Every major phone maker in the world has a range of earbuds that match the technology and the ecosystem of the company. Some have more affordable budget wireless earbuds on offer, with the cheapest pairs often coming in at between $100 and $200.
So, as far as every major phone maker goes, what are the cheapest earbuds on offer? Let’s go through the big ones, including Apple, Samsung, Google and OPPO. Obviously we’re not going be focusing on the ‘Pro’ models on offer from these brands, but we’ve compared them before.
Apple’s cheapest earbuds
Apple sells its earbuds as ‘AirPods’, with three in-ear models on offer. The most affordable model is the second-generation AirPods. Introduced in 2019, these AirPods cost $219 from the Apple website, $70 below the price of the third-generation AirPods ($289). These headphones come with five hours of listening time on one charge, with more than 24 hours of charge with the case. They don’t come with active noise cancellation or adaptive transparency (those features are available with the $399 second-generation AirPods Pro).
Samsung’s cheapest earbuds
Samsung’s range of earbuds are called the Galaxy Buds (Pro, Live and normal Buds). Of the Buds being sold by Samsung at the time of writing, the cheapest pair is the Galaxy Buds 2, priced at $219 and available in four colours. The Galaxy Buds Live cost $249, and the Galaxy Buds 2 Pro cost $349 (discounted to $299 at the time of writing). The Galaxy Buds 2 come with active noise cancelling and ‘ambient sound’, which filters out unnecessary sounds while letting through louder noises around you (like transparency mode on other earbuds). Additionally, the cheap earbuds offer five hours of active playtime (or seven with noise cancelling off), with the case offering an additional 20 hours.
Google’s budget wireless earbuds
Google’s range of earbuds is a little different to Samsung and Apple. The search engine giant offers the Pixel Buds A-Series as a cheap option, priced at $159. This is almost half the price of the Pixel Buds Pro, which are priced at $299. Available in black or white, the A-Series buds don’t come with noise cancelling or a transparency mode. You’ll get five hours of battery life out of the A-Series buds, with an additional 24 hours with case power.
Oppo’s budget wireless earbuds
Last on our list is Oppo, which has nine different models of wireless earbuds available for purchase. The cheapest of those wireless earbuds is the Oppo Enco Wireless W12 earphones (at $49), boasting 24 hours of playtime with the case recharging the buds. There’s no noise cancellation or transparency, but those features are available on Oppo’s high-end Enco X buds ($299). Different models across the Oppo lineup cost $149, $169, $199 and $249.
Do I need to buy earbuds that match my phone?
No, you don’t need to buy earbuds that are made by the same company that made your phone. You can largely use any wireless earbuds with any major phone, unless specified otherwise.
However, you’ll often get a better experience with your headphones if they match your phone. The digital ecosystems that companies build tend to favour the tech created specifically for them, and will usually include more settings or extra features (such as the battery life widget for Google devices on Pixel phones).
Whatever you’re shopping for though, keep your budget in mind. Wireless earbuds are great, but you don’t need to overspend, this list is a good example of that.