on a piece of technology that has no screens

has maybe a couple of LED lights

and will, without doubt,

fall out of your ears at least once

and tumbled down the sidewalk is hard.

And although I use wireless earbuds everyday now,

for years I used a $30 pair of wired earbuds,

and I got used to paying that price

to listen to my music on the go.

So even with the large advancements

in wireless earbuds tech,

I still have trouble justifying the large price tags

that a lot of these earbuds have.

The good news is the market is huge now,

and there are tons of options

for budget-friendly wireless earbuds.

So these are my picks for the best wireless earbuds

under a hundred bucks.

Let's get into it.

(funky music)

A good wireless earbud has to check four boxes for me,

they have to have good sound quality,

solid Bluetooth connection,

a comfortable fit without being too large

and enough battery life

for at least four hours of continuous listening.

And a good mic is a huge plus,

but I also understand that not everybody

talks on the phone as much as I do.

It's like awesome, I love talking on the phone.

Anywho, also keep in mind

that in the under a hundred dollars range,

there's a few features that

you're just unlikely to find like active noise cancellation,

wirelessly charging cases

or being able to connect to multiple devices at once.

Now, there are countless wireless earbuds online

from companies that you've never heard of.

So from my research,

I stuck to known brands

that have established customer service operations.

And in my research,

I've been testing the following buds.

Mic test.

Okay, first off we have the $60 Skullcandy's Sesh Evo.

Skullcandy's $80 Indy Evos.

The $50 OnePlus Buds Z

which many of you have been asking for a review of.

The $40, 1MORE PistonBuds

The $70 JBL 215TWSs,

and last but not least be a hundred dollars

JLab Epic ANC Airs,

Epic Airs ANC.

Yes, Epic Air ANCs.

Please keep in mind that these are the regular prices

for all of these buds,

but buds are constantly on sale.

If you're looking to get a pair of these,

shop it out and you could probably find them cheaper.

(upbeat music)

I started my testing by initially wearing

each of these earbuds for at least one battery pass.

Just to get a sense of pairing,

their controls, their battery life

and how comfortable they are.

Then I kept all of them in a pile on my desk.

And every morning I would see

what I would naturally choose to wear the most and when

and well, very quickly

the bud that I ended up using the most

and my pick for the best wireless earbud

under a hundred dollars, is the OnePlus Buds Z.

I choose you.

(upbeat music)

For $50 the Bud Z pegged great sound quality

without a bulky, cheap feeling design.

And out of all of the earbuds I tried,

I can wear these the absolute longest

without feeling discomfort in my ears.

The 10 millimeter drivers deliver a full sound

with decent separation of highs and lows,

but above all else, a kick in bass.

Electronic and pop music

definitely sounds the best on these,

where lows really shine.

And of course, buds,

I made a playlist of all the songs I've been listening to

while testing these,

it's been a weird month.

So it's a little bit of a weird playlist,

I hope you will be enjoy it.

There's also IP55 water resistance

and the silicone ear tip blocks out enough noise

to be able to hear my music clearly,

even on the subway,

but even with music playing,

I could still hear the world around me,

like the sound of my keyboard while I work

or the faucet running while I wash my hands.

These also allow you to use either bud independently

and there is an in ear sensor

that pauses your media when you take it out

and it resumes it when you pop it back in,

which is a very welcomed,

considered there's no ambient mode with these earbuds.

Also their case can quick charge earbuds,

it can get you three hours of music playback

with only 10 minutes in the case.

And this case is super small light

and easy to fit in a pocket.

I just wish that it had wireless charging.

Now these buds, they sound really great.

They have a solid mic

and they come with some premium features

like in ear detection,

but the Bud Zs lack a lot of the touch controls

I've become used to with other devices

leading me to take out my phone far more often

to skip tracks or adjust volume.

And if you don't own a OnePlus device,

you'll have to download the HeyMelody app

for firmware updates

and to change the double tap controls,

which is the only control they have.

If having all of the controls at the tip of your fingertips

is important to you.

And maybe you want a little bit more of a secure fit,

well, the pair of headphones

I ended up using the second most

were these buds, the Skullcandy Indy Evos.

(gentle music)

At $80, the Skullcandy Indy Evos,

are the loudest most secure-fitting buds I tested.

And although their six millimeter drivers

they don't have the same level of plunge

as the Bud Zs or JBLs Tune 215TWSs.

If you find you're the kind of person

that constantly has your headphone volume all the way up,

well, maybe clean out your ears,

but also grab a pair of the Indy Evos.

They are by far the loudest wireless earbud I have tested

and although the sound can get a little mushy

at such high volume levels,

man, they can really kick

and they can also be used independently of each other.

My favorite thing about them though,

it's the fit and their controls.

Buds look at this list of controls.

I mean, it is massive,

from adjusting volume to skipping tracks,

to turning on the ambient mode.

You can do pretty much anything you would need to do

with the tap or hold of a finger.

And although it took me a bit longer to get used to

all of these controls,

I was really happy to have them once I did.

I don't love pulling out my phone when I'm on walks,

listening to music or podcasts

and man with a touch of a finger,

you can do so much on these headphones.

Okay, and then there's the fit.

I mean, these are very in your ears

with this top fin and the silicone ear tip,

I mean, once these are seated in your ears,

they aren't going anywhere.

Now, I like to have my friends test out headphones for me

just so I can get a second opinion.

And a lot of my friends

who typically don't wear wireless earbuds

well, I found them picking these as their favorite.

And I think it has to do with

how secure they felt in their ears.

When you first get wireless earbuds,

there's this like huge fear of them falling out of your ears

or you losing them.

But with the way these fit in my ears at least

that fear is completely diminished.

(upbeat music)

Okay, so the Bud Z and Skullcandy's Indy EVOs

are great picks for most people.

But for those of you out there

who want the absolute most features

for under a hundred dollars,

well for you guys,

my bang for your buck pick is the JLab Epic ANC Airs.

No, it's the JLab Epic Airs ANC.

Woo, these names.

(gentle music)

At $99, the Epic Airs are at the top

of that a hundred dollar budget,

but feature a wireless charging case,

active noise cancellation,

hella touch controls,

and a long battery life with decent sound,

their biggest downfall though.

It's its bulky case.

I appreciate a unique case,

but this thing is a,

it's a bit wonky.

Yeah, there's a lot going on here.

It is the only case I tested that wirelessly charges,

but the top folding bit is this sort of leather

and this USB A cable,

I mean, number one,

the headphones don't even come with a brick in the box.

Number two, whew, this is like really dated.

And although this design was convenient,

maybe even two years ago,

it just seems really old now.

The case does hold 36 hours of additional battery though,

add that to the 12 hours of battery life

the Air's already have,

that's with ANC turned off

and eight hours with ANC turned on

and well, these are the only buds I tested

that I truly had trouble draining the battery off,

and there is active noise cancellation.

Now that active noise cancellation

is a lot like the ANC

that I found with the Galaxy Buds Live,

it cancels out the high pitches and the lower frequencies

that, you know, just are abundant in life,

but it doesn't cancel out everything.

(gentle music)

The Epic Airs do come with the most amount of ear tips,

for getting that perfect fit and seal,

including a cloud foam tip,

which is basically the same materials in earplug.

It expands in your ear to create a unique seal.

And it is very comfortable for long listening sessions.

The eight millimeter drivers create a really full sound,

but without adjusting the EQ settings in Epic Airs app,

the bass is a bit flat.

And even with the bass turned all the way up,

I found myself wanting a bit more,

but overall, the difference in sound quality

between these and OnePlus Buds Z is hard to find.

These weren't my top pick

because this case is just a bit big

for carrying around in your pocket

and this USB A cord, I don't love this.

But for $99, there is truly a lot to love about these buds.

(gentle music)

So after countless weeks of testing,

it all comes down to this

and the $50 OnePlus Buds Z,

they sound great, they're really comfortable.

And they come in a super slim case.

And although I wish that they wirelessly charged

and maybe had a little bit longer battery life,

I really think they are the best pick for most people

and will truly make you feel free

in the cord cutting future.

I also think that if you're buying wireless earbuds

for the very first time,

it's a good idea to spend less money.

I mean, earbuds might not feel good in your ears.