The Best headphones under $100 are harder to find than you might think. Here at WIRED, it’s part of our job to listen to music all day, often on exceedingly fancy and bonkers-expensive models. We have playlists for testing bass, for assessing detail, for dance parties—we get way into it. But believe it or not, we like testing the cheap stuff just as much. It’s like a treasure hunt to find the ones that pack in the most tech for the money. And they’re getting better and better every year. 

That doesn’t mean our work is done; etailers are still overflowing with cheap headphones that sound cheap, so we’ll keep listening and updating our picks every few months. While you’re looking for the next great pair, be sure to check out our many other buying guides, including the Best Wireless Headphones, Best Wireless Workout Headphones, and Best Phones With a Headphone Jack.

Updated November 2022. We’ve added the Audio-Technica ATH-M20xBT and JLab Go Air Pop.

Special offer for Gear readers: Get a 1-year subscription to WIRED for $5 ($25 off). This includes unlimited access to WIRED.com and our print magazine (if you’d like). Subscriptions help fund the work we do every day.

If you buy something using links in our stories, we may earn a commission. This helps support our journalism. Learn more. Please also consider subscribing to WIRED

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You May Also Like

Ape-solutely adorable! Watch the incredible moment a baby gorilla is born at a Texas zoo via a rare emergency C-section

Human doctors stepped in to perform a rare emergency C-section on a…

Elon Musk Testifies in Court Over His Multibillion-Dollar Tesla Pay Deal

.css-j6808u{margin-left:10px;margin-right:10px;} .css-1elqs3z-Box{margin-bottom:var(–spacing-spacer-4);display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;} .css-1xk85qb-BreadcrumbsWrapper{font-size:var(–typography-summary-font-size-s);font-family:var(–font-font-stack-retina-narrow);font-weight:var(–typography-summary-standard-s-font-weight);text-transform:uppercase;}@media print{.css-1xk85qb-BreadcrumbsWrapper nav ul{margin-left:0px;}.css-1xk85qb-BreadcrumbsWrapper nav li{font-size:var(–typography-summary-font-size-s);padding-left:0px;color:var(–secondary-text-color);}.css-1xk85qb-BreadcrumbsWrapper nav li a:after{content:”;}.css-1xk85qb-BreadcrumbsWrapper a{-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;color:var(–color-black);border-bottom:none;}.css-1xk85qb-BreadcrumbsWrapper…

This Brain-Controlled Robotic Arm Can Twist, Grasp—and Feel

The brain is bidirectional: It takes information in while also sending signals…

Uber’s Freight Unit to Buy Logistics Tech Firm Transplace for $2.25 Billion

An Uber self-driving ride-hailing car and a self-driving freight truck, shown in…