The best wireless earbuds under $50

Wireless earbuds have come a long way in a short time — and nowhere is that more obvious than at the budget end of the market. A few years ago, spending under $50 meant settling for poor sound, no ANC, and a Bluetooth connection that dropped every few minutes. That’s no longer the case. The best cheap wireless earbuds today punch well above their price, and we’ve tested a lot of them to find the ones actually worth your money.

The Quick Answer

For a quick guide to the best wireless earbuds under $50, check out our top picks below. Each has a link to our full review.

The best overall: CMF Buds 2

The best for small ears: JLab JBuds Mini

The best for sound quality: Moondrop Space Travel

The best for battery life: Anker Soundcore P40i

The best cheap wireless earbuds with ANC: Edifier TWS1 Pro 2

Best wireless earbuds under $50: CMF Buds 2

At $59, the CMF Buds 2 deliver features that would have cost well over $100 just a couple of years ago. ANC reduces outside noise by 82% on average, battery life hit 9 hours in our testing with 55 hours total without ANC, and a 10-minute charge provides 7.5 hours of playback. The Nothing X app adds a 3-band EQ, five Ultra Bass levels, dual device connection, and spatial audio — a feature set that embarrasses most earbuds at this price.

• Read our full CMF Buds 2 review

The stock tuning is bass-heavy, but the Vocals EQ preset reins it in well. The only notable technical weakness is distortion at higher volumes. No wireless charging either. But for anyone shopping under $50 who doesn’t want to compromise on ANC or battery life, nothing else at this price comes close.

CMF Buds 2 price history

Best wireless earbuds under $50 for small ears: JLab JBuds Mini

The JBuds Mini solve a problem most earbuds ignore: the case is small enough to clip onto your keychain, and the earbuds themselves — at just 3.3g each — are among the lightest we’ve tested. Despite the tiny footprint, you get IP55 water resistance, a 10-band EQ via the JLab app, a Be Aware passthrough mode, and nearly 6 hours of battery life in our testing. At $40, it’s hard to find a more capable everyday carry earbud.

• Read our full JLab JBuds Mini review

There’s no ANC — though an ANC version has been confirmed at the same price point, with no release date yet. The stock tuning has a notable high-frequency peak that can get fatiguing on busy tracks at higher volumes, so we’d recommend enabling the volume limiter in the app. And as useful as the keychain case is, these are genuinely easy to lose (the Find My feature in the app is worth setting up immediately).

JLab JBuds Mini price history

Best sound quality earbuds under $30: Moondrop Space Travel

At $25, the Moondrop Space Travel does something that shouldn’t be possible at this price: it sounds genuinely great. The MDAQS Overall score of 4.9 out of 5 — one of the highest we’ve measured at any price — is backed up by a frequency response that tracks closely to our preference curve with no dramatic bass boost or fatiguing treble peak. ANC attenuates outside noise by around 20dB, which is solid for earbuds this cheap, and the ovoid nozzle design fits a wide range of ear shapes comfortably.

• Read our full Moondrop Space Travel review

The tradeoffs are real and worth knowing: there’s no IP rating, the charging case has no lid and charges from the bottom (meaning earbuds can fall out while plugged in), and battery life came in at just 4 hours and 20 minutes in our testing. The app is also Android-unfriendly and not worth the hassle. Note that the Space Travel has been discontinued in favor of the Space Travel 2, but the original is still findable online and the better buy — it sounds noticeably better than its sequel.

Moondrop Space Travel price history

Best battery life earbuds under $50: Anker Soundcore P40i

If you need earbuds that last all day without reaching for the case, the P40i is the pick. Our testing measured 9 hours and 18 minutes of continuous playback with ANC enabled — well above average for this price range — and the case adds four more full charges. A 10-minute top-up gets you five more hours, and the case also supports Qi wireless charging. The bonus: the case has a built-in phone stand, which is a genuinely useful touch for anyone who watches content on the go.

• Read our full Anker Soundcore P40i review

The tradeoffs are real though. The stock tuning is heavily V-shaped with a bass boost that can get boomy on busier tracks — the Bass Reducer EQ preset is worth trying first. The fit runs loose, so these aren’t great for workouts. Mic quality is also below average for calls. But if long battery life and solid ANC are your priorities and you’re mostly listening to music, the P40i punches above its price.

Anker Soundcore P40i price history

Best cheap wireless earbuds with ANC: Edifier TWS1 Pro 2

It’s rare to find ANC in earbuds at this price. It’s rarer still to find ANC that actually works. The Edifier TWS1 Pro 2 reduces outside noise by 75% on average — genuinely useful for commuting and gym sessions — and pairs it with an IP54 dust and splash resistance rating, a low-latency gaming mode, and a companion app with EQ presets, find my earbuds, and customizable controls. All for $49.99.

• Read our full Edifier TWS1 Pro 2 review

The main limitation is battery life, which came in at 4 hours and 51 minutes in our testing — below average even for this price tier, though 10 minutes in the case adds an hour of playback. The stock tuning scoops the mids slightly and has a sharp treble peak around 5–8kHz that can get uncomfortable at high volumes on busy tracks. But as a no-frills ANC earbud that doesn’t cut corners on the things that matter most, the TWS1 Pro 2 is hard to beat at this price.

Edifier TWS1 Pro 2 price history

The best earbuds under $50: Notable mentions

• TOZO NC2 (): If $40 is genuinely your ceiling and you need ANC, the TOZO NC2 gets the job done with 7+ hours of battery life and decent low-frequency attenuation. Just know there’s no app, the bass is heavy, and TOZO has a history of advertising features that don’t always work as described.
• TOZO T12 (): Class-leading passive isolation at under $40, with an IPX8 waterproof rating and wireless charging. No ANC or companion app, but the fit blocks out an impressive amount of high-frequency noise on its own.
• Skullcandy Dime 3 (): At $29.99, the Dime 3 has one of the most neutral-leaning frequency responses we’ve measured at any price. No ANC, no app, but a great starting point if you just want earbuds that sound right out of the box.
• Moondrop Space Travel 2(): The sequel to our sound quality pick has better EQ tools and a new colorway, but sounds noticeably worse than the original. Worth considering if you like tinkering with target curves and can’t find the original.

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