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Best affordable in-ear headphones?

CannonFodder52

CannonFodder52

Member
Oct 25, 2017
9,007
Canada
My most recent pair of earbuds have died and I need sound in my ears pronto.
I was looking at picking up the Bose SoundSport In-Ear Headphones which are currently on sale for $60 CAD ($45 USD) regular $100 CAD. I've liked this model in the past, although I'm not knowledgeable on what the competition is like. Is there something far better within the price range or under $100?

Should I buy these again, or is there a better value earbud?
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Wat

Member
Dec 10, 2017
221
If you want serious value, Fiio F1's are $15 from Fiio's Aliexpress store and very decent all around, good ergonomics, 3 different tip sizes and come with a nice albeit thick case. You may be able to grab a voucher off the store page for a few extra dollars off.
https://www.aliexpress.com/store/pr...ml?spm=2114.12010612.8148356.1.36494d78gsIwnf
I also have the Fiio F3 that are $25 from the same place, I don't remember actually hearing too much difference, the F1 might even have been more neutral with the F3 pushing more bass.
For minimal pocket carry I got the Beyerdynamic velour in-ear pouch with spring closure. Nice, slim, cost was a couple of euros.
 
grmlin

grmlin

Member
Oct 25, 2017
10,294
Germany
Wired? You should look into KZ headphones, like the ATE Pro. Amazing headphones considering the price.
They have different models, you should find reviews on them easily
 
BLEEN

BLEEN

Member
Oct 27, 2017
21,890
grmlin said:
Wired? You should look into KZ headphones, like the ATE Pro. Amazing headphones considering the price.
They have different models, you should find reviews on them easily
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I second this. Also the Xiaomi Pistons are very very great for the price if you're not trying to break your wallet.
 
TheSaddestSort

TheSaddestSort

Member
Oct 27, 2017
704
Earbuds are kind of subjective when it comes to fit. If you want something pronto these probably won't fit the bill, but I have been enjoying the tin audio t2s I picked up for $35. Good sound, aluminum construction, and mmcx connectors are all positives. The cable they come with isn't very good though, supposedly that's something that's been fixed with the t3s.
 

Wiped

Banned
Nov 2, 2017
2,096
Sennheiser CX 500 are my choice for in ear for less than £100. Sennheiser make great in ears.
 
SpartyCrunch

SpartyCrunch

Xbox
Verified
Oct 25, 2017
2,499
Seattle, WA
I've gone through 15-20 different pairs of relatively cheap wired and Bluetooth ear buds over the last 5 years. Ranging in price from $15 to nearly $100.

These Anker Spirit-X are by far the best affordable ear buds I've ever used:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07B9R67WR/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
  • Incredible sound quality for the price (and I have a nice pair of Sennheiser 598s, so I'm familiar with good sound quality)
  • Bluetooth 5.0 so connections are far more reliable, and I genuinely get around 2x the range compared to older Bluetooth
  • Only $25
  • They're comfortable
  • Excellent battery life
  • Anker's customer support is always amazing
 
Gernau Morat Gurgeh

Gernau Morat Gurgeh

Member
Oct 31, 2017
10,057
For wireless I can recommend Anker earbuds. My last pair lasted me a year and a half, lasted about 7 hours of constant use and cost about 16 pounds. Current pair is still going strong.
 
Carolina Reaper

Carolina Reaper

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
7,466
Those 6 dollar Panasonic ear buds that Amazon sells are fine. If you want truly wireless, Soundpeats are a good cheap alternative. If you want bluetooth and dont mind a small wire running between them, Anker makes an awesome 20 dollar set that blows the audio quality of 100+ truly wireless earbuds away.
 
grmlin

grmlin

Member
Oct 25, 2017
10,294
Germany
BLEEN said:
I second this. Also the Xiaomi Pistons are very very great for the price if you're not trying to break your wallet.
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Robaperas said:
Yep, KZ are really good. You can always get a pair of Xiaomi Hybrid Pro HD, they sound great for the price.
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Never tried the Xiaomi headphones, heard good things about them, too. But the KZs are really fantastic. They also have great isolation if op wants that.
I don't buy expensive headphones for everyday use anymore, as they all break sooner or later.
 
BLEEN

BLEEN

Member
Oct 27, 2017
21,890
grmlin said:
Never tried the Xiaomi headphones, heard good things about them, too. But the KZs are really fantastic. They also have great isolation if op wants that.
I don't buy expensive headphones for everyday use anymore, as they all break sooner or later.
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Click to shrink...
Replaceable wires are the future. Any pair not doing that is just asking for trouble. (Tho I fix those too.) It really sucks to have perfectly working headphones or earbuds just to have the cable fray or whatever @ the 3.5" end. Which is almost always the culprit.
 
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