Wireless earphones budget £100

I was in the same position, upped the budget a smidge and got some Sony Linkbuds S. And they're brilliant.

Clear, controlled, and powerful when they need to be. The sound cancelling isn't amazing, but it's fine for my purposes. And they fit better than anything else I've tried before. (Various Jabra, Creative, and Soundcore,)

Only negative is that the battery doesn't seem to last quite as long as some of my previous ones, but I'll happily take that for the fact everything else is brilliant!

I've been looking at refurbished Cambridge Audio earbuds on their eBay outlet. Well reviewed and half your budget.

I use a lot of these type of things currently 3 pairs of sonys and some samsung pros

Wcf500

Wcf700

Wcf 1000 xm5

And some galaxy buds pro that came with my s24 ultra

I use the wcf 500s most but the freebies are a close second

Bought the 700s because at the time the 500s didnt have multipoint connection ,i switch devices a lot ,but they do that now

The 700s lacked as much tactile control imo and i got used to the cheaper feel of the buttons on the 500s

The 1000s are just so expensive i darent leave the house with them and definiteley were not 200 quid better earphones

refurbished Cambridge Audio earbuds

I'm not sure I could get my head round the idea of other people's earwax........

I use Galaxy Bud Pros came with the phone, but fit is poor if moving around

One of my lads loves his Nothing ears, and they have a new model:

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2024/apr/18/nothing-ear-a-review-cheaper-smaller-longer-lasting-earbuds

Does she def want earbuds?  Everyone seems to have over-ear headphones at the moment.

Yep definitely earbuds

thanks all, should have said it’s to use with iOS. Mainly music and videos on her iPhone & ipad and occasionally calls.

Not too sure about going the refurb earbud route.

It's the Cambridge Audio eBay outlet so I don't imagine they come with second hand earwax.

I very much doubt the Cambridge ones will come with secondhand wax included. The description says Cambridge "Professionally inspected, cleaned and refurbished by the manufacturer or a manufacturer-approved vendor". I would guess they supply new tips.

Earfun are What HiFi approved and 1/4 of the budget. They sound great and if you lose or break them its less heartache.

www.amazon.co.uk/EarFun-Wireless-Bluetooth-Detection-Headphones-Matte-Black/dp/B088H7GMHZ

Anker P3i at 1/3rd budget, they really are very good.

Whilst on topic… what earbuds recommended for sport? I’ve got Cambridge Melomania which are great, but need a buff/headband to keep in place for running/cycling. My missies after many years of dissing running with earbuds has finally realised that 70km fell runs might be better with some sort of distraction... She’s out right this min with my earbuds and as it’s her birthday soon I thought I’d oblige.

For sports Shokz bone conductors, they are truly superb.

Soundcore are the obvious choice especially if you want noise cancellation so you don't deafen yourself on trains etc.

I upped the budget too and got Sony Linkbud S. I'm very happy with them

Anyone able to comment on how stuff at this budget compares to Sony XM4s? Mine have met a watery demise 🙄

My wf500s dont have noise cancellation but i wouldnt by any stretch of the imagination say my 1000s are 200 quid better sound quality

I’m on Anker Soundcore Liberty 2+ I think it is. Had the none plus version before and loved them - after 2 and a bit years of hammering one of them stopped reliably holding a charge. Bought the newer version and they do essentially the same thing - really decent bass and so far so good. You can run them with a ‘transparent’ mode that’s meant to let you hear stuff going on around you better but I find that’s crap when running or cycling as it seems to amplify wind noise. I just use them in normal mode and they’re great. Used mainly whilst commuting on the bike and on the turbo trainer so they seem to be sweat proof / unaffected by the rain.

I think the latest version (Liberty 3) might have proper sound cancellation now.

The wife and daughter have the Sony WF-C500 and WF-C700. They're pretty happy with them.

Another vote for Sony. I bought the WF-C500 after losing my Cambridge Audio Melomania somewhere in the house. The Sony have much better overall sound, at least to my ears and the EQ app is a nice added feature you don’t get with the Cambridge Audio ones.

EE are selling Samsung Galaxy buds fe for £49

CEX are pretty good for 2nd hand. WF-C500 for £35 and WF-C700N for £52. I’ve just bought some AKG on ear NC class B which are in really good nick. And they come with 2 year warranty.

Have a look at Anker. I’ve fond their stuff great. Bluetooth speakers. Batteries. Cables. A USB dock. Bluetooth earpieces. Any problems they are proper helpful too

I bought some Sony WF-C500 after a previous recommendation on here lol!

No real complaints now I'm used to them coming from wired ear buds. They are a good overall package for the money. Would recommend but I don't have any reference for comparison for wireless ear buds.

I've been through a few pairs of earbuds I use in the gym. The only ones that have not died through my copious sweatiness are JLab.  These have been good for a couple of years so far

https://uk.jlab.com/products/epic-air-sport-anc-true-wireless-earbuds?variant=41029335318660

Noise cancelleing and good sound, nice and secure.

Sony wf-c700 here. £75 if you buy at the right time

wear them correctly and they sound pretty dam good.

However the noise cancelling is not a patch on over the ear headphones (that’s comparing to some top of the range of ear Sonys we have too)

Well thanks for the heads up on the refurbished Cambridge Audio Melomania +1. I decided to jump in and I'm very impressed. They look brand new (I'm inclined to think they are). I can confirm no trace of earwax (!!) and indeed they came with a full set af various tips in a sealed bag. Sound quality is good and the equaliser through the app works well.

The really cool people are using wired earphones, because you can’t lose one down the bog, the batteries don’t die after a couple of hours, and you don’t need to throw them away after a couple of years because the batteries have reached the end of their life.

Plus you actually get to listen in lossless. Even with the Apple EarPods, which cost the princely sum of £19. I’ve got a couple of pairs, and plugged straight into the main port, the sound quality is bloody amazing for £19 ‘phones.

I do agree with you on a lot of counts. 🙂

I was basically forced into wireless due to mobile phones not having headphone jacks these days. Otherwise I would have just kept on using my trusty Sony MDR-EX650AP.

However, one thing I don't miss is the noise when the cable flaps...like a kind of interference wind noise.

Plus you actually get to listen in lossless.

I'm not sure what you mean by that, do you mean FLAC files? even a Sansa Clip player will do that.

https://www.westerndigital.com/en-gb/products/mp3-players/sandisk-clip-sport-go?sku=SDMX30-032G-E46B

I am not a cool person so don't need to worry about it but I hate having wires going to my ears as I listen to music when doing things like gardening/weeding, working at a desk with phone on desk etc,. where the wires just get in the way.

I find the sound quality easily good enough for me when just using £25 Earfun and sounds better than any other methods I listen to music on, i.e. in car.

Earfun are What HiFi approved and 1/4 of the budget. They sound great and if you lose or break them its less heartache.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/EarFun-Wireless-Bluetooth-Detection-Headphones-Matte-Black/dp/B088H7GMHZ

Went on to have a look at these on Amazon and they had a 25% voucher available too so ended up ordering a set, that I didn't really need!

Even with the Apple EarPods, which cost the princely sum of £19. I’ve got a couple of pairs, and plugged straight into the main port, the sound quality is bloody amazing for £19 ‘phones.

I've used wired EarPods for years and the sound quality IMO is adequate at best. The Cambridge Audio I've just bought are much better, though they should be at £50 for refurb and something like £100 ir so RRP. Neither are much good compared to proper headphones.

Just looking on Ebay and there is a promotion on the Cambridge Audio Melomanias in their outlet shop. Use PAYAY20 for £10 off.

@slowodman I've had similar with Earpods, although I'm not sure how much is down to fit? Currently using wired ones and after using XM4s they're a sack of sh$te.

Sony C700-Ns should be arriving for me today, maybe if I dont put these ones through the washing machine I'll buy XM5s some day.

just bumping this as mine look like the wires are fraying now, so need another set for holiday.

any recommendations for in-ear wireless, and a decent bass sound.  as per the OP, sub £100 please?

non-apple user here.....

thanks

maybe have a look on vinted? see if you can get some good ones second hand it's great on there

any recommendations for in-ear wireless, and a decent bass sound.  as per the OP, sub £100 please?

As above the Sony's. However you do have to get the placement right in the ear. If you dont the sounds is awful, but get it right and they are really comfy and great sound

Earfun are What HiFi approved and 1/4 of the budget. They sound great and if you lose or break them its less heartache.

plumped for these thanks, due to the price, less than half the price of the sonys.  just one question about volume please.

my old earphones had independent volume to my phone, so i could have max on phone, halfway on buds, or vice versa.  the sound quality of these is good enough for me, but volume on these is synced with my phone, so when i increase the volume on the buds, the slider on phone changes.  and i need it set to max, so ive nowhere to go to 'turn it to 11' if im ever listening to something thats recorded art a lower level say.

something at the back of my mind says that there was some european law that ensured you couldnt go above certain levels, but you could bypass it with a setting somewhere.

anyone shed any light on this?  TLDR, any way of increasing the volume on them?

thanks

Don't know about your earbuds but my old sansa clip has a region setting, and if you set it to Europe there was a hard limit on volume, that was in my view far too low.

ahhh thats the one i was thinking of, i also had a sansa clip 🙂

sadly there dont seem to be any similar settings in the app here.  its ok, but id just somewhere to go for a bit more oomph 🙂

thanks

Which earfun model have you gone for? I'm looking at the ones that are recommended in what hifi.

yes these got 5 stars i think in what hifi.  earfun air.

thanks all, should have said it’s to use with iOS. Mainly music and videos on her iPhone & ipad and occasionally calls.

However, one thing I don’t miss is the noise when the cable flaps…like a kind of interference wind noise.

Plus you actually get to listen in lossless.

I’m not sure what you mean by that, do you mean FLAC files? even a Sansa Clip player will do that.

I was basically forced into wireless due to mobile phones not having headphone jacks these days. Otherwise I would have just kept on using my trusty Sony MDR-EX650AP.

It may do, but there’s no wireless system commercially available that can play lossless, the bandwidth just will not allow it. I listen almost exclusively to Apple Lossless, using a wired connection to my iPhone 15 Pro Max - it has a USB-C port that many wired headphones, like the EarPods plug straight into, or you just buy a cheap Apple or Amazon USB-C > 3.5mm jack; the only battery you have to worry about is your phone battery.

I use a variety of different IEM’s, as well as EarPods, and a pair of Røde NTH-100 studio headphones, mostly with a Fiio KA5 DAC, but the IEM’s, like my UE TripleFi 10’s, or my MeeAudio Pinnacle P1’s have an adapter in the case as well.

The DAC I attach with a cut-down MagSafe case back, works really well, it’s very difficult to pull the DAC off accidentally.

Now that my ear infection is dissipating, the Sony WH-720n’s that I purchased from richer sounds really are the bomb.

i added some fancy cable to bring my basket up to the £100 threshold, and I think I got a £10 discount.

highly recommend 🙂

and very comfy for extended listens, even when wearing glasses.

I have tried various kinds but for convenience the cheaper Shokz are the best so far. No rubber bud bits to lose, they don't annoy me if I leave then sat round my neck and they play nicely with my helmet/glasses.

I mainly listen to podcasts though and think there will be better choices for audio quality. Maybe the more expensive Shokz sort that out?

I think you can still play lossless assuming your device supports the file format.. It just won't be lossless as Bluetooth for example isn't good enough quality/enough bandwidth.

That said I'm perfectly happy with my Sony wc500? Bluetooth... The sound quality is absolutely fine... Great even once I'd figured out the best size rubber bits to use.

I actually prefer them to my old wired ones now due to the lack of 'wind noise' effect when the cable is flapping as someone mentioned above.

I can't really notice a lack in sound quality.. Well maybe I could if I listened back to back to test, but it's not something that bothers me in the slightest.

I wouldn't describe myself as an audiophile but I do demand good sound quality if you know what I mean.

It's probably why it drives me nuts when people play thier music on loudspeaker on a phone... Aside from being rude, it sounds utterly terrible.. Why would anyone want to do that?