The best cheap Bluetooth headphones under 50 dollar
Truly excellent cheap Chinese wireless headphones
Wireless Bluetooth headphones are rapidly becoming better and more affordable. There's more and more on the market. So which to get? These are the best Chinese wireless Bluetooth headphones under 50 dollar/ euros.
In januari of 2017, I fell in love with a pair of Chinese earphones that provided me more details in the music I’ve listened to for all those years. They were… 10 dollar. Since then, I became addicted to finding the best audio quality for low prices, and time after time I learned Chinese offerings outperform the big brands. A theory that is now proven by over 45 tested earphones and a dozen wired and Bluetooth headphones.
As with earphones, with Bluetooth headphones too, you’re better off buying from China or Chinese sellers on Amazon, rather than browsing your local electronics store. The headphones I recommend in this list, offer way better audio quality than JBL, Sony, House of Marley and Philips headphones in the same price category.
The differences in sound quality between Chinese models are huge though. With Beats by dr. Dre conquering the headphone market around ten years ago, most of the Bluetooth headphones you can buy up to around 150 dollar are now overly bassy — with JUST a lot of bass and a staggering absence of details and clarity. It's easy to go out and just buy one from China, but chances are big you will be disappointed.
Happily, not all is lost. After buying a lot of headphones, extensive testing and comparing, I can now state there are some brilliant pearls between the budget Bluetooth headphone offerings.
Here we go: these are the best wireless headphones you can buy for 50 dollar/ euros or less.
Best wireless headphone under $50: OneAudio DJ Studio Wireless
25–30 dollar
The OneAudio DJ Studio Wireless (also known as OneAudio A2 or OneOdio A2) is the newest Bluetooth headphone of this list. More important, it's also the best wireless headphone under 50 dollar. It has a 25+ hour lasting battery, sits comfortable on your head and over your ears due to the large cups and has a sturdy build quality. Adjusting the volume, pausing and skipping tracks is a breeze with the solid buttons on the right ear cup.
The best thing about them though? The sound quality is brilliant for the price.
The DJ Studio Wireless has a neutral, balanced sound, with crystal clear sounding instruments and vocals. Musical details come from close and far away — on your left and right and even in your front and back a bit. Even in more crowded tracks, like Under the Bridge from the Red Hot Chili Peppers, each instrument and voice holds his own place and space, without the music feeling congested. The music feels ‘open’. The sound of the DJ Studio Wireless is balanced, smooth and perfectly suited for long listening sessions. The bass may be a tad muddy, but pleasantly there when it needs to. There’s a lot to enjoy here.
The OneAudio A2 are sometimes described as noise cancelling headphones. Well, they don’t have an ANC-switch, but the claim is somewhat justified: the headphone blocks outside noise very effectively, even at moderate listening volumes. Watching movies goes without noticeable delay in the sound and it gets even better: the headphone comes delivered with an external, extended microphone for gaming and calling purposes, witch you can screw in and out as you like. Neat bonus!
Wireless, wired and even for gaming: the OneAudio DJ Studio Wireless is just bigger than the sum of its parts. It's the best budget wireless headphone so far — a steal for the price.
Best $50 dollar wireless bass headphone: OneOdio Elysium
20–25 dollar
Surprise! The best sounding cheap Bluetooth headphone for bass lovers, comes from OneAudio as well. Although it's written OneOdio here for some reason, it really is from the same brand. And this one too is a direct hit.
The OneOdio Elysium has a old-fashioned pilot vibe, with light and dark brown accents in faux leather and plastic. It may or may not be your taste, but it’s not only looks — it's comfort too. The headband is so light you can't feel it pressing on your head, and the earpads are amazingly thick and comfortable. As with every on-ear headphone, your ears will get warmer after a while, but these never become annoying. They even go well when wearing glasses.
Already out of the box, the OneOdio Elyisum is a bass monster, with a heavy and dominant bass. You can make it even better though. Change the equalizer in Spotify or on your device once and something magical happens. By turning the mids and highs up a bit, they liven up incredibly. The higher tones become vivid and full, with clear and upfront vocals and even a fair amount of depth and roominess added in the mix. At the same time, the bass stays very (!) well presented and the sound pleasantly warm.
On top of that, the Elysium has a secret weapon: pacing. The bass and mids punch and strike fast, which make for a very entertaining and uplifting listening. These cans deliver a party on your head.
The OneOdio Elysium delivers around 25 hours of battery life on a single charge, big comfort and an engaging sound — at an incredible price.
Best budget wireless headphone for work: August EP650
45–50 dollar
The August EP650 has something in common with the Bose QuietComfort-line. No, it doesn’t have active noise cancelling, and they don’t have the same build quality as well. In fact, its plastic is a bit squeaky. However: these too are top notch comfortable. Just putting them on your head is enough to move you to another world, blocking your surrounding sound, no matter the volume you’re listening to them. It makes the August excellent cans for the workfloor.
Just as with other cheap Bluetooth headphones, you may want to tone down the bass levels and pump up the mids and highs in an equalizer on your device or on Spotify. When equalised, vocals and instruments are getting room to breathe and the soundstage improves.
The August have a convincing soundstage for an affordable closed back headphone, with layers and instruments coming in from far away and up close. Yet the sound of the EP650 stays warm — making for easy listening hours and hours in succession.
With nearly 30 hours of battery life, the huge amount of comfort and the spaciousness in the sound, these are headphones to loose yourself in.
Best cheap Bluetooth headphone for sporting: Bluedio TM
20–25 dollar
Looking for a Bluetooth headphone while running, biking or sporting? The Bluedio TM should be right up your alley. It’s built like a tank and looks way more expensive than the asking price. It also looks fresh, available in red, yellow or all black. You can’t fold the headphone like you can with the other cans, but the sturdiness of the phone makes up for that. The TM barely moves on your head when moving heavily and can take a little hit. At the same time the fit isn’t too tight . It actually is really comfortable, due to soft padding on the headband and earpads.
The Bluedio TM has three equalizer settings on the headphone itself. You can switch between them by pressing the volume buttons at the same time. The first is mid centric-flat, the second is bass-centric flat, the third one puts emphasis on the bass and highs, sounds more balanced and actually should be the only option. The TM doesn’t have the most natural tonality, and guitars and male vocals can sometimes sound a bit tinny. Still, I haven't found a better budget headphone for sports, with around 25 hours of battery life, a sweet bass and such a build quality on top. An amazing deal.
Other cheap Chinese Bluetooth headphones under $50 I've tested:
- Edifier W800BT ($40, recommended): Balanced and non-fatiguing sound and near 40 hours of battery life! A pleasure to work with (Amazon)
- QCY J1 ($25, semi-recommended): This Bluetooth headphone sounds balanced and spacious. Unfortunately it's only comfortable if you have a lot of hair and don’t carry any glasses. It's very plastic-y too. (AliExpress)
- CHS02 ($10, semi-recommended): Looks like a toy, uncomfortable too, but these Bluetooth headphones sounds actually balanced and fun, with a bit of a boosted bass. It may not be for you on long listening sessions, but it definitely domes recommended for kids. (AliExpress)
- QCY QY50 ($15, not recommended): The QY50 offers a warm yet congested sound, and has hard plastic pressing tight on your head. Avoid.
- Baseus D01 ($15, not recommended): Sounds muddy yet pleasantly warm. All is ruined by the terrible clamping force on your head however.
- Dodocool T01 ($15, not recommended): These are Sony WH-CH900N knockoff Bluetooth headphones in design. It doesn't offer any comfort though, and its sound is dark and veiled with weird frequency peaks and dips.
- Salar S11 ($15, not recommended): The band of the Salar S11 is so loose, you unfortunately can’t get the most out of the okay sound on this Bluetooth headphones.
How do I test headphones?
This is my selection of Chinese wireless Bluetooth headphones under 50 euros/ dollar I wholeheartedly recommend. They are the clear winners after intensively testing more than a dozen headphones the past months, from China (such as Bluedio, Edifier, Salar, Dodocool, QCY and more) and also better than affordable offerings from renowned brands such as Philips, Sony, JBL, Beats and House of Marley.
The sound quality and comfort are the main aspects for my testing — they're the most important factors in the long end after all. Furthermore, the Bluetooth headphones are also tested on build quality, connectivity, call quality, battery life, sound leakage, synchronisation with video's from Netflix and YouTube and the amount of wind noise you hear trough them when walking or biking with them. These all surpassed the tests.
Last updated May 3 2019: added short reviews of other Bluetooth headphones I've tested
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Disclaimer: affiliate links
Planning to buy one of the headphones or earphones listed? Please consider doing it via my buying links. These are affiliate links from AliExpress or Amazon, from which I’ll gain a little percentage of the price. I only put links on products I truly recommend. Buying a product via such a link won’t cost you extra, yet it will support me a bit in my research on affordable audio. ❤
I ❤ to hear what you think
I'll keep searching for great budget audio. Please subscribe to my Medium channel to stay updated with new recommendations. Do you have a recommendation yourself? Please respond under this article or contact me: bart @ tekstmeister .nl.
Also: if this article helped you, please don’t hesitate to share it with other people. If you bought one of the headphones, I'd love to hear what you think.
