Sony, Apple, Bose and many other big brands offer some of the best noise cancelling headphones and earbuds in the market. One problem with these brands is that they put a price premium on their products, so not a lot of people can afford them. Thankfully, noise cancelling technology has advanced to the point where many other brands can now offer good to excellent performing ANC headphones and earbuds at budget-friendly prices. Below, we list our top picks for the best budget noise cancelling headphones and earbuds that you can buy today.
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Best Budget Noise Cancelling Headphones Comparison Chart
Soundcore by Anker Life Q35
Best budget noise cancelling headphones

When it comes to value for money ANC headphones, there’s nothing that can beat the Soundcore by Anker Life Q35. Apart from having active noise cancelling, the Life Q35 is feature-packed, with features such as LDAC codec support, EQ presets, AI-enhanced calls and multi-mode noise cancelling. You’ll definitely be getting your money’s worth with this pair of headphones.
As for sound quality, you’ll get a bass-heavy sound signature, but with enough clarity in the mids and highs that the overall sound is still pleasant to listen to. If you don’t like the sound out-of-the-box, you can always tweak it inside the companion app. Noise cancelling is very good here. While it won’t match the performance of premium headphones, we daresay that it’s 75-90% of the way there.
Battery life is decent—giving you up to 40hours of playtime when fully charged. Add to that, you can charge the headphones for 5 minutes and this gives you 4 hours of playback. You can get the Soundcore by Anker Life Q35 in black, blue and pink colorways.
JLab Audio Studio ANC
Best budget on-ear noise cancelling headphones

There’s not a lot of on-ear noise cancelling headphones because they are just not as good as over-ear headphones and in-ear buds when it comes to ANC performance. There are still a few out there in the wild, and for the best budget, our pick is the JLab Audio Studio ANC. It won’t perform as good as other over-ear headphones and in-ear buds in its price range, but if you really want a pair of headphones with an on-ear form factor, then this is the best that you can get.
The sound quality of the JLab Audio Studio ANC is great for casual listening since it has a consumer-friendly sound signature, e.g., bass-heavy. This is expected as it is a very budget-oriented pair of headphones. Active noise cancellation is decent as well, especially considering that it is an on-ear pair.
Battery life of the JLab Audio Studio is around 28 hours when fully charged, and this is with ANC enabled. It also has an AUX port, so you can still listen to your favorite tunes even when the battery is drained.
Samsung Galaxy Buds 2
Best budget noise cancelling TWS earbuds

If you’re looking for a pair of ANC earbuds with a budget-friendly price, the
The
You can enjoy music to up to five hours with ANC enabled, and up to seven hours without. You can get the Galaxy Buds 2 in graphite, white, lavender and olive green colors.
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Soundcore by Anker Life Q20
Best budget noise cancelling headphones under $100

In the under $100 category, our pick is the Soundcore by Anker Life Q20. This is the second Soundcore by Anker headphones on the list, and this speaks to the brand’s quality and performance when it comes to budget-friendly headphones.
The Soundcore by Anker Life Q20 is a decently-built pair of over-ear ANC headphones with just the right amount of features to justify its budget-friendly price. It excels in cancelling chatter, so it’s great for when you’re in the office, on a plane or any place where ambient chatter is the main source of noise. It also works well in cancelling low rumbling noise, but admittedly, it’s not the best in this area.
As for the sound, you’ll get plenty of bass, perhaps, too much. The sound signature is very bass-oriented, with the midrange and treble range recessed. As a result, the overall sound is a bit too warm and veiled. Clarity is not its strong suit, so it’s best for bass-centric genres. Battery life is around 30 hours, so there’s plenty of juice for all-day listening.
Edifier W240TN
Best budget noise cancelling TWS earbuds under $100

Sound quality is not the Edifier W240TN’s strongest suite. Don’t get us wrong, it still sounds decent, but there are better sounding earbuds out there. What it excels in is its active noise cancellation. For the price, it can rival some of the more premium ANC earbuds from Sony, Apple and Bose, so it earned the spot for the best ANC earbuds under $100.
As already mentioned, sound quality is not the best. To best describe it, the sound is a bit on the dark and warm side. The treble range is recessed, so there’s no sparkle in the highs resulting in lack of clarity. What you’ll get is plenty of bass and low end punch. This is acceptable if you mostly listen to EDM, hip-hop and other bass-centered genres. But if you listen to many types of music, you might not like its sound out-of-the-box. Fortunately, there’s EQ in the app, however, it’s quite limited.
The Edifier W240TN buds can last up to eight hours with ANC disable and up to seven hours when ANC is active. You can get it in black, blue and white colors.
Verdict
The Soundcore by Anker Life Q35 and
Soundcore by Anker Life Q35

Samsung Galaxy Buds 2

To summarize, the Soundcore by Anker Life Q35 is the best value for money noise cancelling over-ear headphones while the
Rounding out our list of the best budget noise cancelling headphones are the JLab Audio Studio ANC as the best on-ear, the Soundcore by Anker Life Q20 as the best over-ear under $100 and the Edifier W240TN as the best TWS earbuds under $100.
FAQs
For over-ear headphones, the Soundcore by Anker Life Q35 is hard to beat. For TWS earbuds, the
If you are easily distracted by ambient noise, noise cancelling headphones are definitely worth buying. They are also excellent for protecting your hearing and listening to your music without outside interference.
Yes, you can wear your noise cancelling headphones all day, as long as they don’t provide discomfort.
Unfortunately, noise cancelling does not block out all noise. You’ll still be able to hear higher pitched sound. Noise cancelling is good at reducing low frequency ambient noise.