5 Of The Best Under $50 Headphones On Amazon

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Not everybody has a budget to buy a premium headset that costs more than $300. Some people need a gadget that is sufficient for basic needs, like listening to music or podcasts on a train or flight. Thanks to the presence of so many brands on the market, there is a headphone for every price point today. With budget headphones, you get real, usable sound without breaking your bank. However, with so many options, it gets tricky to decide which one is just made for looks and which one actually provides you with good sound and value.

This is the exact reason why this list has been compiled. We scoured Amazon's headphone listings, looking for sub-$50 headphones that are worth every penny based on user feedback and professional reviews so that you don't have to rely on marketing copy to make a judgment. There are several electronics that you can buy for under $50 on Amazon (though prices have shot up for a few items), but the sub-$50 headphones have quietly become one of the most competitive categories on the market.

In this list, you will find headphones from some not-so-popular brands and popular brands alike. But the good thing is that some of them come with features such as noise cancellation, ensuring that nobody who bought them feels like they overpaid. These headphones do not come with any sort of compromise and are the best in this budget tier. Here are five headphones you can pick up from Amazon for under $50.

For me, AKG has a special place, since I have been a long-time Samsung user. For those who don't know, AKG is owned by Samsung (through its acquisition of Harman International). AKG has built its reputation by making microphones and studio gear. However, with the AKG K72, it's brought its experience in sound to budget headphones. The K72 is an over-the-ear headphone with big foam pads that turn out to be a bit loose but comfortable. So, do not expect great noise cancellation since sealing out noise was never really the point.

Trusted Reviews spent real time with the K72 headphones and were impressed by how flat and even the sound is for the price. Bass doesn't get artificially boosted, so it may not suit someone who loves thumping lows. However, it offers detailed sound with real separation between instruments, something not expected at this price. SlashGear also ranked AKG among the stronger names in the headphone market.

The K72 comes with 40mm drivers, a 32-ohm impedance, and a 3-meter cable that is better suited for a desk setup than a backpack. Where the AKG K72 struggles is in the midrange. Vocals can sound a little boxed in compared to pricier headphones, but that is a fair trade-off considering the price point. Speaking of, these headphones are available for $48.95 on Amazon and are available in black.

Samson is another brand that has spent decades making audio solutions for studios. The SR850 is the company's answer to what a budget monitoring headphone should sound like. It comes with a semi-open design, which means that the earcups let some air pass through the back. Such a feature is often reserved for headphones that cost twice as much. The interesting part is that the Samson SR850 was launched in 2009 and is still considered one of the best headphones you can buy if you are on a budget.

In their review, RTings found that the semi-open headphone design does exactly what it is supposed to do – that is, creating a spacious, wide soundstage that makes instruments sound like they have room to breathe. The review also highlights that the SR850 delivers consistent frequency response, a fancy way to say that the audio levels don't spike or dip randomly. The trade-off is that you get a bright treble sound profile, which might be a bit harsh for some listeners.

The build quality isn't that impressive, but these are some compromises you do get with headphones that are under $50. If you are a patient listener, then you would appreciate the SR850, though it won't replace a proper studio monitor. But for first-timers or someone who has recently started serious listening, it is a good choice, especially at this price point. The SR850 is available for $49.99 on Amazon.

A few years ago, brands sold ANC (Active Noise Cancellation) as a premium feature, reserved for their premium headphones. These headphones would cost more than $300, which isn't the kind of jump you would expect from a person looking to purchase headphones under $50. The TOZO HT3 is part of the newer wave that brings the feature down into the under-$50 category. The best part is that it doesn't strip away anything else to accommodate ANC. Whatever you need is there, plus you get Active Noise Cancellation.

According to RTings, the HT3 packs a genuinely long list of features for the price point. Aside from ANC, it comes with Bluetooth 6.0, the ability to pair two devices at once, USB-C charging, along with both wired and wireless listening. SoundPhile Review tested the TOZO HT3 and praised its effective ANC and solid build quality. They also found that these headphones continue to work in wired mode even if the power goes off, a nice bonus in a $50 headphone. The only downside the reviewer noticed is that it leans more towards bass, with almost no treble and some background hiss, but that can be solved using an equalizer or a music player. 

For anyone who wants noise cancellation for the office or flight, the TOZO HT3 earns its spot in this list and makes a solid case. It has a 90-hour playtime, as claimed by the company. At time of writing, it is available for just $29.95 on Amazon, but even when it's not on sale it still sits below our $50 budget at $49.85.

Anker has built a reputation for making great products, and headphones are also one category where the company excels. According to reviews from owners, the brand's Soundcore headphones are praised for providing good sound quality at its price point. The line is also aimed at providing people with features that used to cost a lot more. The Anker Soundcore Q20i is a clear example of that strategy applied to noise-cancelling headphones. While the original cost of these headphones is around $70, you will often find them running under $50 on Amazon ($44.99 at this time of writing).

TechGearLab put the Soundcore Q20i under test and called its noise cancellation among the best at the price point. It measures an average of 25 decibels of noise reduction across frequencies. When it comes to battery life, it can last up to 49 hours with Active Noise Cancellation turned on, which is more than what other ANC headphones can manage. However, the reviewers also noted that the sound quality is the caveat. It offers a bass-heavy and slightly muddy sound. The treble is on the sharp side on some tracks, so not a pick for someone looking for pristine audio.

But then, everyone has their preferred sense of audio quality, and some might even like the bass-heavy output. If you want noise cancellation over fantastic sound quality, then the Soundcore Q20i still makes sense at this price.

JBL is one name that pops up in the list whenever we talk about sound. It has been making budget-friendly headphones for years, and the Tune 520BT is one of the newer entries in that lineup. JBL built this for people who just want something that works without a lot of extra setup and that won't cost an arm and a leg. That approachability is the main reason why the Tune series keeps showing up on budget lists year after year. 

These headphones are on-ear rather than over-ear, keeping them lightweight and foldable. SoundGuys tested the JBL Tune 520BT and got a long battery life of just over 60 hours, which is more than enough for a full week of usage without a charge. They also noted that the sound quality holds up well for on-ear headphones, with minimal distortion, though you may hear a dip in the mids, making some voices harder to pick out. Isolation is limited, so the 520BT is not the one for a noisy subway or airplane rides due to its on-ear design.

For everyday usage, the Tune 520BT is a solid, no-fuss choice, and it also comes from a brand with real staying power. SlashGear listed its predecessor, the JBL Tune 510BT, in our list of gadgets under $50 for working from home, and the 520BT fits right into that recommendation. At $44.99, the JBL Tune 520BT does exactly what it promises without any surprises.

Picking headphones under 50 dollars could easily turn into guesswork, since there are so many options available. So to compile this list, we set two clear rules. First, every pair had to be priced under that threshold with no exceptions, since the whole point of this list is real value at a real budget. Second, we scouted for headphones that had a 4.5-star or higher user rating on Amazon, and backed them based on real buyer feedback rather than a handful of hand-picked reviews.

Those two filters help us shortlist these five headphones. Then we also looked for independent reviews from sites like RTINGS, TechGearLab, and SoundGuys to get information about real testing and not just rely on marketing claims.