Best Bluetooth headphones under $100

We all want the best, but sometimes the top-tier choice exceeds our budget. Thankfully, cheap Bluetooth headphones are easy to come by, and with the rise of wireless earbuds, premium headset prices have fallen dramatically. Although all of our picks are relatively affordable, none of them are inherently cheap. Whether you need active noise canceling (ANC), a compact design, or long battery life, we’ve got something to scratch your audio itch.

The Audio-Technica ATH-M20xBT are the best wireless headphones under $100

Audio-Technica adds wireless capabilities to another classic with the Audio-Technica ATH-M20xBT. These no-frills headphones do their job without issue. The company doesn’t even give you an app to mess with. Instead, the ATH-M20xBT are purely for music listening.

The headphones sound quite good for most listeners. There’s no hint of compression or distortion when listening to music. While the sub-bass under-emphasis appears alarming, the most important music notes that you’d hear actually come quite close to our Target Curve. If anything, you’ll likely only notice the lack of bass when watching a movie and an explosion happens on screen.

The Audio-Technica ATH-M20xBT does a fairly good job of blocking out background noise, but this depends entirely on your ability to get a good fit. If your ears stick out from your head more than the average person, the headphones may not fit well. No matter how well the headphones fit, low frequencies will still come through, so expect to hear airplane cabin noise and other low-pitched sounds.

The headphones support multipoint connectivity, allowing you to connect to two devices at once. These devices don’t need to be under the same operating system or brand, which is a nice perk. Officially, the headphones have a 60-hour battery life, which knocks the socks off of most wireless headphones’ batteries. You can also net three hours of playtime from a 10-minute charge. Not too bad.

We think the ATH-M20xBT are the best wireless headphones under $100 for most people because they keep the listening experience simple and have a good mic for work and personal calls.

Make every penny count with the Anker Soundcore Life Q30

Budget shoppers laud Anker for its reliable, low-cost products that give more expensive alternatives a run for their money. The Anker Soundcore Life Q30 are a gem as it features active noise canceling, grants 40 hours of battery with ANC on, and has a comfortable design.

Sound-wise, these headphones are okay, equipped with drivers that emphasize bass and treble frequencies. This is great for fans of bass-heavy electronic music, though the sound of guitars and other acoustic instruments may lack clarity. Unlike other headsets on this list, you can EQ the sound of the Life Q30 and create a custom sound profile or choose from plenty of presets.

The active noise canceling on the Anker Soundcore Life Q30 is fine, given its sub-$100 price. These are great cheap headphones for jet setters, but they can’t compete with the best ANC headphones like the Bose QuietComfort series or Shure AONIC 50.

Listen and be heard with the Jabra Elite 45h

The Jabra Elite 45h are on-ear headphones designed to be compact and portable enough to take anywhere—whether you’re commuting to work, running errands, or just putting your feet up at home. The swivel ear cups make it easy to shove into a backpack for easy transport.

The headphones have a bass-heavy frequency response that makes it hard to hear higher-pitched vocals. Fortunately, you can create a custom EQ in the Jabra Sound+ app (Android/iOS) and tinker all day long. If you don’t want to experiment, Jabra has a hearing test that informs an optimized sound profile.

By nature of being on-ear headphones, the Elite 45h doesn’t do much to block out background noise. You’ll hear most of your surroundings, though the headphones will block out higher-pitched sounds like the squeal of a milk frother.

One of the best aspects of the Jabra Elite 45h is its microphone. It reproduces voices accurately, and even people will deep voices will be heard loud and clear. The microphone also does a good job of attenuating background noise and light wind, eliminating audible distractions during conference calls.

Other features that make the Jabra Elite 45h a worthy investment include a 50+ hour battery life, USB-C fast charging, AAC codec support (which is great for iOS users), and an included two-year warranty that covers dust and water damage.

Enjoy good active noise canceling with the JBL Tune 660NC

The JBL Tune 660NC are a great pair of high-value headphones, despite bumping up against the upper limit of this list’s budget. In our review, we were pleasantly surprised to see how well the Tune 660NC blocked out low frequencies like a noisy dishwasher or car engine.

Noise canceling aside, these headphones sound quite good out of the box too. This is good news as there’s no mobile app where you can equalize the sound. Generally, the headphones’ frequency response closely follows our Target Curve, with a treble boost from 5-10kHz.

The headphones don’t support aptX, but you can stream over SBC or AAC. There’s also a headphone jack for wired playback. Like some other headphones on this list, the Tune 660NC supports multipoint connectivity. We love this feature as it lets you connect to two source devices simultaneously. That way, you can keep an ear on your phone while you stream a movie from your laptop.

Battery life is impeccable: these headphones last 37 hours with ANC. Fast charging is efficient, too — just five minutes of charging provides two hours of playtime. We think you’ll love the Tune 660NC

The Sennheiser HD 350BT are the best cheap Bluetooth headphones for most people

Sennheiser makes some of the best headphones in the market, even though its more affordable models, like the Sennheiser HD 350BT, continue to impress consumers. These headphones boast a wide range of high-quality Bluetooth codec support: AAC, aptX, and aptX Low Latency, giving the listener flexibility in how to listen and from what device to listen.

The large oblong ear cups are comfortable to wear for long periods, so long as you have average or smaller-sized ears. Those with large ears may realize these over-ears fit more like on-ears, which can be a literal pain. Buttons line the outer edge of the ear cup for volume adjustments, playback controls, and voice assistant access like Google and Siri.

The headphones lack a 3.5mm input, so when the battery dies, you have to rely on the USB-C fast charging to get you through the rest of your listening session. The headphones support Bluetooth multipoint, but users reported issues with stable connection strength when connected to two devices simultaneously.

Even still, we think the HD 350BT are very good wireless headphones for listeners who want aptX support at a reasonable price point.

Spend a bit more with the Anker Soundcore Life Q35

Budget shoppers laud Anker for its reliable, low-cost products that give more expensive alternatives a run for their money. The Anker Soundcore Life Q35 are a gem as it features active noise canceling, grants over 52 hours of listening on a single charge, and has a comfortable design.

The price often dips below $100 for the Q35, but its standard price is $129, which is a bit more than our budget here. If you have a bit more to spend, we recommend learning about the best Bluetooth headphones for under $200.

The best Bluetooth headphones under $100: Notable mentions

• Anker Soundcore Life Q20 ($59 at Amazon.): While now superseded by the newer Q30, the previous Q20 is still available and often for a discounted price. These have a similar sound signature as the Q30 and a respectable 32-hour charge.
• JBL TUNE 600BTNC: JBL’s on-ear headphones offer a 16-hour battery life with quick charging and ANC. For $60, this is a great deal.
• Monoprice’s BT-600ANC ($84.99 at Amazon): Look, it’s pretty hard to find decent ANC, especially for $100. Count us surprised then that value-driven giant, Monoprice pulls it off better than some headphones that cost twice the price.
• Plantronics BackBeat Fit 6100 ($69 at Amazon): Athletes searching for workout headphones that work just as well in the office as they do in the gym should get the Fit 6100. Listeners can adjust the headband tension and benefit from a comfortable over-ear fit. Sound quality and microphone quality are generally very pleasing with these IPX5 headphones.
• Skullcandy Crusher Wireless ($103.99 at Amazon): While the Crusher Wireless are showing their age (micro-USB charging), they still hold up as cheap headphones. You get solid battery life, plush ear pads, and a cool bass slider to affect the headset’s sound immediately.
• TREBLAB Z2: This set of over-ear workout headphones may not keep pace with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s headset, but it does have cool features like ANC, a 35-hour battery life, and an IPX4 rating, all for less than $100.

What you should know about Bluetooth headphones under $100

Like other headphones, there’s plenty to learn about Bluetooth before buying. Before you make any purchases, Let’s review some important features like Bluetooth codec support, fit, and noise canceling.

High-quality Bluetooth codec support is rare

This support is typically reserved for a more premium class of headphones, so don’t be too disappointed if your favorite headset here lacks aptX or AAC support. That said, we’ve done our best to include some picks with at least aptX support, which yields high-quality audio streaming for Android devices. iPhone users, if it’s any consolation, many of us are unable to discern a difference between high-quality codecs because our ears are either too old or too damaged to observe it.

A proper fit matters, especially with cheap Bluetooth headphones

Whether shopping for earbuds or headphones, finding a proper fit is key to optimizing audio quality. If you can’t create a total seal separating you from the environment, external noises will make it difficult to perceive detail in your music. This phenomenon is called auditory masking: loud noises cause relatively quiet noises hard to register. To avoid this altogether, take a few moments and adjust the headband.

If the yokes allow for it, you can also angle the ear cups. This creates a more comfortable fit and effectively improves passive isolation, so you can focus more on the music and less on chatty neighbors.

Why should you get noise canceling headphones?

It depends on what you prioritize. If you’re really scrounging for the best bargain you can find, then ANC headsets may not be an option, as they tend to be pricier. That said, noise canceling headphones are better for you than those without ANC because they can help preserve your hearing by preventing noise-induced hearing loss.

This relates to auditory masking: not only are we less able to register music playback, but many of us thoughtlessly increase volume when on a crowded train car or noisy flight. It may not seem like the music is loud at the time—again, a consequence of auditory masking—but there’s a good chance we’re damaging our stereocilia, those tiny ear hairs when we crank the volume. Noise canceling headphones make us less prone to doing so because they reduce the loudness of external noise.

Maintain realistic expectations

Although we’re presenting you with the best cheap Bluetooth headphones around, the fact remains that these are still cheap Bluetooth headphones. If you think corners have been cut, it’s because they have been. Unfortunately, you can’t have it all for less than $100. One of the first things to go is construction quality. You won’t find a leather-wrapped headband with brushed aluminum accents on this list. However, once you temper your expectations, you’ll be amazed at how far $100 can take you regarding consumer audio.

How we chose our favorite affordable Bluetooth headphones

We understand that shopping for audio products can be arduous and confusing. Rather than sending readers off on a wild goose chase for information, we’ve chosen to consolidate the most pertinent things shoppers should know about cheap Bluetooth headphones and list out what we’re championing as the best picks around. Any headset we’ve reviewed has been subjected to a battery of objective tests to determine frequency response, isolation, microphone performance, battery life, and noise canceling effectiveness.

Although we pride ourselves on making objective data easily accessible to our readers, we also value the subjective aspect of audio and go to great lengths to use products as a normal consumer would. That way, we can highlight the good and bad each headset, microphone, or speaker has to offer.

Why you should trust SoundGuys

We take integrity seriously at SoundGuys. Although this website operates on affiliate links, none of our writers benefit from awarding one product over another. Ultimately, we want you to be happy with your purchase and to avoid buyer’s remorse. If you’re so inclined, we implore you to brush up on our ethics policy.

Frequently asked questions about Bluetooth headphones under $100