- Buds, dropping a lot of cash
on a piece of technology that has no screens
has maybe a couple of LED lights
and will, without doubt,
fall out of your ears at least once
and tumbled down the sidewalk is hard.
And although I use wireless earbuds everyday now,
for years I used a $30 pair of wired earbuds,
and I got used to paying that price
to listen to my music on the go.
So even with the large advancements
in wireless earbuds tech,
I still have trouble justifying the large price tags
that a lot of these earbuds have.
The good news is the market is huge now,
and there are tons of options
for budget-friendly wireless earbuds.
So these are my picks for the best wireless earbuds
under a hundred bucks.
Let's get into it.
(funky music)
A good wireless earbud has to check four boxes for me,
they have to have good sound quality,
solid Bluetooth connection,
a comfortable fit without being too large
and enough battery life
for at least four hours of continuous listening.
And a good mic is a huge plus,
but I also understand that not everybody
talks on the phone as much as I do.
It's like awesome, I love talking on the phone.
Anywho, also keep in mind
that in the under a hundred dollars range,
there's a few features that
you're just unlikely to find like active noise cancellation,
wirelessly charging cases
or being able to connect to multiple devices at once.
Now, there are countless wireless earbuds online
from companies that you've never heard of.
So from my research,
I stuck to known brands
that have established customer service operations.
And in my research,
I've been testing the following buds.
Mic test.
Okay, first off we have the $60 Skullcandy's Sesh Evo.
Skullcandy's $80 Indy Evos.
The $50 OnePlus Buds Z
which many of you have been asking for a review of.
The $40, 1MORE PistonBuds
The $70 JBL 215TWSs,
and last but not least be a hundred dollars
JLab Epic ANC Airs,
Epic Airs ANC.
Yes, Epic Air ANCs.
Please keep in mind that these are the regular prices
for all of these buds,
but buds are constantly on sale.
If you're looking to get a pair of these,
shop it out and you could probably find them cheaper.
(upbeat music)
I started my testing by initially wearing
each of these earbuds for at least one battery pass.
Just to get a sense of pairing,
their controls, their battery life
and how comfortable they are.
Then I kept all of them in a pile on my desk.
And every morning I would see
what I would naturally choose to wear the most and when
and well, very quickly
the bud that I ended up using the most
and my pick for the best wireless earbud
under a hundred dollars, is the OnePlus Buds Z.
I choose you.
(upbeat music)
For $50 the Bud Z pegged great sound quality
without a bulky, cheap feeling design.
And out of all of the earbuds I tried,
I can wear these the absolute longest
without feeling discomfort in my ears.
The 10 millimeter drivers deliver a full sound
with decent separation of highs and lows,
but above all else, a kick in bass.
Electronic and pop music
definitely sounds the best on these,
where lows really shine.
And of course, buds,
I made a playlist of all the songs I've been listening to
while testing these,
it's been a weird month.
So it's a little bit of a weird playlist,
I hope you will be enjoy it.
There's also IP55 water resistance
and the silicone ear tip blocks out enough noise
to be able to hear my music clearly,
even on the subway,
but even with music playing,
I could still hear the world around me,
like the sound of my keyboard while I work
or the faucet running while I wash my hands.
These also allow you to use either bud independently
and there is an in ear sensor
that pauses your media when you take it out
and it resumes it when you pop it back in,
which is a very welcomed,
considered there's no ambient mode with these earbuds.
Also their case can quick charge earbuds,
it can get you three hours of music playback
with only 10 minutes in the case.
And this case is super small light
and easy to fit in a pocket.
I just wish that it had wireless charging.
Now these buds, they sound really great.
They have a solid mic
and they come with some premium features
like in ear detection,
but the Bud Zs lack a lot of the touch controls
I've become used to with other devices
leading me to take out my phone far more often
to skip tracks or adjust volume.
And if you don't own a OnePlus device,
you'll have to download the HeyMelody app
for firmware updates
and to change the double tap controls,
which is the only control they have.
If having all of the controls at the tip of your fingertips
is important to you.
And maybe you want a little bit more of a secure fit,
well, the pair of headphones
I ended up using the second most
were these buds, the Skullcandy Indy Evos.
(gentle music)
At $80, the Skullcandy Indy Evos,
are the loudest most secure-fitting buds I tested.
And although their six millimeter drivers
they don't have the same level of plunge
as the Bud Zs or JBLs Tune 215TWSs.
If you find you're the kind of person
that constantly has your headphone volume all the way up,
well, maybe clean out your ears,
but also grab a pair of the Indy Evos.
They are by far the loudest wireless earbud I have tested
and although the sound can get a little mushy
at such high volume levels,
man, they can really kick
and they can also be used independently of each other.
My favorite thing about them though,
it's the fit and their controls.
Buds look at this list of controls.
I mean, it is massive,
from adjusting volume to skipping tracks,
to turning on the ambient mode.
You can do pretty much anything you would need to do
with the tap or hold of a finger.
And although it took me a bit longer to get used to
all of these controls,
I was really happy to have them once I did.
I don't love pulling out my phone when I'm on walks,
listening to music or podcasts
and man with a touch of a finger,
you can do so much on these headphones.
Okay, and then there's the fit.
I mean, these are very in your ears
with this top fin and the silicone ear tip,
I mean, once these are seated in your ears,
they aren't going anywhere.
Now, I like to have my friends test out headphones for me
just so I can get a second opinion.
And a lot of my friends
who typically don't wear wireless earbuds
well, I found them picking these as their favorite.
And I think it has to do with
how secure they felt in their ears.
When you first get wireless earbuds,
there's this like huge fear of them falling out of your ears
or you losing them.
But with the way these fit in my ears at least
that fear is completely diminished.
(upbeat music)
Okay, so the Bud Z and Skullcandy's Indy EVOs
are great picks for most people.
But for those of you out there
who want the absolute most features
for under a hundred dollars,
well for you guys,
my bang for your buck pick is the JLab Epic ANC Airs.
No, it's the JLab Epic Airs ANC.
Woo, these names.
(gentle music)
At $99, the Epic Airs are at the top
of that a hundred dollar budget,
but feature a wireless charging case,
active noise cancellation,
hella touch controls,
and a long battery life with decent sound,
their biggest downfall though.
It's its bulky case.
I appreciate a unique case,
but this thing is a,
it's a bit wonky.
Yeah, there's a lot going on here.
It is the only case I tested that wirelessly charges,
but the top folding bit is this sort of leather
and this USB A cable,
I mean, number one,
the headphones don't even come with a brick in the box.
Number two, whew, this is like really dated.
And although this design was convenient,
maybe even two years ago,
it just seems really old now.
The case does hold 36 hours of additional battery though,
add that to the 12 hours of battery life
the Air's already have,
that's with ANC turned off
and eight hours with ANC turned on
and well, these are the only buds I tested
that I truly had trouble draining the battery off,
and there is active noise cancellation.
Now that active noise cancellation
is a lot like the ANC
that I found with the Galaxy Buds Live,
it cancels out the high pitches and the lower frequencies
that, you know, just are abundant in life,
but it doesn't cancel out everything.
(gentle music)
The Epic Airs do come with the most amount of ear tips,
for getting that perfect fit and seal,
including a cloud foam tip,
which is basically the same materials in earplug.
It expands in your ear to create a unique seal.
And it is very comfortable for long listening sessions.
The eight millimeter drivers create a really full sound,
but without adjusting the EQ settings in Epic Airs app,
the bass is a bit flat.
And even with the bass turned all the way up,
I found myself wanting a bit more,
but overall, the difference in sound quality
between these and OnePlus Buds Z is hard to find.
These weren't my top pick
because this case is just a bit big
for carrying around in your pocket
and this USB A cord, I don't love this.
But for $99, there is truly a lot to love about these buds.
(gentle music)
So after countless weeks of testing,
it all comes down to this
and the $50 OnePlus Buds Z,
they sound great, they're really comfortable.
And they come in a super slim case.
And although I wish that they wirelessly charged
and maybe had a little bit longer battery life,
I really think they are the best pick for most people
and will truly make you feel free
in the cord cutting future.
I also think that if you're buying wireless earbuds
for the very first time,
it's a good idea to spend less money.
I mean, earbuds might not feel good in your ears.
They might not be comfortable at all.
They might not stay in.
They might block out too much outside noise
and it's better to spend less money figuring that out.
Also wireless earbuds,
they truly have a lifespan that isn't terribly long,
with how much they're being used and recharged,
the battery doesn't tend to last very long.
And you're probably looking to get about two years
out of your wireless earbuds.
So maybe it's best
to not spend a whole boatload of money at first.
Thank you so much for joining me buds.
I wrote a little piece on the site
about how I test earbuds
and a little bit more about the runners up
and why I didn't choose them.
So check that at theverge.com.
Catch me on Instagram.
Maybe see me walking around Brooklyn,
I don't know, wear a mask, be well.
That's all I got to say, bye buds.