The latest Amazon Prime Day sale is underway, and a ton of headphones are discounted for the occasion. As in years past, many of the advertised deals aren’t anything special, but the sale does include all-time low prices on several picks from our guides to the best wireless headphones, wireless earbuds and gaming headsets. If you’re looking for an audio upgrade, we’ve dug through the trash, looked over price history charts and rounded up the best Prime Day headphone deals we could find below.
As a reminder, Prime Day 2024 runs through July 17, and you’ll need to be an Amazon Prime member to see most (but not all) of the offers. We’ll update this post if we find more decent price drops over the course of the sale. If you’re looking for discounts on tech beyond headphones, meanwhile, note that we’re running a more general Prime Day deal roundup as well.
Photo by Billy Steele / Engadget
The latest AirPods Pro are on sale for $169, which matches the lowest price we’ve seen. Apple sells the noise-canceling earphones for $249, though they’ve frequently been available for $190 on Amazon in recent months.
The AirPods Pro remain the “best for iPhones” pick in our guide to the best wireless earbuds. Like all AirPods, they work particularly well with other Apple devices, but they also include above-average active noise cancellation (ANC), a top-notch transparency mode (which blends your audio with outside noise) and a fuller, more pleasingly warm sound profile than Apple’s other earbuds. That said, they aren’t as customizable as many of their peers, and their five- to six-hour battery life is nothing to write home about. But if you’re a diehard Apple fan, they do more right than not. We gave them a review score of 88 back in 2022; just note that this model comes with a USB-C charging case.
Photo by Billy Steele / Engadget
The AirPods Max are down to a new low of $395, which is roughly $85 off their average street price on Amazon in recent months and $154 off Apple’s list price.
We gave this pair a review score of 84 when it was released way back in December 2020. Despite its age, the Max remains one of the more premium sets of wireless headphones you can buy. It sounds impressively detailed and balanced, its aluminum frame looks and feels high-end, and its ANC is still among the strongest on the market. Battery life is OK at roughly 20 hours per charge, and its Apple-Watch-style digital crown is more responsive than typical touch controls. Most (but not all) of the usual AirPods features are still here, too, from hands-free Siri to Find My tracking to faster pairing and device switching with other Apple hardware. The metal design is fairly hefty, however, and it weirdly lacks a power button, instead relying on a flimsy “case” to enter a low-power mode. You’ll still need to be an Apple loyalist to get the most out of it. But at this price, it’s much more competitive.
It’s worth noting that we may see a revised AirPods Max by the end of 2024, according to past reports from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, possibly around the launch of the next iPhone. That said, the new model isn’t expected to be a massive overhaul: Gurman says the only major change will be a swap to USB-C for charging and wired playback. The current set uses Lightning. If you can live with that, it’s still worth considering at this price.
Photo by Billy Steele / Engadget
The third-gen Apple AirPods are also on sale for $120, another all-time low. This is $49 off Apple’s list price and $20 below the typical sale price we’ve seen at other retailers over the last few months.
This pair is harder to recommend than the AirPods Pro and AirPods Max, as its semi-open design lets in a good chunk of outside noise, limits bass response and won’t fit everyone’s ears well. What’s more, Bloomberg has reported that Apple will launch two new fourth-gen AirPods models later this year with revamped designs, improved sound quality and ANC in one variant. (New AirPods Pros aren’t expected until 2025.) If you can wait, you probably should. Still, if you really want to save cash and hate the feeling of earbuds that dig into your ear canal, the third-gen AirPods are some of the better-sounding open-back pairs available right now, and they’re still especially convenient to use with Apple devices. We gave the third-gen AirPods a review score of 88 back in October 2021.
Engadget
The older second-gen AirPods have dropped to $69, which matches the largest price drop we’ve seen from a major retailer. Apple sells the earbuds for $129, though they’ve hovered in the $80 to $90 range on Amazon for most of 2024.
Like the third-gen model, the entry-level AirPods are a tough sell these days, particularly with updated versions reportedly in the works. You can get better sound quality for less, battery life is poor at roughly four to five hours, and the one-size-fits-all design still won’t fit everyone nicely. But if you prefer an unsealed design and just want the core AirPods feature set for as little as possible, it’ll probably be a while until any next-generation Apple earbuds are this cheap. These earbuds also have a thinner shape than the third-gen model, so they might suit some ears better.
Photo by Jeff Dunn / Engadget
The Anker Soundcore Space A40 is back down to $49, which is a deal we’ve seen a few times in recent months but still ties an all-time low. The pair has typically sold for $59 for most of 2024. The Space A40 tops our guide to the best budget wireless earbuds due to its impressive ANC, wireless charging and multi-device pairing support, comfy fit and 8-10 hours of battery life. You can get more detailed audio quality for more money, but the A40’s warm sound should please most by default, and you can customize the profile through a helpful companion app. The main trade-offs are its mediocre call quality and lack of wear detection; the latter means your music won’t auto-pause when you remove an earbud.
Photo by Jeff Dunn / Engadget
The Anker Soundcore Liberty 4 NC is the runner up in our budget earbuds guide, as it offers most of the same features as the Space A40 in a “stem” design akin to a pair of AirPods. It has a more bass-heavy sound profile out of the box, which some may find exhausting, but it’s similarly customizable. If you prefer this bulkier but easier-to-grab shape, the pair is now on sale for $70, a $30 discount that matches the lowest price we’ve seen.
Photo by Billy Steele / Engadget
The Sony WH-1000XM5 is down to $298 for Prime Day. That’s not the best discount we’ve seen, but it’s about $30 less than the typical sale price over the past year and $100 off Sony’s MSRP.
Horrible name aside, the WH-1000XM5 is the top recommendation in our guide to the best wireless headphones, and it earned a score of 95 in our review. Its lightweight design should be comfortable on most heads, its battery lasts a solid 30-ish hours per charge and its ANC is above-average. It has a bass-heavy sound out of the box, but you can get a nice level of detail out of it with a little EQ tweaking in Sony’s app. Like many Sony headphones, it also comes with a number of useful bonus features, such as a “Speak to Chat” option that automatically pauses music when you start talking. It can’t fold up, though, and a few other pairs offer stronger ANC if that’s your main concern.
Bose
If you want something a little more affordable than the WH-1000XM5, the Bose QuietComfort Headphones are worth a look at their Prime Day price of $199. That’s the largest discount we’ve tracked, coming in $100 below the pair’s average going rate over the last few months and $150 below Bose’s list price.
To be transparent, we haven’t formally reviewed this pair, but it’s a close follow-up to Bose’s QuietComfort 45, which we reviewed favorably a few years back, and a slight downgrade from the top-end QuietComfort Ultra, which earned a review score of 86 last October. If those models — and other reviews around the web — are any indication, it should get you a light and plushly-padded design, effective ANC, multi-device pairing and a decent 25+ hours of battery life. Other reviews suggest it has a more bass-heavy sound than the QuietComfort 45 by default, however.
The QuietComfort Ultra is on sale for $349 as well. Compared to the base model, this pair should deliver slightly stronger ANC, a slightly less plastic-y design, support for the higher-quality AptX Adaptive codec (on non-Apple devices) and a spatial audio mode Bose dubs “Immersive Audio.” We found the latter to be inconsistent, though, and in general we think the WH-1000XM5 is a more well-rounded choice unless ANC is your top priority.
Photo by Billy Steele / Engadget
The Sony WF-1000XM5 is on sale for $228, which isn’t quite an all-time low but is still cheaper than the usual sale prices we’ve seen in the past year. Sony sells the pair for $300, but it’s often dipped between $250 and $280 at other retailers like Amazon.
The WF-1000XM5 is the top pick in our guide to the best wireless earbuds. Like its full-size counterpart, it gets you a warm yet customizable sound, loads of helpful features and a powerful ANC feature. Its snug fit and memory foam ear tips isolate a good deal of outside noise even with the ANC off, and its 8-12 hours of battery life should yield few complaints. Its small earpieces may not fit everyone comfortably, but we think it’ll please the widest swath of people looking for premium earbuds. The XM5 earned a score of 87 in our review.
Photo by Billy Steele / Engadget
The Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds are down to $229 for Prime Day, matching an all-time low. This set normally retails for $299, though it often falls to $249 with sales. As with the over-ear QuietComfort Ultra, the main reason to consider the Ultra Earbuds over Sony’s competition is their ANC performance, which is right up there with the most comprehensive we’ve tested. They should also sound nice for those who prefer a bass-forward profile — though you can still tweak the EQ — and a recent update (finally) added support for multi-device connectivity.
That said, the earpieces are on the larger side and battery life is just OK at six hours or so. There’s also no wireless charging unless you pay an extra $49 for a special case cover, which is obnoxious. There’s still plenty to like if you’re a frequent flier who doesn’t want memory foam ear tips, but the WH-1000XM5 is a bit better on the whole. We gave the QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds a review score of 88 last September.
Photo by Billy Steele / Engadget
The Beats Fit Pro, meanwhile, is on sale for $150. That’s $5 more than the lowest price we’ve seen but $35 off the pair’s average street price and $50 off Beats’ list price. The Fit Pro tops our guide to the best wireless earbuds for running, as it puts many of the Apple-friendly conveniences you’d get with a pair of AirPods in a more gym-friendly design with stabilizing wings. You don’t get all the same features — there’s no Adaptive Audio mode, for one — and the AirPods Pro deliver much more powerful ANC and about an hour more of battery life. Multi-device connectivity and wireless charging are missing, too. But its punchy sound should play well on the treadmill, and its physical control buttons are a bit more reliable than most touch controls. If you’re an iPhone owner who only really needs earbuds for working out, it should do the job. We gave the Fit Pro a score of 87 in 2021.
Photo by Billy Steele / Engadget
The Beats Solo 4 is down to a new low of $120 for Prime Day. That’s $80 off their standard going rate and $10 less than the prior low we saw last month. The Solo 4 isn’t a formal pick in any of our guides, but at this price it’s worth considering if you want an on-ear design instead of a larger over-ear model. They have a nicely even-handed sound, with none of the bloated bass of Beats past, and their battery life is superb at roughly 50 hours per charge. They also support wired audio over a USB-C or 3.5mm cable. That said, the design can feel tight on larger heads, and the feature set is very light, with no ANC, multi-device pairing (on iOS), wear detection, transparency mode or custom EQ. But if you really want on-ears, there aren’t many better alternatives these days. We gave the Solo 4 a score of 79 in April.
The over-ear Beats Studio Pro is also on sale for $170, another all-time low. That’s an OK value if you must have Beats, but this is another one that could cause comfort issues, and it similarly lacks wear detection and multi-device pairing on iOS. There are better buys in the same price range.
Photo by Billy Steele / Engadget
Prime Day has dropped the latest Amazon Echo Buds to $25, which is half off Amazon’s list price and a new low. We highlight the Echo Buds in our budget earbuds guide for those who dislike the feeling of traditional in-ear headphones, as they have a semi-open design that doesn’t totally seal off the ear canal. They can’t isolate much outside noise or deliver truly deep bass as a result, but that might be OK if it means getting a design that’s actually comfortable. Sound quality is perfectly solid with a bit of EQ tweaking, while features like multi-device pairing, wear detection and hands-free Alexa access are all great to see at this price point.
Battery life is mediocre at roughly five hours per charge, though, plus there’s no wireless charging. The IPX2 sweat-resistance rating means this pair isn’t ideal for the gym, either, and using the Alexa app to adjust settings can be clunky. But for $25, it’s hard to complain. We gave the Echo Buds a score of 77 last year.
Sony
The recently released Sony ULT Wear is down to $159 for Prime Day, which is $41 off and a new low. This deal beats the previous low by $20. The ULT Wear is a mid-tier model in Sony’s wireless headphone lineup. It doesn’t look too different from the top-end XM5 from afar, and it packs many of the same features, including ANC, multi-device pairing, 30+ hours of battery life and a similarly light design.
The main difference is in sound quality, as the ULT Wear completely sells out to deliver thunderous, potentially overwhelming bass. You can still tweak things with a custom EQ, but the low-end is the point, and there’s a dedicated ULT button you can hit to boost the frequency even further. If you want anything close to a balanced sound, look elsewhere. The ULT Wear’s ANC isn’t as powerful as that of the XM5 beyond that, plus it omits some more advanced features like Speak-to-Chat. But if you’re on a tighter budget and want some serious boom for your hip-hop or EDM, it might be worth grabbing. We gave the ULT Wear a review score of 78 this past April.
Photo by Billy Steele / Engadget
The Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S2e is down to $246, which is the best price we’ve seen but about $150 off Bowers & Wilkins’ list price and $70 below the pair’s usual sale price.
This is is the first runner up to the Sony WH-1000XM5 in our buying guide, as Engadget’s Billy Steele considers them the best-sounding wireless headphones he’s tested. Tastes are subjective, of course, but the Px7 S2e’s rich yet controlled bass should satisfy those who prefer a warm and weighty sound profile. While it’s not outright bright, it does better to capture treble depth and detail than the XM5s out of the box. The design is comfortable and well-built on top of that, and the battery can last more than 30 hours per charge. Just don’t expect the ANC strength or overall feature set of the XM5, and know that call quality is mediocre. If you like a bit of kick in your music, though, this is a fine choice.
Photo by Valentina Palladino / Engadget
The JLab Go Air Sport is back on sale for $20, which isn’t quite an all-time low but is still $10 off the pair’s typical going rate. This is the “best under $50” pick in our guide to the best wireless earbuds for running. Its hook-style design stays secure while you’re on the move, plus it’s IP55-rated, so it’s water-resistant enough to survive sweaty workouts. Battery life is solid at roughly eight hours per charge. The boomy sound isn’t great, and features like ANC, multi-device pairing, wear detection and wireless charging are all MIA. But if you just want a cheap beater set for the gym, the Go Air Sport should suffice.
Photo by Jeff Dunn / Engadget
The Corsair Virtuoso Pro is available for $140, which is a new low and $10 below the typical sale price we’ve seen in recent months. This is an honorable mention in our guide to the best gaming headsets. It’s one of the few options with an open-back design, which helps games sound wider, more spacious and ultimately more enveloping than most of its peers. Its mic is decidedly less muffled than that of our top pick, the Astro A40 TR, too.
It’s still not as clear or detailed as the best “normal” open-back headphones in this price range (such as the Sennheiser HD 560S), its headband adjustment mechanism feels flimsy and its mic isn’t detachable on its own. And since the open-back design lets in lots of outside noise, it won’t be ideal if you often play in a noisy room. The A40 TR would still be our first choice if you want a dedicated gaming headset that focuses on audio quality. But the Virtuoso Pro is a good alternative at this price if you’re often in party chat.
Photo by Jeff Dunn / Engadget
The Logitech G535 Lightspeed is down to $78, which is the second-best price we’ve seen and about $12 off the pair’s usual street price. This is another honorable mention in our gaming headsets guide, as we like its relatively balanced sound and lightweight, breathable design. It still has issues: There’s no Xbox support, it lacks deep bass and its mic makes voices sound fairly thin. You also have to crank the volume a bit for it to reach a listenable level. But if you want a wireless headset for less than $100, it’s a solid value.
Logitech
The higher-end Logitech G Pro X 2 Lightspeed is also on sale for $180.49. That’s another all-time low and a $70 discount.
The G Pro X 2 isn’t a top pick in our gaming headset guide, but it’s worth a look when it’s discounted to this extent. While it can’t match the audio or mic quality of our favorite wireless headset, the Audeze Maxwell, its warm profile isn’t bad, it’s much lighter on the head and it gets close to 90 hours of battery life at moderate volumes. It can also connect over Bluetooth or a 3.5mm cable, though it can’t connect to more than one device at a time, and its wireless dongle doesn’t work with Xbox.
Photo by Jon Turi / Engadget
The Shokz OpenRun Pro are back down to $125, which is $25 more than the best price we’ve seen but still $55 less than usual. This is a pair of bone conduction headphones we’ve recommended in the past. They wrap around the side of your head and deliver sound through vibrations to your skull, so you wouldn’t buy them for detailed sound quality, and they aren’t ideal in noisy environments. But if you want to listen to music or podcasts without totally blocking the outside world, or if you just want a pair that’s lightweight but doesn’t sit in your ears, you might find them useful. They can also last up to 10 hours per charge.
If you want to save some cash, the standard Shokz OpenRun are also on sale for $90. That’s a $40 discount. This model is highly similar to the Pro, but it can’t produce quite as much bass and its battery life is a couple hours shorter. It does have a more durable IP67 water-resistance rating, though; the Pro has a (still solid) IP55 rating.
Your Prime Day Shopping Guide: See all of our Prime Day coverage. Shop the best Prime Day deals on Yahoo Life. Follow Engadget for Prime Day tech deals. Hear from Autoblog’s experts on the best Amazon Prime Day deals for your car, garage, and home, and find Prime Day sales to shop on AOL, handpicked just for you.