Aside from my phone, earbuds are by far the most essential tech item that I own. Since I'm almost always listening to something, whether it's a podcast, music or an audiobook, I use them every day without fail, typically multiple times throughout the day.
Because of that, I ask a lot of my earbuds. Not only should they play music, but I also want them to deliver clear audio on calls, stay in my ears on long runs and drown out some of the noise on busy subway trains.
While I've tried a handful of earbuds throughout the years, I always come back to my trusty AirPods. But recently, I discovered a pair of $20 buds that some shoppers — and a fellow Shop TODAY editor — claim can serve as a replacement for the popular style.
So I tried both of the earbuds, wearing them for workouts, calls and plenty more to see how they stack up. Keep reading to discover my thoughts.
Best affordable earbuds: JLab Go Air Pop Earbuds
It's not hard to see why the JLab Go Air Pop Earbuds have more than 31,000 five-star ratings on Amazon. For their $25 price tag, they deliver some impressive features. The sound was high-quality and you can toggle between three different sound modes: JLab Signature, Balanced and Bass Boost modes, which the brand says can help you get the most out of your listening experience. (While the differences were pretty minor, the Bass Boost setting gave the music a bit of a heartier sound — which the brand says is good for workouts — while the vocals are slightly amplified in JLab Signature mode.)
My favorite aspect was the long-lasting battery life. On their own, the buds can last up to 8 hours, so I was able to listen to music, take meetings and watch videos during the workday without having to put them back into the case to charge. The case itself provides you with up to 32 hours of listening time, so I could charge the buds a couple of times before plugging the case in.
The USB cable is also built into the case, so I could easily charge it when I got a low battery warning without scrambling to find a cord. (Though it still requires a USB charging block.)
Because the earbuds have soft tips, they fit snugly in your ears and do a good job of blocking out external sounds. You get three different tip sizes in the package, and I found that the smallest ones fit my ears best. While they were comfortable for the most part — I have more narrow ear canals, so headphones with soft tips can be hit or miss — if I wore them for more than a couple of hours, my ears would start to feel sore.
Sometimes I struggle with earbuds with soft tips because they don't completely fit in my ears and fall out when I'm working out. Surprisingly, these stayed pretty securely in my ears during runs and strength training sessions.
The buds feature touch controls on the sides that allow you to switch songs, turn up the volume and change the sound. While some people may appreciate the convenience of the controls, I honestly wish they weren't there. I sometimes struggled with getting it to recognize my touch while running or walking and I would end up pausing the music when I wanted to skip a song or accidentally activating Siri. And while they fit snugly in my ears, during times of heavy movement I would sometimes have to adjust them and I would often activate the touch controls in the process.
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Additionally, while the brand says that you can use the app to personalize your sound preferences, I found it to be hard to navigate and even after some Google searches, I couldn't figure out how to connect my buds to access the sound controls. So I would change them using the touch controls on the buds — but once again, my touch wouldn't always be recognized.
Additionally, I often use my earbuds to talk on the phone in busy environments, like on walks through New York City and at the gym. While the audio quality on my end was great, I noticed that when I was wearing them, people would ask me to repeat what I had said more often — my sister at one point even asked me to call her later because the background noise while I was at the gym was so distracting.
Best splurge: Apple AirPods 4
Weight: 34.7 grams | Battery life: Up to 5 hours | Total playtime: Up to 30 hours | Waterproof rating?: IP54
As mentioned before, I have often experimented with wearing other earbuds, but time and time again I come back to AirPods. As an iPhone user, they offer a seamless setup and continued use experience.
The Apple AirPods 4 debuted last September and when I first tried them, I was immediately impressed by the high-quality sound and the added noise cancellation features. And even after more than six months of continued use, I haven't found that their quality has faded at all.
When I first got the AirPods, I regularly asked friends and family members I spoke to on the phone about the sound quality. They all said that the background noise, like the sound of cars, sirens and other people, was noticeably dimmed.
The Apple AirPods 4 are the first non-Pro model from the brand to feature active noise cancellation. Because they don't have silicone tips, when ANC is turned on, not all sounds are completely drowned out. Still, it does a pretty good job of minimizing the sounds of a busy office or a crowded subway train. (If you don't need the noise cancellation, the brand also offers a more affordable option without it.)
I also like how you can easily change the sound setting from the toolbar, adjusting the volume and turning transparency mode or ANC on and off.
The buds also fit comfortably in my ears and stay in, even through high-movement activities like runs, HIIT workouts, walks and more. And I rarely find myself adjusting them throughout the day.
The main area where the Apple AirPods 4 is lacking is with its battery life. You can typically get up to five hours of listening time from one charge, though that time period shortens when you have the ANC turned on. I listened to music with the noise cancellation on on a recent cross-country flight, and three-quarters of the way through I had to pause my music and charge them for 20 minutes because they came close to dying.
The earbuds also use a USB-C charger and the cable isn't included. So if you don't have all of the latest tech, such as the newest iPhone, which uses the cable, you may need to buy one separately.
Best overall: Apple AirPods 4
While the most expensive product isn't always the best, in this case, it may be worth it to spend some extra money on your earbuds. While the JLab Go Air Pop Earbuds are a great affordable option with high-quality sound and impressive battery life, for my lifestyle, the Apple AirPods 4 are the better choice.
I don't find myself adjusting them in my ears as much, I appreciate how easy they are to operate with other Apple products and I love the boosted sound quality for calls.
How we chose
We chose to compare the two earbuds because both of them are popular with shoppers and are editor favorites. I wore both of the brands for a number of activities, including workouts, walks, phone calls and meetings. I also used them to listen to multiple kinds of content, including both music and podcasts.
Why trust Shop TODAY?
The Shop TODAY editors and writers search the internet to find the best products out there. We interview expert sources and use our own personal experiences with the product and brand to make shopping easier for our readers.
Emma Stessman is a writer for Shop TODAY. She joined the team in 2020 and has covered everything from new tech releases to beauty trends and celebrity shopping habits. She has compared products like Fitbit's Inspire 3 and the Apple Watch SE as well as Brooks versus Hoka sneakers.
