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.

Editors note: This article was updated on June 28th, 2024, to add new top picks.

For under $100, the JLab JBuds Lux are crazy good value

The JLab JBuds Lux ANC punches well above its weight, offering exceptional value for under $100. These over-ear headphones feature active noise cancelation that does a decent job of hushing ambient noise, especially in the higher frequencies. While the ANC performance can’t match premium models, it’s impressive for the price.

The sound quality is quite good, with an overall MDAQS score of 4.5/5, lauding the headphones’ faithful timbre and immersive soundstage. They have an elevated bass response and boosted treble that helps counter environmental noise during commutes.

Other highlights include a 44-hour battery life, USB-C audio support, and a companion app with EQ and customization options. The JBuds Lux ANC may lack advanced features like head tracking, but they nail the fundamentals at a stellar price, making them one of the best budget ANC headphones you can buy.

The Anker Soundcore Space One has style

The absence of touch controls and an audio profile that leans towards over-emphasized bass and treble may deter some users. Additionally, the lack of audio-over-USB functionality limits its versatility compared to some competitors. Despite these drawbacks, the overall value proposition remains strong, especially considering the headphones’ effective noise cancelation, sound customization options through the app, and robust battery life of nearly 43 hours.

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’ bass-heavy frequency response 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.

One of the best aspects of the Jabra Elite 45h is its microphone. It reproduces voices accurately, and even people with 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 Audio-Technica ATH-M20xBT have great sound

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 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.

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 is 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, 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 that the 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

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Frequently asked questions about Bluetooth headphones under $100