Photo by Billy Steele / Engadget
Amazon Prime Day has brought several headphones and earbuds we recommend down to, or at least close to, the lowest prices we’ve tracked. If you’ve been looking to upgrade, now's a great time to do so, since Prime Day is typically only matched by Black Friday when it comes to sales on new models. We’ve rounded up the best Prime Day headphone deals we can find below, covering options from Sony, Bose, Apple, Beats and several others.
The Sony WH-1000XM5 is down to $328 for Prime Day, which is a new all-time low and $70 off the noise-canceling pair’s list price. The XM5 is the top pick in our guide to the best wireless headphones. We gave it a review score of 95 last year, praising its comfortable fit, effective active noise cancellation (ANC), crisp call quality and 30-ish hours of battery life. By default, they have a bass-forward sound that’s best suited for hip-hop and EDM, but you can customize the EQ through Sony’s companion app. Like many Sony headphones, they also come with a range of useful bonus features, such as Speak-to-Chat, which automatically pauses whatever you’re playing when the microphones detect you are speaking.
The XM5’s predecessor, the Sony WH-1000XM4, is also on sale for $248. That isn’t an all-time low, but it’s $100 off the pair’s MSRP and $30 below its typical sale price. Though we rate the XM5 higher, the XM4 still delivers powerful ANC, 30+ hours of battery life and a similar feature set. It can fold up, unlike its successor, and its headband has more plush padding. Some may also prefer to avoid the XM5’s adaptive ANC system, which adjusts automatically based on your environment. However, XM4 isn’t quite as adept at muting mid- and high-frequency noises, it sounds a little boomier out of the box and it doesn’t feel as light on the head. Its call quality is worse, too. But for less than $250, it’s still a great buy.
If you want a premium set of noise-canceling headphones for less than $200, the Bose QuietComfort 45 is another strong value at its Prime Day price of $199. That’s tied for an all-time low and roughly $110 below the pair’s average street price. We gave the QC 45 a review score of 86 in 2021 and call it a worthy alternative in our buying guide. It isn’t as fully-featured as the XM5 and only lasts around 20 hours per charge, but it has a more neutral sound by default, still-powerful ANC and a design that’s about as comfy yet doesn’t sacrifice the ability to fold up. They also use physical buttons instead of touch controls.
The Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II are on sale for $237, which is a few bucks more than its all-time low but still about $35 off its average street price. This is the “best noise cancellation” pick in our guide to the best wireless earbuds, and it earned a review score of 87 last year. Its ANC is among the strongest we’ve heard on any headphone, let alone a true wireless pair. It’s adept across low-, mid- and treble-range frequencies, so it can mute nearby voices, plane engines or the hum of an air conditioner with similar success. This pair is on the bulky side, however, and its lack of wireless charging and multipoint connectivity is disappointing at this price. It did gain single-bud support earlier this year, though.
The Soundcore Space A40 was already our favorite pair of wireless earbuds for those on a budget, and now it’s even more affordable at $55. That’s $24 below its usual going rate. The Space A40 provides the kind of performance and features you’d expect from true wireless earbuds that cost twice as much: strong ANC, a small and light design, a warm sound that’s enjoyable out of the box but customizable through a companion app, a transparency mode, wireless charging, solid battery life around eight hours per charge and the ability to connect to two devices at once. It can’t auto-pause music when you remove an earbud, nor can it fully match the best premium pairs when it comes to ANC strength, sound quality or mic clarity. But it’s not far off, and it’s way easier on the wallet.
The Apple AirPods Pro are available for $199, which is a deal we've seen for most of the last few months but still $50 less than Apple's list price. This set continues to be an excellent option for iPhone owners, as it connects easily with other Apple devices, bakes its controls directly into iOS, supports Find My tracking and lets you access Siri hands-free. Its ANC isn’t as broadly powerful as the QuietComfort Earbuds II, but it’s good, and its transparency mode is among the clearest we’ve heard. While you can’t manually customize the AirPods Pro’s sound, it’s pleasingly warm by default. That said, the six-hour battery life is just OK, the control scheme takes some getting used to, and you really need to be committed to the Apple ecosystem to get the most out of it. We gave the Pro a score of 88 last year and call it the “best for iOS” pick in our wireless earbuds guide.
The latest Amazon Echo Buds are down to $35 for Prime members, which is a $15 discount and an all-time low. We recommend this pair in our budget wireless earbuds guide to those who prefer an open design instead of one that fully inserts into the ear canal. Its audio quality is solid for the price and form factor, and it supports features we don’t often see in this range, including auto-pausing, multipoint and EQ customization. It’s not sweat-resistant enough for the gym, but the design rests lightly in the ear. Naturally, it also has Alexa baked in. Don’t expect super rich sound or more than five hours of battery life, but if you can’t stand the feeling of in-ear headphones, the Echo Buds are a decent option at this price.
The second-gen AirPods are available for $90. That’s $10 off its typical street price. It’s hard to call this a great value in 2023: Its five-hour battery life is worse than the third-gen AirPods, the one-size-fits-all design can be finicky and you can get better sound for much less. But if you’re an iPhone user who wants the usual AirPods suite of software perks in an unsealed design, this older model may still work. The third-gen set gives a big upgrade in audio quality, but the thinner earpieces here may fit some better.
The Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S2 are down to $329, a $70 drop that matches the best price we’ve tracked. This is the runner up pick in our wireless headphones guide, and we gave it a score of 85 last year. It’s worth considering over the WH-1000XM5 if you’re willing to trade ANC strength for a more luxurious design. The hyped-up sound should particularly appeal to bass lovers, the battery lasts more than 30 hours per charge, and while the ANC can’t touch the best from Sony and Bose, it’s still useful. The XM5 offers better call quality and a wider range of software features, though, including a more extensive custom EQ tool.
Audio-Technica’s ATH-M20xBT are on sale for $55, which is a $24 discount and a new low. This is the budget pick in our wireless headphones guide, delivering a light fit, impressive battery life rated at 60 hours per charge, multipoint connectivity and good enough sound for the money. It has few bonus features, and its build quality isn’t exactly refined, but the M20xBT should fit the bill if you just want a no-frills wireless headphone on the cheap.
If you’re on a budget but don’t want to give up ANC, Anker’s Soundcore Life Q30 is another pair of wallet-friendly over-ears we like. It’s down to $56, which isn’t the best price we’ve seen but a $24 discount all the same. The Q30’s ample padding, 40 to 50 hours of battery life and multi-device pairing are nice, and though its ANC certainly isn’t top-tier, it’s beyond adequate at this price. Audio quality isn’t as nice as the M20xBT out of the box, as it massively inflates the bass, but you can rein it in somewhat through the Soundcore app. That said, the sound gets worse when ANC is off, and the plastic design is a little flimsy.
A couple of similar Soundcore headphones are also on sale for Prime Day, with the Soundcore Life Q35 down to $80 and the Soundcore Space Q45 down to an all-time low of $100. The former is $20 off its average street price, while the latter is a roughly $45 discount. The Q35 is a modest upgrade that improves call quality and adds support for the LDAC audio codec. The Q45 feels sturdier than either pair, improves the ANC and isn’t quite as bass-heavy by default. It also uses an adaptive ANC system. The Q45 is the best of the three for those willing to pay for it, though it trails the pricier options above, and the Q30 is the better bargain for those looking to spend as little as possible.
You can grab the EarFun Air Pro 3 for $50 when you use the code EAP3ANC1 at checkout. That’s $30 below its typical price. The Air Pro 3 is the runner up pick in our guide to the best budget wireless earbuds. It has a similar feature set to the Space A40, but its battery life and ANC are slightly worse, and it’s a little more amped in the bass and treble by default. Its mic quality and IPX5-rated water resistance are upgrades, however, so if you want to save a few bucks or just prefer an AirPods-style “stem” design, it’s a fine choice.
The EarFun Free 2S, meanwhile, are down to $27 with the checkout code FREE2SPD1, which is a $23 drop. We list the Free 2S as the “under $50” pick in our budget earbuds guide. It’s another one that’s heavy on the bass, but it’s a better example of a “fun” sound signature than most in its price range, and it’s comfortable to wear for hours at a time. It’s also fully waterproof. It lacks features like ANC, wear detection, multi-device pairing or a transparency mode, but for less than $30, its shortcomings are easier to accept.
If you want a pair of competent wireless earbuds for the lowest amount possible, consider the JLab Go Air Pop. Right now it’s available for $17, which is a few bucks higher than its all-time low but $6 below its usual street price in recent months. We highlight the Go Air Pop in our budget wireless earbuds guide: For less than a Jackson, it provides a compact design, eight-ish hours of battery, IPX4 water resistance and a full set of functional touch controls. While there’s no app, JLab bakes three EQ presets into the earbuds themselves. The boomy sound is worse than the EarFun Free 2S, but this is a $16 set of earbuds that aren’t awful. As a backup for your main pair, you could do much worse.
Prime Day has brought the first discount on the Beats Studio Buds +, as the recently released pair is $20 off at $150. We gave these earbuds a review score of 84 in May, praising their improved sound, ANC and call quality compared to the original Studio Buds. Like that pair, they’re tiny and comfortable, but they don’t use an Apple H1 or H2 chip, so they lack certain AirPods-style tricks such as automatic device switching and audio sharing. Others like fast pairing, Find My tracking and hands-free Siri are still available, though, and Beats supports similar features on Android. To be clear, the Studio Buds +’s ANC, battery life and audio quality slot behind the top picks in our buying guide, and their lack of auto-pausing and wireless charging is hard to swallow. But if you want a set of Apple earbuds that cost less than the AirPods Pro, they should have appeal.
For a cheaper alternative, the base Studio Buds are on sale for $90. They aren’t a better buy than the Space A40, but if you like the Studio Buds’ aesthetic, they’re still decent.
The Beats Powerbeats Pro are down to $150 for Prime members, a roughly $40 discount that matches the lowest price we've tracked. This pair has ear-hook design that stays stable during workouts and physical control buttons that are easy to access when you're on the move. It gets excellent 10 or so hours of battery life, and its sound is fairly well-measured, without the bloated bass of Beats past. It also uses Apple's H1 chip, which enables a handful of AirPods-style conveniences on iOS. Its charging case is enormous, however, and it doesn't fully seal off the ear, so it won't block much external noise. We gave the Powerbeats Pro an 86 when they launched in 2019.
We’ll also mention the Beats Fit Pro; that one isn't significantly discounted for Prime Day, but it’s our favorite true wireless pair for workouts overall, and it uses a more traditional in-ear design.
The Sony LinkBuds S are on sale for $128, which matches their all-time low and sits about $35 below its average street price. This is an honorable mention in our wireless earbuds guide, as it delivers a small design that’s easy to wear over time, decent ANC and sound quality for the price and, like other Sony headphones, a useful suite of bonus features.
The top pick in our guide, Sony’s WF-1000XM4, is down to $198, but we’re hesitant to call it a good deal. The earbuds themselves are great, with better battery life, audio quality and ANC than the LinkBuds S (albeit in a larger frame). But several recent reports suggest that Sony will launch a follow-up in the near future. Most people should hold off on the current model for now, especially since we’ve seen this deal price for much of the last few months.
The Google Pixel Buds Pro is down to $139, which is within $5 of the earbuds’ all-time low and roughly $45 off their typical going rate. This is the “best for Android” pick in our buying guide, since it offers AirPods-style integration with Google’s OS and Pixel phones in particular. Its ANC and punchy, V-shaped sound profile are pleasing (though not superlative), and it can get a good 11-ish hours of battery life with ANC off (or a decent seven hours with it on). Its call quality and transparency mode are mediocre, however, and the fit may be tricky for those with smaller ears. Still, this a decent mid-range option when it’s discounted to this extent. We gave the Pixel Buds Pro a score of 87 last year.
Classic wired headphones aren't as convenient as they used to be, but for critical listening or gaming at home, the Sennheiser HD 560S are a nice value at $142. That's about $25 below the pair's typical street price. We recommend the HD 560S in our guide to the best gaming headsets: It doesn't have a mic, but its balanced sound profile and wide soundstage lend games a lovely sense of immersion and detail. It's great for music as well, even if it can be a smidge hot in the treble. Comfort also isn't an issue, but be aware that all open-back headphones let in and leak lots of external noise.
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