-XB700s were branded with “Extra Bass,” but Sony has dropped that for a more balanced sound.

Battery life has also improved slightly to an impressive 10 hours of continuous playback, and the C500s offer easy-to-use controls with large buttons on each earbud. However, to match the price of just under $100, Sony has omitted few key features like noise cancellation, a transparency mode, wireless charging, and even minor conveniences like the auto-pause function when one or both earbuds are pulled out.

When Lypertek released the Tevi back in 2019, they instantly became one of our favourite affordable true wireless earbuds. A year later they had a change of name (PurePlay Z3), and 2021 brings the latest revision and potentially the best version of these earbuds yet. The PurePlay Z3 2.0 look the same but the changes come in the form of a new app, high-performance audio mode, improved Bluetooth specs, and a new Ambient mode.

The seven-band EQ settings in the app allow for the sound to be tuned further, and they turn out to be effective when employed with certain music genres. The only real issue is one of forgetting it’s engaged and moving on to something else, which is the reason we prefer the LDX mode it’s more of a cure-all for every track you listen to. The original Lyperteks were great, but the new LDX Audio mode re-confirms that the Z3 2.0 are one of the best-sounding wireless earbuds at this price.

The Sony WH-CH510 review in a sentence: they feel, if anything, even cheaper than they actually are – but the WH-CH510 have half-decent sound quality and entirely decent battery life. These wireless headphones from Sony are way more budget than the likes of the Sony WH-1000XM4 that have made it such a famous name for portable audio.

The WHCH510 may be over-ear headphones, but the lack of feature mean they won’t be troubling our list of the best noise-cancelling headphones. These are focused on price and battery life, and they excel at both, though with some limitations as you might expect from lower-priced headphones.

The JBL TUNE 750BTNC are wireless over-ear headphones with ANC that don’t stand out too much from the crowd. Their ear cups are awkwardly-sized and they fit more like a mix of on-ear and over-ear headphones, causing them to rest on top of your ears, which gets uncomfortable fairly quickly. They look and feel quite cheap due to their all-plastic build, and their ANC doesn’t do much to help block out background noise.

On the upside, they have a very well-balanced sound profile out-of-the-box that has a bit of extra warmth and punch in the bass without it being overpowering, making them versatile enough for most genres and contents, from EDM to podcasts.

As more and more wireless headphones come equipped with noise cancellation, an update to AKG’s wired N60 NC seems inevitable. The $299.95 AKG N60 NC wireless headphones combine Bluetooth audio with the excellent sound quality and solid noise cancellation of their wired counterpart. If noise cancellation is your top priority, Bose still comes out on top with its QuietComfort series.

However, if you want the best Bluetooth audio performance combined with high-quality noise cancellation, the N60 NC Wireless headphones are a great choice. While the noise cancellation isn’t Bose-level, it’s still very high-quality. And for $300, the headphones are exceptionally comfortable and sound fantastic. If you want to save some money and don’t need Bluetooth, AKG’s wired N60 NC model also sound great.

Beyerdynamic makes a variety of devices for audiophiles and professionals, and some of them come with a high price tag. Beyerdynamic’s DT 240 Pro headphones offer professional sound and a high standard of design at a low price. The DT 240 Pro headphones cost $99 (£89, AU$139), making them more affordable than many other studio monitor headphones.

That price puts it in direct competition with some Audio-Technica headphones, such as the widely praised ATH-M40X or the wireless ATH-SR5BT, which are in the same price range as the DT 240 Pro. They feature a good balance of build quality and sound quality, and are also very versatile as portable headphones for on-the-go or in the studio.

Cheap Headphones aren’t limited to earbuds they come in all shapes and sizes. You can get some pretty good over-ear headphones for not much money at all. Some models also come with features usually associated with higher-end models, such as noise cancellation.

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