Best Budget Wireless Earbuds 2021

If you want active noise cancelling wireless earbuds without breaking the bank then you’ve come to the right place.

Enacfire has done a great job with the A9, which are readily available for under £50, undercutting rivals. And said noise cancelling is decent along with good sound quality, useful touch controls, solid battery life and a comfortable fit.

That’s a lot of boxes to tick at this price and really the only downsides are the average ambient mode and that fact you can only buy the headphones in black.

Spend a little more on Anker or Huawei if you can but these won’t disappoint if you’re on a tighter budget

Read our full Enacfire A9 Wireless Earbuds review

If you’re not on a really tight budget then you’ll really struggle to find better wireless earbuds for this kind of money.

They might have a slightly cheap-feeling case and no auto-pausing tech but those downsides are massively overshadowed by great performance and a surprisingly comprehensive feature set.

As well as powerful bass, the A2 buds have excellent noise cancelling with three presets for different environments and the app offers EQ sound customisation. Throw in touch controls and solid battery life and there’s very little to dislike.

These are the best budget noise cancelling wireless earbuds you can get.

Read our full Anker Soundcore Life A2 NC review

Xiaomi has done a great job with its latest wireless earbuds, offering premium features that you will struggle to find elsewhere.

Not only do they have active noise cancelling, but they have wireless charging and ear detection as standard. Add solid audio, battery life and dual-device connectivity and the Redmi Buds 3 Pro are a top-notch option.

Sure, there are no volume controls but that’s fairly standard and some ANC modes are exclusive to Xiaomi devices but they are still a great budget option.

Read our full Xiaomi Redmi Buds 3 Pro review

Coming in at a tiny price is the Xiaomi Redmi AirDots. These cheap and very cheerful buds are a real steal, with a simple aesthetic, great audio, and a cool case that belies their humble cost.

You get Bluetooth 5.0, IPX4 waterproofing, four hours of battery life per charge, good microphone performances on calls, and Google Assistant/Sir compatibility.

If you are on a very tight budget, your money is well spent on these.

Read our full Xiaomi Redmi AirDots review

At the top end of the budget market, the Pixel Buds A have some omissions that might make you look elsewhere. Mainly the lack of noise cancelling and limited battery life of the buds on their own, although fast charging helps here.

However, Google’s cheapest earbuds will appeal to those looking for something a little different to rivals. While they are comfortable and offer good sound quality, it is the smart features that make them stand out.

The Google Assistant is built-in, there’s ear detection, Fast Pair, Adaptive Sound, real-time translation and more.

Read our full Google Pixel Buds A-Series review

Although they are a chunk more expensive than the previous model, the Buds Z2 are a huge improvement and well worth considering if you have enough budget. They are still very comfortable and the app offers a fit test.

They are better with OnePlus phones though as features like Dolby Atmos and low-latency are exclusive. Still, there are lots of smart features available regardless such as Fast Pair, multi-device connectivity, wear detection and customisable touch controls.

Furthermore, sound quality and ANC are both great and battery life can be long if you don’t use noise cancelling too much.

Read our full OnePlus Buds Z2 review

Huawei has improved its budget wireless earbuds once again and they are close to being the best you can get with ANC.

The noise cancelling is good and the sound quality is top-notch as well. You’ll also benefit from solid battery life with up to 10 hours from the earbuds alone. The case has quick charging but can’t top the buds up many times.

While the buds are comfortable the case design is awkward and the touch controls are limited, too.

Although you don’t need the AI Life app for much, getting it from the App Gallery is a pain if you don’t have a Huawei phone so the FreeBuds 4i aren’t a no brainer, especially with Anker’s at the same price.

Read our full Huawei FreeBuds 4i review

One of the cheapest on this list, the Bilikay HBQ-Q67 are a fantastic option for those who don’t want lots of frills but just good-sounding earbuds for very little money.

The lightweight plastic construction makes them comfortable to wear for long periods, and you’ll get around four hours per charge. 

The charging case is cylindrical and doubles as a power bank with which you can top up your phone, plus it’s also quite a fun design that manages to stand out from the crowd.

You’ll have to forego waterproofing, and the microphones are a little disappointing, but for the price these are superb value. 

Read our full Bilikay HBQ-Q67 review

There’s tough competition at the higher end of the budget earbud market and you can do better if ANC is high up your wish list.

However, the Apollo Air+ offer great sound quality and the noise cancelling does have different modes. With decent battery life and some features like ear detection you don’t often get without spending more, they are worth a look.

We also like the reliable touch controls and the buds are IP45 water resistant, too.

Read our full Tronsmart Apollo Air+ review

Another Xiaomi offering is the Apple AirPods-style Mi True Wireless Earphones. These are at the higher-end of the budget scale, but they deliver great sound and use touch-sensitive buttons on the outside of the buds to make controlling the various features quick, and easy on the ears. 

Removing one while audio is playing will automatically pause the playback, and the ‘beamforming and +ENC technology’ Xiaomi employs in the microphones means that telephone conversations are clear and crisp. IPX4 waterproofing allows you to wear them in the rain, and the fast recharge time ensures you’ll never have to pause too long between albums. 

The only real downside is the patchy video/audio syncing when watching video, but if music or podcasts are what you listen to then the Mi True Wireless Earphones are a fine choice. 

Read our full Xiaomi Mi True Wireless Earphones review