$50 AirPods alternatives with ‘mind blowing’ sound quality

A tech reviewer who thought Apple AirPods “were the best money could buy” was blown away by a pair of cheap $45 ear buds.

REVIEW

With Christmas coming up one of the hot items on a lot of people’s wish lists are Apple’s AirPods. They’re popular for good reason – they’re super slimline, comfortable, have great sound quality and of course give you street cred – but priced from $200-$350, you might be tempted to see if there are some more affordable options.

Well I was certainly curious, so, over the past two weeks I set myself a task to do just that. My parameters were wireless earbuds that looked as close as possible to AirPods or AirPod Pros in regards to design and size, good sound quality, decent battery life and something that felt comfortable in-ear.

I did some digging around, read a ton of reviews, compared the specs and I ended up purchasing four different wireless earbuds that seemed promising.

Each cost me about $50, meaning if I lucked out on some quality earbuds then I’d have four sets for the price of one – Christmas sorted! I was excited.

Elly Awesome found four ear bud options for around $50.

TOZO T6 $49.99

At first glance the earbuds and their case looked really similar to AirPods though the case turned out to be bigger and the earbuds are the ‘shove-into-your-ear design’ like the AirPod Pros.

They were a bit of an awkward fit in my ear, and don’t look much like AirPods, but I was really impressed by the sound quality. As a bonus you can charge their case wirelessly! On the down side though the touch controls were a little fiddly and the earbuds were a bit tricky to swiftly grab out of their case.

Rating: 7/10

TOZO T10 $44.99

There is so much going on here. Firstly the charging case for these is huge. It even has a spot to thread through a key ring. There are noticeable bright blue and red LED lights in the case and on the earbuds that can be seen while the case is closed.

The design of the Tozo T10 earbuds are comparable to the AirPod Pros and look very similar to the Tozo T6’s except they have clearly marked left and right earbud icons and a silver trimming which means they look nothing like AirPods.

The sound quality was not as good as the others and the bass was somewhat overwhelming and almost fuzzy sounding. Overall they’re decent and as a bonus they have a waterproof rating but they were my least favourite of the group.

Rating: 6/10

The Tozo T6 and the SoundPEATS Trueair Wireless.

SOUNDPEATS TRUEAIR $53.99

These earbuds might be the closest you can get to AirPods on a budget. The sound is quite good and well-rounded, though they weren’t as loud or bassy as the others I tested.

You can easily adjust the volume by swiping up on the earbuds and double tap them to play/pause your content. They’re lightweight and have a very small profile and at a glance could be mistaken for AirPods. However, they’re slightly taller and thicker earbuds than regular AirPods and they have a slightly bigger and bulgier charging case. These were my second favourite because they were a great all rounder with surprisingly high quality sound.

Rating: 8/10

TAOTRONICS SOUNDLIBERTY 53 PRO $45.99

This was my wildcard choice because it had really good reviews but they don’t really look like AirPods and their case is also a weird shape. These do come in white, although they’re hard to find. The earpiece has a unique shape and looked like it would be an awkward fit for my ear, however, they were extremely comfortable.

Once the SoundLiberty 53 Pro ear buds were in, the sound was awesome.

The most mind-blowing part was that they sounded incredible, in fact they were the best out of the lot, in my opinion. They produced a rich, well-balanced sound and even had some punchy bass.

Even though they’re a ‘shove-in-your-ear design’ they’re lightweight and comfortable to wear and ended up being my favourite out of all!

Rating: 9/10

Ultimately, I was under the impression that AirPods were some of the best wireless earphones that money can buy. I think I was convinced of this by their sheer popularity and how often I see people wearing them.

Unfortunately for Apple, the fact of the matter is, I’ve been blown away by the overall quality of these cheap wireless earphones – especially when it comes to their sound quality.

You will absolutely get your money’s worth and more, especially if you don’t care to have the big-name brands.

Elly Awesome is an Aussie tech and lifestyle vlogger. Check out her Samsung Galaxy S20 FE review, and what she thought about the Google Pixel 5 | @ellyawwesome | YouTube