Headphones under $50: CNET Top 5

Your smartphone is the most advanced music player ever invented. Every song ever recorded by mankind is at your fingertips. It's a miracle of human achievement, and you're listening to it on the tin cans that came in the box. How dare you? You don't have to drop $300 on a pair of headphones just to hear your music. In this Top 5 we're counting down the best headphones under $50. BODY ----------------- Starting off at #5, the Panasonic ErgoFit. This is your bare minimum upgrade, and they'll only set you back $10. They come in a bunch of colors, and yes, they even come in white. Another in-ear headphone comes in at #4: the MEElectronics A151. Now these ones will take you right up to that $50 price, but CNET's resident audiophile Steve GUTtenberg calls these the best in-ear headphone under $100. That's high praise. #3 moves us into the world of on-ear headphones: the Koss PortaPro. If the design looks like it's straight out of the '80s, it's because they are. Koss has been cranking these out since 1984. They're $40, they sound great, they fold up, and they come with a no-questions-asked lifetime warranty. These could be the last headphones you ever buy. But if you want an even better value, let's talk about over the ear headphones. At #2, the Audio-Technica ATH-M30. They're not much to look at, but the fact that we're even talking about quality, full-sized headphones for under $50 is amazing. Plus, a design like this is like a big do not disturb sign for your head. Now before we get to the best headphone value under $50, let's put this in perspective. On CNET's list of the Best 5 headphones, the number one pick goes to the Shure SE535. They get a nearly perfect score. They're also $500. And now, the best headphones you can buy for under $50 as selected by CNET Associate Editor Justin Yu and Executive Editor David Carnoy: the Panasonic RP HTX7. For around $40, you're getting both sound quality and style. Compared to the Audio Technica, you get a little more sonic detail and a lot less bulk. So there you have it. Those are CNET's best headphones for under $50. Your ears and your music deserve better than those stock earbuds. For more like this, check out Top5. CNET.com I'm Donald Bell, thanks for watching.