The Best Headphones Under $100
Twelve headphones under $100 that need no excuses, ranked by how much headphone each dollar buys, and open to your votes if the order looks wrong. Prices are street prices as of July 31, 2026, stated per item because they move. The cap is the street price rather than the sticker, which is how a $149.99-list Marshall sneaks in at $99.99. Every link is the manufacturer's own product page, fetched and checked, so retailer listings and affiliate URLs are absent. Form factors mix on purpose, across over-ear ANC, true wireless, wired studio, open-back and on-ear, and each item says which it is. Anything over $100, every flagship noise-canceller included, belongs to the sibling noise-cancelling list. JBL's Tune 770NC was cut for sitting sold out on JBL's own store, and no Sony appears because Sony's store could not be live-checked. A list like this earns trust by admitting that.
Soundcore Space One is #1 on “The Best Headphones Under $100”.
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Soundcore Space One
Right at the cap sits the strongest all-rounder: adaptive noise canceling Anker claims cuts up to 98% of noise, 40 hours of battery with ANC on and 55 with it off, 40mm dynamic drivers and multipoint, in a 265-gram over-ear listed at $99.99 on Soundcore's own store in late July 2026. Nothing else here does this many jobs this well, which is exactly what a first ANC headphone should do.
https://www.soundcore.com/products/space-one-a3035011 - 2
EarFun Air Pro 4
No other earbud under $100 carries both aptX Lossless and LDAC, and the sheet keeps going: adaptive ANC rated to 50dB, a 10mm composite dynamic driver, Bluetooth 5.4 on Qualcomm's QCC3091 chip, and 52 hours total with the case. EarFun's own store listed $89.99 in late July 2026. The app EQ is the part you should actually open first.
EarFun Air Pro 4 - Black89.99 USDExperience the ultimate in wireless audio with the flagship EarFun Air Pro 4. Engineered for perfection, these earbuds feature Hi-Res Audio, aptX Lossless, and the latest Bluetooth 5.4 technology for crystal-clear sound. Enjoy Snapdragon Sound and QuietSmart 3.0 adaptive ANC for an immersive, noise-free experience. With Auracast LE Audio, stay seamlessly connected wherever you go. Elevate your listening with the EarFun Air Pro 4's advanced features and astonishing sound quality, crafted for those who demand the best.https://www.myearfun.com/headphones/earfun-air-pro-4-adaptive-anc-true-wireless-earbuds-black - 3
Koss Porta Pro
Unchanged in essentials since 1984 and still $49.99 on Koss's site: an open-backed on-ear featherweight with a 15–25,000Hz response and a limited lifetime warranty Koss actually honors. The steel headband folds into a pocket, the foam pads split opinion, and the warm, bass-heavy signature has outlived every trend it was ever compared against. Nothing else on the list has survived four decades of being recommended.
Porta Pro®The acclaimed Koss Porta Pro® has captivated audiophiles and music enthusiasts for decades and continues to be one of the most popular headphones worldwide. Originally introduced in 1984, the Koss Porta Pro® has stood the test of time due to its impressive performance and portability. Equipped with dynamic elements thahttps://koss.com/products/porta-pro - 4
Audio-Technica ATH-M20x
Wired, closed-back, over-ear and $59, this is the studio-adjacent answer: 40mm drivers with copper-clad aluminum voice coils, 47-ohm impedance an old laptop can drive, 190 grams on the head, and a fixed 3-meter cable that says desk, not commute. Podcasters and beginner producers should start here. One dated catch: Audio-Technica's own store lists it backordered as of July 31, 2026, while retail stock stays broad.
ATH-M20xIntroduce yourself to the M-Series professional headphones line with the ATH-M20x studio monitor headphones. The high-quality build makes for a pair of lightweight yet durable wired headphones for ...https://www.audio-technica.com/en-us/ath-m20x - 5
JLab JBuds Lux ANC
Over 70 hours of playtime, or 40 with hybrid ANC running at up to 35dB, is the headline, and the rest of this over-ear holds up: 40mm drivers, Bluetooth 5.4 multipoint, Cloud Foam cushions and fold-flat hinges. JLab's store listed $79.99, on sale at $59.99, in late July 2026. Out of the box it leans bassy, and the app's EQ presets fix that in a minute.
https://www.jlab.com/products/jbuds-lux-anc-headphones-graphite - 6
Grado SR60x
Handcrafted in Brooklyn with a fourth-generation Grado dynamic driver, open-back on-ear enclosures and 38-ohm impedance, this is the pick for a quiet room rather than a bus, because everything leaks in both directions by design. Grado prints no prices, but dealers listed $99 as of July 2026. Strings and voices do things here that the closed sets above cannot quite manage.
https://gradolabs.com/products/sr60x - 7
CMF Buds 2 Plus
Nothing's budget CMF line gets the fundamentals right in these earbuds: a 12mm LCP driver, hybrid ANC rated to 50dB, LDAC with Hi-Res certification, and a $69 price showing $59 on sale on Nothing's own US store in late July 2026. The case feels plasticky and there is no wireless charging, which is the entire tradeoff. This is roughly where budget earbuds stop needing apologies.
CMF Buds 2 Plus | Audiohttps://us.nothing.tech/products/cmf-buds-2-plus - 8
Edifier W830NB
Ninety-four hours of playback with ANC off, 54 with it on, reads like a typo and is not. Add noise reduction rated to -45dB, 40mm dynamic drivers in an over-ear frame, LDAC at 990kbps with Hi-Res Wireless certification, and Bluetooth 5.4 multipoint. Edifier's page shows no price, but SoundGuys listed $79.99 in its April 2026 roundup. The companion app is clumsy, though the hardware is not.
Wireless Over-ear Headphones with Active Noise Cancellation | W830NB - Edifier USADiscover the W830NB headphones, with Hi-Res Audio and Hi-Res Audio Wireless certification for immersive sound, multiple ANC modes, and approximately 94 hours of playback with ANC off. Enjoy clear calls with AI noise-canceling mics, all-day comfort with an ergonomic design, multipoint connection for seamless device switching, and enhanced control via the EDIFIER ConneX app.https://www.edifier.com/us/p/over-ear-on-ear-headphones/w830nb - 9
Marshall Major V
A hundred-plus hours of playtime, quick charging that turns 15 minutes into 15 more, charging from an ordinary wireless pad, and Bluetooth 5.3 billed as LE Audio-ready: the spec sheet is the argument. List price is $149.99, but street prices sat at $99.99 or under through July 2026, which is the only reason this on-ear is here. The clamp and the rock-forward tuning are the acquired tastes.
Major V headphones give you 100+ hours of wireless playtime. | Marshall.comDiscover headphones built to go on the road with you for days, thanks to their rugged design and 100+ hours of wireless playtime.https://www.marshall.com/us/en/product/major-v - 10
JBL Tune 520BT
Fifty-seven hours from an on-ear selling between $39.95 and $49.95 on JBL's own store in late July 2026 is the whole pitch. You get 33mm drivers, Bluetooth 5.3 with multipoint, a 157-gram frame and an EQ app; you give up ANC and the 3.5mm jack entirely. As a first wireless headphone for a teenager, or a beater for the gym bag, it is the safe call.
https://www.jbl.com/TUNE520BT.html - 11
Beats Solo Buds
The case is the trick: 22 grams, about the footprint of a car fob, because Beats moved all the battery into the buds themselves, giving 18 hours per charge and no case charging at all. Dual-layer axial-aligned drivers, four ear-tip sizes, USB-C, and native pairing on both iOS and Android. No ANC at $79.99 is the obvious catch, and fit and tuning are why people keep them anyway.
Beats Solo Buds - True Wireless Bluetooth Earbuds79.99 USDBeats Solo Buds are wireless earbuds packed with powerful sound and up to 18 hours of battery life. All packed into our tiniest case ever.https://www.beatsbydre.com/earbuds/solo-buds - 12
Moondrop Space Travel 2
Twenty-five dollars, give or take a sale, buys earbuds with wideband feedforward ANC run by a built-in NPU, Bluetooth 6.0, dual-device connection, and roughly 7 hours per charge with 24 more in the case. Moondrop's page lists no US price; SoundGuys quoted $25.49 in March 2026. Codec support stops at SBC and AAC, which at this money is not a complaint worth making.
MOONDROP SPACE TRAVEL 2 True Wireless Stereo | MOONDROP Official Websitehttps://moondroplab.com/en/products/space-travel-2
How this list was ranked
Readers rank this list by voting items up and down. Items are ordered by reader votes.
