5 Earbuds Cheaper Than The Apple AirPods 5 Actually Worth Buying

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Apple recently released AirPods 5. These new earbuds feature an open-ear design with best-in-class ANC, solid battery life, and all the perks that come with AirPods, including the Find My network, instant pairing, Live Translation, and now support for Siri AI when connected to an Apple Intelligence-capable iPhone. In addition to that, Apple, which has recently raised prices for most of its products, actually continues to offer these earbuds at a very competitive price, around $129.99 to $149.99. Still, if these earbuds are out of your budget, or you're looking for something even more appealing, other options can be just as enticing and still worth buying, like the Beats Solo Buds, Samsung Galaxy Buds3 FE, or Soundcore Liberty 5.

These products were selected based on BGR's previous reviews and customer experience, so they not only offer a better price than Apple's AirPods 5 but also deliver great sound quality, strong battery life, and a few perks you might not find on Apple's counterpart. That said, BGR also believes AirPods 5 is one of the best wireless earbuds on the market today, especially given its competitive price. Still, if you're on the Android side, or you've lost too many earbuds over the years, there's nothing wrong with diversifying your options, as you might find your next favorite sound.

Released in 2024, Beats Solo Buds are the most affordable wireless earbuds in both Apple and Beats' portfolios. At the time, Beats said they wanted to offer the same Beats sound at a lower price, in a sleek design, as this is the company's smallest carrying case. With a similar look to the Beats Studio Buds, they come with four ear tip sizes and sit comfortably on your ears. In our review, we highlighted that the Beats Solo Buds also put the artist's voice in the spotlight, while instruments sound a bit more in the background. These earbuds offer clear sound and spatial audio, and while they don't feature ANC or Transparency, they still provide good passive noise isolation for listening to music.

The best thing about Beats Solo Buds is their up to 18 hours of use, one of the best battery lives in earbuds. The trade-off is that the case doesn't offer extra power, but users can still charge the earbuds with a USB-C cable. With a 5-minute charge, Beats says that users can get an hour of playback — and in just around an hour, you can get a full charge.

For $79.99, Beats Solo Buds are compatible with both iOS and Android devices. Android users, in particular, can unlock extra features with the Beats app, including an easier way to check and update the earbuds' firmware.

Anker offers more than just chargers. Its subbrand, Soundcore, specializes in audio, with several speakers, headphones, and earbuds. One of the best offerings available (and cheaper than AirPods 5) is the Soundcore Liberty 5, which delivers clear audio through its flagship-grade acoustic engineering and customizable software tools. It features 9.2mm wool-paper composite diaphragm drivers that deliver balanced high-fidelity sound, crisp trebles, and great bass. With support for LDAC coding and HearID personalized EQ, these earbuds calibrate hearing profiles via their companion app.

With up to 6.5 hours of listening per charge with ANC on, users can extend the experience to 28 hours with the charging case, which supports USB-C and wireless charging. A five-minute charge also adds four extra hours of playback. These earbuds feature IP55, dedicated AI processing to suppress background rumble, and offline voice command recognition for smaller tasks like skipping tracks or taking phone calls.

Compared to AirPods 5, the Soundcore Liberty 5 earbuds offer superior noise canceling for in-ear buds, which also means better low-end sound. Currently available for $89.99 on Soundcore's website, this product usually costs $129.99, the same as the cheapest AirPods 5 offering. Still, with these earbuds, you get high-fidelity sound, more battery on the earbuds and the case, wireless charging as a built-in option, and support for Hi-Res Audio wireless, something not available in current AirPods options.

Offering a similar range to the AirPods 5, the Samsung Galaxy Buds3 FE is a more affordable option for premium mobile audio. With 11mm dynamic drivers and Samsung's Seamless Codec (SSC), which streams 24-bit Hi-Fi sound, it delivers improved clarity, textured mids, and punchy low frequencies. As an FE device, these earbuds are built to last, offering up to 6 hours of continuous listening with ANC enabled and up to 8.5 hours with ANC off—plus 24 to 30 hours of total use with the charging case.

Since these earbuds are in-ear, they already seal out surrounding noises better than AirPods 5 would. Samsung Galaxy Buds3 FE also features a blade-stem design with pinch-and-swipe gesture controls, IP54 dust and splash resistance, and deep Galaxy AI integration. That means users can get real-time translation, quick access to conversational AI models, and seamless auto-switching across paired Samsung devices.

Like the Soundcore Liberty 5, the Galaxy Buds3 FE have an advantage over AirPods: an in-ear design, which helps if you really prefer passive noise canceling. These earbuds are also a great choice for anyone in the Samsung ecosystem, since everything works seamlessly. The Galaxy Buds3 FE are available for $119.99 on Amazon, which is slightly lower than AirPods 5, making them a more budget-friendly option while offering similar or better sound quality.

While Apple users might find the AirPods 5 cheap, the CMF Buds 2 actually stands out as an option that really disrupts the budget wireless audio segment. Costing $59 (usually $69), the cheapest option so far in this article, it features 12mm dynamic drivers constructed from Liquid Crystal Polymer and polyurethane diaphragms, producing expansive soundstages, detailed acoustics, and rich lower-frequency extensions. Like other options, these earbuds support the high-resolution LDAC codec, Ultra Bass Technology, and spatial audio modes tuned via the Nothing X app. With up to 14 hours of playback from the earbuds alone and up to 61.5 total hours when recharged via the carrying case with ANC deactivated, these earbuds check off most of the best features mentioned in this article. For example, a 10-minute fast charge delivers about 8.5 hours of listening.

Key features include up to 50dB Hybrid Smart Adaptive ANC, personalized hearing sound profiles, dual-connection multipoint pairing, and IP55 resistance for everyday wear. These earbuds also feature six external microphones with clear voice algorithms for wind-resistant phone calls or just record your next video to social media.

The CMF Buds 2 Plus are great options over Apple's AirPods due to their very competitive price point — almost half the AirPods price — a much longer battery life, and an in-ear design even though Apple is now offering the ability for AirPods users to customize the EQ of the earbuds, CMF Buds 2 Plus offer those capabilities for both iOS and Android users, in addition to high-bitrate codec support.

Last but not least, one of the cheapest options customers should consider over AirPods 5 is Apple's EarPods. Released over a decade ago, these wired earbuds have made a comeback in recent years among Generation Z and cost $19.00. With endless battery life—the famous plug-and-play —they offer great audio quality in quiet environments, with a balanced, natural sound signature, clear midrange vocals, crisp highs, and decent acoustics across music and podcasts. The design aims to minimize sound loss while maximizing output volume.

Users can get the headphone jack, Lightning, or USB-C version, and getting all three is still cheaper than any of the earbuds mentioned in this article. Some of the best things about Apple EarPods are the inline remote with tactile volume buttons and a physical microphone that provides near-zero latency and uncompressed, clean voice pickup for phone calls and virtual meetings. Since these earbuds are wired, users don't need to worry about wireless pairing, audio sync latency, or battery draining.

Apple EarPods are great for anyone who wants a bit of flair, great sound quality and an affordable option. The headphone jack and USB-C versions work with any product with these ports, even though you might need to go through a few settings to use USB-C EarPods with your MacBook.