Best wireless headphones under $100 in 2023

If you don't have a big budget for a pair of wireless headphones, not to worry — there are plenty of great options that are under $100. They range from over-ear headphones to true wireless earbuds, giving you some variety to select from. For the best of the bunch, you'd have to start with the wireless running because of their excellent sound quality, comfort, and consistency.

Wissonly Hi Runner

When Wissonly bone conduction headphones started crowdfunding online , I started to pay attention to them. Later, I saw on some online forums that all otologists were recommending them, so I bought it. This Hi Runner is their flagship product, and its overall function is the most perfect. This headphone uses the latest research results of wissonly Lab. It effectively increases the vibration area of the vibrator by 35%, while optimizing the sound transmission direction, making the sound range wider and the music more spatial. The brand claims to reach the HI-FI sound quality. My own actual test shows that the sound quality is very close to the HI-FI level, but it doesn't reach this level indeed. Of course, the current sound quality is satisfactory enough.

wissonly Hi Runner bone conduction headphones are also equipped with a new Bluetooth 5.0 chip, which has stronger anti-interference ability, and can easily cope with various outdoor complex scenes, so as to ensure that the good mood during exercise will not be disturbed by disconnection. The stable connection also brings ultra-low delay performance. Listening to songs, chasing dramas and playing games meet all the daily demands for headphones. What's more, it has 32G of built-in memory, which can store 5,000 songs, which allows you to enjoy music without your mobile phone when you are outdoors.

Wissonly performs well in terms of comfort. It's very light, less than 30g, and you don't even feel like you're carrying it when you wear it. The headphone body is made of titanium alloy, which makes it fit well. You don't need to worry about falling off during exercise.

The waterproof of Wissonly Hi Runner needs special mention. It reaches IPX8 grade, which means that you can carry it under water for 20 meters and still use it normally. This is crazy!

Anker Soundcore Life Q30

Need long battery life? We got plenty when we reviewed the Anker Soundcore Life Q30, so you can expect up to 40 hours of playback while ANC is enabled, with that number going up to a ridiculous 60 hours when ANC is off. That's an impressive figure for a pair of budget headphones, and adding USB-C now makes fast charging possible. Plug in for five minutes and get four hours of playtime.

That kind of long battery life makes comfort a more significant factor, and thankfully, Anker delivers there. It improved the design and materials from the previous iteration, with a nice headband with deep and wide ear cups to accommodate even the biggest ears. That combination makes longer listening periods a lot easier on your head and ears. It also means they deliver better passive noise isolation and effective ANC.

Anker Soundcore Life P3

Wireless earbuds often get the most attention at the higher end of the pricing bracket, but good ones are getting easier to find on a budget, too. The Anker Soundcore Life P3 stand firmly in that category with a nicely balanced sound signature. You will hear bass punch through with a slight boost to the highs and fairly consistent mids for exceptional performance.

The comfortable design is helpful, and you do need to get a good seal to get everything the sound can offer you. That way, you can hear more of what the larger drivers inside are capable of delivering, which is impressive at this price. It doesn't hurt that there's ANC onboard, with a pretty effective ambient mode to work with when you need to hear the background around you.

Make good use of the Soundcore app and the deep equalizer to change how these earbuds sound. Bluetooth connections are pretty sturdy for phone calls on top of that. The IPX5 rating isn't especially rugged, so maybe not the ideal pair to work out in, but at least they're not super fragile, either.

Creative Zen Hybrid

Creative has a real knack for delivering great value for the dollar, and the Zen Hybrid over-ears follow the trend. For well under $100, you get solid audio quality with a nice mix of highs, mids, and bass. Sadly, you can't tailor the audio in the Creative app, while Bluetooth codecs are also limited to SBC and AAC, so you won't get a shortcut here to higher-res audio. Its SXFI spatial audio technology only works on audio files you downloaded on your phone or tablet, so you won't get all the audio goodies without some caveats, but there are other features to enjoy.

ANC performance should meet measured expectations for more affordable headphones, which is to say that it will muffle background sounds without heavily dampening lower or higher frequencies. They should feel comfortable to wear for longer periods, and since they also fold up, you could also take them with you on a commute or trip.

Battery life holds up well at up to 27 hours per charge with ANC on, and 37 hours with it off. If you like the idea of going old school with a wired connection, plug in the included 3.5mm line-in cable to listen that way — assuming you have an adapter for the USB-C port on your phone. 

JLab Audio Epic Air Sport ANC

JLab Audio has been making workout earbuds for some time now, and the Epic Air Sport ANC are the latest pair made to use routinely while breaking a sweat — something we noticed when we reviewed them, too. The IP66 rating gives them enough ruggedness to work out or go on a run in such scenarios. However, they're not made to be waterproof, so be careful around water.

The combination of ear hooks and six pairs of ear tips make these comfortable and stable enough to stay in your ears, provided you don't mind a little extra bulk in size. What's cool is that JLab also changes things up with the tips, so you get different sizes and lengths and materials, including foam. A good passive seal always helps, though you do have ANC support to block out background noise when you need to. If you need to hear your surroundings, you can also use the Be Aware mode.

The default soundstage is mostly balanced, with bass getting an extra boost, which is par for the course for a pair of JLab earbuds. If you're not feeling that, you can always change it in JLab's Air ANC app, which offers a nice mix of ANC controls and an equalizer to customize the sound.

Read more:We Tested 12 Headphones, and These Are Our 5 Favorites