Are Cheap Headphones Any Good? I Let My Ears Decide
/The days are getting shorter, the temperature is dropping and the jumpers are coming back out. That can mean only one thing: Christmas shopping isn’t far behind.
Headphones are always a popular present, but are the cheapest pairs actually worth buying? Audio T’s Head of Marketing, Brad Tyler, puts a pair of wireless headphones to the test and asks whether budget means bargain or false economy…
For reasons that I’m sure made perfect sense at the time, I subscribe to a monthly raffle that tempts entrants with the prospect that one day somebody will knock on the door holding an enormous cheque. You’ve probably seen the adverts. They appear every time you turn on the television or listen to the radio.
So, when an email arrived announcing that I was a winner, my imagination got slightly carried away. For a few brief seconds, I had paid off the mortgage, bought a campervan and made several completely unnecessary additions to my record collection.
Sadly, it wasn’t quite the life-changing windfall I had already spent in my head.
Instead, I could choose from an assortment of bric-a-brac, including luxury teabags, food-storage containers and various other household items. All perfectly useful, I’m sure, but none were likely to have me running excitedly down the street in my slippers.
Then I spotted some earbuds, wireless headphones and Bluetooth speakers from a brand I had never encountered before. A quick scout online suggested that they generally sold for between £25 and £35. And so I thought to myself, “How good could they actually be?”
Curiosity got the better of me, so I ordered a pair of wireless over-ear headphones to find out.
Setting Expectations
Before we go any further, let’s get one thing straight. I wasn’t expecting £30 wireless headphones to perform miracles, and I’m not here to give an unknown manufacturer a public kicking. From what I can tell, these appear to be generic OEM headphones produced to a very tight budget, which is precisely why I wanted to try them.
This also isn’t about looking down our noses at inexpensive products. £30 is still £30, particularly when household budgets are stretched, and not everybody wants or needs to spend a small fortune simply to listen to some music.
I wanted to know whether the cheapest end of the wireless market could offer a genuine bargain or whether that tempting price would prove to be a false economy. I tested one pair rather than an entire warehouse, and no laboratory coats were worn, so consider this an honest account rather than a verdict on every affordable headphone ever made.
“Turn Up Your Moments”, Apparently
The headphones arrived while I was enjoying my usual pre-work coffee. Inside the delivery packaging was a retail box that could politely be described as functional. It was plain, slightly bland and gave very little away.
There were none of the familiar Bluetooth, Google Fast Pair or Apple compatibility logos. Their absence doesn’t automatically make a product poor, but recognisable compatibility information can offer some reassurance about features and support.
I did find a CE mark, although this indicates declared conformity with the applicable requirements. It isn’t a rosette awarded for outstanding sound quality.
Opening the box revealed the slogan:
“Turn up your moments.”
I’m still not entirely sure what that means. It sounds like something AI would generate for a motivational fridge magnet, or perhaps the tagline on a poster for a Zumba class.
I briefly disappeared down a Google Translate rabbit hole and discovered that, if you take “turn up your moments” and send it back and forth between English and Simplified Chinese, you eventually arrive at “Make your moments even more spectacular.” That does sound better, to be fair... but only just.
Alongside the headphones were a short USB-C cable and some safety information. There were no operating instructions, no quick-start guide and no explanation of what any of the buttons did. There was also a mysterious 3.5mm socket, but no cable or indication whether it would work with a flat battery.
That was a small plastic mystery for another day.
The Ghost of Headphones Past
The first thing I noticed was how light the headphones felt. Lightweight headphones can be a good thing, but these didn’t feel carefully engineered to be light. They felt light because there simply wasn’t much to them.
The construction was almost entirely plastic. Nothing creaked, snapped or immediately fell off, but they didn’t inspire much confidence about how they might look after a few months of daily use.
To give them some credit, they sat quite nicely on my head. The earcups fitted around my ears and the soft pleather cushions initially felt comfortable.
Unfortunately, I know how this particular story ends. I was immediately transported back to Year 7 music lessons, wearing battered school headphones with cracked and flaking black cushions. By the end of the lesson, pieces of pleather would be attached to your forehead, leaving you looking as though you had developed a strange skin condition.
Naturally, somebody else would notice before you did.
Children can be brutal.
Manual? Never Heard of Her
With no instructions to follow, there was only one thing for it: plug them in and hope for the best.
I connected the USB-C cable and a small red LED appeared beneath one earcup. Just over an hour later, it went out. Either the headphones were fully charged or they had simply given up. I decided to be optimistic.
After pressing several buttons and achieving absolutely nothing, I held down the largest one I could find. This is the internationally recognised procedure for dealing with an electronic product when you haven’t read, or in this case haven’t been given, the instructions.
The LED flashed red and blue, the headphones appeared in my MacBook Pro’s Bluetooth settings and they connected without any fuss. I still didn’t know which codec they were using or what several of the buttons did, but music was coming through both earcups.
Success. Of a sort.
A Zimmer Frame of Reference
My musical taste has always been a bit all over the place. I spent my younger years playing in punk bands, went through an avant-garde electronic and ambient phase while studying Studio Recording and Live Sound, and somehow ended up assisting on classical orchestral recordings along the way.
When testing headphones or a hi-fi system, I often begin with film scores. A full orchestra gives you deep bass, a busy midrange, delicate high-frequency detail and enormous dynamic swings. If there is an obvious weakness, this sort of music usually finds it.
My trusty qobuz playlist for such an OCCASION
My playlist includes plenty of Hans Zimmer, including “One Day” from Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, “Chevaliers de Sangreal” from The Da Vinci Code and several tracks from Disney’s The Lion King. From there, it moves through John Murphy, Howard Shore, Danny Elfman, John Williams and Philip Glass.
It is wonderfully dramatic music, and these headphones certainly added some drama of their own.
Bass, Bass and a Little More Bass
My first impression? Bass. Lots of it.
This wasn’t deep, controlled bass with any real shape or texture. It was simply big, heavy and determined to make itself the most important part of everything I played.
Lower notes arrived with plenty of force but very little definition. The midrange sounded thin and distant, pushing strings, voices and other familiar details into the background. At the top end, the treble was bright, sharp and occasionally piercing.
The overall balance felt completely wrong. The bass and treble had both turned up looking for a fight, while the midrange appeared to have stayed at home.
There was no companion app or built-in equaliser to calm any of this down. I could have experimented with software equalisation on the MacBook, but a straightforward pair of wireless headphones shouldn’t need a rescue operation before the first few tracks have finished.
After several orchestral pieces, I had to admit that the experience was fairly unpleasant. Then I wondered whether I was being unfair. Perhaps film scores simply weren’t what these headphones wanted.
Nu-Metal, Same Old Problem
Maybe they wanted something younger, louder and considerably less likely to involve a French horn.
As I have absolutely no idea what teenagers are listening to in 2026, I returned to what my friends and I enjoyed in our early teens. This led to an unexpected session featuring Linkin Park, Papa Roach, Slipknot and My Chemical Romance.
The headphones coped slightly better with these dense, heavily produced recordings. The exaggerated low end gave the drums and bass plenty of weight, while the aggressive treble added bite to the distorted guitars.
Unfortunately, it was still too much. I repeatedly turned the volume down because everything became overbearing surprisingly quickly. This could be a sign of increasing wisdom and maturity, although it is more likely to mean that I am now 40 and need a sit down.
The enjoyment came from rediscovering the music, not from hearing it reproduced particularly well.
The Search for Something… Anything…
Not ready to give up, I threw just about everything else I could think of at them: Mumford & Sons, Dolly Parton, The Streets and an assortment of fairly middle-of-the-road pop from the past 25 years.
I even listened to a guilty pleasure that I cannot believe I am publicly divulging: Tinchy Stryder’s “Number 1”.
There. It’s out in the open now. We all have our secrets.
Eventually, I returned to familiar punk recordings from The Bouncing Souls, The Clash, NOFX and Rancid. These are songs I have listened to for decades, so I know where the guitars, backing vocals and smaller details should sit within the mix.
Through these headphones, some of those elements seemed to have disappeared. They were still present, of course, but the oversized bass and abrasive treble were masking them. Familiar songs sounded like completely different mixes that nobody had asked for.
My Ears Lodge a Formal Complaint
After around an hour, my ears lodged a formal complaint in the form of a familiar ache above the bridge of my nose.
It took me back to university, when long mixing sessions usually involved an approaching coursework deadline, far too much coffee and the realisation that I should have started several weeks earlier.
This is commonly described as listening fatigue. It isn’t a specific medical diagnosis, and developing a headache doesn’t automatically mean that you have damaged your hearing. It is a useful term for the mental and physical tiredness that can develop when listening begins to feel like hard work.
Poor fit, clamping pressure, heat, excessive volume and long sessions can all contribute. An unbalanced sound can also become tiring because you find yourself trying to pick out details that are being masked by the bass or overwhelmed by aggressive treble.
Bluetooth compression, dynamic range compression and distortion are separate technical issues, and poor sound alone isn’t proof of hearing damage. The main risk is much simpler: listening too loudly for too long.
“Turn Up Your Moments”… Within Reason
According to the World Health Organization’s safe-listening guidance, its adult reference is around 40 hours per week at 80dB, but only four hours at 90dB. Keeping your device below 60% volume is a useful rule of thumb, although actual output varies between headphones and devices.
Persistent ringing, muffled hearing or difficulty following conversations shouldn’t be ignored. In my case, I stopped listening. Encouraging me to turn the volume down was probably the most positive thing these headphones achieved all morning.
Price alone doesn’t determine whether headphones are dangerous. A £30 pair used sensibly isn’t automatically riskier than a £300 pair, while expensive headphones played too loudly can still cause harm. Your ears don’t care what was written on the price tag.
The experience also made me think about children using headphones with tablets. As a new parent, I completely understand the appeal. Sometimes you need ten quiet minutes, and I’m told an episode of Bluey may be the only thing standing between you and complete societal collapse.
The WHO uses a more cautious reference for children of 75dB for 40 hours per week. Proper fit, reliable volume limiting, sensible listening levels and regular breaks therefore matter far more than bright colours or cartoon characters
So, Are Cheap Headphones Any Good?
In the case of this particular pair, no. They connected, sat reasonably comfortably on my head and produced sound, but they made familiar recordings feel unbalanced, incomplete and tiring.
In the interests of fairness, I gave them another 15 hours of use before returning to the same tracks. If running-in was going to perform a miracle, it had apparently declined the invitation. They may have loosened slightly, but the overpowering bass, recessed midrange and piercing treble hadn’t meaningfully changed.
However, that doesn’t mean affordable headphones are inherently bad or that you must spend inordinate amounts to get something that is enjoyable. The problem is that, at the very cheapest end of the wireless market, one small price has to cover the drivers, Bluetooth electronics, battery, controls and everything else. Inevitably, compromises have to be made.
For only a little more, established manufacturers such as Sony, Sennheiser and the other brands we stock can offer properly developed alternatives from decades of manufacturing experience, with more considered sound, clearer support and greater confidence in what you are buying.
The Sony WH-CH530 Wireless Headphones, for example, are an affordable model from a recognised manufacturer and are available in six colours. If wireless features aren’t essential, a similarly priced wired model may offer even better sound for the money.
That isn’t about telling somebody with a limited budget to spend a fortune. It is about helping them avoid spending £30 on something disappointing when a relatively small step up could provide far greater enjoyment and better long-term value.
At Audio T, customers looking for affordable headphones are every bit as welcome as somebody shopping at the other end of the range. Tell us what you listen to, where you’ll use them and what you can realistically afford. Bring your own phone or favourite playlist, try a few options and decide with your own ears.
We aren’t going to steer everybody towards the most expensive pair in the shop. You may discover that the least expensive model you try is also the one you like most. The point is to find something that suits your music, requirements and budget.
So, are cheap headphones any good? Some certainly can be. But there is an important difference between something that is merely cheap and something that represents genuinely good value.
As for my raffle prize, I’m still wondering whether I should have chosen the teabags.
Thanks for reading.
Brad Tyler
Head of Marketing at Audio T
If you’re considering a new pair of headphones, contact your local Audio T for friendly advice and the opportunity to arrange a demonstration.
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