The 5 best budget earbuds of 2025, tested by audio experts

The EarFun Air Pro 4 earbuds may not come from one of the more well-known audio brands, but they have some of the best battery life and noise cancellation we’ve experienced on any earbuds, not just those in the budget price range. That said, if active noise cancellation is essential but you’re still in the market for cheap earbuds, go for the EarFun Air Pro 4.

Frankly, these earbuds have no business offering as many features as they do while costing less than $100.

While it is possible to use them straight out of the box, with the app, these earbuds offer more, including five different levels of noise cancellation. While the differences between some modes were negligible, the “strong ANC” setting didn’t mess around (even if it did have the slightest detectable hiss without music), and the “wind noise cancellation” setting actually diminished the sound of a bathroom fan and hair dryer even more than the standard ANC. Basically, the noise cancellation worked and felt on par with headphones and earbuds that cost double their price. Plus, having different levels of ANC isn’t a common feature on cheaper or more expensive earbuds — neither the Apple AirPods line nor Bose QuietComfort lines offer these features.

Along with the impressive ANC, these earbuds fit comfortably, staying in place even during runs (which isn’t always a given for earbuds without stems). The battery life lasted an impressive amount of time, leaving us only recharging the case once after a week of regular use. A light indicator on the case also easily shows you how much juice you have left. While waiting for these earbuds to start showing their price point, we thought they might struggle with their multipoint connection, but they easily connected and switched between two devices, and toggled easily between two selected devices with the help of the app. Oh, and they sounded great, with the app offering a custom and preset equalizer (which is, again, very much not a given feature at this price point, or price points $50 higher).

So were there any downsides? The case was a little bulky, and the touch controls remained finicky, even after we got used to how they worked (but you can toggle them off). If EarFun switched to a button for on-ear controls instead, these might just be perfect earbuds, but as they stand at their price now, we’re really not complaining.

Without a doubt these are one of the best budget earbuds you can find.