Best cheap true-wireless earbuds in 2021: Top AirPods alternatives for $100 or less – CNET [CNET]

April 18, 2021 Thomas Giboney

If you’re like me, you may have poked around Amazon looking for cheap wireless earbuds in place of Apple’s AirPods. Apple’s wireless earbuds start at $159 a pair and hit $199 a pair if you want a wireless charging case, which beats the alternative when battery life gets low. (Read our in-depth review of the AirPods Pro.) There are plenty of bargain wireless earphones out there with high ratings that work with iPhones, Android phones and everything in between. The question is, are any of these earbuds actually any good?

In my experience, most of the time sports earbuds, noise-canceling earbuds and other wireless Bluetooth earbuds are just all right as an AirPod Pro or AirPod clone — and some earbuds aren’t good for listening to music at all. An increasing number of wireless headphone models beat the “meh” cheap AirPods alternatives classification, however, and a few are actually decent true wireless headphones. They have excellent sound performance, filter out background noise, can pair with an Android or Apple device, have good battery life, offer touch control and more.

cheap-true-wireless-group-shot-2 — If you love Apple AirPod wireless headphones but don’t want to spend a lot of money, here are a few wireless headphone options, any one of which would be a great AirPod alternative.

Sarah Tew/CNET

Here’s a look at the best of these best AirPod alternatives among the current crop of budget true wireless earphones I’ve tested: All are under $100 a pair, and several are under $50. All of these earphones are truly wireless. They feature Bluetooth 5.0 and maintain solid wireless audio connections and have a good sound profile. I encountered minimal Bluetooth audio-pairing hiccups while listening to music with them. Most wireless earbuds aren’t great for making phone calls, but they do work well enough in quieter environments. I also provided information on the earbuds‘ battery life and charging (nothing is more important than how many hours of listening you can get out of a single charge), as well as carrying cases. I’ll update this true wireless ‘bud list and my list of best AirPod alternatives as I test more earphones.