AirPods Pro 3 Too Costly? Get These $20 Earbuds Instead.

The latest Apple AirPods Pro 3 may rank among the top noise-canceling earbuds available, but $250 remains a substantial investment—at least from my perspective. Rather than waiting to add to Apple's profits, I chose to purchase a pair of Baseus Bass BP1 Pro earbuds during July's Amazon Prime Day Sale. Though I paid slightly more than the current price (all three colors are now $19.59 for Prime members using coupon code "X6F6U5M6"), I was thoroughly impressed. They may not match $250 earbuds in quality, but their sound far exceeds what you'd expect from a $20 pair you might consider disposable.

Baseus BP1 Pro Wireless Noise Canceling Earbuds for $19.59

Amazon Prime Member Exclusive

Baseus Bass BP1 Pro Noise Cancelling Wireless Earbuds

0$39.99 save 51%$19.59 at AmazonUse code 'X6F6U5M6'

Let's be clear: AirPods Pro are excellent. My wife still uses the first-generation Lightning model, and unsurprisingly, they outperform the Baseus BP1 Pro in sound quality, noise cancellation, and seamless pairing with her iPhone. Still, the BP1 Pro keeps up surprisingly well—it's certainly not twelve times worse.

Like the AirPods Pro, these earbuds are truly wireless and include built-in active noise cancellation. Their design fits snugly inside the ear, creating a passive seal. Five sizes of eartips are included to accommodate different ear shapes (as a small person with larger ears, I found this helpful). In my view, this alone makes them preferable to the non-pro AirPods 3, which don’t seal at all. Sound quality is impressive, and true to the product’s name, they deliver satisfying bass tones. Noise cancellation is functional, though not premium—ambient noise becomes muffled, but I could still hold a conversation with ANC enabled. To be fair, my experience with AirPods Pro is similar; truly effective noise cancellation usually requires quality over-ear headphones. The BP1 Pro also includes a transparency mode for hearing your surroundings when needed.

As a recent release, the Baseus BP1 Pro uses the latest Bluetooth 6.0 protocol. For non-Apple users, it supports Bluetooth Multipoint for pairing with two devices simultaneously. With an IP55 rating, it offers better water jet and dust resistance than the AirPods Pro 2 (IP54), though not as high as the AirPods Pro 3 (IP57). Battery life reaches up to 12 hours without ANC (7 hours with ANC), and the charging case extends total usage to 55 hours (or 36 hours with ANC).

At just $20—about the price of a burrito where I live—there’s little risk in trying these, especially with Amazon’s straightforward 30-day return policy. If you were thinking about the AirPods Pro 3 but find these earbuds perfectly adequate, give yourself a pat on the back: you've saved $230.