Why You Can Trust CNET October Prime Day Deals on Headphones and Earbuds Still Available: Apple, Beats, Jabra and More
Time's running out, but some of our favorite headphones are currently available at deep discounts.
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Amazon's October Prime Early Access Sale is technically over, but it's not too late to score a pair of discounted headphones. We're still seeing a few noteworthy discounts on some of our favorite headphones and earbuds from top brands like Beats, JBL, Jabra and more. Naturally, some deals are better than others, and we're highlighting only the ones we think are excellent bargains. Note that some of these deals are also available at retailers besides Amazon, and we'll be adding more deals as we spot them. And don't forget to check out our favorite wireless headphones and earbuds of 2022 for more recommendations.
Best wireless headphone and earbuds deals
The second-gen AirPods Pro are Apple's most advanced pair of earbuds to date, equipped with its brand-new H2 processor and boasting seriously improved noise-canceling capabilities. The 2022 AirPods Pro maintain the $249 retail price of the now previous-gen AirPods Pro from 2019. With these earbuds having only just been released in September, AirPods Pro 2 deals are few and far between right now, though Amazon offers a slight savings of $10 off. It's not the lowest price we've seen -- they were on sale for $223 during Prime Day Early Access -- but it's still a small discount. We'll continue to update this page as more deals start to pop up, so be sure to check back often in the coming weeks.
Note that the $223 price is for Prime members only. Read our AirPods Pro 2 review.
While the Beats Fit Pro technically aren't AirPods, they're built on the same tech platform as the AirPods Pro (yes, Apple owns Beats). Unlike Beats' earlier and less expensive Studio Buds, the Beats Fit Pro include Apple's H1 chip and have most of the AirPods Pro's features, including active noise canceling, spatial audio and Adaptive EQ. I'd venture to call them the sports AirPods you've always wanted. And for some people, they might just be better than the AirPods Pro.
Normally $200, $160 is their lowest price to date.
When they were released last August, Jabra touted its $80 Elite 3 earbuds as its most affordable true-wireless buds to date. Now they're even more affordable, hitting a new low price of $47.49 (their previous low was $60).
The Elite 3 have a fairly basic feature set, though they offer strong sound and call quality for the money. They have 6mm drivers, four microphones for calls and Jabra's HearThrough transparency mode. Qualcomm aptX HD audio is supported for aptX-enabled devices. They're available in multiple colors.
Over the years, JBL has put out some decent true-wireless earbuds, but nothing that really got me too excited. That's finally changed with the arrival of the Samsung-owned brand's new Live Pro 2 and Live Free 2 buds. Both sets of buds -- the Live Pro 2 have stems while the Live Free 2 have a pill-shaped design -- offer a comfortable fit along with strong noise canceling, very good sound quality and voice-calling performance, plus a robust set of features, including multipoint Bluetooth pairing, an IPX5 splash-proof rating and wireless charging.
The Live Pro 2 and Live Free 2 are equipped with the same 11mm drivers, six microphones, oval tubes and oval silicon tips. Aside from the design, the biggest difference between the two buds is battery life; the stemless Live Free 2 is rated for up to seven hours, while the Live Pro 2 is rated for 10 hours. The Live Pro 2 is available in four color options.
Water-resistant: Yes (IPX5 rating -- splash-proof).
Samsung-owned JBL has a couple of new sets of earbuds, the Live Pro 2 and Live Free 2 that are surprisingly good. Both are equipped with the same 11mm drivers, six microphones, oval tubes and oval silicon tips. And they also combine a comfortable fit along with strong noise canceling, very good sound quality and voice-calling performance, plus a robust feature set, including multipoint Bluetooth pairing, an IPX5 splash-proof rating and wireless charging.
Aside from the design -- The Live Pro 2 has stems while the Live Free 2 is pill-shaped -- the biggest difference between the two buds is battery life. The stemless Live Free 2 are rated for up to seven hours, while the Live Pro 2 are rated for 10 hours.
The Live Free 2 fit securely in my ears and are smaller and superior to Samsung's Galaxy Buds Pro, particularly in terms of comfort level. The buds are available in three color options.
Released in mid-2020, the Jabra Elite 45h were essentially billed as the best on-ear headphones for the money and among the best headphones for work. While there's nothing terribly fancy about them, they are a great value for on-ear headphones, with good sound quality, a sturdy design and comfortable fit -- for on-ear headphones, anyway.
They perform well as a headset for making calls too, and include a sidetone feature that allows you to hear your voice so you don't talk too loudly. Battery life is also good and it has multipoint Bluetooth pairing so you can connect to both your computer and your smartphone at the same time, and easily switch between the two should a call come in on your phone.
The Beats Studio Buds look a lot like the rumored stemless AirPods that people were talking about but never materialized -- as AirPods anyway. Geared toward both iOS and Android users, they're missing a few key features on the Apple side of things (there's no H1 or W1 chip), but they're small, lightweight earbuds that are comfortable to wear and offer good sound. They fit most ears securely, including mine -- I run with them without a problem -- but others may find a better fit with the Beats Fit Pro and their integrated wing tips.
Amazon has all the colors on sale for $100 (including the new blue and gray colors), which matches their lowest price to date. Yes, Amazon was offering a bonus $10 Amazon gift card with their purchase in late 2021, which technically brought their price down to $90, but they were officially discounted to $100 at that time.
Coming in at 16% smaller than the Elite 75t, the Elite 7 Pro are Jabra's top-of-the-line earbuds in its new range and include the company's new MultiSensor Voice technology with a bone-conduction sensor, four microphones and intelligent algorithms to deliver new "ground-breaking call quality," Jabra says. The voice calling performance doesn't quite live up to the hype, but Jabra has updated the buds' firmware, adding multipoint Bluetooth pairing and slightly improving sound quality, noise canceling and headset performance. It took a while but they're now excellent all-around buds.
These have adjustable active noise cancellation, Jabra's HearThrough transparency mode and Bluetooth 5.2. They offer up to nine hours' play time at moderate volume levels with noise canceling on, and nearly three additional charges in the charging case -- total battery life is rated at 35 hours. The charging case has wireless charging capabilities.
The earbuds' IP57 rating means they are dust-resistant and fully waterproof (they can be submerged in up to 1 meter of water). For those who like to use only a single bud, you can also use either one independently in a mono mode.
The Momentum True Wireless 3 are Sennheiser's flagship true-wireless earbuds. But if you can't afford them, the CX Plus, which feature very good sound and decent noise canceling, is a good alternative for a lot less money (the step-down CX, which has no active noise canceling, costs even less). Battery life is rated at up to 8 hours at moderate volume levels and these are splash-proof, with an IPX4 rating. While they do stick out of your ears a fair bit, these are all-around solid noise-canceling earbuds that can count sound quality as their biggest strength.
All of Samsung's Galaxy Buds models are on sale right now, including the Galaxy Buds 2, which I tend to like the best of the current crop of Galaxy Buds. They're on sale for $127, which isn't the lowest we've seen (they've approached $90) but is still a reasonable discount. Read our Galaxy Buds 2 review.