If you’re shopping for a true wireless earphone, chances are you want something cheap that still manages to sound and feel premium. If that’s you and you’re here, you’re in luck; I’ve rounded up the best Bluetooth TWS earbuds available to buy on AliExpress for budget earbud shopper.
Overall best AliExpress earbud – the QCY Melobuds Pro
| Standout features on the Melobuds Pro |
|---|
| Bang for buck |
| Amazing audio quality |
| Excellent battery life |
| Good ANC performance |
| Check current price here |
Read my full review of the Melobuds Pro here
The QCY Melobuds Pro is my personal sleeper bud. In my tests this was about one of the most capable in ear TWS earbud I had come across.
Ticks all the checkboxes: so, great ANC, very balanced and super detailed soundstage, awesome design, water resistance the whole works.
More importantly, it’s cheap and I’m skeptical about calling it cheap because usually cheap translates to corners-cut one way or the other, so instead I’m gonna say ‘fairly priced.’
Depending on when you search for this on AliExpress you can snag it up for under $25 bucks. You’ll be hard pressed to find something better on the market for less than that.
1st runner up – the QCY Melobuds N70
| Standout features on the QCY Melobuds N70 |
|---|
| QCY’s bud with the best design and build quality |
| Support for wireless charging |
| Superior audio performance with industry leading surround sound and clarity |
| Top tier ANC performance |
| Check current price here |
Read my full review of the QCY Melobuds N70 here
QCY’s current flagship is exactly what you’d expect from a flagship. It’s one of the most feature packed buds on the market right now and it’s one of the few buds on this list that can match the pricey earbuds from heavyweights like Samsung and Apple pound for pound.
This ships with wireless charging (the only bud that does so on this list for now) and a proprietary audio driver from QCY that delivers one of the best surround sound performance you can find on any in ear TWS bud in whatever price category.
It’s also QCY’s most stylish earbud yet with a finish that’s distinctive and build quality that’s bound to stand the test of time. This bud is second on this list only because I think the Melobuds Pro is an absolute beast that provides the utmost value for money spent. If you want the creme de la creme of the Chinese wireless earbud space this is your pick.
2nd runner up – the Soundcore Liberty 5
| Standout features on the Soundcore Liberty 5 |
|---|
| Best designed buds in my opinion |
| Most comfortable |
| Great sound performance |
| Superb active noise cancellation |
| Check current price here |
Read my full review of the Soundcore Liberty 5 here
I like to think of the Soundcore Liberty 5 as the Rolls Royce of this category of earbuds. It’s sleek, it’s refined and it’s very classy. Probably the most comfortable in ear buds I’ve tested so far and also probably the most well built TWS in ear bud in its price category.
Two things push it to third on this list – the price and the sound quality. Compared to the Melobuds N70 for instance, the soundstage of the Liberty 5 is less vibrant, certainly doesn’t match the surround sound performance or clarity of the N70. And it costs give or take $20 more than the N70.
The extra money you’ll pay for this is well accounted for in the build quality but what you’ll find out is although the Liberty 5 is the best crafted bud on this list, most others on this list have a good enough build quality.
Third runner up – the CMF Buds Pro 2
| Standout features on the CMF Buds Pro 2 |
|---|
| Refined design |
| Best in class build quality |
| Great app |
| Good enough sound quality |
| Check current price here |
Read my full review of the CMF Buds Pro 2 here
If the Soundcore Liberty 5 is the Rolls Royce of this category of earbuds, then you can think of the Buds Pro 2 as the Ferrari la Ferrari.
This thing comes with a dedicated scroll wheel on the case for controlling the buds, and the Nothing X app is probably the most polished and intuitive control app from any manufacturer in this space. Sound quality is great, build quality top notch – rivaling but not necessarily matching what you’d get on the Liberty 5.
Again, the major drawback with these buds is the price. Yes, the added bells and whistles might justify the extra bucks CMF wants you to pay for these but do you really need that scroll wheel – I only used it once through the time I was testing these and it was to show how they worked in my review video.
Fifth position – the 1more Q21
| Standout features on the 1More Q21 |
|---|
| Notable contender for bang for buck |
| Top tier ANC performance |
| Great sound quality |
| Very unique and standout design |
| Check current price here |
Read my full review of the 1More Q21 here
Similar to the Melobuds Pro, the Q21 are 1More’s bang for buck offering and like the former, based on tests and performance benchmarks, you’ll find it hard to believe that these are sub $30 buds.
The sound quality rivals what you’d get from the Melobuds Pro and it’s also packing decent ANC tech plus remarkably good surround sound and clarity performance.
Every once in a while the price drops to the sub $20 levels on AliExpress, at those times nothing on the market matches it for bang for buck.
Sixth position – the QCY Melobuds N60
| Standout features on the QCY Melobuds N60 |
|---|
| Great sound quality |
| Top tier ANC |
| Modern features at a good price point |
| Good battery life |
| Check current price here |
Read my full review of the QCY Melobuds N60 here
The Melobuds N60 use the same proprietary audio driver you’ll find on the Melobuds N70. So, as you’d expect sound quality is super impressive. Unlike the Melobuds N60 though this came off to me as if they were tuned to be more bass biased and that’s something some people might like.
ANC is QCY levels of good, which is good enough and this comes with all the recent next gen tech, so bluetooth 6.0 (the only other bud with this on this list is the N70), fast pair tech, IPX5 rating for water resistance etc.
Unlike the N70 which packages all of this in a refreshed build the N60 debuts it in QCY’s old design language – the same used by buds as far back as the Ailybuds Pro Plus, enough reason for it to drop several places on this ranked list.
Seventh position – the CMF Buds 2 Plus
| Standout features on the CMF Buds 2 Plus |
|---|
| Refined design |
| Great app |
| Good sound quality |
| Great build quality |
| Check current price here |
Read my full review of the CMF Buds 2 Plus here
I kinda liked my Buds 2 Plus. They sounded great and that Nothing X app for the buds is really the best from any manufacturer right now. Somehow though, I couldn’t get over the feeling that CMF was charging more than was necessary for these buds.
These cost about $42 a pop on its cheapest days on AliExpress and in terms of performance and overall quality I’d compare them to the Melobuds N60 or the Melobuds Pro – both are about $10 cheaper.
For what it’s worth these are definitely better built than either of those two and if the Buds 2 Plus had the same or better sound performance than those I’d say, yeah the extra $10 bucks you’re paying is justified. However, these don’t replicate the superb surround sound or clarity you’d get from the QCY buds.
Eight position – the CMF Buds 2a
| Standout features on the CMF Buds 2a |
|---|
| Cosplays bang for buck to a good enough extent |
| Good enough sound quality |
| Good ANC |
| Decent build quality |
| Check current price here |
Read my full review of the CMF Buds 2a here
This is CMF’s attempt to go barebones and cut the price down to the dirt cheap levels you’d get from the competition. And they managed to do that over the long term.
Not sure when you’re reading this (price might have changed) but currently these are cheaper than the Melobuds Pro on Aliexpress at $25 per piece. For context, when I got mine it was upwards of $35 (can’t remember the actual price).
If you manage to get them at that price point then yeah, fair game, I can agree that these are good earbuds for 25 bucks. Anything other than that and you’re better off just getting the Buds Pro 2 if you want CMF’s great build quality and it’s clean app, or the king of this list the, 1More Q21, if you want dirt cheap but very capable.
Ninth position – the QCY Melobuds N50
| Standout features on the QCY Melobuds N50 |
|---|
| Good audio quality |
| Good ANC |
| Check current price here |
Read my full review of the QCY Melobuds N50 here
There’s no reason to get the Melobuds N50 when the N60 and the Melobuds Pro exist.
It’s a vestigial organ in the QCY in ear TWS earbud ecosystem. Good bud no lie but there’s nothing distinguishing it from the others in the line up despite being priced similarly.
Tenth position – the QCY Ailybuds Pro Plus
| Standout features on the QCY Ailybuds Pro Plus |
|---|
| A bit more comfortable |
| Cheap |
| Good battery life |
| Check current price here |
Read my full review of the QCY Ailybuds Pro Plus here
The AilyBuds Pro Plus are basically the Melobuds Pro without the rubber seal. Without that seal sound quality drops to barely good enough and ANC is almost non existent.
Maybe they’re a little more comfy but if you’re really serious about comfortability then you should check out open ear buds.
Frequently asked questions (FAQ)
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If the said item is not delivered to you or is delivered but not what was advertised, you can promptly file a dispute and get refunded in full. If you need more information about shopping on AliExpress, read my guide here.
The ideal TWS earbud should come with the following features:
*Active noise cancellation (ANC)
*Hifi sound with surround support
*A battery that lasts at least 24 hours on standby
*A comfortable fit
*Soft-touch controls
*Some more premium TWS earbuds (like the QCY HT01) might come with extras like:
A proximity sensor – to detect when the earbud is in-ear or not
Wireless charging
Now, it’s important to note that many manufacturers will advertise their TWS earbuds as having most of these features when they don’t, or they’re poorly implemented.
That’s why I made this guide to help you simplify your selection process. I’ve tested all the earbuds included on this list of the best TWS available on AliExpress. If you want more info on them, simply read my review.
