Summary List
There’s a bewildering variety of headphones on the market: in-ear, on-ear, and over-ear headphones, and in wired and wireless types. However, on-and-over ear wireless headphones are a marvel. They combine cutting-edge technologies like quality audio reproduction, fast connectivity, active noise cancelation, and a comfortable build.
With all of these features, the best wireless headphones on the market don’t come cheap. But that doesn’t mean you can’t find a decent pair at an affordable price. We have rounded up the best cheap wireless headphones with good performance and premium features like ANC and Hi-Res audio without the sticker shock.
The Anker Soundcore Life Q30 headphones strike the best balance in sound quality, battery power, connectivity, communication, and build quality. They checked all the right boxes; with a futuristic yet sleek look, these cans are sure to impress you at first sight. They have a clean rounded shell that’s quite fashionable, and the earpads are large and soft.
The Soundcore Life Q30 have hybrid ANC with multiple modes, hi-res decoding support, 40 hours of playtime, excellent dual-device Bluetooth connectivity, and drivers with silk diaphragms. With all of these features, they really deliver the best bang for your buck. Users report a perfect fit with the protein leather earpads and excellent voice pickup during calls. Additionally, the built-in equalizer presets offer more flexibility than many top brands. If you’re looking for the best option in this price range, the Soundcore Life Q30 fit the bill.
If you’re looking at entry-level but aren’t afraid to spend a few extra bucks, then the Jabra Elite 45h are your best pal. Designed by Danish engineers, the ultramodern-looking cans have exceptional sound quality with 50 hours of continuous usage. They are compact and comfy, designed for everyday use, with great communication capabilities as well.
They have a variable response frequency band; while listening to audio or video files, they will play 20 Hz to 20 kHz signals, but when in voice communication, they will drop into 100 Hz to 8 kHz band for faster, lag-less communication and better vocal range clarity. To be sure, this isn’t a purist audio device; they are heavily tuned by the manufacturer — which is actually great! Jabra’s sound quality is already impressive, but you can improve and customize it with the Jabra MySound app.
With these on, you can really focus on the task at hand. Plus, they are very good for catching up on some Netflix shows or for those long video meetings. However, they are not the best option for heavy exercise. The fit is not as secure as a pair of earbuds. Jabra has sensibly gone with haptic buttons instead of touch sensors, which is better suitable for headphones. They have a rather tight fit on the ears, though, which may make some people with bigger heads slightly uncomfortable on extended usage.
Edifier is a legendary brand with great bookshelf and computer speakers, but they don’t have much to offer in the portable audio market. There’s one significant exception, though; the Edifier W820NB are a great pair of wireless Bluetooth headphones. They’re a great pick if you want a studio-like experience from your Android or Apple phone, and they look incredibly sharp too.
These headphones have a very modern and electronica-style look with a sturdy build, and they come in a beautiful color selection. Sound-wise, Edifier has always been a staunch purist, so don’t expect any artificial embellishments here; the sound is reproduced as close to the original as possible. Bass-heads won’t like these headphones since the low-frequency response, while excellent, is kept at tolerable levels. But the mids are extra crispy, more than some other big brands out there. The battery life is especially good — 49 hours on a single charge.
OneOdio is best known for its wired headphones, but nowadays, they are also making some (sound) waves in the wireless category. The A30 are an excellent example; they are a solid option with great sound and adequate ANC that filters up to 92% of background noise. These headphones have a foldable design and come with a detachable cable with 3.5 mm audio jack for when they run out of juice (or when you prefer perfect audio). They feature a closed-can design and come with a handy travel bag.
The OneOdio A30 are surprisingly good as a communication device, with CVC 8.0 mics and input noise suppression. They sport the signature round design with a simplistic headband that holds them comfortably on your head for extended periods. However, the battery section life is less than stellar, with only 15 hours of playtime with ANC on a single charge. Speaking of which, the ANC is not impressive, but if you want to listen at lower volumes in a busy area, these will certainly reduce ear fatigue.
A giant in the audio industry, JBL has done it again with the Tune 760NC wireless headphones. These lightweight and foldable headphones sport a trendy look and excellent build quality. They offer some decent ANC; however, that feature is power-hungry and could cost you around 15 hours of playtime. It supports fast pairing and dual pairing via Bluetooth 5.0 only. Despite being all plastic, the build quality is good, and the cups have soft earpads.
Bass is JBL’s signature, and the 760NC are no exception; in fact, it might be too much if you have the volume too high. The rest of the spectrum sounds surprisingly great, considering these aren’t $400 headphones. Battery life without ANC is around 50 hours, which is excellent since these lightweight cans are barely noticeable, even after wearing them all day. Turning on the powerful ANC will cut usage by 15 hours, but since it’s not too great on these, that might not be a deal-breaker.
The 1MORE SonoFlow headphones, with excellent sound reproduction out of their 40mm dynamic drivers, are right on the upper edge of affordability. A fantastic all-rounder, they support LDAC, so you can enjoy genuinely high-quality 990kbps audio, but through the app only, it seems. They also feature ANC, but it drains the battery heavily. However, with ANC off, you can get up to a whopping 70 hours of playtime.
The 1MORE SonoFlow wireless Bluetooth headphones are great for comfortable listening; they fit really well, and you won’t feel a thing after wearing them for a while. In fact, they may be the most comfortable wireless headphones available in this bracket. The sound is just at the sparkly range that most people love, with punchy bass and slightly overdone treble. The build quality, on the other hand, may not be up to par for some users who have used premium products before. The lackluster design may not impress you at first look, either.
For the price point, the Skullcandy Crusher look lovely and feel reassuringly solid. Running for 40 hours on a single charge, they offer effective noise isolation while comfortably fitting on your ears. However, they are a bit bass-heavy, so if you aren’t a fan, these probably won’t be your cup of tea. The design is cool and foldable, which is an advantage if you spend a lot of time on the go. Plus, the button design is very intuitive, putting them where your hands naturally reach.
The Crushers don’t have ANC, but the snug fit does an excellent job suppressing some background noise. For those uncomfortable with earbuds, these offer an enjoyable alternative at a low cost. On factory settings, the audio may sound a bit average — but get a good equalizer app, and with some tweaking, these will sound close to premium headphones. An extra audio cord with 3.5mm jacks will help you connect to your phone or computer even if the headphones have no charge, while the soft and cozy earpads will keep them on securely. In fact, it may fit too snugly for someone with a large head, so watch out for that.
The venerable Phillips brand has been equivalent to a monarchy in the large audio industry. Their smaller devices are also seriously challenging to other brands. The H6506 are a solid example of this. These beautiful wireless headphones feature a clean, no-nonsense design with comfortable, large earpads and a light headband. The ANC is not that great compared to other options on this list, but it gets the job done in heavy traffic. Plus, you can get about 25 hours of playtime with the ANC on. We’d suggest you rather rely on passive noise cancelation with this one, which is good.
Though the foam earpads are very comfortable, they may become hot in a warm climate. Still, they are very lightweight, so most of the time, you won’t even feel them. Plus, they sport a foldable design that makes them perfectly portable. The 32mm drivers separate different sounds well, so you can hear your phone pings clearly, even with loud music playing. There is some tuning here; the curve is definitely V-shaped here, with a slight emphasis on the higher end. Finally, the microphones on these are pretty sensitive and can pick up even whispered words.
Sennheiser is another well-known name in the audio industry, and any of its products are worth a shot any day. The HD 350BT don’t disappoint with their collapsible, simplistic design, stellar audio quality, and sturdy build. Though they are made of all plastic, these headphones feel very solid and durable in hand. The earpads, though, are tad bit too thick and can be a bit uncomfortable for those with large ears.
The Sennheiser HD 350BT connect via Bluetooth 5.0 (using AAC and aptX) and have no trouble playing for 30 hours on a single charge. If you love a balanced, detailed sound quality, you will definitely love these. There is no bloated bass, just pure clarity, and natural tonality. The sound stage is created in a very balanced, slightly tuned optimum position that is sure to please all but the hardcore bass heads.
That being said, the complex drivers on these headphones can reproduce bass way low in the frequency range — something unexpected at this price bracket. The mids are rich and clear, and the well-tuned above 8kHz band adds clarity to the sound. But, provided you can hear them, the 12kHz+ area is a bit overdone.
The ATH-M20x were originally professional studio-grade wired headphones from Audio-Technica. Due to popular demand, the company made a wireless option with Bluetooth connectivity, which works surprisingly well for the price. The 40mm rare-earth magnet drivers with copper-clad voice coils boost out a rich vocal region and can go on for up to 60 hours on a single charge. These headphones can connect to multiple devices and come with a detachable 4-feet audio cable.
At ATH-M20x are a perfect blend of comfort and style; the earpads on these babies fit really well and are comfortable over long uses. However, their build is rather rigid, so that can be a problem if you intend to take them on the go.
The sound is very close to studio quality, as with its predecessor, which means there aren’t any artificial enhancements on the decoder. That may sound a bit flat to those who like “sparkly” sound more, but it is close to what the musician intended to produce, which will please the purists. Finally, the battery lasts for at least 60 hours, and a 10-minute charge should give you 3 hours of audio.
Audio-Technica ATH-M20xBT
A note on checking the audio quality of headphones
When testing your device, it’s important to remember that sound quality depends on device performance and the source audio. You can’t expect high-quality sound, even from the best audio devices, if you’re using low-quality tracks. Audio quality from sources like YouTube or downloaded MP3s is considered lossy; they don’t carry the full spectrum of the originally recorded audio.
Perfect source audio can test a driver’s limits, so try to use audio files encoded with 32-bit Lossless codec with 320 Kbps bitrate on at least 96 kHz. But that’s not all; output quality is another factor to consider. In this case, wireless headphones, earbuds, and speakers use Bluetooth to transmit the sound data, reducing the audio quality regardless of the source. Bluetooth has to send a lot of data over a short bandwidth, so it compresses the audio heavily. Even the best Bluetooth standards today can offer only up to 16-bit 44 kHz audio data, which is barely CD quality.
How can I choose the best cheap headphones on the market?
Audio quality and a comfy fit are going to be your two main concerns when choosing a pair of wireless headphones. Be warned that companies tend to cut corners in these areas when lowering costs; if these are features you absolutely cannot compromise, then you’re better off with a premium selection. But otherwise, these above should serve you fine for standard usage.
The Anker Soundcore Life Q30 are excellent all-rounders that will serve you well with long battery life and hi-res codec support. Though costlier, the Jabra Elite 45h headphones are great for pure sound quality and comfort after long-time wear. However, if you are a budget audiophile, we’d recommend the Edifier W820NB, which have good noise cancelation and sheer style.
