Best Deals on Earbuds and Headphones: Score Beats, Skullcandy and More for Way Less [CNET]
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If you’ve been wanting to try a new style of earbuds or headphones, or you’re just looking for a simple upgrade to your current ones, now is the perfect time to make your move. The hardest part is deciding what the best headphones are for you and your budget. That’s where we come in.
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We’ve rounded up the best available deals on headphones and earbuds and will continue to update this page as new ones appear. From steals under $40 to discounts on your favorite high-end headphones, check out the best headphone deals below.
Read more: Best Wireless Earbuds for 2024
Best deals on headphones and earbuds
These wireless, open-ear headphones are designed to stay in your ears during workouts, are waterproof and boast clear sound. The regular retail price is $130, but Amazon has these reduced to $100, which makes this a more budget-friendly purchase.
Battery life Rated up to 5 hoursNoise Canceling NoMultipoint YesWater-Resistant Yes (IPX2– splash-proof)
Like
- Well-designed inexpensive earbuds
- Good sound for open earbuds
- Strong feature set, including hands-free Alexa
Don’t like
- May not fit everyone’s ears comfortably
- Not a ton of bass
- No ANC (they’re open earbuds)
Amazon’s 2023 Echo Buds impressed me in a few ways that I wasn’t expecting. For starters, they sound good for inexpensive open earbuds, delivering decent clarity and ample bass. They also have a robust feature set, including multipoint Bluetooth pairing, hands-free Alexa and ear-detection sensors that pause your audio when you take one or both buds out of your ears.
Their sound falls short of that of Apple’s AirPods 3, which delivers fuller bass and overall fuller, smoother sound. (They’re better at handling more complicated music tracks with a lot of instruments playing at the same time.) The AirPods 3 cost around $150 and offer only about 15% to 20% better audio. In short, if you’re looking for open earbuds — or “semi-open” as these types of earbuds are sometimes called — the Echo Buds are good value at their $50 list price and even easier to recommend when they go on sale.
Right now you can save 20% with trade-in of a qualifying device.
Like
- Low price
- Surprisingly good sound for the money
- Active noise canceling and multipoint Bluetooth
- Strong battery life
Don’t like
- Charging case is bulky
- Earbuds are a little big
The Baseus Bowie MA10 delivers surprisingly good sound along with active noise canceling for its low price — you just don’t see too many ANC earbuds at this price. They’re IPX6 water-resistant (meaning they can withstand a strong spray of water) and also have multipoint Bluetooth pairing and connect to a companion app. They stick out of your ears a bit, but they did fit my ears comfortably.
The regular price is $40, but right now there is an Amazon on-page coupon that applies a $10 discount to your cart. You can also save 5% if you buy two select items. You can see these options under the on-page coupon and stack savings on an additional accessory.
The earbuds deliver impressive battery life, offering up to 8 hours on a single charge at moderate volume levels with an extra 132 hours in the charging case. Yes, you read right: 132 hours. The one big downside to these buds is that their charging case is rather large and bulky. If you can live with that, these are a nice bargain.
Like
- Tapered design allows for secure, discreet, comfortable fit
- Good sound, noise canceling and voice-calling performance
- Robust feature set for Android users
Don’t like
- No support for aptX or LDAC audio codecs for Android users
- A few features not available for Apple users
The Pixel Buds Pro are Google’s first earbuds to feature active noise canceling. While it’s nice that they finally have a feature that a lot of true-wireless earbuds have had for a while, what ultimately sets the Pixel Buds Pro apart and makes them worth considering — particularly for Android users — is their distinct design and winning fit. That helps enhance their performance on both the sound quality and noise-canceling fronts. While not quite elite for voice-calling, they did perform well as a headset for making calls. A couple of features were missing at launch — spatial audio and a five-band equalizer — but both have now been added with firmware updates along with some additional extra features.