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On the hunt for a pair of headphones that will deliver satisfying sound without clearing out your bank account? Good affordable headphones are tricky to come by, but they do exist — you just need to know where to look.
Here at TechRadar, we test dozens of pairs of headphones every year, and in amongst them we've unearthed some wallet-friendly wonders. I asked TechRadar's audio specialists which headphones they'd recommend to buyers on a budget, and rounded up their suggestions for this article.
If it's true wireless in-ears you're after, you'd struggle to do better than the Nothing Ear (a) buds, which Audio Editor Becky Scarrott awarded a perfect five stars, calling them "a resounding home run" for the British startup and praising the noise cancellation, sound quality and battery life in particular. In the over-ear arena, Becky loves the CMF Pro. In her tests, she was impressed with the "superb" sound quality, and pleasantly surprised to discover "the sort of... personal sound profile curation [we're] more used to seeing in headphones much higher up the food chain".
Read on for more budget-maximizing buys — and hit the 'View details' button for a summary of what we thought of them in our tests, plus links to the full reviews.
Top cheap earbuds and headphones Nothing Ear (a) Pros- Fun, zealous, expansive sound
- Vastly improved active noise cancellation
- Smaller, more pocketable case
- No wireless charging support
- No flagship sound profile curation
- Solid ANC
- Lightweight build
- Truly low price
- Poor eartip fit
- Lean battery life
- Aggressive transparency mode
- Fantastic listening test
- Comfortable build
- Competitive value
- Low max volume
- Cheap-feeling case
- Touch control issues
- Sensational sound quality
- Extensive software features
- Comfy, quality construction
- On-ear controls are a little sensitive
- ANC is good rather than game-changing
- Excellent hearing tests; unexpected at the level
- Emotive, circumaural sound
- Exemplary battery life
- ANC isn't amazing
- Energy slider feels a tad gimmicky
- No hard carry case or USB-C charger in the box
- Top-tier sound
- Competitive price
- Comfortable fit
- App download pains
- Middling battery life
- Would benefit from ANC
- Great sound balance
- Lots of detail in audio
- Effective noise cancellation
- Full of useful features
- Sound feels constrained
- Noise cancellation leaks in low sounds
- Plastic feels a little cheap