The Best Budget Earbuds Under $30? Sony MDR-XB50AP Review

This is the Sony MDR-XB50AP. A pair of just ordinary ear buds. At least, they look that way on the surface. I mean, earbuds we get with our phones are good enough right? Well, what if those break? You’re dead. No more music. What a sad life. Well. These cost as much as a brand new pair of ear pods. We’re here to find out, whether this is a great budget pair of earbuds deserving of replacing your phone’s earbuds or deserve to be in the trash. Let’s get started with a review.

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When you open the packaging, you’re greeted with a few things, the earbuds themselves, a nice fleece feeling carrying pouch and some different sized ear tips. The earbuds have an L shaped 3.5mm jack and a flat ribbon like cord. The design of the earbuds themselves is interesting.. It really reminds of a dyson vacuum or their hair dryer. it has this metallic disc tumor thing, which adds to the design that I have mixed feelings about, inline controls, a built-in mic for calls and comes in a couple of colors. Still, just like those Dysons…

The earbuds fit nicely in my ears, I don’t feel any discomfort with two hours of continuous usage. This may sound weird, but I like the feeling of the cable. It feels smooth to touch but has tiny little ridges in them to make them a little less slippery. It also has that little zipper-like thing to help prevent tangles which is a nice extra. The pouch it comes with is a nice addition to keep dirt and lint from your pocket from getting into the earbuds and then into your ear. That’d be disgusting. But they’re not going to protect the buds much from a fall.

Woah, woah. Enough about that? How do they sound? Well, they sound really good for $30. The bass is really emphasized as expected from the bass boosted packaging, the mids sound pretty clean and the bass really makes songs exciting. The in-ear nature of the earbuds provides good noise isolation and there’s not too much sound leakage coming from them either. Overall, when comparing them at the same volume tick mark as apple earpods, these XB50Aps are louder.

Now that’s a few good things about the earbuds, what about the bad? Well, for one, the highs are overcompensating. The highs feel sharp like a blade, with really harsh “s” sounds, making that the weakest link the sound. While the bass is emphasized it isn’t super clean, just average. About on par with earpods but louder at similar volumes. A previous pair of these my girlfriend owned, had the metallic looking plastic disc chipp after a couple of months of usage, but that may be her own error and the earbuds themselves died after about a year of heavy usage. But honestly? A year of heavy usage sounds normal, at least for how I treat earbuds anyway.

Now overall, what do I think of these earbuds? I think they’re great. They are constantly $30 dollars, and costs as much as ear pods yet provide an overall cleaner and better sound despite its sharp highs. It provides great sound for those looking to replace the earbuds that came with their phones. And if you don’t mind that dyson inspired design and love a bass focused sound, then I’d highly recommend these. They’re affordable and sound like they’re worth more than just $30.

Anyway guys, what do you think? Do you agree what this pick? Do you have earbuds that you swear by? Leave all that in the comment section below. If you enjoyed this video, give it a thumbs up, and well don’t forget to subscribe. I’ll see you guys next time.

[onutrissu]

0:28 Well... These Sonys are like a couple thousand times better than airbuds.

[siddmishra]

Finally after 2.5 years of using XB50AP..the right side finally died out.
The awesome sound quality stayed the same for 2.5 years and I was very happy with this earbuds..I will miss it.😢

[ApplePEACHannel]

this video definetely deserves more views! quality content should be seen!

[lane]

I have 2 pairs of these and I seriously love them. Glad to see some one else likes them too

[Shure_Lock]

Ive had mine for close to 4 years. They are so damn good! They have never failed me, and i like them better than apple earbuds

[stephintheatre]

I bought mine today, I think they sound awesome, and comfortable to wear.

[cuttabutter]

I had these for almost 2 years my puppy chewed them up. Besides them tasting good for puppy’s theses were very reliable, i even dipped them into water a couple of times, the sound always sounded nice and crisp, the bass was amazing. They do get uncomfortable if you wear them for too long.

[jortuspelatus]

I had this exact pair years ago which went alongside my Xperia Z1 and I was very impressed with its build and the sound quality they offered, true to the EXTRA BASS name. Mine were also riddled with chipped metal after a few years of rough usage until I left them in a restaurant and lost them for good. They also got me interested in earbuds because after I lost them I replaced them with 50-60 dollar offerings from Audiofly and Marshall. Eventually I realized that paying for earbuds worth more than 30 dollars weren't worth it because my ears aren't that of an audiophile and I've also discovered a brand called KZ Acoustics that sells great sounding (ang looking) earphones for about half the price of the Sony's I bought those many years ago. Currently owning their wired ES4 and ZSN Pro X and the TWS S1.

[painsnotyourname]

Does the mic work with ps4 controllers? I feel like most ear pods dont work with ps4

Edit: it works

[BeatsRMy]

my second pair just passed away after 2 years of intense usage. I just ordered my third pair for 22 bucks. imo nothing comes close to these earbuds in the same price range.

[joinrichworld]

I think you should have like 1, 2 m views

[BUBBA]

Hey Jimmy! Just wanted to say thanks for the great vids man. Love your stuff. Keep it up!

[nihilisticgacha]

the model i had is MDR-XB55AP, they look similar and have similar price, i don't know what's the difference. i have mine for 4.5 years, still standing strong. i am not an audiophile, so it sounds good enough for me, since i like sounds to be a little bit more bass, and the noise reduction is really good.

[hubitheratlord]

i bought these so many times in a row and has lasted me more than 2 years. EPIC EARBUDS!! the amazing thing they're only from 30 to 40 bucks and sound better than some headphones that cost up to 100 bucks. man these things rock

[ashfx]

YOUR CHANNEL IS UNDERRATED WTF AMAZING

[LildawgBigbite]

Love your vids Jimmy!! You deserve much more than 65k subs!!

[raingow]

listening to this with these earbuds. I have so much static noise that I don't know how to fix. probably gonna return it

[suruxstrawde]

Have sume suuuoer old ones here, connected to an equaly old LG phone, I think they're either malfunctioning or somehiw my machine is connecting to someones wireless earbuds through thrm. Keep having the sound randomly go up and down with sound affects I've never heard before.

[kaleidoscopeon]

I have been using these for almost 5 years and these are still working and built like a tank.

[argentik]

I have a pair of jbl c100si, and this is my story: After 20 months, and being soak the entire washing cycle (twice) I can recommend them. Pure gold, drawn from the river of Walmart for... something about 9 bucks. Sound fantastically and they don't seem to perish...