The New York Times’ current top pick, the Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro, sits in the same brand family as the CMF Buds 2 Plus and Anker’s own $100 Space A40, all frequently recommended in the same breath. That overlap is telling: the gap between “good enough” and “premium” in earbuds has narrowed more than most buying guides admit.
What Budget Earbuds Actually Nail Now
Basic sound quality stopped being the dividing line a couple of years ago. Sub-$100 options like the Space A40 and CMF Buds 2 Plus deliver clear mids and reasonable bass for casual listening, podcasts, and calls without an obvious downgrade most people would notice outside a direct A/B comparison. If your use case is commuting, working out, or background music, that’s genuinely enough.
Where Premium Still Earns Its Price
The real separation shows up in three places that don’t show up on a store listing’s headline spec: noise cancellation quality in genuinely loud environments (not a quiet room demo), multipoint Bluetooth switching that actually works reliably between a laptop and phone, and long-term durability of the battery after a year of daily charge cycles. If you’re on calls constantly, travel often, or rely on ANC to work in an open office, that’s where paying more stops being about bragging rights and starts being about a real daily difference.
My Actual Take
I’d tell most casual listeners to buy the $100 pair and stop there, the return on spending three or four times more rarely matches the price jump for typical daily use. The exception is anyone whose earbuds are a work tool, not a convenience: frequent flyers, remote workers on back-to-back calls, or people in loud commutes who need ANC to actually function. For that group, the premium tier isn’t a luxury purchase, it’s buying reliability, and that’s worth paying for.
The One Trap Worth Avoiding
The mid-tier price bracket, roughly $150 to $200, is where the value proposition gets shakiest. You’re paying meaningfully more than the excellent budget options without reliably getting the top-tier ANC or multipoint reliability that justifies going premium. If you’re going to spend more than $100, it’s usually worth going all the way to a genuinely top-rated pair rather than settling in that middle zone.
Technology Editor. Ethan Parker is a Technology Editor at News in Focus, covering consumer technology, software, digital trends, and emerging innovations. His work focuses on making technology easier to understand by turning complex topics into practical and accessible content for everyday readers.
