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On the hunt for a pair of headphones that will deliver satisfying sound without clearing out your bank account? Good affordable headphones are tricky to come by, but they do exist — you just need to know where to look.

Here at TechRadar, we test dozens of pairs of headphones every year, and in amongst them we've unearthed some wallet-friendly wonders. I asked TechRadar's audio specialists which headphones they'd recommend to buyers on a budget, and rounded up their suggestions for this article.

If it's true wireless in-ears you're after, you'd struggle to do better than the Nothing Ear (a) buds, which Audio Editor Becky Scarrott awarded a perfect five stars, calling them "a resounding home run" for the British startup and praising the noise cancellation, sound quality and battery life in particular. In the over-ear arena, Becky loves the CMF Pro . In her tests, she was impressed with the "superb" sound quality, and pleasantly surprised to discover "the sort of... personal sound profile curation [we're] more used to seeing in headphones much higher up the food chain".

Read on for more budget-maximizing buys — and hit the 'View details' button for a summary of what we thought of them in our tests, plus links to the full reviews.

Top cheap earbuds and headphones

Nothing

Ear (a)

Read our full review

Pros

Fun, zealous, expansive sound

Vastly improved active noise cancellation

Smaller, more pocketable case

Cons

No wireless charging support

No flagship sound profile curation

JLab

Go Pods ANC

Read our full review

Pros

Solid ANC

Lightweight build

Truly low price

Cons

Poor eartip fit

Lean battery life

Aggressive transparency mode

Soundpeats

Clip1

Read our full review

Pros

Fantastic listening test

Comfortable build

Competitive value

Cons

Low max volume

Cheap-feeling case

Touch control issues

OneOdio

Focus A6

Read our full review

Pros

Sensational sound quality

Extensive software features

Comfy, quality construction

Cons

On-ear controls are a little sensitive

ANC is good rather than game-changing

CMF

Headphone Pro

Read our full review

Pros

Excellent hearing tests; unexpected at the level

Emotive, circumaural sound

Exemplary battery life

Cons

ANC isn't amazing

Energy slider feels a tad gimmicky

No hard carry case or USB-C charger in the box

Huawei

FreeArc

Read our full review

Pros

Top-tier sound

Competitive price

Comfortable fit

Cons

App download pains

Middling battery life

Would benefit from ANC

Sony

WH-CH720

Read our full review

Pros

Great sound balance

Lots of detail in audio

Effective noise cancellation

Full of useful features

Cons

Sound feels constrained

Noise cancellation leaks in low sounds

Plastic feels a little cheap