Stop buying AirPods 2, dammit – get these 3 better cheap Prime Day earbuds deals instead

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There are better buds from Sony, Nothing and Earfun

Nothing Ear (a) on yellow background with TR's Prime Day badge
(Image credit: Nothing)
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Fun fact: while checking and maintaining our guide to the best Prime Day AirPods deals, we've found that the AirPods 2nd Gen are right near the top of the list of most popular headphones during the Prime Day deals. And that's wrong.

To be clear, I'm talking about the basic AirPods 2nd Gen, released in 2019, which fell to $69 at Amazon. We're not talking about AirPods Pro 2 which are a genuine bargain at $169 (was $249) at Amazon in the US, and in the UK you can get AirPods Pro 2 for £179 (was £229) at Amazon UK.

The world has moved way past these earbuds in the five years since their release. In the $70 / £95 region, there are loads of superior, more-recent earbuds that sound far better, and come with extras like active noise cancellation. I get that there are reasons why you might want to specifically buy the cheapest AirPods available, but most people shouldn't – most people should buy these instead, which we've chosen for both the UK and US.

Today's best cheap Prime Day earbuds - US

Nothing Ear (a): $109 $79 at Amazon

Nothing Ear (a): was $109 now $79 at Amazon
They've only been around since April 2024, so we haven't seen a saving – until now. A cool 28% off (or $30) is a huge deal, especially when they got five sweet stars under intense test conditions, just see our Nothing Ear (a) review for reference. And our favorite yellow pair is heavily discounted, in addition to the white and black options. The top Prime Day steal – for only $10 more than AirPods 2, you get massively better sound and seriously good active noise cancellation, plus multi-point pairing so they can switch between two devices seamlessly.

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Beats Studio Buds: $149.95 $79 at Amazon

Beats Studio Buds: was $149.95 now $79 at Amazon
These Beats buds are back to their joint lowest price right now. You get far better sound than AirPods 2, active noise cancellation, and you still get some of AirPods' unique Apple-friendly features, such as instant pairing and hands-free Siri. They don't do auto-switching between Apple devices, but they do auto-pair with all your Apple devices, so you can easily connect to them with just a couple of taps.

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Earfun Air Pro 3

Earfun Air Pro 3: were $79.99 now $45.90 at Amazon US
You can buy these super cheap noise-canceling earbuds for 43% less than their normal price at Amazon US. Simply use the code 'EAP3ANC1' at checkout, and you're good to go. In our Earfun Air Pro 3 review, we highlighted the earbuds' solid ANC, multipoint pairing and impressive battery life – all of this earned them the title of best wireless earbuds for cheap ANC in our best wireless earbuds guide. There's clearly a lot to love with the Earfun Air Pro 3, and at under $50 we couldn't recommend them highly enough.

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Today's best cheap Prime Day earbuds - UK

Nothing Ear (a): £99 £77 at Amazon

Nothing Ear (a): was £99 now £77 at Amazon
They've only been around since April 2024, but dropped to £69 on the first day of Prime (before climbing in price a bit), but considering their youth and the fact that they just got five sweet stars under intense test conditions (just see our Nothing Ear (a) review for reference) any saving is a win. In the UK, AirPods 2 are still £95, so to get massively superior sound and great active noise cancellation for far less than AirPods is a no-brainer.

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Earfun Air Pro 3

Earfun Air Pro 3: were £69.99 now £49.99 at Amazon UK
We like these earbuds a lot for their price, as you can read in our Earfun Air Pro 3 review. The real pull here is shockingly cheap ANC, but these buds are great all-rounders too, and at less than £50 – half the price of AirPods 2! – you're sure to be satisfied with them, especially since they sound better. They amazingly future-proof when it comes to features, too, considering the cheap price – they have Bluetooth multi-point pairing, so they can switch between two devices.

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Sony WF-C700N: £99 now £69 at Amazon

Sony WF-C700N: was £99 now £69 at Amazon
The WF-C700N ripped our notions on what is achievable at this entry level to smithereens when they burst onto the scene in April 2023. Are they still some of the best noise-cancelling earbuds around? Certainly, just see our five-star Sony WF-C700N review. They offer multi-point pairing to auto-switch between devices, their sound is wonderful, their noise cancellation is great, and they last a whopping 7.5 hours per charge.

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These are selected from our picks of the best Prime Day headphones deals, and I chose them because we've reviewed them all ourselves, so we know they're superior to AirPods 2.

Now, these are all earbuds with an in-ear fit, rather than the outer-ear design of AirPods 2, where nothing inserts into your ear canal. Some people prefer that, and that's fair enough. 

AirPods 2 do have auto-switching between Apple devices, but most of our picks have Bluetooth multi-point, which means they'll switch seamless between two devices anyway, which may be enough for most people (and you can manually connect to other devices, of course).

If you're buying this Prime Day, I think you'll be way happier long-term with your purchase if you pick one of these, instead of the AirPods 2. (But AirPods Pro 2 rule, and have a feature that saved my day, and my money).

Still want some AirPods? Then do go visit out Apple promo codes page to save some money.

More Amazon Prime Day deals in the US

More Amazon Prime Day deals in the UK

Matt Bolton
Matt Bolton
Managing Editor, Entertainment

Matt is TechRadar's Managing Editor for Entertainment, meaning he's in charge of persuading our team of writers and reviewers to watch the latest TV shows and movies on gorgeous TVs and listen to fantastic speakers and headphones. It's a tough task, as you can imagine. Matt has over a decade of experience in tech publishing, and previously ran the TV & audio coverage for our colleagues at T3.com, and before that he edited T3 magazine. During his career, he's also contributed to places as varied as Creative Bloq, PC Gamer, PetsRadar, MacLife, and Edge. TV and movie nerdism is his speciality, and he goes to the cinema three times a week. He's always happy to explain the virtues of Dolby Vision over a drink, but he might need to use props, like he's explaining the offside rule.