Best Budget Wireless Earphones or EarBuds under $80 in 2023

scrimshaw on 07/02/2023 - 20:30

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Question

What are the best Budget Wireless BT earbuds in 2022?

Some of the things you need to consider apart from their sound quality:

  • Battery life of both the charging case and earbuds
  • Size of the charging case
  • How well the buds fit in your ear, comfort, could you wear it while jogging or exercising
  • The quality of the microphone for clearer phone calls
  • Active noise cancelling or passive noise isolation
  • Water resistance (for sweaty workouts)

We asked this question last year in 2021, and the three winners were:

  • SoundPEATS TrueAir2
  • SoundPEATS Air3
  • QCY T13

There were quite a few SoundPEATS suggestions in the list — six of them. It seems like Ozbargain has a favourite brand when it comes to cheap bluetooth earbuds.

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closed Comments

  • furyou on 07/02/2023 - 21:06

    From what I can see, SoundPEATS TrueAir2 and SoundPEATS Air3 use exactly the same hardware, chip, etc so they should really have the same sound right?

    • Public21 on 15/02/2023 - 16:44

      I have both and there must be some difference in the firmware. The Air3 has a slightly more fuller sound to my deaf ears. It also has a much better battery life - both in the buds and the reserve battery in the case. Rough guess - the Air3 has twice the life of the Trueair2.

      I also have issues with the Trueair2 and its Bluetooth connection to my Sony TV. I have two pairs of Trueair2s and neither will connect automatically (well mostly). The Air3 has no trouble connecting.

      The only strike against the Air3 is that it is harder to get them out of their case.

      • furyou on 15/02/2023 - 19:30

        How about calls? I'm mainly using it at home for calls so it's not too noisy. It worked well paird to my phone.
        But lately sometimes a call comes in, I take it out of the box. Usually it pairs and I can talk. Instead it pairs, waits 1s and unpairs, and turns itself off. If i put back in the box and take out again, it will work. But that's like 15s the person on the phone's waiting.
        Not sure if it's old/broken/battery shit.
        But works still 9/10 times so not sure about spending $ on a new one.

        • Public21 on 16/02/2023 - 10:53

          I rarely use mine for phone calls, but if that is the Trueair2 doing that, it would be in line with my experience of them.

          Can’t offer anything on the 3 with phone calls because I mostly use it on the TV or listening to music and audiobooks around the house.

        • sakurakiks on 11/03/2023 - 23:02

          For the Air3, I've had mine for almost a year and just got partner a pair too as they were great and bang for buck. I myself haven't had a single issue, but partner's one had this thing where the call volume would be really low - did some googling and in the end a simple reset fixed it easily. Not sure how long you've had yours but definitely try a fresh hard reset if you haven't already, or their cs/rep seems pretty responsive and probably could help you out in some way or other

  • ddhar on 07/02/2023 - 22:14
    Suggested SoundPEATS Mini Pro

    I bought the SoundPEATS Mini Pro mid-2022. For the $50ish it cost me, I found it very good on:

    • Sound quality (I didn't expect much at this price but these were actually very clear with non-boomy bass),
    • ANC (reasonably good noise reduction; doesn't 100% block but performs adequately even on airplanes),
    • USB-C charging (Yay!)
  • PlasticSpaceman on 18/02/2023 - 11:37
    Suggested SoundPEATS Air3 Pro

    Good sound, microphone, battery life and USB-C charging. Able to update the firmware and make changes to settings via an app. Costs more than the standard Air3 but personally I'm happy to pay the little extra to get the silicon ear piece for a more comfortable & secure fit. Potentially could even use Comply foam earbud tips to improve the comfort and sound a little more, but I haven't bothered.

  • bargaino on 21/02/2023 - 11:58

    Active noise cancelling

    This is a bit of a scam. The only "noise cancelling" in any of these is for the microphone, so the other caller can hear you. The same as on most phones.
    But people are tricked into thinking they have some headphone noise cancelling ability. They do not.

    Are there any genuine noise cancelling earbuds under $100? (that actually work)

  • whatisk on 10/03/2023 - 12:10
    Suggested SoundPEATS Air3 Deluxe HS

    Bought Soundpeats Air3 Deluxe HS for around $48. Was originally looking at the Air3 Deluxe as I have no need for the Hi-def codec but they were more expensive.
    So far can't complain. Sound seems fine to my non-audiophile ears and haven't had any connection issues. Battery life also seems good to me. As per most reviews, the buds can be a little finicky to get out of the case, but you get used to it. Being able to disable in ear recognition via the app is also a bonus.

    • parker2004au on 05/06/2023 - 15:11

      "Agree with what you've said. I upgraded from Soundpeats Air3 that I had been using since early March 2022 but lost my right earbud, which is the one I use throughout the day. I was happy with the standard Air3. It went through the washing machine on two separate occasions and once disabled in-ear detection, which paused my audio when it was windy. It seemed like they were good value for money.

      In mid-May, I upgraded to the Air3 Deluxe HS. Like you, the HS version was cheaper than the Deluxe version. I'm no audiophile either, so I can't comment on the quality, but I feel like either my battery might have degraded over the course of the year that I was using the standard Air3, and I was charging them more often, or the Deluxe HS is better in terms of a bigger battery and/or maybe uses less battery because I don't seem to have to charge very often.

      Overall, I'm very happy with them. I'm just waiting for a case so I can keep them on a keyring, as I have a tendency to misplace the case."

  • wisdomtooth on 10/03/2023 - 22:01

    I'm quite happy with the no-name earbuds and "bone conducting" earphones I get from AliEx for $3 and $5 respectively. Is the sound marvellous? No, but it's clear enough to listen to podcasts and videocasts, which is what I use them for 99% of the time. I use the in-ear ones when I want to block outside noise, and the "bone conducting" ones when I want to be aware of outside noise (riding a bike, keep an ear on kids, etc). The earbuds are those connected ones, with a separate control piece, so the Bluetooth element doesn't sit right in my ear, so close to my brain — EMR poisoning is real folks!

  • denischto on 16/03/2023 - 14:08
    Suggested SoundPEATS Truengine 3 SE

    SoundPEATS Truengine 3 SE

  • n3ck3ntry8bort0rgasm on 19/03/2023 - 20:07

    Best Budget Wireless Earphones or EarBuds under $80 in 2023 = SoundPEATS TrueAir2

    So I saw this in between posts, and I recognized the unit in the picture as one of my own TWS earbuds.

    Only I remembered them as being called Truefree A1's, not Soundpeats TrueAir2. Looks like they are identical clone products possibly coming out of the same factory?

    I am very happy with my A1's, they have brilliant 4 to 5 hour battery life from every charge and use AAC codec so there is no lag for audio when watching video on my budget iPad. If anything critical to say, although I think this will be the same with both models due to their identical design: The earbuds might be on the "smaller" side, I have smaller than average ears so they fit fine, but I remember reading a few reviews saying they fell out easily because of their smaller size. I think people with smaller than average ears will be happy with the extra comfort added from being smaller. Also the charging light inside the case is meant to show green/orange/red. But I have a tough time telling between orange and red I really have to focus and look for a few seconds. Other than that they are a great product and I can recommend them.
    Also have to say the reason I got the A1's (this will apply to the TrueAir2's as well) is that the touch control is on the top of the earbud only, so the stem does not suffer from accidental triggering of pausing/skipping/adjusting volume.

    TLDR: Ok so the reason for this comment is, the Truefree A1's are cheaper and seem identical to the design of the TrueAir2's (they both have USB-C, 14.2mm drivers, 4 mics for calls). The only difference I can see is the A1's are BT5.0 and TrueAir2's are BT5.2 (is there really that big a difference?). The Soundpeats also achieve 25 hours total vs Truefree's 18 hours total.
    Truefree A1's are $36.88 ($45.99 with 20% coupon). https://www.amazon.com.au/Wireless-Bluetooth-Headphones-Earp…
    And the TrueAir2's (Soundpeats) are $48.45 ($56.99 with 15% coupon). https://www.amazon.com.au/SOUNDPEATS-Bluetooth-Headphones-Tr…

    So I can recommend the $11.57 savings from getting the A1's since they are largely identical. If you need that extra charge from the case then the Soundpeats might be worth the extra. But I have found the A1's case charge to be sufficient for me.

  • seanw18 on 20/04/2023 - 11:37

    Aldi have some "Premium Headphones with ANC and Bluetooth" available on Saturday https://www.aldi.com.au/en/special-buys/special-buys-sat-22-…

    Anyone have any idea what these will be like ?

  • kommy on 23/05/2023 - 19:28
    Suggested Soundcore Space A40

    These were down to $79.99 last week. Anyway, I just received mine today and I'm blown away by them.

  • kaitoivan on 13/06/2023 - 18:33

    5 colours to choose from, great price too

  • Chippps on 09/07/2023 - 10:17

    Can anyone suggest a TWS that has the same fit as the Air3's ?

  • bigmicka on 22/10/2023 - 08:17

    Why isn't one of the categories ease of connectivity?

    I bought a pair of Soundpeats Trueair 2 last year from, because of recommendations here. I don't use them as I have to battle to connect them every time I open the case with my Samsung S20.

    I want a pair that works every time I open the case. Is that too much to ask?

  • xmail on 23/11/2023 - 17:44

    Best with low enough latency to watch videos on a Windows PC without lip sync issues? (not smart phone as that can auto compensate).

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