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Best cheap noise canceling headphones
13 hours ago
Whether you’re commuting to work or trying to block out some of the people in the office, noise canceling headphones are a great tool to have. The problem is that if you want some of the best noise canceling headphones around, you will have to break open your piggy bank and start counting pennies. But that isn’t always the case. There are plenty of solid noise canceling headphones for $100 or less that are worth picking up if you’re in the market for a new pair of cans.
We’ve tested over 1,000 headphones, and using our data, we’ve determined the best noise canceling headphones under $100. Whether you care about sound quality, battery life, or comfort, each of our top picks below has something to offer.
- July 11, 2025: Updated article formatting and replaced the 1MORE SonoFlow with the OneOdio Focus A6.
The Quick Answer
For a quick guide to the best cheap noise canceling headphones, check out our top picks below. Each has a link to our full review.
The best overall:
The runner-up:
The best features:
The best for the future:
The best bang for your buck:
The best on-ear headphones:
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The In-depth Answer
Below you’ll find our in-depth coverage of each of the best budget ANC headphones. Each model has been rigorously tested, ensuring you can trust our recommendations.
Redefine budget ANC with the JLab JBuds Lux ANC
If you’re looking for affordable noise canceling headphones, the JLab JBuds Lux ANC should be at the top of your list at just $79.99. Their active noise cancelation punches well above its budget price point.
The noise canceling on the JBuds Lux ANC is quite effective at muting lower-frequency sounds below 700Hz by up to 20dB. This allows blocking out 50-75% of ambient noise, like the rumble of plane or train engines. The over-ear design with deep earcup padding also provides excellent passive isolation in the higher frequencies, physically blocking up to 46dB of sharper outside noises.
While the noise cancelation can’t quite match premium models costing $200+, it does an admirable job of significantly hushing the distractions you’d encounter during daily commutes and travel. The transparency mode is also decent for allowing ambient sound in when needed.
The bass-boosted sound signature with emphasized highs helps the music further overcome any remaining background noise. An equalizer adjusts the tuning to your preferences as well. With a 44+ hour battery life from the USB-C rechargeable battery, the JBuds Lux ANC can keep canceling noise all day long.
Read our full JLab JBuds Lux ANC review
The Edifier W830NB is also excellent
A close runner-up to the JLab headphones is the Edifier W830NB. Offering very respectable performance under $80, these are a rock-solid choice if you’re looking for ANC headphones on a budget. These cans can handle everything you throw at them, but they’re not perfect. The sound is treble-heavy, but can be fixed somewhat with the app. With somewhat small ear cups, people with huge heads will likely want to avoid these.
Read our full Edifier W830NB review
The Anker Soundcore Space One brings luxury features
The Anker Soundcore Space One delivers a premium noise canceling experience at a budget-friendly price of $99.99. With solid features like effective isolation, ANC, a companion app, commendable battery life, wear detection, and Bluetooth 5.3 with LDAC support, it stands out as a value-packed option.
However, it lacks touch controls, comes with a non-hardcover carrying case, and the sound profile leans towards over-emphasized bass and treble, with no audio over USB. Weighing 259g, these headphones offer excellent portability and comfort thanks to their lightweight plastic construction and soft silicone headband and ear pads. Despite no waterproof rating and a sound that might not satisfy critical listeners, the Space One excels in its price segment, especially with a battery life of nearly 43 hours with ANC on. Ideal for those looking for affordable noise canceling headphones that don’t compromise on features or battery life.
Read our full Anker Soundcore Space One review
The OneOdio Focus A6 are ready for the future with Bluetooth 6.0
If you’re hunting for great noise canceling on a budget, the OneOdio Focus A6 are a top contender under $100. For just $69, they offer surprisingly effective ANC—reducing external noise by about 79% in our lab tests—along with support for Bluetooth 6.0 and LDAC. That means you get both solid noise reduction and high-resolution wireless audio, which is rare at this price. The companion app also gives you access to four ANC modes, including Wind Noise Reduction, plus a customizable EQ and handy extras like a Find My Headphones feature.
While the Focus A6 skip wired playback and don’t come with a travel case, they make up for it with long battery life (up to 40 hours with ANC on), lightweight comfort, and strong app-based controls. The plastic build isn’t the most durable, but if you want impressive ANC performance and a ton of features for less than $100, these are an easy recommendation.
Read our full OneOdio Focus A6 review
The Soundcore by Anker Life Q30 is are good bang for the buck
The Anker Soundcore Life Q30, priced at $79.99, offers great value for affordable noise canceling headphones with excellent sound quality, robust ANC performance, and impressive battery life. While it lacks touch controls and is not dust or water-resistant, it is comfortable for long listening sessions, and solid build quality makes it a standout choice. The headphones’ ease of use is complemented by the Soundcore app, which allows for sound customization through EQ presets and ANC adjustments.
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With a battery life exceeding 46 hours and fast charging capabilities, the Life Q30 excels in both performance and convenience. Despite its emphasis on low frequencies and a less effective EQ adjustment feature, it delivers an enjoyable listening experience, especially for those who favor bass-heavy music. The Life Q30 is ideal for anyone seeking a versatile, affordable headphone with good noise cancelation and sound quality.
Read our full Anker Life Q30 review
The best on-ear headphones are the JBL Tune 660NC
For the Goldilocks that considers in-ear headphones to be too small and over-ear headphones to be too big, the JBL Tune 600NC could be just right. Anyone who commutes to school or work every day will greatly appreciate the long battery life, wireless connectivity, and active noise canceling. Frequent fliers will also appreciate the combination of portability and performance of this headphone.
In our testing, the JBL Tune 660NC lasted 37 hours and 9 minutes with ANC on. The ANC provides a 10dB reduction to low-mid frequency noise, which means that all background noise sounds at least 50% quieter when wearing headphones, which is quite impressive for headphones in this price range. They also sound excellent. The frequency response of the JBL Tune 660NC closely follows our ideal target curve for consumer headphones, which means most people will enjoy the sound quality of these headphones, no matter what genre of music they prefer listening to.
If you’re in the market for on-ear headphones, these headphones should be near the top of your list.
Read our full JBL Tune 660NC review
The best noise canceling headphones under $100: Notable mentions
- Anker Soundcore Life Q35 $99.99 at Amazon: These share some of the features of the 1MORE SonoFlow, including ANC, a travel case, a foldable design, 50h+ battery life, a quick charge feature, and a supporting app for EQ customization.
- AKG N700NC M2: This is the successor to AKG’s original entry-level noise canceling headphones. Although it’s currently priced above $100, these cans are still worthy of your consideration thanks to their overall balanced sound signature and competitive noise canceling performance—all at a price tag that is still much lower than Sony or Bose’s offerings.
- AUKEY EP-N12: If your primary goal is super cheap ANC and you aren’t too fussed about perfect audio reproduction, the EP-N12 offers impressive noise cancelation for well under $100 and long battery life.
- Edifier W828NB: Don’t need to make any phone calls? That’s good. This headset has no onboard mic, but it does have a long battery life, comfortable ear cups, and aptX and aptX HD codecs for better-quality streaming. Older tech like micro-USB charging can annoy single cable users who have moved on to USB-C.
- Philips PH805: This headset has all of these bells and whistles of ice assistant integration, High-Res audio certification, touch controls, and active noise canceling. Plus, it’s extremely comfortable.
- Sennheiser HD 450BT ($129 at Amazon): This set of noise canceling headphones does an okay job of reducing background noise but doesn’t perform nearly as well as its big brother, the Sennheiser PXC 550-II.
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Frequently asked questions about the best cheap noise canceling headphones
When companies make new products, there’s a lot of manufacturing knowledge gained by designing the original product, and sometimes even leftover parts. In order to make sure that a company is extracting as much value as it can from existing assets, sometimes it will create a product using these existing assets to pass savings onto the customer.
With any cheap product, there’s a certain level of tradeoffs you should expect, and quality is one of them. However, the era of truly terrible headphones is largely over, thanks to some nifty manufacturing improvements. You may not be getting a top-of-the-line product, but you won’t be buying garbage, either.
While wearing noise canceling headphones can help you get a more focused and stress-free environment, wearing them all day or for long periods of time may find yourself feeling a little too isolated. Prolonged use might even alter your noise-localization neural circuitry, meaning your ability to locate where sounds are coming from. So, take breaks.
Noise canceling headphones use active noise control (ANC) to electronically counteract external noise, while noise-blocking headphones rely on their physical design and materials to passively block out sound.
Noise-cancelling headphones primarily reduce low-frequency noise. Still, they might be less effective against sudden, high-frequency sounds like conversations or sudden noises. This is why some external sounds can still be heard.
Yes, 25 dB of noise cancelation is considered good for headphones, significantly reducing ambient noise and improving listening quality in noisy environments.
Yes, 30 dB is considered quiet for a room. It’s a low noise level, similar to a whisper or a quiet rural area, providing a calm environment suitable for concentration or rest.