Those of you lucky enough to have more than one hundred nicker knocking around in expendable income during these challenging times (non-motorists, those without stomachs, etc,.) may also have been lucky enough to catch my recent review round-up of Apple AirPod alternative earbuds within the digital pages of this very publication.
So, with that luck continuing, you may already have invested in a pair of Pritchard-recommended earbuds. However, for everyone else, handing over upwards of £100 for some tech – regardless of how ‘top’ it may be – might be beyond the realms of financial realism.
Well, good news! For not only have I been tarting around testing the more expensive end of the earbud spectrum, I’ve also been tarting around trying out the more affordable end too. By that I mean sub-£100 and, in some cases even sub-£50 so nearly nobody needs to miss out on having audacious wireless audio in their ears.
So, if you long to untangle your tech life and join the more-monied in all the myriad benefits of going wire-free for music, TV, gaming and phone calls alike, shop the top 10 of ‘budget’ buds, all tried and tested mercilessly in the dark recesses of my own two ear canals. Listen up…
Best AirPod alternatives: Top wireless earbuds to suit your budget tried and tested
Best wireless earbuds of 2022, from budget to high end options
Best noise-cancelling headphones of 2022: Quality audio to suit your budget
Best ear plugs for sleep that will block out the background noise
Best foldable headphones for great wireless sound and compact storage
Best headphones for cycling that are safe, wireless and offer great sound as you ride
Cambridge Audio Melomania Touch
Best for: The most demanding music lovers
Okay, full disclosure coming thick and fast right at the start of this review, the Melomania Touch from renowned audio expert Cambridge Audio only gets into our sub-£100 review list be default. In truth, the usual price is £130, reduced to £99.95. But, with that cut price continuing for the next few weeks, if you want to snap-up an absolute earbud bargain, you know what to do.
And I do mean an absolute bargain, because the audio these beauties emit into your ear canal is nothing short of exceptional. But, before we get bogged down in all that, let’s start with looks and build.
Available in glossy and matte white or black with a matching matte charging case, the Melomania Touch earbuds are sort of tear drop-shaped with wig-tips that create possibly the most secure and comfortable fit my lugholes have known. This means you can happily wear them for the up to 50-, yes 50-, hours of playback time both fully charged buds and case provide, without discomfort or fatigue.
With an app that lets you fiddle around with the EQ to get that sound just right for you, allows you adjust the touch controls to your own preference and flip on Transparency mode so you can listen AND interact with the people you’re forced to be surrounded by on a daily basis. For me, it’s all about the effective noise isolation, as the sound quality you are rewarded with when free from exterior audio interruption is sumptuous, the 7mm Graphene-enhanced drivers giving such dynamic response that, even if you’re enduring the horrors of the late-night London tube, the power of the Cambridge Audio Melomania Touch will not only block-out the drunken disquietude of your fellow passengers but also transport you far away to sonic landscapes of indescribable beauty, depending on what’s on your playlist, naturally.
IPX4-certified to keep the wet at bay, Siri- and Google-compatible and capable of incredibly clean and clear calls thanks to the inclusion of Qualcomm cVc (clear voice capture) technology, Melomania Touch are undisputed audiophile-level earbuds, currently at an amazing price.
Buy now £99.95, Amazon
1MORE ComfoBuds
Best for: Premium features at a budget price
Available in black, white or red finishes and at the higher-end of the sub-£100 budget spectrum at £93, 1MORE Comfobuds are incredibly small and light with each bud weighing in at a feather-bothering 3.7g, which makes the next fact about them also incredible. Despite this low weight, they still feature the company’s proprietary QuietMax active noise cancellation technology, cutting out the noise kerfuffle of the outside world up to a whopping 40dB.
And there’s not just that, there’s premium bells and whistles aplenty, such as Bluetooth 5.2 connectivity, multiple listening modes, wear detection which automatically pauses playback when you whip them out of your ears, twin microphones in each bud for voice amplification and therefore crystal-clear calls for both sides of the conversation. There’s also a WNR (Wind Noise Resistant) system that will keep your listening pure even in a hurricane, a Pass-through Mode that lets you still rock out without getting your phone out but still hear what’s going on around you, plus a charging case that powers up using either USB-C or Qi-compatible wireless.
Speaking of which, when fully charged, the case will add and impressive 18-hours to the earbuds’ six-hour lifespan with ANC off, dropping to 13-hours and 5-hours with ANC on.
Then there’s the actual audio itself. With its own app available (iOS and Android) to alter control settings and switch between listening modes. Oddly there is no EQ to play around with; but that’s fine as, thanks to a 7mm dynamic driver squeezed into each earbud, most ear-users will be more than satisfied with the nicely balanced audio they emit.
Small, light and surprisingly feature-packed for the price, 1MORE’s ComfoBuds may well, as my earlier-self stated, at the higher end of the sub-£100 budget spectrum, but that’s because they give you a lot of bud for your bucks.
Buy now £93.00, Amazon
Creative Outlier Pro
Best for: Bass-loving long-time listeners
Another set of earbuds that scrape the upper echelons of the sub-£100 sky, the first thing you’ll notice about the Outlier Pro from Creative is their charging case. It’s quite large in comparison with the jeans pocket-going dimensions of most other models. However, don’t let that put you off, as this charging case slides open to reveal the earbuds with a mini LED light show on the front that displays the charge state of each bud and the case itself in a manner that positively screams “ABSOLUTE GADGET!” Also, other pocket sizes are available.
Okay, that out of the way, let’s address the price. Akin to the 1MORE ComfoBuds, the Creative’s latest creation comes packing premium features, including some highly effective ANC, a total of 60-hours playback with earbuds and case fully fuelled, IPX5-certified water resistance to keep rain/sweat/badly mishandled drinks at bay, Bluetooth 5.2 connectivity, a full six microphones to keep calls crisp and clear, and customisable touch controls. So, a lot.
And that’s before we get to the 10mm Graphene-coated diaphragm drivers that deliver a decently detailed sound with a distinct profile that’s definitely aimed at those who enjoy bringing the bass. Which works for me, but you may want to bear that in mind if that’s not for you, as it’s hard to reduce that bottom end even in the Creative app EQ.
Said app also lets you assign earbud touch controls as to your personal preference, so that you can skip through your playlist, take calls and toggle between modes all without laying mitts on your mobile, plus make adjustments to your ANC and Ambient mode levels to suit too.
Android- and iOS-compatible, Siri and Google Assistant are both at your verbal command, rounding off a very generous list of features on a set of earbuds costing under a ton. ABSOLUTE GADGET! See?
Buy now £85.00, Creative
Kiprun TWS100
Best for: Runners and extreme sports enthusiasts
Diving right into the realms of the far more affordable now, the Kiprun TWS100 comes from the sporting goods design team at Decathlon and, as such, has been created with runners (on a budget) firmly at the fore of their collective hive mind.
So, what does £30 get you? Well, let’s start with what it doesn’t get you. For a start, there’s no ANC and no Bluetooth 5.2, which is to be expected at this low, low price. But there is Bluetooth 5.0, nicely lightweight buds at 5g a piece, an IPX4-certitified rating to keep them functional come rain or sweat and 3-hours runtime that’s extendable to nine hours via the suitably small and equally light (48g) charging case.
Apple and Android compatible and child’s play itself to set-up via the Bluetooth settings on your phone (just pair and play), while answering and ending calls is a matter of a simple tap, as is playing music and moving back and forth through your playlist.
Sound-wise, the lack of ANC can be largely overcome provided you play around with the bundled ear tips to secure a snug fit in your ear canal and, for pavement pounders, the audio is more than adequate. Okay, you’re not going to be able to pick out every refined nuance of an overly indulgent jazz piece, but then again, I don’t imagine any people run to jazz for fear of tripping over constantly when the time signature suddenly changes without warning. But other than that, sound is bold, balanced and work-out ready.
Finally on that score, featuring wingtips on the body to help the earbuds hold tight no matter how hard you’re bouncing, there’s little fear of losing one through the cruel mistress that is gravity; but then, even if you do, at only £30 there’s one last bonus to the Kiprun TWS100: having to replace them will not involve quite so much – what I’m going to call – repeat-outlay resentment.
Buy now £30.00, Decathlon
JLAB Go Air Pop
Best for: The biggest bargain in budget earbuds
Some people said 20-quid was too cheap for a pair of earbuds. Some people said I was mad for even considering them. Some people said they simply wouldn’t be able to face the crushing existential crisis that would force them to question everything they thought they knew if a pair of earbuds costing a penny under a pair of crisp tenners were up to audio par. Well, to those people I say: brace yourselves, it’s going to get bumpy.
Okay, let’s manage expectations. £20 does not get you ANC or fancy schmancy Bluetooth 5.2 (5.1 in this case), as that would be ridiculous to expect at this price point, but none of that matters as what you do get is comfortable, light buds with solid, dependable audio for next to no money.
Featuring 8mm neodymium drivers, the GO Air Pops provide a surprisingly clear sound that may not be about to win any high falutin Hi-Fi magazine awards but will prove more than ample in terms of both power and balance for most people’s demands. However, if you’re not completely satisfied, despite there being no accompanying app, simply tap either earbud three times like Dorothy in Oz and an audio prompt will give you a choice of three EQ profiles.
What you also get is wearer detection, which is a unexpected bonus, dual connection for two devices, a set-up that pretty much does all the work for you in seconds, plus eight hours playback from the buds and a total of 32-hours in all when using the charging case to top up; and, let’s face it, that’s a lot of playtime from earbuds at this price and way, way higher.
With intuitive tap controls letting you take command over volume, music and calls, Siri, Google and other assembled voice assistants can also be summoned via touch, all culminating in set of earbuds that thoroughly shame all others around the same price and, frankly, show those ‘some people’ I spoke of earlier that sometimes – albeit very rarely – you do get more than you pay for.
Buy now £20.00, Amazon
Umi W5s
Best for: Low-cost looks and talent
One of Amazon’s own in-house brands, you may not know much about Umi and, hey, you might even be one of those snobbish label-obsessives who gets cold chills from the mere idea of being spotted down your fancy gym wearing any earbuds other than instantly recognisable Apple AirPod Pros. But it’s time to open your mind right up, for what Umi offers for a penny under £30 is quite the package.
First off, available in a slick metallic blue, red, rose gold, silver or grey, the W5s (not named after the Ealing postcode) charging case looks and feels pretty damn sexy; as do the earbuds themselves, finished in a minimalist metallic black. And, as the likes of Apple are well-aware, the first bite is with the eye.
But shallow aesthetics aside, can performance possibly compete for only 30 notes? Well, the Umi certainly tries. Featuring Bluetooth 5.0 and Apple- and Android-compatible, the W5s earbuds are IPX7-certified waterproof, are capable of serving up six hours of music and/or chat alone, upping that to a full 24-hours with a fully charged case, and can be paired independently or together in Mono or Biaural mode to listen alone or share with a friend.
But what about sound quality? Graphene drivers deliver a pleasing deep bass and although not in the same league as the likes of the Cambridge Audio duo featured elsewhere here when it comes to painting musical perfection, audio is crisp and clean, whether you’re on a call or getting lost in music.
So, overall, despite not springing forth from the loins of a renowned audio company, the Umi W5s offer an eye-catching design, a decent range of features and you get a solid sound signature for very few of your spondoolicks.
Buy now £29.00, Amazon
Belkin SoundForm Freedom
Best for: Noise cancellation at a bargain price
It’s not often that you have to change a review mid-writing of it, but Belkin has forced my hand. How? Because when I started writing this, the Belkin SoundForm Freedom was priced at £80, but as I got towards the end the price was cut to just £50. That’s how.
So, to paraphrase my previous review, what represented incredible earbud value, incorporating dual microphones for cuttingly clear calls, ENC (environmental noise cancellation) to banish the buzz beyond the buds, Bluetooth 5.2 connectivity, 7mm dynamic drivers for superb sound, USB-C and Qi-wireless charging, water resistance and a playback life of eight hours on the earbuds and over 28-hours with the assistance of the charging case, went through a seismic shift mid-review to become one of the biggest bargains you’ll now find on this online page.
There’s even a private, secure track and locate system in the charging case that lets you use the Apple Find My app when you inevitably misplace the Belkin SoundForm Freedom and even sensors that auto pause and play when the buds are in and out of your ears. So if you weren’t sold on these already, you really should be clicking on the ‘Buy Now’ box right now before they sell out!
Buy now £49.99, Belkin
Cambridge Audio Melomania 1+
Best for: No-compromise audio excellence
The second entry for Cambridge Audio, akin to the Melomania Touch, the Melomania 1+ is also the subject of an extended price cut, meaning that instead of the usual £120, you can acquire yourself some incredible audio for your ears for under £50 for the next few weeks.
Utilising the same feature-filled Melomania app as the Touch, once the buds are firmly ensconced in your ear thanks to having fitted the correct memory foam tips from the options in the box, suddenly a sonorous new world opens up before you, whether you choose to stick with Cambridge Audio’s EQ pre-sets or create your own custom settings. Here you can also toggle between High Performance or Low Power mode, the latter giving you a longer playback time, turn individual earbud controls on or off and check on the charge of each earbud individually.
Featuring custom-designed 5.8mm Graphene-enhanced drivers, the 1+ deliver superb dynamic response right off the bat, with bass as tight as a drum and mid and treble as balanced as a fully proficient funambulist.
And you needn’t stress over the fear of things cutting out mid-music either, as the earbuds can manage a fulsome nine hours on a full charge, extended to an incredible 36-hours extra via the charging case.
There’s 50-years of audio engineering expertise behind the Cambridge Audio Melomania 1+ and you can hear it, every time you pop them in your ears and take a call or lay back and let the music flow free through you.
Buy now £49.95, Amazon
Belkin SoundForm Nano
Best for: Top tunes for children
The two things that have most annoyed me during both my previous review of AirPod alternatives and this fresh review round-up of budget earbuds have been, firstly, how I’ve not been able to amply demonstrate to my young daughter just how well earbuds work and, secondly, just how often she interrupts me while I’m testing earbuds. Ignoring the latter issue, the former is down, of course, to the fact that even with a generous range of differently sized ear-tips provided with most models, few earbuds – if any – are designed small enough for the ears of little ones. Or so I thought…
Flash forward now to the SoundForm Nano from Belkin, budget earbuds that not only cost a pittance AND are scaled down for more immature ears, but also feature a 85dB volume limit to protect sensitive youngsters’ hearing from being damaged.
Linking via Bluetooth to your/their phone and any equally Bluetooth-enabled tablet or laptop, the SoundForm Nanos not only provide your precious progeny with rich audio via the 6mm dynamic driver in each earbud for their dancing pleasure, they can also be an invaluable tool in the advancement of online learning; you know, online learning you don’t have to listen to too – you hear me, lockdown home-schooling parents?
Call quality is impressively clear too, even when on the smartblower to Grandad, who sometimes has a little difficulty hearing what’s happening (or has switched to ‘selective-hearing’ mode himself), which helps keep the conversation from descending into a series of ‘say that again’, ‘what was that’ and ‘run that past me one more time’.
Offering a total of 24-hours playtime, with five hours from the earbuds and an extra 19 in the charging case, the Belkin SoundForm Nano earbuds are IPX5 water resistant as, well, kids will be kids, aimed at ages seven and up and come in colour options of blue, white or pink.
Buy now £30.00, Amazon
Urbanista Seoul
Best for: Mobile gaming
So, you like to play, do you? Any time, any place, any where? Well, if mobile gaming is your bag, but you believe decent earbuds to pander to our play are probably way above you pay grade, welcome to Seoul.
Designed specifically for those who game on the go, the Seoul earbuds from Urbanista, while suitably immersive when it comes to music and crystal clear on calls, also feature their own Gaming mode and a low audio latency of 70ms that lets you play with minimum delay between what you see and what you hear – something crucial when it comes to the true mobile gaming experience.
Bluetooth 5.2-based and Apple- and Android-compatible, also vital to mobile play is battery life, which is why the Urbanista Seoul comes imbued with a mighty eight hours of power from the fully charged earbuds and a total of 32 hours with the aid of the charging case – more than enough to keep most players pleased.
Sound quality is excellent, thanks to 10mm dynamic drivers and passive noise cancelling, while voice assistant support, touch controls, auto off and USB-C and wireless charging add the icing and cherry on top of this mobile gaming must-have.
Buy now £89.90, Urbanista
Verdict
Making my conclusion on sub-£100 earbuds based on sound alone – after all, beyond some of the more needs-targeted options I’ve included here, music and phone calls are the very raison d’être of earbuds – for sheer breath-taking audio performance, I anoint the Cambridge Audio Melomania Touch as my pick of the pack.
However, as some of you may now be clamouring to point out, the Touch are only sub-£100 for a limited time. And you’re quite right, of course. In which case, once the Melomania returns to their usual price, when it comes to the Best of the budget earbuds, for sheer performance and myriad features well above its price bracket, it has to be the 1MORE ComfoBuds.
