How cheap?

Budget active noise-canceling headphones tend to range in price from $50 to $100. The question you’ll have to ask yourself is whether you’re looking for the cheapest ANC headphones, or are you willing to spend closer to $100? There usually is a significant difference between a set of ANC cans that cost $50 to $60 and ones that cost $80 to $100, particularly when it comes to build quality. If you’re looking for a step-up in audio performance, your best bet is to stick to the higher end of a budget price range.

Design

Budget headphones tend to be a little bulkier than more premium models and can also look and feel a little, well, cheap. All our picks on this list offer a reasonably good design (at a minimum), but some are more appealing than others. Finding a design that’s appealing to you is obviously important.

Fit

It’s key that the headphones you buy fit your head well. The key to good noise canceling headphones is the fit of the ear cups around your head, so the best pair should offer a comfortable fit that’s snug, yet not too snug. Ideally, you want headphones you can wear over a day with minimal breaks. Budget headphones can offer a comfortable fit, but more premium headphones tend to feature better memory foam and more ergonomic designs. 

Durability

You want headphones that hold up well over time, so look for models that we note have sturdy build quality. Even budget models can come equipped with excellent resiliency in several tougher conditions.

Maximize performance and features for your budget

You want the best-sounding headphones with the best noise canceling, call quality and features like wireless charging for whatever you’re able to spend. Be sure to pack in as many features as you think you’ll need when choosing a set of headphones, even on a budget.

Return policy

It’s critical to buy your headphones at a retailer that has a good return policy, in case you have buyer’s remorse. Some people who are having trouble deciding between two models sometimes buy both, try them out for a few days, and then return one.

We test budget noise-canceling headphones based on six key criteria: design, sound quality, noise-canceling performance, voice-calling performance, features and value. 

Design

We assess not only how comfortably the headphones fit (their ergonomics) but also their build quality and how well the controls are implemented. Only a few full-size headphones have water- and dust-resistance ratings, so those that are more durable are noted in this list.

Sound quality

We evaluate sound quality by listening to a set playlist of tracks from various music styles and comparing headphones to top competing products. Sonic traits such as bass definition, clarity, dynamic range and how natural the headphones sound are key factors in our assessment, especially as noise-canceling features can sometimes hinder audio production. If your biggest use case is listening to music, this factor will be a key determinant in choosing your new headphones.

Noise-canceling performance

Because each model on this list features Active Noise Canceling (ANC), we evaluate ANC performance by wearing the headphones in the same spot indoors near a noisy HVAC unit to see how well they do at muffling lower frequencies. Then we head out onto city streets to test the headphones in a real-world environment where we see how they do at muffling not only traffic noise but also people’s voices.

Additional features

Some great-sounding budget noise-canceling headphones aren’t loaded with features, but we do take into account what extra features are on board. These include everything from quick-access awareness with touch controls to transparency modes (your music pauses and the headphones open up to the outside world so you can have a conversation) to special sound modes to ear-detection sensors that automatically pause your music when you take the headphones off your ears. We also take a look at the companion/control app for the headphones (if there is one) and how user-friendly the app controls are.

Voice-calling

When we test voice-calling performance, we make calls on noisy city streets and evaluate how well the headphones or earbuds reduce background noise and how clearly callers can hear our voices.

Value

We determine value after considering the strength of the headphones against all these criteria and what they’re able to deliver compared with other models in their price class. Because the models on this list are priced similarly, we’re sure to compare each one head-to-head to deliver you the best value.

Edifier W830NB: The Edifier W830NB remain a good value noise-canceling headphone pick. They look slightly more premium than their predecessor, W820NB Plus, and and are fairly lightweight (265 grams) and comfortable, with cushy memory foam ear pads. They also sound very good for their price, offering decent clarity and fairly well-defined bass with an amply wide sound stage (they lack the refinement and depth of higher-end headphones, but you can’t expect the world from sub-$80 headphones). You can tweak the sound profile in Edifier’s companion app for iOS and Android.

QCY H3 Pro: QCY is another Chinese brand like Tribit, Earfun and plenty of others that make budget-priced headphones that sound better than you’d think they would for their relatively low price (the company says the Q stands for quality, C stands for creative and Y stands for youth). Its new-for-2024 H3 Pro headphones are similar to models in this price range from 1More, Tribit and Edifier, but they arguably sound a touch better and I found them relatively comfortable to wear, as they feature a lightweight design and memory foam ear pads.

1More SonoFlow: The design of 1More’s SonoFlow headphones reminds me a little of some earlier Sony headphones and also the newer Sennheiser Momentum Wireless 4. They’re a bit generic looking but sleek enough and more importantly, comfortable to wear. They also feature very respectable sound quality. It doesn’t quite measure up to the sound quality of what’ll get with more premium models like the Momentum Wireless 4, it isn’t that far off. The SonoFlow headphones deliver smooth sound with good clarity and relatively well-defined bass (they’re just not quite as rich or dynamic sounding as those premium models I mentioned). They also have support for the LDAC audio codec.

OneOdio A10: The OneOdio A10s deliver more than you’d expect for their relatively modest price. They’re not only built better than you think they would be for around $80 and are pretty comfortable to wear. They have a dual-hinge design and feel sturdy, weighing in at 395 grams. They sound surprisingly decent and have reasonably good noise canceling with a transparency mode (which has a slight audible hiss). No, they’re not as comfortable as Bose’s and Sony’s models (they do feel a tad heavy) and their sound lacks that extra bit of clarity, bass definition and depth that more premium headphones tend to deliver. They did exceed my expectations and come with a decent carrying case, even if the OneOdio logo splayed across it is a bit garish. 

JBL Tune 670NC: The JBL Tune 670NC is one of a relatively small number of on-ear headphones to offer active noise canceling. It’s something of a value model — no carrying case is included — but it does have memory foam ear pads that get you a comfortable fit for an on-ear headphone. Deliver clear sound with punch bass, it has 32mm drivers and improves on its predecessor’s battery life, offering up to a whopping 70 hours (or 44 hours with ANC on), and an extra three hours of battery with just five minutes of charge.