My 14 year old earbuds finally died (and I held a sad earbud funeral) and I had to move on and find new ones. I went looking around with my very limited budget and landed on three models to try, as I'm very picky:
$9.50 Panasonic ErgoFit No Mic RP-HJE120-KB
$12 Sony MDR-EX15LP
$15 Sephia SP3060
I wanted something with no microphone, inexpensive and at least "listenable" quality. While I have audiophile headphones for when I need clarity, I do have standards for even cheap earbuds.
This is how these shook out for me, cheapest to most expensive:
Panasonics:
I actually rather like these. They basically "barely qualify" for me when it comes to sound quality, but the balance at least is to my taste (a bit bass-heavy, quieter treble) and it's mostly that it struggles a bit with clarity. It's fine for listening to youtube or casually listening to music if you aren't very picky. I don't really need an EQ for these. The cord is adequate length. I actually like the weirdly shaped earbuds, the oval makes it obnoxious to replace the buds but once you do, it sits very well in the ear and helps with noise isolation. Like, these aren't going to erase outside noise, but they work alright in dampening. They're also very comfortable.
These have become my daily drivers for just doing stuff on the computer and gaming with friends.
Sony…s:
I hate these. They were the worst of the bunch for me. The audio quality was well below what I find tolerable, staticky and irritating with a very harsh balance. That kind of "edged" treble sound that hurts my ears, heavy sibiliance. I had to use a heavy EQ to make these listenable, and I still wasn't that impressed. The earbuds aren't even pure silicone for some reason, I shouldn't have even ordered these. I'm still deciding if I try to return them or if I take the L for the twelve dollars and just donate them. They weren't comfortable because whatever they mixed the silicone with triggers my allergies. I also kind of hated the cord because it's that stiff but weirdly pointy… type. I dunno, I just find it unappealing and it makes me feel bad. All in all, these really did not work for me.
Sephias:
I actually liked these the most, however… They interfere with my computer somehow. I have this longstanding issue with, I think, my motherboard, that certain sound equipment makes this constant crackling and it is Very Annoying. While I may eventually try to fix that problem, in the meantime, I can't use these for my computer, as not only do they have the crackling issue, but they… amplify it. Unfortunate. It kinda sucks because these were extremely comfortable and easily had the best sound quality of the lot. They are even what I would call "fairly decent" on that front. Very good clarity for their price. They are listenable for me without an EQ, but I think do benefit nicely from a slight curve. Probably the most "neutrally" balanced earbuds. The cord is way too short for me though. Also it coming with 6 friggin sets of earbuds sure is a thing. (They came in useful.) They're also a bit heavier than I'm used to between the aluminum and the fairly heavy cord, though they stay in place fine if I'm not swinging my head around wildly or something. Probably not going to wear them to a gym if I ever visit a gym in my lifetime.
I've ended up just keeping these by my bed for things like mp3 player or steam deck or similar. Don't have to cart one set of earbuds around that way, I guess.
So, overall, the cheapest panasonics kind of wiggle out to be the most utilitarian for me, and I really can't recommend the sony earbuds. If you don't have a weird crackly computer the sephias are good. I figure a review of three of the cheaper (with half-decent reviews) put together as a comparison might help someone, but earbuds and music is always going to be a bit subjective!
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