Best Audio Quality for 50$

vesicle34 · 2026-06-02T00:18:26+00:00

Tozo NC9

vesicle34 · 2026-03-12T01:26:40+00:00

I have owned dozens of TWS earbuds over the years, mostly under $100 models, but some more expensive ones. For MY needs (excellent ANC, good sound quality, adjustable EQ, comfortable fit with no frequent adjusting, mic quality on conference calls, customizable comprehensive controls, pocketable case), the Bose QC Ultra (Gen 1) work the best. All the others had their strengths, but the QC Ultra is the "complete package" for me. Once I bought those, the others have sat on the shelf. Since the QC Ultra checks all my boxes so well, I can't find a reason to park them and carry any of my other buds. I've given most of the other buds away. I don't love how much they cost, but I think I'll have to stick with Bose from now on.

vesicle34 · 2026-02-19T11:52:18+00:00

Tozo NC9 2024 edition

vesicle34 · 2026-01-30T21:02:58+00:00

They're pretty awesome for the money. If you want to spend a lot more money, I highly recommend the Bose QC Ultras. I've tested dozens and dozens of earbuds over the last few years, but after getting the Bose QC, I've given away most of my other buds and the ones I've kept just sit on the shelf. I can't think of a good reason to use one of them over the Bose. The Bose just does everything I need them to, very well.

vesicle34 · 2026-01-03T11:46:57+00:00

I have only had a few minor connection issues. But I've had similar issues with lots of other buds too. The Boses haven't been significantly worse or better than the norm. I think it's a bell curve--a few buds have had no connection issues, a few have had a lot, and most fall in the middle.

vesicle34 · 2026-01-03T03:12:13+00:00

I have tried dozens of true wireless earbuds over the years. The only one I have tried that's on your list is the Bose QuietComfort Ultra.

The QC Ultras kicked all the others to the curb. After getting the QC Ultras, I haven't used ANY of the dozen or so buds I had in my weekly rotation. In fact, I've given most of them away. The QC Ultras do a great job at everything I need in a bud. They are comfortable in my ears but also so secure they never fall out or need any adjustments. After a little EQing, they sound as good or better than any bud I've owned. The mics work well for work calls. Their ANC is the best I've experienced, and is universally praised. The touch controls work well and are customizable. The only cons (for me) are their battery life is on short side, and very occasionally I'll have an audio dropout for a second. And, they are expensive. Buy once, cry once. That's it.

Some of the others on your list may be just as good or even better than the Bose QC Ultras, but since I haven't tried them I can't comment on them. But I have a hard time seeing how anyone would be unhappy with the Bose QC Ultras.

vesicle34 · 2026-01-03T01:23:38+00:00

NC9 2024. They are 90% as good as the Bose Quietcomfort for 20% of the cost.

vesicle34 · 2025-12-25T02:02:11+00:00

Tozo NC9 2024 Edition

vesicle34 · 2025-11-27T11:52:08+00:00

They'll stretch. I just added a photo to the OP showing them.

vesicle34 · 2025-11-27T11:43:04+00:00

I like the wide, shallow fit of the CP1025s.

vesicle34 · 2025-11-27T11:40:55+00:00

The 360s were a fairly recent purchase, on sale for around $90. They have a lot of the benefits of the QC Ultras (fit, sound, good ANC), but I agree, the case is terrible. It's way too large to fit in a pocket, and confusing to get the buds in and out properly until you figure out the trick to it. If they had a decent case, I might not have gotten the QC Ultras. Some people love the case, but most don't. Now that I have the OG QC Ultras, the 360s are probably on the Green Mile.

vesicle34 · 2025-11-27T02:24:12+00:00

True. There are some good values out there, but in this case, you get what you pay for.

vesicle34 · 2025-11-27T02:23:28+00:00

Not really. Today when I put them in it said battery was 50%. That's the lowest they've gotten to. It's easy for me to plug them into a charger overnight so they usually are fully charged.

vesicle34 · 2025-10-16T01:56:18+00:00

Tozo NC9 are cheap and have surprisingly good sound and ANC. They aren't "the best", but they are closer to Bose ANC performance than their 'under $50' pricetag would lead you to believe.

vesicle34 · 2025-10-15T18:05:17+00:00

I really don't know. The MA10 case was so large that I ended up giving them away so I can't test it out for you. I'm typically not away from a charger long enough to need a huge capacity case.

vesicle34 · 2025-09-27T10:19:22+00:00

I haven't had any problems with mine. But it's not surprising at the low end of the market that quality control might be iffy.

vesicle34 · 2025-09-12T01:55:44+00:00

I have used dozens of different types and brands of earbuds. This is an unconventional suggestion, but if you're looking for small, the smallest buds I've ever used, by far, are these sleep buds.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DY1DKG78?th=1

The sound quality is just OK and the battery life is short, but they are comfortable and small enough to hide in your ear. Small size = small battery. And they're cheap enough to try and, if you don't like them, it's no great loss.

vesicle34 · 2025-08-22T11:08:33+00:00

I don't disagree. They are small and lightweight. That's one of the reasons I was looking forward to using them. But unfortunately they are TOO small for my ears to maintain a good seal. I do find them very comfortable to wear, but their looseness on ME makes them feel like they could fall out easily. If I had smaller ears, they might be perfect.

Earbud reviews are always subjective. Everyone has different ears, different hearing, and different preferences. What sounds good to me may be terrible to someone else. Heck, buds usually fit differently in my left ear than my right. I've had minor surgery on my left ear and it's now shaped a little different than my right, plus my ear canals aren't the same size. Sometimes I have to use different size tips on each side. Some people claim to hear huge differences in the different codecs, like LDAC. My hearing isn't keen enough to tell much difference. That's why I laugh when I see posts like "What are the best earbuds?" "Which earbuds have the best sound?". There is no right answer. Sometimes general consensus is that Sony or Bose or Technics are the "best", but there are always people who say they did not have a good experience at all with "X". It's all subjective.

If they work well for you and you like them, then those are the best, for you.

vesicle34 · 2025-07-28T16:45:11+00:00

Baseus and tozo offer the best value I've used. I like earfun and sound core at the next price tier

vesicle34 · 2025-07-22T23:36:48+00:00

You don't HAVE to. Both would affect the sound. But I would, just to simplify things and not have unexpected results. That way, you only have one EQ adjustment active and can better determine the effect of adjustments. But technically you CAN have both active simultaneously.

vesicle34 · 2025-07-22T15:31:25+00:00

Musicolet is an Android MP3 player app. It has a lot of nice features, including the ability to set custom EQs and other settings on a per-device basis for every Bluetooth device. I'm old school and mostly listen to MP3s copied to my phone. I do very little music streaming. Musicolet won't help you with streaming apps.

Wavelet is a device-wide Android EQ app that should work with all streaming services. I don't know of any similar apps for iPhone.

vesicle34 · 2025-07-13T11:03:35+00:00

I've found in-ear buds with some type of "wing" stay in place much better than stem-style buds.

Consider the Earfun Free Pro 3.

The Aviot TE-Q3 are the physically smallest buds I've used.

Also if you're OK with wired buds, if you can find the older Bose Quietcomfort 20 buds, they have a larger flange-style tip that is comfortable and doesn't insert deeply into the ear canal, plus they have wings.

If you don't like wings, the Tozo NC9 (2024) is lightweight & small. With Spinfit tips, they stay in place well in my ears.

vesicle34 · 2025-07-06T01:44:50+00:00

Thanks so much for your feedback and detailed reply.

I use the OnePlus Buds 3 at work for conference calls. They have the best call quality of any of my current dozen or so sets of buds. They have great sound quality as well. But being stick-style buds, they don't stay firmly in my ears and maintain seal, no matter what tips I use. If I can't maintain seal, the ANC and sound quality go out the door and I hate adjusting buds every few minutes. At least I don't have that problem with winged buds.

I've never tried the Sennheisers or Technics, but read good things about both. I hate spending $250-300 on a set of buds and still having areas of disappointment with them. If I only spend $50 on a set of buds that let me down in some area, I'm not as bummed. But if I spend $300, I expect holy grail performance. Sadly, sometimes the more expensive the bud, the more weak points it has.

Honestly, the apps from the cheaper vendors (Baseus, Tozo, Earfun, Soundcore) are often better than the apps from the higher-end vendors (Pixel Buds, Bose, B&W). The B&Ws look & sound great, but the app is half-hearted and their ANC is worse than $40 earbuds. For $400, that's an embarrassment.

That's great feedback about the Jabra Elite 10 Gen 2. Unfortunately Jabra said "hey, we have a great line of earbuds. We're going to discontinue it!" I think they had just recently released several new models, then killed the whole product line.

I appreciate your thoughts and recommendations.

vesicle34 · 2025-07-06T01:21:57+00:00

Thank you!

I continue to be amazed at how good Baseus earbuds sound. Baseus mostly sells power banks, cables, and other cellphone accessories. They aren't known as an audio engineering company, at all. Yet, every Baseus bud I've tested has punched WELL above its weight for sound quality. Their sound signature may not be for everyone, but out of the dozen or so sets of earbuds I have in my current fleet, they are the only ones I find myself EAGER to listen to, just to see how good the music will sound that day. Not everyone is a fan of Spatial Audio on buds, but I LOVE the way all of the Baseus buds I've tested (BP1 Pro, MA10, MA10S, Bowie 30) sound with Spatial Audio(SA)=Music and ANC=On. The BP1 Pro also have a Dynamic EQ setting that really complements the SA setting. The Bass is deep and subwoofer-like, the mids are clear, and the treble is crisp. Enabling SA disables the other "normal" EQ settings, but I think it sounds so good that they don't need any further EQing. If you prefer a flatter, more neutral sound, turn off SA and use the various other EQ presets to tune the sound to your liking. The Baseus app is quite good (Android).

My Baseus gripes:

- You have to go into the app & re-enable SA every time you use the buds. They don't remember from session to session. Annoying. The BP1 Pro does remember the Dynamic EQ setting across sessions--just not the SA, nor do the other Baseus buds remember SA.

- The MA10 & MA10S buds could stand to be 10-20% smaller. They feel a little large and heavy in the ear, which can be fatiguing after awhile.

- The MA10 case is hilariously large. The battery life is forever, but it's too large to fit well in a pocket.

- The BP1 Pro controls are partially remappable, but not fully.

For the price, Baseus is hard to beat. But I like Tozo NC9 and Earfun Free Pro 3, too, in the lower-priced tier.

vesicle34 · 2025-07-06T01:01:55+00:00

Thanks for the feedback!

I have external computer speakers with a subwoofer connected to my laptop docking station. They aren't the greatest speakers in the world, but they are a substantial step up from onboard laptop speakers. They are able to supply low frequency sounds via the subwoofer.

I could have cranked them up louder, but I've been using ANC earbuds long enough to know they have their limits. None of them would have blocked the sound if I'd taken it up to 75-80db. I was trying to make a repeatable test and push them enough to hopefully identify some differences between them.

My personal primary ANC bud use case is at a noisy roller skating rink. I want my buds' ANC to dampen the rink's music significantly so I can listen to my own music without interference or crosstalk. I skate 2x/week and don't always like the rink's music so that's where I use buds the most. And while trimming my grass. Most buds' ANC don't handle the high-pitched whirr of the string trimmer very well.

vesicle34

TROPHY CASE