Odi Productions
We tested over 40+ pairs of wireless noise cancelling earbuds to find the absolute best budget earbuds under $100 in 2026. We put in hundreds of hours of testing to find the best active noise cancelling performance, sound quality, mic quality, value, and more. I’m also a professional audio engineer and expert headphone reviewer with over 10 years of experience, and run the RecordingNow YouTube channel dedicated to reviewing headphones and earbuds with over 25,000+ subscribers and over 7 million views.
This list includes brands like Anker Soundcore, CMF by Nothing, JLab, EarFun, TOZO, Sony, and more.
This article will cover the following categories:
- Best for Small Ear Canals
- Best Battery Life
- Best for Phone Calls and Mic Quality
- Best for Gym, Working Out, and Running
- Best Active Noise Cancelling (ANC)
- Best Audiophile Sound Quality
- Best Ultra-Budget Under $30
- Best Value Under $50
- Best Overall Under $100
These are ALL wireless earbuds which we’ve reviewed and thoroughly tested individually on the website for hundreds of hours in total. You can read our review for each product inside the individual product boxes below.
Best for Small Ear Canals: JLab Go Air Pop+
If you have smaller ear canals, or are simply looking for a cheap comfortable pair of wireless earbuds, the JLab Go Air Pop+ is a fine choice.
At under $30 retail and even less than $25 on sale, it’s also one of the cheapest earbuds we’ve tested, but has great sound quality relative to its price.
Unlike many earbuds with a “stem” design like AirPods, the JLab is a “bulb” design without a stem that has a smaller footprint and weighs very little.
These are capable of that “forget you’re wearing them” feeling.
The Go Air Pop+ also comes with a variety of eartip sizes so you can get the perfect fit. Make sure to try out different sizes per ear, as sometimes we can have different-sized ear canals between the left and right ear.
Once you get the proper seal into your ears with these, they are also fairly secure for working out and walking, which is why I recommend their fit in general.
Read the FULL Review: JLab Go Air Pop+ Review
Best Battery Life: TOZO NC9
If you’re looking for the absolute best battery life so you don’t have to worry about a pair of dead earbuds when you need them the most, the TOZO NC9 is the best we’ve tested.
At $40 retail and under $30 on sale, it’s also an incredible value.
If you’re unfamiliar with the TOZO brand, they’re one of the best-sellers on Amazon for budget earbuds and headphones, which we’ve both tested with strong results.
The NC9 features a best-in-class 60 hours of battery life if you include the charging case, 14 hours on a single charge with ANC off, and 10 hours on a single charge with ANC on.
No other earbud has matched any of these 3 numbers, as the average earbud is around 30 hours with the charging case, 10 hours with ANC off, and 6 hours with ANC on.
In addition to amazing battery life, the TOZO NC9 actually has one of the best noise cancelling performance under $50 we’ve tested as well.
Read the FULL Review: TOZO NC9 Review
Best for Phone Calls and Mic Quality: Soundcore Liberty 5
One area that is typically underwhelming for the budget earbuds under $100 is microphone quality, especially compared to the flagship $200-$300 earbuds that have more advanced hardware like bone conduction sensors.
Luckily, there is one standout mic quality option under $100, and it is the Anker Soundcore Liberty 5.
Fun fact, the higher-end Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro model has “Guinness World Records-certified” mic and call quality.
While the “regular” non-Pro Liberty 5 isn’t as good as that, it still borrows a lot of the same DNA which results in impressive call quality.
The Liberty 5 features a 6-microphone array with AI filtering that helps isolate your voice from the background noise and environment.
A lot of budget earbuds feature only 2-4 microphones and very little to no AI enhancement.
Lastly, the Liberty 5 has a “stem” design which typically performs better than stem-less designs since the microphones are closer to your mouth physically, and are also pointed versus the “bulb” earbuds.
Read the FULL Review: Soundcore Liberty 5 Review
Best for Gym, Working Out, and Running: Soundcore P31i
The Soundcore P31i carries an IP55 rating, which means it’s resistant to dust, sweat, rain, and low-pressure water jets from any direction.
You may see some earbuds carry an “IPX4” rating, which is not dust-protected and only water resistant to sweat and light splashes of water.
IP55 is superior and more durable for heavy workouts, running, and sweating.
It’s also an excellent overall earbud for being around $33-$40 on sale, thanks to its active noise cancelling, transparency mode, features, and decent sound quality.
The higher-end Soundcore Liberty 5 is also IP55-rated and is technically superior to the P31i, but also costs more than twice as much.
If you can afford the Liberty 5 at around $89.99, I do recommend it. Otherwise, the P31i is a strong value.
Read the FULL Review: Soundcore P31i Review
Best Active Noise Cancelling (ANC): Soundcore Liberty 5
It’s not uncommon that our winner for Best Mic Quality would also be the frontrunner for Best Active Noise Cancelling Performance, as the hardware and software is shared between those two categories.
The Soundcore Liberty 5 features a 6 “AI” microphone setup that is also powered by Soundcore’s AI algorithms to handle the real-time active noise cancelling and mic quality.
The end result is our best noise cancelling performer under $100, in a class where active noise cancelling is rather underwhelming compared to the $200-$300 flagship earbuds with much more advanced hardware and software.
Although not in the Top 5 of noise cancelling we’ve tested, the Liberty 5 is our #1 choice for under $100 and even quite competitive up to $200.
The Transparency Mode is also one of the best in this price range as well.
Read the FULL Review: Soundcore Liberty 5 Review
Best Audiophile Sound Quality: EarFun Air Pro 4+
“Audiophile-level” sound quality is typically reserved for earbuds costing well over $100, but there is one clear standout that impressed me under $100.
The EarFun Air Pro 4+ has excellent sound quality for being $99.99 retail, and even down to under $75 on sale.
Starting with the features affecting sound quality, the Air Pro 4+ has one of the widest hi-res codec supports in LDAC, aptX Lossless, and aptX Adaptive.
Basically, this means you can stream higher source quality resulting in better sound quality than standard AAC.
Quick note, since iPhone doesn’t support any hi-res codecs like LDAC (available on most modern Android smartphones) or aptX Lossless/Adaptive, you will need a dongle like the Questyle QCC Dongle Pro2 to unlock these codecs:
![Questyle QCC Dongle Pro2 [MFi Certified] USB-C Bluetooth Audio Adapter with LDAC, LHDC, aptX Lossless & aptX-Adaptive, Auracast](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/21jT-Cm5ZVL._SL500_.jpg)
Next, the EarFun Air Pro 4+ features a dual-driver architecture, another thing that is commonly associated with the higher-end “audiophile” earbuds.
Dual-driver architecture essentially splits up the bass response by a larger woofer, coupled with a smaller tweeter or driver to handle treble.
The result is a clear and detailed sound with full bass response but vocals and instruments that cut through the mix effortlessly.
I would say the EarFun Air Pro 4+ has sound quality that rivals earbuds costing $200, over twice the price of the EarFuns on sale.
In addition, it also has strong battery life, large amount of features, and decent noise cancelling performance.
Read the FULL Review: EarFun Air Pro 4+ Review
Best Ultra-Budget Under $30: TOZO NC9
The TOZO NC9 is not only our winner for “Best Battery Life”, but also the best noise cancelling under $30, resulting in the best “ultra-budget” cheap earbuds under $30.
This was a close race with the JLab Go Air Pop+, which does have better sound quality, but is completely lacking any active noise cancelling features.
Most earbuds under $30 don’t even have noise cancelling, while the NC9 actually has fairly strong noise cancelling for the class, in general.
Add in a best-in-class 60 hours of battery life (with the charging case), and it’s a serious contender for under $30 on sale.
If there was one critique, I’d say the sound quality is a bit too treble-forward and bright out of the box, but luckily TOZO has an app with custom EQ to fix this.
Read the FULL Review: TOZO NC9 Review
Best Value Under $50: CMF Buds Pro 2
You may be wondering, what could you get for an extra $10-$20 over the $30 “ultra-budget” class?
The answer is… a lot, actually.
Especially if that earbud is the CMF Buds Pro 2, which is arguably the best earbud for the dollar value in the 40+ pairs we’ve tested, period.
CMF is Nothing Tech’s “budget” brand of consumer electronics that has really impressed me with both their wireless earbuds and headphones (like the CMF Headphone Pro).
The CMF Buds Pro 2 retails for $49, but can be found for just $39 on sale, which is insane if you ask me.
The first thing I love about the Buds Pro 2 is its excellent sound quality, which was actually the runner-up to the EarFun Air Pro 4+, an earbud that costs twice as much at just under $100 retail.
Similar to the EarFuns, the CMFs has hi-res LDAC support and a dual-driver architecture, two audiophile-focused features that are typically reserved for earbuds costing $200 or more.
In addition, the CMFs have decent noise cancelling performance, good battery life, and a lot of features thanks to the Nothing app.
It’s not everyday that a product truly blows me away, but the CMF Buds Pro 2 is one in which I couldn’t believe the $39 sale price.
I’d pay $100 for these and still be pretty happy with them. That’s saying something.
Read the FULL Review: CMF Buds Pro 2 Review
Best Overall Under $100: Soundcore Liberty 5
The Soundcore Liberty 5 technically retails for $129.99 USD, but is frequently found on sale for as low as $79.99 (like at the time of this writing).
Make no mistake, the Liberty 5 is still worth the full retail price, but becomes an incredible value under $100.
If you didn’t know, Soundcore has a “Pro” model version of the Liberty 5 that costs about twice as much.
But to my surprise, the Liberty 5 actually has the same level of sound quality due to sharing the same hardware drivers.
And although not quite as good for mic quality as the Pro model, the noise cancelling performance is arguably the same, which is to say it’s above-average for the class.
So for under $100, the Liberty 5 has the best mic quality, best noise cancelling performance, and very good sound quality.
The sound quality is actually tied for 2nd best with the CMF Buds Pro 2, and just behind the EarFun Air Pro 4+.
Overall, the Liberty 5 surprised me in the best way, and would be my personal choice as the best overall earbuds under $100 currently.
Read the FULL Review: Soundcore Liberty 5 Review
How We Tested and Our Methodology
RecordingNOW.com is a 100% independent publisher with over 10 years of experience testing and reviewing consumer electronics and headphones.
We currently purchase all of the products we test with our own money, and are not paid by any company or manufacturer to influence our opinions or decisions.
After purchasing the product, we conduct up to hundreds of hours of detailed hands-on testing in a controlled, acoustically-treated environment. Noise cancelling performance is tested in the real-world, primarily on airplane flights, coffee shops, and walking around large metropolitan city environments.
ODi Productions is our resident expert and author of this article, with 10 years of experience as a professional music producer, tech journalist, and audiophile.
Post Update History
- October 2026: Original publication date.
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