Not everyone has hundreds to spend on a pair of Apple AirPods. Fortunately, there are loads of cheap wireless earphones out there that can sound just as good as more expensive options, but their price sounds a million times better.
But buying cheap earbuds can be a minefield because you never really know what you’re going to get – especially if it’s from a Chinese brand you’ve never heard of.
You could argue that you get what you pay for, except that really isn’t the case, and we’ve found some amazing products at significantly lower prices. The options here are all under $100/£100.
To save you the headache of finding a pair of Bluetooth earphones that impress on more than just price, we’ve rounded up some of our favourite wireless buds. Our expert team have tested all these options, so you can be sure that you’re getting a truly great deal. You can also check our main wireless earbuds chart, too.
Find out how we test audio.
Best budget wireless earbuds 2022
1. Anker Soundcore Life A2 NC – Best Overall
Pros
Hybrid Active Noise Cancellation
Powerful bass
Great battery life
Cons
No auto-pause tech
Case feels a little cheap
No auto-switching of ANC profiles
If you’re not on a really tight budget then you’ll really struggle to find better wireless earbuds for this kind of money.
They might have a slightly cheap-feeling case and no auto-pausing tech but those downsides are massively overshadowed by great performance and a surprisingly comprehensive feature set.
As well as powerful bass, the A2 buds have excellent noise cancelling with three presets for different environments and the app offers EQ sound customisation. Throw in touch controls and solid battery life and there’s very little to dislike.
These are the best budget noise cancelling wireless earbuds you can get.
Read our full
Anker Soundcore Life A2 NCreview
2. Enacfire A9 – Best
Pros
Good ANC
Comfortable
Cheap
Decent battery
Cons
Average ambient mode
Only available in black
If you want active noise cancelling wireless earbuds without breaking the bank then you’ve come to the right place.
Enacfire has done a great job with the A9, which are readily available for under £50, undercutting rivals. And said noise cancelling is decent along with good sound quality, useful touch controls, solid battery life and a comfortable fit.
That’s a lot of boxes to tick at this price and really the only downsides are the average ambient mode and that fact you can only buy the headphones in black.
Spend a little more on Anker or Huawei if you can but these won’t disappoint if you’re on a tighter budget
Read our full
Enacfire A9 Wireless Earbudsreview
3. Xiaomi Redmi Buds 3 Pro – ANC & Wireless Charging
Pros
Good sound
Noise Cancelling
Wireless charging
Dual-device connection
Cons
No volume controls
Some features only for Xiaomi devices
Xiaomi has done a great job with its latest wireless earbuds, offering premium features that you will struggle to find elsewhere.
Not only do they have active noise cancelling, but they have wireless charging and ear detection as standard. Add solid audio, battery life and dual-device connectivity and the Redmi Buds 3 Pro are a top-notch option.
Sure, there are no volume controls but that’s fairly standard and some ANC modes are exclusive to Xiaomi devices but they are still a great budget option.
Read our full
Xiaomi Redmi Buds 3 Proreview
4. Google Pixel Buds A – Best Smart Features
Pros
Google Assistant & smarts
Compact design
Good sound
Cons
No ANC
Short bud battery life
Can’t customise controls
At the top end of the budget market, the Pixel Buds A have some omissions that might make you look elsewhere. Mainly the lack of noise cancelling and limited battery life of the buds on their own, although fast charging helps here.
However, Google’s cheapest earbuds will appeal to those looking for something a little different to rivals. While they are comfortable and offer good sound quality, it is the smart features that make them stand out.
The Google Assistant is built-in, there’s ear detection, Fast Pair, Adaptive Sound, real-time translation and more.
Read our full
Google Pixel Buds A-Seriesreview
5. Asus ROG Cetra – Best for Gaming
Pros
Impressive sound quality
Solid ANC
Decent battery life
Comfortable fit
Cons
No wear detection
Case feels a little cheap
No auto-switching of ANC profiles
You might not even know Asus makes true wireless earbuds, but you wouldn’t know the firm is new to it. While the Cetra buds are part of the company’s Republic of Gamers (ROG) range, they’re a great affordable option for just about anyone.
Sound quality is solid with rich, detailed audio and thumping bass to boot. Both active noise cancellation modes are effective at blocking out external noise, but it’s great to also have the option to amplify what’s going on around you.
However, the fiddly touch controls used to move between these modes are frustating, while much of the impressive app functionality is buried beneath an unintuitive design. But with great battery life and a very comfortable fit, these are budget buds that are worth considering.
Read our full
Asus ROG Cetra True Wireless earbudsreview
6. OnePlus Buds Z2 – Best for Comfort
Pros
Impressive smart features
Great audio with strong bass
ANC & Transparency mode
Cons
Some features exclusive to OnePlus phones
Occasional Bluetooth connectivity issues
Although they are a chunk more expensive than the previous model, the Buds Z2 are a huge improvement and well worth considering if you have enough budget. They are still very comfortable and the app offers a fit test.
They are better with OnePlus phones though as features like Dolby Atmos and low-latency are exclusive. Still, there are lots of smart features available regardless such as Fast Pair, multi-device connectivity, wear detection and customisable touch controls.
Furthermore, sound quality and ANC are both great and battery life can be long if you don’t use noise cancelling too much.
Read our full
OnePlus Buds Z2review
7. Huawei FreeBuds 4i – Best for Huawei Users
Pros
Solid ANC
Good sound
Decent battery life
Cons
Awkward design
App issues
Limited controls
Huawei has improved its budget wireless earbuds once again and they are close to being the best you can get with ANC.
The noise cancelling is good and the sound quality is top-notch as well. You’ll also benefit from solid battery life with up to 10 hours from the earbuds alone. The case has quick charging but can’t top the buds up many times.
While the buds are comfortable the case design is awkward and the touch controls are limited, too.
Although you don’t need the AI Life app for much, getting it from the App Gallery is a pain if you don’t have a Huawei phone so the FreeBuds 4i aren’t a no brainer, especially with Anker’s at the same price.
Read our full
Huawei FreeBuds 4ireview
8. Mobvoi Earbuds ANC – Affordable ANC & Voice Control
Pros
Good sound quality
Voice commands
ANC modes
Cons
ANC is a little weak
No volume control
Limited battery life
Getting active noise cancelling for under £50 (or $60) is unusual so this makes the Mobvoi Earbuds stand out on its own.
While the ANC performance isn’t amazing, there is also a useful Sound Pass-Through mode so it’s not simply on or off. Sound quality is overall decent and you can also make use of voice commands and touch controls, the latter being particularly unusual at this price.
You don’t have any volume control which is a shame and the battery life of the earbuds alone is limited to under three hours.
Read our full
Mobvoi Earbuds ANCreview
9. OnePlus Nord Buds – Affordable Dolby Atmos
Pros
Enjoyable sound quality
Great battery life
Comfortable fit
Good value
Cons
No ANC
Underwhelming microphone quality
Bulky case
If you want comfortable, long-lasting and solid sounding wireless earbuds for under £50 then the OnePlus’s first effort under the Nord branding are a decent option.
They’ll last a total of 30 hours with fast charging getting you an impressive five hours of playback from a 10-minute charge. We also found the design to be irritation-free for long sessions.
Sound quality is great for cheap earbuds thanks in part to large drivers and support for Dolby Atmos with selected OnePlus phones. You also get EQ to customise the sound and touch controls, too. The main downside here is the lack of active noise cancelling.
Read our full
OnePlus Nord Budsreview
10. Jabra Elite 3 – Best Call Quality
Pros
Impressive sound quality
Comfortable, secure fit
Solid battery life
Cons
No ANC
No auto-pause
Fiddly touch controls
The Jabra Elite 3 don’t tear up the rule book or do anything particularly outstanding, but that doesn’t mean they’re bad.
For a reasonable price, they offer impressive sound quality for a range of tasks, solid battery life, great call quality and excellent comfort – so much so you might forget you’re wearing them at times.
Perhaps enough for most people, but you can get ANC elsewhere for this price and the touch controls are fiddly.
Read our full
Jabra Elite 3review
Your buying guide to the best budget wireless earbuds in 2022
As mentioned earlier, buying affordable wireless earbuds is very difficult due to a saturated market. To ensure you pick the right pair, here’s some buying advice to answer the main questions.
FAQ 1.
What to expect from budget wireless earbuds?
One of the main things you need to do is reign in your expectations. Budget wireless earbuds are always going to cut corners compared to more expensive flagship models to achieve the lower price point.
Sure, you can find premium features like active noise cancelling (ANC), touch controls, wireless charging, wear detection, digital assistant support and many others.
You might be able to get a few on the same pair, but it’s highly unlikely you’ll get it all so you may need to decide which ones are most important to you.
2.
Which brand of budget wireless earbuds are the best?
Choosing a brand is a bit harder in the budget market for wireless earbuds. There are some familiar names but also lots of lesser-known Chinese brands that undercut the big names.
So while you might see the likes of Google, Jabra and Huawei here there are lots of others and don’t discount them just because you’ve never heard the name.
The likes of Xiaomi, Anker and Mobvoi make decent products and if you’re in doubt, read our full reviews of those products. Our team of experts put every pair through rigorous testing to ensure you’re not buying a dud device.
3.
How much should I spend on budget wireless earbuds?
We can’t answer that for you directly and while our price limit is $100/£100, you might need to spend a lot less than that.
There’s always a range of prices in this chart in the hope there’s something for every budget and our live price tracking will find you the cheapest prices, too.
Of course, just bear in mind that the less you spend, the more likely you are to get lower quality and fewer features.
