• Soundpeats announces UU2 clip buds
• Successors to 4-star Clip1
• Sound leakage avoidance, physical buttons, long battery life

Of all the cuff-style earbuds I've tested, the Soundpeats Clip1 are my favorite that cost under $100 / £100 / AU$100 — probably my flatmate's too, given how keen he was to 'inherit' them — and now, a follow-up has been announced.

These are the Soundpeats UU2, which have been on sale in Japan for a few months, but are now available in the US, UK, Australia and several European countries. No, I don't understand the name either, perhaps Soundpeats' execs come from a place where the buds have no name… (But to clarify no, as far as we know, there is absolutely no link with Bono et al).

You can buy the earbuds now for $49.99 / £59.99 (around AU$70) which is a small saving too, when you consider the $69.99 / £74.99 / AU$79.99 asking price of the original Clip1.

However these new buds make a place for our best open-ear buds list with a few premium features, likely inspired by higher-end models on the market.

Who's Gonna Ride Those Wild Earbuds

The Soundpeats UU2 get a 10-hour battery life, and 42-hour case life, both of those being longer than on the Clip1. I don't imagine anyone will be disappointed by that change.

More impressive is the introduction of a sound leak reduction mode, solving a common open-earbud problem in that people around you can hear what you're listening for.

Some earbuds have solutions: the Shokz OpenDots Air have an EQ mode to reduce it, and the Xiaomi OpenWear Stereo Pro had an entire driver to eliminate sound leaking, and I imagine Soundpeat's solution will fall into one of those two categories.

Another pain of clip-style buds is that their touch controls can be pretty sensitive, so the UU2 have physical buttons to control the issue. Budget buds often go for haptic controls, with actual clicky buttons saved for premium models, so I'm somewhat surprised to see the Soundpeats rock them.

A seemingly-unchanged spec from the Clip1 is the driver: 12mm here, so I don't expect a sonic overhaul. The call clarity is said to have seen an increase, though.

We've yet to thoroughly test the Soundpeats UU2, but we've got our hands on them, so we'll soon see if they can outshine the Clip1 — and the ever-growing number of budget cuff-buds out there right now.

Budget earbuds don't get much better than this: both in terms of quality and value for money. That's what makes it so easy to recommend the Sony WF-C510 Earbuds at Amazon for £34.99 (was £54.99).

You'd usually expect to make a handful of serious compromises when buying such a cheap pair of earbuds, but the Sony WF-C510 offer a surprising amount for such a low price. Audio is punchy, the fit is comfy, and the battery life impresses. For £35, you can't really ask for more.

Yes, there are a couple of features that it's a shame to miss out on, especially active noise cancellation, but that's to be expected when dealing with budget buds. Premium features like this aren't always necessary if you want a quality pair of affordable earbuds to listen to music or enjoy streaming videos — and that's where the Sony WF-C510 excel.

Buy the Sony WF-C510 at Amazon

Our 4.5-star review of the Sony WF-510 goes into more detail on what makes them such a good pair of budget-friendly earbuds. In fact, we were so impressed with them that we'd even recommend them over the much pricier Apple AirPods.

These are cheap earbuds that still offer a bold and vibrant sound. Of course, the bass won't be as strong as that of more premium options or over-ear alternatives, but you still get solid overall quality for the price.

If there's anything against them, it's that regular commuters or those who like to focus up when working in a noisy office might miss the active noise cancellation. If that's not going to be an issue for you, though, then the Sony WF-510 are easily some of the best cheap earbuds you can buy while they're down to this super-low sale price.

Think our tech is getting a little too smart for its own good? You're not alone.

In the past few weeks, TechRadar brought you three key updates on the invasion of your privacy without consent, owing to the AI learning models nestled in our gadgets and appliances.

In case you missed the latest missives, new LG TVs can record you in the background and will ask you to notify anyone who comes into your home, to comply with "wiretapping" laws. Next up, Nothing's new earbuds offer a 'squeeze the stems to record calls' feature being called Audio Snapshot, which is tantamount to phone-hacking in cute packaging. And finally, there's the continued backlash over Meta's AI glasses. Despite the social media giant implementing a feature that stops recordings if a wearer tampers with the front-firing light, hatred of these and other smart shades (oft-renamed 'pervert glasses' by the general public) has led to people calling for camera-less glasses.

So, in a world where our glasses can watch, our earbuds can hear, our speakers can speak and our TVs are a little too closely invested in our lives for comfort, how much more will we allow our tech to intrude before enough is enough — and what can we do to regain some privacy?

Your tech will see you now

Lauren Hendry Parsons is a seasoned advocate for digital rights and a gifted speaker in making these complex issues accessible. She is a director within the non-profit Mozilla Foundation, helping to make the organization's push for a "technology future that serves and is shaped by the people who use it" a message that resonates on a global scale.

Luckily, she has agreed to talk to me on the growing concern over surveillance tech's prevalence in our lives.

Parsons states that in order to zoom in on these issues, we need first to zoom out. "I see this as part of a bigger pattern," she begins, "that is a push by technology and other forces to normalize consumer surveillance — surveillance of people by other people — and that's something that we're seeing cropping up a lot."

So what's changed — after all, recording devices have existed for some time? The answer is the growing number of places where such surveillance is becoming normal.

"It's something that started in the Internet of Things home devices," she says. "You might talk to a smart speaker, or talk actively to another product that is doing your bidding — but it was usually tied to a place.

"Now, we're seeing the normalization of surveillance-chic behaviors, where fashion influencers are sharing their own Ring doorbells to show off their outfit of the day.

"That moves surveillance from something fixed inside a home, where people can at least see the object and talk about it, to something that's constantly moving through every space and every conversation."

And it's being packaged in pink earbuds, chic sunglasses or fun doorbells? Parsons agrees: "The chicification of surveillance to me is deeply concerning."

Who counts as the user — and should they really have control?

I want to talk about Meta's AI glasses and the involvement of Kylie Jenner in the ad campaign, especially when women's safety (regarding non-consensual surveillance and distribution of such footage) has been listed as a key concern.

I mention the fact that when speaking to several male colleagues about the benefits of such glasses (rather than the concerns), not one of them mentioned what I suspect all women thought: that wearing such glasses might mean filming your potential attacker, and that would be a very good thing.

"There are absolutely situations where people might want the convenience these products provide," Parsons agree. "Being able to translate something on the go or take a quick snapshot without getting your phone out. For people with disabilities or limited capacity, these tools could be genuinely useful.

"But I don't see the trade-offs being clearly explained. I don't see meaningful ways to opt out. Even if these companies have perfect data handling processes and perfect privacy records, the risk is being transferred to the consumer instead of being held by the tech company."

Parsons mentions one of the core issues at Mozilla Foundation: privacy by design. "Privacy by design, which is what we recommend as best practice, means products should be private by default," she says. "And that has to include bystanders.

"Technology companies talk about giving the user control, but who's counting as the user?

"With smart glasses, televisions, and recording earbuds, the purchaser isn't the only person affected. Just as children are affected by smart speakers or passengers by dashcams in cars, the person across the table or on the other end of the call is also a data subject, even though they have no access to the controls and no real way to opt out.

"True privacy by design must protect both the person operating the device and the people involuntarily brought into its data collection environment.

"When something (with surveillance tech built in) is fixed in your home or office, you can at least choose not to go there. You can suggest meeting somewhere else. That's difficult and has social consequences, but it's possible.

"If it's something someone is unobtrusively wearing in their ear or on their glasses, or something you don't even know they have, opting out becomes almost impossible."

I ask how we might regain some agency here, or at least get a handle on our privacy regarding AI glasses, call-recording earbuds and all-seeing TVs. Parsons points to the work she does.

"Mozilla's privacy principles are useful here," she says. "They're about no surprises, genuine user control, limited data collection, sensible settings, and multiple layers of protection. These examples show what happens when products fall short of those principles."

Another thing Parsons is keen to impress upon TechRadar is central to her work: understanding the trade-offs. "I don't see how everyone on the phone can understand those trade-offs and give informed consent," she says.

"The only way that could happen is if this (the recording of everything we do) became such a standard operating procedure that everyone expects it, because everyone has it. At that point, we would have completely accepted constant surveillance as the norm.

"I don't think the answer is necessarily to prohibit recording technology. It's to stop presenting recording as an ordinary, consequence-free convenience."

She mentions translation in AI glasses as an example: "Companies could show translations without collecting or storing the underlying data, but we know that's not what's happening."

Another watch-word in Parsons' work is 'friction', and how disproportionately easy it has become to monitor, film and record secretly and without consent.

"Features with serious privacy implications should involve equal and proportionate friction," she says. "The more sensitive the activity, the stronger the consent mechanism should be."

I mention that when testing a set of earbuds recently, a simple beep to signify that recording has begun is the only notification the caller on the other end of the line receives. Parsons believes concern there is valid.

"Notification is not consent," she says. "We've become used to surveillance in places like train stations and public spaces because it's framed as being for safety. But I'd hate to see that extended to person-to-person interactions."

I ask if perhaps people should simply get OK with omnipresent filming or data collection by individuals and wider companies, since it seems so hard to avoid? Parsons' answer is emphatic: "That's deeply problematic."

"We're seeing the expectation that people should be comfortable being filmed all the time. Even terms and conditions often state that by attending, you agree to being photographed or filmed for marketing purposes. The default is that your data is collected unless you make the effort to opt out or avoid the event entirely. Again, that's deeply problematic.

"The diminishment of privacy is cumulative. It's one thing to have a fixed camera in a train station. It's another to be filmed by multiple people in different places without your consent, or to have your audio collected."

'The burden of this issue is not distributed equally'

Parsons reads me a quote from one of her own features, and it cuts to the core of the agency, consent and privacy debate better than anything I could ever try to surmise.

"The burden of this issue is not distributed equally, and the risk of ambient recording will fall disproportionately on people who already have less control in a situation," she says. "That includes workers, children, parents, patients, tenants, domestic abuse survivors, and protesters. This makes vulnerable populations more vulnerable."

Turning the cameras around

Parsons mentions a novel but initially counter-intuitive solution suggested by some prominent female content creators. Instead of shunning Meta's glasses (or playing Disney songs if you realize you're being filmed, because Disney's music is better protected than women's lives), the idea is that women do wear them, specifically to film men when they start to behave in an inappropriate or predatory manner, then upload the footage everywhere. The thinking is that these products might then get regulated very quickly.

"If women collectively used them in that way — in a kind of, let's call it a neo-Me Too movement — I'd put money on consent issues being addressed much more quickly," Parsons says.

"The issue isn't simply that these products can record. It's that the examples you gave (the earbuds, the glasses, the TV that records in the background) all prioritize effortless capture over meaningful consent, when there are other ways to do it.

"The person operating the product gets all the convenience and control, while everyone else gets a light, a beep, or a legal disclaimer. That's an unacceptable imbalance.

"Recording has many legitimate and valuable purposes, but companies should be asking how to build consent into the infrastructure, minimize what's captured, and protect bystanders as rigorously as they protect the user.

"The false dilemma is, 'Do you just not want this technology?' But we shouldn't have to choose between useful technology and privacy.

"Preserving both means companies need to treat consent as a product requirement, not something buried in their terms and conditions."

Facial recognition (and how to make it disappear)

I ask Parsons about Mozilla Foundation's stance on digital facial recognition, a highly controversial feature that our phones and smart glasses are technically capable of. Although the big brands have so far disabled or restricted the software on glasses, there are strong suggestions that hackers have managed to scoot around it.

She mentions the rise of anti-surveillance fashion; garments that make their wearer invisible to the algorithm and thus can thwart the surveillance tech stuffed into our handsets and wearables.

"Looking ahead, we have two things happening simultaneously," Parsons says. "We have vastly increased computing power and data analytics capabilities that allow us to store and analyze more information than ever before, and we have recording devices embedded everywhere in increasingly unobtrusive ways. That combination is worrying.

"One of the brands we spoke to, Capable Design, explained it well: 'The problem with surveillance technology is citizens don't have a possibility in the physical world to opt out. In the digital space, we can say yes or no to cookies. In the physical world, we don't have this option. We wanted to create physical protection that would allow citizens to give their consent or not.'

"It feels as though we're being forced to pick sides: either you're comfortable with surveillance or you're actively trying to avoid it. Again, it comes back to the false choice between privacy and convenience because technology developers aren't prepared to give us both.

"I think these efforts are people trying to take back some agency. There's a feeling that all of this is inevitable.

"Particularly in the UK, where social norms and politeness are strong (this interview is taking place in the UK), I worry we're going to politely accept our way into a surveillance state because people feel uncomfortable challenging others or assume this is an inevitable progression."

Our time together is nearly up, but Parsons wants to talk just a little more about the future. "I want to say this loudly because it's a core Mozilla Foundation belief: the future of technology is not inevitable," she says.

"These are choices being made by people within companies. They could choose a different path.

"That's why Mozilla Foundation funds projects and people who challenge the status quo. We're investing in positive alternatives because opting out as a consumer can feel almost impossible.

"We need companies making better choices, regulators setting stronger requirements, and a greater appreciation that friction isn't always a bad thing. A little friction can protect people, encourage creativity, and ensure meaningful consent.

"That's what I hope for the future: that we don't accept inevitability, that we invest in better technology choices, and that responsibility isn't pushed entirely onto the individual consumer at the point of use."

AI another way

So, are there people within companies — even AI companies focused on "autonomous agents, edge intelligence, computer vision, and robotics" — looking to make different choices? Actually, yes.

Div Garg — CEO and Co-Founder of AGI (an AI on-device 'personal assistant' company) — is perhaps most famous for turning down a big gig at OpenAI in order to work on a "Siri that actually works" within his own startup. Fortunately, he's prepared to talk to me about the concerns surrounding the scraping (and in-cloud storage) of our personal data for AI learning.

"The debate around whether AI wearables that record our everyday lives are an invasion of privacy overlooks the fact that this technology doesn’t need the cloud whatsoever," he had said, prior to our meeting today. "It’s cheaper and easier for manufacturers, but it isn’t a necessity. Put the model on the device, and no data ever has to go beyond it."

Now, I ask him to expand. "My company hasn't cared about audience growth," he says. "We believe all AI agents and assistants should be running on-device, so the user should own the model and the data.

"What's happening now is people are typing their data into services, and companies use that data to show you ads. I think all of this can be misused to sell you more things, and we don't want that.

"AI is great, but it's only great if it's neutral and genuinely beneficial. It shouldn't become a source of revenue for corporations through people's data. That's what we're trying to change. We believe this kind of edge AI is the future, and we want to build something that's fully privacy-safe and that people can truly trust.

"We don't want people giving away their data without knowing more about it. We need the opposite approach, and I don't think enough people are thinking about this."

Garg pauses. "Maybe Apple should have been the company doing this," he adds, "but they've been lagging behind when it comes to AI".

I agree, and ask him why that might be? "No one has really taken the initiative to solve these privacy concerns. We've been holding a lot of events recently; for example, the founder of Edward AI, who built Edward before it was acquired by Google, joined us as an advisor. He believes in building the next personal operating system."

Trust issues

Can AGI build something that's truly personal, where people trust it, and where everything lives on-device? Garg believes so but, interestingly, he doesn't see trust as the deal-breaker.

"A big thing we're proposing is almost a zero-trust approach," he says. "You don't actually have to trust the provider. If the AI model itself is guaranteed to be running on the device, then no data leaves the device. You don't have to trust that a company is telling the truth — you know because of the way it's built. That's where I think the world should be moving."

The idea that brands are prioritizing AI in a product, because they know it's a buzzword, but with a more watchful eye on profit margins rather than the privacy of a user's data (and consent to capture that data) doesn't sit well — with either of us.

So why might companies try to not keep AI on-device, aside from cost issues? Does it drain your battery? Does it make a device heat up? Does it use a lot of RAM?

"I'd say you have to think outside the box," Garg says. "It requires a lot of innovation. You have to figure out how to make these models small enough to run locally.

"Modern phones (because this is where Garg sees AI, as the chief controller of your other devices) now have GPUs and processors called NPUs that can run AI models. I think the world is moving towards deploying more of these models on phones, but it's still very new.

"For example, we have a collaboration with Qualcomm. We're talking with their R&D and machine-learning teams about how our models can be highly optimized for phones. We want to make sure they don't drain your battery, cause overheating, or create other issues.

"This is a new frontier in technology, and you have to be innovative to make it work."

I ask Garg what he would say to anyone wary of adding a personalized AI model to their lives? "It depends a lot on who's making the decisions," he says.

"We want consent. We want to make sure people aren't being recorded without permission — I'm pretty sure there will be lawsuits around some of these issues in the future.

"My belief is that AI should be consensual. Even if you download a new AI app, it should ask, 'Are you OK with us collecting your data?' If someone gives consent, that's OK. But if someone says no, they shouldn't be forced into it."

On-device only

Garg is obviously only interested in an on-device AI future, but I worry that affordable convenience often wins out and that people may not understand the true benefits of such precautions.

I mention a set of headphones I tried, that offer real-time cognitive strain detection. My issue was that these cans (which were $200 cheaper than the inaugural 12-channel EEG sensor over-ears) use cloud processing in combination with on-device processing for some of the new metrics. The company didn’t reveal exactly what data was being sent to the cloud, but it had the potential to change my mind pretty drastically about using the product. What if the publishing house I work for was able to access and monitor how hard I'd been focusing throughout the work day?

Garg laughs, but only for a second.

"I think it's definitely possible, but it comes down to the developer," he concedes. "If a developer is doing something with your data or trying to collect it, that's hard to detect unless you're the operating system itself or the phone manufacturer.

"The phone company can probably detect it and tell you, but a lot of this comes down to how much you trust the people building the software. That's one reason we're so focused on the operating system.

"Right now, if you use something like Claude, you have one place where you do everything, and it connects to different services. We believe in a world where you have a single personal AI assistant connected to different devices, like the neuro-headphones you mentioned. Then you can see for yourself where the data is going because everything is connected through your own personal assistant rather than being scattered across different services."

Are we ready for unique personal AI assistants?

I mention Pete Steinberger's OpenClaw and the early adopters who tried to create their own personal AI assistant over a weekend. Does Garg think people are ready for that?

"We definitely want to make it easier," he says. "Even if you're using something like OpenClaw, you need to buy hardware, set up API keys, and do a lot of technical work. Most people don't have the patience for that, especially if they're not developers.

"We want this to work out of the box. You download an app, and it starts learning your routines. It can make proactive suggestions like, 'Would you like me to order your favorite coffee?' It's learning your habits.

"If it's all happening on-device, that solves the privacy problem because you can have personalization and all these useful features without your data leaving the device.

"Over time, your phone becomes more intelligent. It gets to know you better and becomes better at helping with the things you like to do.

"We also think this works well with smart glasses and other wearables. Your phone becomes the control center, just like an Apple Watch connects to an iPhone. The other devices become satellites connected to your phone, and the AI model lives on the phone itself."

Despite my continued reservations, it's a compelling argument. I can absolutely see a world in which a personal, on-device AI might be helpful in simplifying our lives.

I have one more question, since Garg is the visionary developer here. Is AI still essentially a loop (meaning something that is not intelligent in itself or autonomous — just very persistent at completing tasks) and does he ultimately see it moving beyond that? Or will humans always have the agency and autonomy, with AI just working in the background?

"A combination of both," he responds in an instant. "You want it to feel like collaborating with a co-worker. Depending on how much you trust it, it could manage your calendar or your emails automatically.

"It could say: 'I know you have a meeting tonight. Would you like me to help you find a restaurant? Would you like me to call a cab?' You want a system that's learning about you, but you also need trust. You need to know you're not being exploited by giving it access to your data, and that it's genuinely beneficial.

"That's the missing piece. If you use ChatGPT or Claude today, they're serving the same thing to billions of users. Everyone has the same assistant.

"In the future, people will want their own completely personal assistant. Maybe you'll even give it a name! It'll be unique to you. You can give access to your own data because it's running on-device. You trust it, and no one else has the same AI."

Of course, myriad users already trust AI chatbots with their innermost thoughts, and even as romantic partners, so perhaps by continuing to give the tech a wide berth I'm in the minority.

Then again, it's actually not the technology I fear. It's the technology in the hands of people who seek to misuse it.

Thoughts? There's a comment section below, dearest gentle reader — and my human eyes are ready to read your human thoughts.

The Apple AirPods Pro 3 have just received a surprise price cut at Amazon, bringing the excellent premium earbuds down to just $189 (was $249) at the retailer.

That's the lowest price since the retailer's annual Prime Day mega-sale back in June, and likely the best deal we'll see for a while. Ever since Prime Day, these buds have stubbornly held at $199, which is the usual 'sales price' for Apple's premium buds.

Even though the record low is officially $169, the AirPods Pro 3 only hit that on one occasion over Prime Day, so today's price cut is definitely worth considering. Even at $189, the AirPods Pro 3 are an excellent buy for anyone looking for some high-end buds. Not only do they feature excellent noise cancellation, but they're packed with new features like heart rate monitoring and Live Translation.

The AirPods Pro 3 are cheaper today at Amazon

• See more: check out all of today's deals at Amazon

Are the latest AirPods Pro 3 worth it?

We awarded the buds an impressive four and a half stars out of five in our AirPods Pro 3 review, calling them 'near-perfect noise-cancelling earbuds' at the time. While not exactly cheap, they offer excellent noise cancellation and sound quality.

If we had to draw any criticisms, we'd mention that the AirPods Pro 3 don't have class-leading battery life (around 5.5 hours in our testing). You'll also need one of the latest iPhones to really take advantage of their full suite of features like Live Translation and personalized fitness insights. They're still great with older devices, but iPhone 15 and newer devices support Apple Intelligence, which is required for the newest bells and whistles.

• Nothing's cheaper CMF arm just launched CMF Clip Pro, its first clip-on buds
• LDAC, new '3-point Clip Design', 10.8mm driver and just 5.9g per bud
• £79 / $99 / AU$179 with no flagship 'Audio Snapshot' or call recording — and I'm glad

Loved Nothing until recently, but now you’re not so sure? If you looked at my recent Nothing Ear (3a) review and thought "Wait, they record calls? Why?" you're not alone.

Thankfully, the firm’s cheaper CMF arm just launched its first-ever clip-style open earbuds with LDAC and the basics — ie., no in-call recording — and they're delightfully chic and affordable. I predict a return to form.

CMF says the Clip Pro (for that is their name) are designed to deliver a listening experience that "feels as natural as it sounds" and that the buds are built for "people who move through busy cities, long workdays and active lifestyles".

Open earbuds of this type are growing rapidly in number, but achieving comfort, the ability to hear your surroundings (to be clear: the 10.8mm driver in each earpiece rests in the well of your outer ear, like an ear cuff), and decent sound quality is one of this category's biggest challenges. With Clip Pro, CMF says it set out to solve these issues.

How? First, it starts with a new 3-point Clip Design, which the company describes as a "carefully balanced three-point support system that distributes pressure naturally across the ear instead of concentrating it in a single area". Lovely stuff.

CMF Clip Pro: what you need to know

The design features an "elastic titanium wire core" with a "slim C-bridge" to fit your shell-like, and at 5.9g per earpiece, a barely-there wearing experience is the goal.

In terms of audio chops, the 10.8 mm dual-magnet dynamic driver in each earbud is aided by CMF's own Ultra Bass Technology, which the company says "intelligently enhances low frequencies while simultaneously reducing treble distortion" for a more engaging experience through those tricky-to-nail-in-this-design lower frequencies.

Clip Pro supports LDAC, for higher-quality wireless streaming. It's not the first time we've seen the better-quality codec supported in Nothing's affordable earbuds, but it's welcome at this entry-level price if you own a Samsung or Sony phone.

Think they'll be a bit hit-and-miss for calls? CMF thought of that too. Clip Pro combines what the company calls its "flagship VPU-powered Clear Voice Technology and a four HD mic system" to separate the wearer's voice from surrounding noise in real time.

For users who value privacy (and I'd say that's all of us), CMF says its Sound Seal system should reduce sound leakage by intelligently managing mid and high frequencies. The goal? Making conversations and music less audible to people nearby.

All of this can be customized in the Nothing X app (a companion app I like very much, having tested most of Nothing's output to date), with dedicated settings for calls or both calls and audio playback.

Oh, and Clip Pro also totes CMF's signature smart dial, as seen in the CMF Buds Pro 2. It's a tactile rotating control built into the charging case for adjusting volume, managing playback, answering calls and pairing devices without needing to unlock your phone. We were wary of the implementation previously, summarising in our review of those July 2024-issue buds: "The dial is prone to accidental turns or presses in your pocket, the notification sound to tell you that a function has been triggered is startlingly loud, and there’s a significant delay between using the dial and hearing its result", so it'll be interesting to see if CMF has tweaked its efficacy here.

You also get on-ear physical controls (which the company says will work even if the user is wearing gloves) as well as a low-latency mode for gaming, dual device connectivity and Nothing's 'find my' solution, which makes your lost earbud emit a rattlesnake-like sound to help you find it under the couch, say.

Your color options here are Dark Grey, Light Grey, and Coral. In case I haven't stressed this enough, you should not wear all three hues like the model in the main image of this missive. The buds are also IP54 rated for water and dust ingress.

Stamina? Of course: Clip Pro's battery claim is up to 10 hours of continuous playback on a single charge and up to 32.5 hours of total playback with the charging case.

Let's talk money: £79 / $99 / AU$179, and they'll hit shelves on August 15, 2026. We can't vouch for them yet, but we'll be working on it…

Nothing Ear (3a): Two-minute review

Sometimes, reviews are written with a heavy heart, and this is exactly that. I've championed Nothing's affordable "(a)" earbuds for well over two years — with the updated pink set for 2026 appearing to be right up my strasse. But all is not as it first appears.

The issues don't concern their cost. Like before, they come in at just under $100 and are therefore a candidate for our best budget earbuds guide.

Bizarrely, for the review star rating, I also have very few bones to pick with audio quality, which is still best pals with LDAC and now with Bluetooth 6.0 for a stronger connection. I recommend you tweak the sound profile from the box, mind — it's overly bassy by default — but that's hardly unheard of for earbuds at this level, and it can be rectified with a little effort.

It would have been lovely if Nothing had allowed its special sonic tests (for personalised EQ profile curation done by Nothing's software, rather than you tweaking sliders or blobs yourself) to be made available here, but the company has clearly decided that its three-minute hearing test is flagship only — although there is a new "Advanced" 8-band EQ tab with "Q factor" (more on this later).

What of the comfort levels and overall build quality? Here you get everything you'd expect of Nothing: rock-solid, colorful, and with just a couple of new flourishes to enjoy. Battery life has taken a knock, but that might possibly be down to having to work a bigger driver.

So what's the main problem? Actually there are two: Call Recording and Audio Snapshot (sometimes referred to as Audio Capture in Nothing's extensive marketing). Nobody asked for these features and, honestly, they're not the USP I wanted — even as a journalist who interviews people regularly.

None of the best noise-cancelling earbuds we recommend come with these features, but that's hardly a problem in itself. Such tech exists in the world, obviously; I point you to the Viaim RecDot, for example. But the Viaim's buds publicise their raison d'etre; there's a visible "record" button on the case, a light for in-person meetings, and a business-class $249.99 / £185 price tag. That's not the case with Nothing's version, where a surreptitious squeeze of the stem kicks off audio capture of your current call (or whatsapp voice note) in a set of buds that otherwise seem to scream "I'm a bit of fun!"

As with the RecDot, Nothing offers tech to transcribe your recordings (and not just on its own phones, either) — to a point. You get three months of its Pro Transcription service for free, with 120 minutes to use each month. And after the trial? Nothing tells me official pricing hasn't yet been finalised, but will be decided in August. If it was hard to recommend such a package before, it's even harder now when one doesn't know how much it will cost.

I can't help but feel that Nothing has taken a wrong turn here. I'd much rather have seen fan-favorite features such as personalised sound profiles and/or wireless charging rather than in-call recording. Some TechRadar team members have suggested I make like Elsa and just Let It Go, but in a year when consumer tech already feels uncomfortably intrusive (Meta, I'm looking at you with those smart glasses), adding call and voice note recording feels like a step too far. It's important to question where these features are taking us.

At $99 / £99, the price is definitely right. I'm just not sure the feature set is…

Nothing Ear (3a) review: Price & release date

• Released on July 7, 2026
• Priced $99 / £99 / around AU$192, same as the 2024 Ear (a)

The Nothing Ear (3a) cost the same as their predecessor, priced at $99 / £99.

Although the name might suggest otherwise, these are the direct successors to the excellent, five-star Nothing Ear (a) from 2024 – there was never a Nothing Ear (1a) or Nothing Ear (2a). They also slot nicely alongside the still-current but more expensive Nothing Ear (3), with the shared 3 denoting that they're part of the same generation.

The Ear (a) are some of the best budget earbuds I've ever had the pleasure of testing, and I'd looked forward to their update ever since word was out that it was coming.

Key rivals to the Nothing Ear (3a) include the Apple AirPods 4, which offer gesture control alongside a few other iPhone-exclusive features, or, for a little less, the five-star Cambridge Audio Melomania A100. If you're tempted by open earbuds instead, the Huawei FreeArc or even clip-style SoundPEATS Clip1 can both be picked up for less than the Nothing Ear (3a) right now, making them excellent-value alternatives.

Nothing Ear (3a) review: Specs

Nothing Ear (3a) review: Features

• Bluetooth 6.0 (15m range) with LDAC support
• Improved ANC (cancellation up to 45 dB, effective to 5 kHz)
• Pinch stems for Call Recording/Audio Snapshot, no Nothing phone required

It would be easy to say, "Look, you don't like the cutesy branding of Nothing's new 'Audio Snapshot' offering? Don't use it — there's still plenty to like for $99!" but let's dig in to see why the take is not so simple.

Firstly, we should get granular on what Audio Snapshot and Call Recording do, and what they cannot do. I mentioned above that as a journalist, I regularly record interviews, often over Zoom, Google Meet or even Microsoft Teams. When set up as an interview, my subjects usually take it as a given that I will be recording — and where I reside in the UK, it is legal to record calls, even without consent from the other party. I still always ask.

In the US, however, the laws on recording phone calls are different, varying from state to state. For calls crossing state lines, the stricter 'two party consent' law (as per the Federal Wiretap Act) applies, where both parties on a call must consent to a recording.

So what is Nothing doing about it? In its reviewers' guide, the company says it "aligns with internationally recognised privacy standards ISO 27001, ISO 27701 and EN 18031". To this end, during setup, the Nothing X app also displays a short tutorial reminding users to obtain permission before recording calls — as shown below.

Interestingly, on a traditional phone call made in the UK, the "prompt" Nothing promises will be played to everyone on the call is a simple beep. On Google Meet, a female voice announces "This call will be recorded in 3, 2, 1", presumably so anyone not OK with that can scream "Oh no you don't!". From smartphone to smartphone, there's no vocal.

Thanks to the Nothing Ear (3a)'s 32MB of onboard storage, you can start recording with just a pinch of the stems, storing up to two hours of audio on the earbuds themselves. You can also record and transcribe voice notes from apps such as Instagram or WhatsApp — and from August, Nothing says it will add summaries of call recordings, speaker identification and the ability to create calendar reminders based on what was discussed.

What these earbuds can't do is record conversations that take place around you, or indeed your own voice. So, thankfully, there's no scope for eavesdropping around the water cooler.

However, my thoughts on this are clear— I'm not wholly OK with it. It puts the onus on buyers to adhere to laws, and opens the door for flouting rules of consent. I tried muting my mics to see whether the beep could be silenced, but it still plays for the person on the other end of the call to signal that recording has begun. Nevertheless, I think I've made my concerns around this feature clear.

Elsewhere, you get Bluetooth v6.0 and LDAC support for hi-res audio (the Sony-developed codec that lets you stream high-resolution audio up to 32-bit/96kHz over Bluetooth at up to 990kbps, if your device supports it and the file is up to scratch). While the predecessor did also include the latter, it remains a valuable inclusion here.

There's also onboard spatial audio, albeit of the "static" variety rather than head-tracked spatial audio that keeps the sound anchored to your source device as you move your head. It adds a little extra depth and height to the presentation, but for me, the effect is decidedly light-touch compared to what you get from pricier earbuds.

Note that you don't get the Ear (3)'s splendid personalized hearing tests, or the useful "walkie-talkie" Super Mic. That said, there's in-ear detection (to pause music when you remove the buds and resume it when they're in), a low-lag toggle for gaming, seamless pairing, multipoint to two devices, an ear-tip fit test and a Find My Earbuds feature, which emits a rattlesnake-style sound from whichever bud you're trying to locate, to help you find it.

Nothing's Transparency mode is decent. It's a little warm, but it still delivers a more three-dimensional presentation than many buds at this level. I could hear the placement of the TV, voices in my home and a dog outside, rather than all of these sounds appearing tinny, omnipresent and seemingly on top of one another.

When deploying ANC (rather than "Transparency" or "Off"), you can once again select from High, Mid, Low, and Adaptive noise-nixing profiles. High is decent: Nothing tells me performance is up to 45dB (effective to 5 kHz), which equates to a 17.1% improvement compared to the Ear (a), thanks to a software upgrade and improved architecture regarding where the mic sits.

The issue in 2026 is the existence of the AirPods Pro 3 and Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds (Gen 2). Although it would be unfair to compare like for like, owing to the chasm in pricing, you can get better if you're willing to pay for it. That said, the ANC here is no slouch, giving a fairly clean, largely uninterrupted and issue-free neutral background for my music.

If you have a Nothing Phone, the Nothing X app and the ChatGPT app, then you can once again you can also access ChatGPT access via the Ear (3a)'s stem; simply squeeze and talk.

The new EQ tab is now an eight-band offering (up from three in the older buds), as well as the more basic audio splodge Nothing made its own — and which I rather like since it reminds me of Nura True Pro's visual depictions, rather than a mixing desk. You also get five presets in the Advanced tab, and four in the Simple tab — but you can create your custom EQ using whichever system you prefer.

And I think you'll need to get familiar with these, as I'm about to explain…

• Features score: 4 / 5

Nothing Ear (3a) review: Sound quality

• LDAC support represents value
• Fun, V-shaped sound — if a little quiet
• A little bass-heavy from the box, but you can fix it

As was the case with their siblings, it would be wrong of me to knock Nothing Ear (3a) in the sonic department for this money. The sound quality is easily worthy of the outlay.

That said, there are a few points to bring to your attention.

Those with a Sony or Samsung smartphone (I used a Sony Xperia) will find much to celebrate in LDAC music streaming. In My Chemical Romance's The Ghost of You, guitars snake from my left to right ear in a cohesive mix — with Gerard Way's vocal central, petulant and every bit as emotive as I remember it in the mid-noughties.

Even when I stream Apple Music songs from my iPhone, the Nothing Ear (3a) offer ample width as my playlist continues to Thank You For the Venom and the intro guitars find a spacious home in my left ear. There's room around every stem in the mix to shine, but they're all held properly in check, even in this fast-paced and challenging song.

It's a little bass-heavy at times, though. Fleetwood Mac's The Chain is a good test of a regimented low-end, and alongside the kick-drums, I did lose just a little of Stevie Nicks, Christine McVie, and Lindsey Buckingham in that glorious upper harmony through the chorus. It seems to be Nothing's modus operandi to offer a bassy listen generally, and while I did find that the new Advanced EQ tab helped, I think the enhanced low-end went a little far here.

Nothing offers a "Q Factor" in addition to what you've just tweaked in the 8-band tab, to control the width or sharpness of your adjustment. So, imagine it as a "quality factor" (because that is what it stands for), where the number you select between 0.1 and 10 determines how wide or narrow of a frequency range is boosted or cut — all of this specific to your chosen frequency. Selecting a low Q Factor will generate a wider, more gentle curve to your adjustment, where a high Q Factor will make the change narrower, steeper and more effective around that specific frequency augmentation (or reduction).

I eased off the bass and selected a Q Factor of 3.2, but you must of course play with these things yourself — and sadly, Nothing hasn't included its hearing tests here, to check how perceptive your ears are within this particular tuning.

For dynamics and nuance, the Nothing Ear (3a) are perhaps a shade less engaging and arresting than I'm used to, owing to their volume. Once criticism often levelled at Nothing's budget earbuds is they don't go especially loud, and I frequently found myself listening above 50% volume. Also, since battery life is measured at that volume, it did mean the quoted "4.5-hour battery life with ANC deployed" claims although bang on, were still disappointing.

• Sound quality score: 4 / 5

Nothing Ear (3a) review: Design

• Curvier case
• That 1mm bigger driver is sucks up power
• And the battery life isn't great

Hold the Nothing Ear (3a) earpieces and case next to their older Nothing Ear (a) and you'll certainly struggle in a game of spot the difference. There's the color, obviously — also available in black, white and a slightly different yellow to the hue I love in this older set — and the 50% curvier case. There's also a trio of LEDs on the case that deliver a total of six status indications for battery status, pairing status, charging levels and so on.

For further tweaks, we have to look deeper.

The driver is now 12mm rather than 11mm and features an "aerospace-grade diaphragm". You also get an extra set of ear-tips in the box, four in total, and although the XS will appeal to owners of small ears, the actual earpieces here aren't tiny, despite being lighter in weight than Ear (a), at 4.53g versus 4.8g. The actual design of the tips has been finessed, too: they're a little thicker and more flared across the outer wall. I found the buds very secure, if a little big to accommodate comfortably over my small-ish ears over the course of long listening sessions.

I've said it before now and I'll say it again: I think we've reached a point of diminishing — perhaps even negative — returns when it comes to ever-larger earbud drivers. Every new release seems to tout a bigger driver without adding weight, as if bigger automatically means better. But where does it end? 13mm drivers? 15mm drivers? To my ears, the Ear (3a)'s 1mm larger driver hasn't negatively impacted the sound, but I don wonder if it's contributed to sthe shorter battery life. In my briefing, I was told the buds themselves would last 10 hours — but that turned out not to be the case.

While the battery in each earpiece — along with the larger driver and onboard 16MB flash drive — works hard to power the buds, it's only good for up to 6 hours without ANC, or 4.5 hours with ANC turned on. And remember, I had to pump the volume up higher than 50%, which the level at which those measurements are typically taken. With the case, you'll get up to 25 hours with ANC off, or up to 18 hours with it on.

None of these stats is much to write home about. Take Nothing's own Ear (a), which offered up to 9.5 hours of playback on a single charge with ANC off, and about 5.5 hours with ANC on. Now, consider the very inexpensive Cambridge Melomania A100, which offer 11 hours per charge or up to 39 hours with the case, along with aptX Lossless. I know which I'd rather take on long road-trips…

Again, Nothing's pinch-to-control stems return here, and while volume controls aren't enabled by default, you can assign them in the Nothing X app — provided you're happy to sacrifice another shortcut in the process.

While I'm here, a quick note on call-handling. It's absolutely clear and clean as a whistle, thanks to the 3 MEMS mics per bud.

• Design score: 4 / 5

Nothing Ear (3a) review: Value

• Still very good-looking earbuds
• Decent ANC; not so great for stamina
• LDAC adds value, but call-recording (for me, at least) is a no

Before now, I've always championed Nothing's "(a)" buds — and while the basics in the (3a) are fine, there are a few issues that are hard to ignore.

The Call Recording feature is top of the list here. More than any technical limitation, it's the privacy implications that concern me. Much as seeing someone wearing smart glasses now makes me wonder whether I'm being recorded, these earbuds leave me asking why someone might want to capture our conversations. I appreciate that some readers may see this as an overreaction, but it's a genuine concern for me, informed by my own experiences as a woman and former dancer who had to deal with overly familiar fans.

I think the audio quality here is perfectly acceptable for $99 / £99, but the stamina and feature set can be bettered. Even in the open earbuds market, I'd happily direct you to the cheaper Huawei FreeArc or SoundPEATS Clip1 over these earbuds.

• Value score: 4 / 5

Should I buy the Nothing Ear (3a)?

Nothing Ear (3a) scores

Solid generally, but with battery concerns and a potentially problematic call recording 'feature'

Features

4

Sound Quality

4

Design

4

Battery Life

2.5

Noise Cancellation

4.5

Value

4

Overall

4

012345

Group 1 Data

Product	Features ()	Sound Quality ()	Design ()	Battery Life ()	Noise Cancellation ()	Value ()	Overall ()
Nothing Ear (3a)	4	4	4	2.5	4.5	4	4

Buy them if...

Don't buy them if...

Nothing Ear (3a) review: Also consider

How I tested the Nothing Ear (3a)

• Tested for two weeks, listened against the Ear (a), Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds (Gen 2), Technics EAH-AZ100 and AirPods 4
• Listened in the office, walking along a beach, on a train into London, into Central London and at home
• Listened to Tidal Masters, Apple Music Lossless tracks and Spotify on an iPhone 15 Pro, MacBook Pro and Sony Xperia smartphone

The Nothing Ear (3a) became my primary musical companions for well over two weeks — after a 48-hour run-in period.

They accompanied me to work (walking brusquely to our Paddington office and on the London Underground to various press events) and even walking on a beach at sunset.

To assess comfort levels, ANC and battery life claims, I followed TechRadar's meticulous methodology testing and found much of note — including slightly disappointing stamina.

To check the audio quality across the frequencies, I listened for several hours to my own reference playlists on Apple Music and Tidal, alongside TechRadar's reference tracks, plus podcasts and movies. Additionally, I wore them to watch YouTube tutorials from my MacBook Pro.

I’ve been testing audio products for well over seven years, full-time. As a dancer, aerialist and musical theater performer in another life, sound quality, fit, and user experience have always been a priority for me, but having heard how wonderful ANC can be when done well, I know what I'm listening to here, too.

Read more about how we test earbuds at TechRadar

• First reviewed: July 2026

• Someone used an AirPod to record flying disc throw statistics
• Tested with throws of up to 45mph and no damage
• Strava-friendly export for dedicated disc throwers

One of Apple's most famous adverts opened with "Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently." The text didn't explicitly say "here's to the ones sticking AirPods on frisbees", but I think Steve Jobs would have approved of the Redditor who's done exactly that.

Paul Tracer, aka Disastrous-Body-297, has invented a use for AirPods that I'm pretty sure nobody at Apple ever considered. He used them to upgrade a standard frisbee and to stream real-time data. It can even export sessions to the Strava app.

Airpods can track frisbee throws from r/airpods

Why upgrading a frisbee with AirPods isn't completely crazy

As the intrepid inventor explains: "The AirPod streams motion data to the phone and detects/analyses throws in real time. With optional voice feedback into the second AirPod. It measures speed, revolutions, airborne time, throw count. It also measures heartrate (either with latest AirPods or external HR)."

You can try it for yourself: the app is the sports metrics app Kinapod, which the creator says is currently going through Apple's approval process. The AirPod is literally just put through a hole created in the dead center of the disc. Tracer says "Just punch a hole in the center of the disc and that’s it! You’ll be surprised how reliable it is. The AirPod stem is not entirely cylindrical, it doesn’t slide out."

The result is a lot of data: average speed, maximum spin, total airborne time, and more.

There's a market for that kind of information: as one Redditor, lenfantsuave, joke posts, "Tech disc: I will never financially recover from this." Tech Disc is a company that makes a range of launch monitors for disc golf priced at $299.99, which track multiple metrics and flight paths in order to help players improve their game, and someone from the firm joined in the online conversation to praise Tracer's ingenuity.

Tracer's tracker is very much a "fun thing" rather than a serious setup, not least because expensive earbuds aren't the most cost-effective gyro sensors to attach to a frisbee; the risk of damage or destruction is clearly pretty high, although the AirPods have survived so far according to Tracer.

Tracer is currently chatting with Redditors on forums such as r/discgolf about alternative and more affordable ways of collating data. And in the meantime, the AirPod/Frisbee combination made me and other Redditors happy: "This is very rad," says claybythebay9, while GrandMasterFlex reckons, and I'm including to agree, that "this is sick as hell".

As Apple's ad put it, "while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius." Or as SilverMelodyPrincess says in the Reddit thread: "Apple accidentally made the most over-engineered frisbee stat tracker and I'm here for it."

Right on cue, Amazon Prime Day in Australia has delivered a much better price on the Apple AirPods Pro 3, dropping Apple’s latest noise-cancelling earbuds to just AU$299.

That’s a mighty AU$130 saving on their AU$429 RRP, and more importantly, it’s the lowest price we’ve seen for the AirPods Pro 3 on Amazon.

Considering they launched at a higher price than their predecessor, this Prime Day deal makes them a far more tempting option for iPhone users who have been waiting for a deeper discount.

I’ve been using the Pro 3 since they launched in September and, while I was initially unsure how much better they could really be than the Pro 2, I’ve had to concede that Apple’s updated earbuds are something special.

The noise cancellation, fit and overall sound quality all make them easy to recommend, and this AU$299 price makes that recommendation even easier.

If you’re a devoted iPhone user, there’s a good chance the AirPods Pro 3 are already on your radar.

If you want a deeper breakdown before buying, our Apple AirPods Pro 3 review covers their features, sound quality and noise-cancelling performance in detail.

My audio-loving colleague Becky Scarrott described them as the earbuds for “iPhone owners who value great, shut-out-the-world noise cancellation”, and that lines up with my own experience.

As soon as you put the Pro 3s in your ears and turn on ANC, they do a remarkable job of cutting out the world around you.

I’ve worn them while walking along busy roads and even while vacuuming at home, and in both cases, the AirPods Pro 3 have made it far easier to focus on whatever I’m listening to.

They’re not the cheapest earbuds around, even with this Prime Day discount, but at AU$299 they become a much more compelling pick among the best wireless earbuds, especially if you’re already deep in Apple’s ecosystem.

I don’t expect this price to stick around once Amazon Prime Day wraps up, so if you’ve been waiting for a proper AirPods Pro 3 discount, this is the deal to jump on.

Quick links to the best Apple deals on Amazon

• Amazon Prime Day: shop the main Prime Day sale
• Apple at Amazon: browse everything Apple in one place
• AirPods deals: check the best AirPods prices
• iPad deals: shop iPad offers at Amazon
• Apple Watch deals: see the best Apple Watch prices
• iPhone deals: check current iPhone deals
• Apple accessories: browse AirTags, chargers, cables and more
• MacBook price checks: find MacBook restocks and price drops

Even more AirPod deals

• A new leak shows off the Nothing Ear 3(a)
• We see the earbuds in four colors, with the case
• The official unveiling is scheduled for tomorrow

If you can't wait until tomorrow for the official unveiling of the Nothing Ear 3(a), the budget wireless earbuds have now appeared in an extensive leak that reveals the design, colors, and features — so this is pretty much a full spoiler.

The early reveal comes courtesy of WinFuture, and is based on information from retailers who couldn't wait to get their listings live. We can see the earbuds in all four of the already announced colors: black, white, yellow, and pink.

There are a few interesting tidbits here, but when it comes to the aesthetics, there are no dramatic surprises: the look of these earbuds is very reminiscent of previous Nothing Ear models, with the semi-transparent stems and the transparent lid on the charging case.

What we do learn is that the Nothing Ear 3(a) are set to come with a 12-millimeter driver, as well as support for LDAC and Hi-Res Audio Wireless — so while the price is affordable, it seems the audio quality won't be compromised too much.

Touch to record

The leak gives us a glimpse of what seems to be a special feature we haven't seen from Nothing products before: the ability to press the stem of the earbuds to record voice notes, which is something to look out for.

WinFuture also refers back to previous leaks that mentioned a retail price of €99, so it would appear that the upcoming wireless earbuds are going to stick to the $99 / £99 / AU$169 starting price of the excellent Nothing Ear (a).

In our Nothing Ear 3 review, we praised those earbuds for offering "zealous, customizable sound" — though we weren't quite sure about how much value for money they offered, which is something this new pair might move the dial on.

One of the quirks of the Nothing Ear 3 is the 'Super Mic' that's included in the charging case, which you can use for calls and voice notes instead of the microphones on the earbuds — but as yet it's not clear if the Nothing Ear 3(a) will offer the same feature.

I had to make sure Prime Day in Australia hadn't already started when I saw this AU$200 saving on the AirPods Max 2, since it's not everyday that Amazon discounts Apple tech. And, if there are any discounts to be found, it's the online retailer's annual mid-year sale that tends to throw them up.

So if you've had your eye on the latest set of Apple's over-ear headphones, then this price cut might just be of interest.

It's no secret that the AirPods Max 2 are among the most expensive headphones we've ever tested here at TechRadar, and with a AU$999 RRP, you can easily spend less on a highly capable pair from the likes of Sony, Bose or Sennheiser.

Apple has thrown everything at the Max 2s though to help justify the high price, and they're easily some of the best headphones on the market right now, particularly if you can make use of their Apple Intelligence features (provided you have an iPhone 15 or newer device).

These features include things like live translate, advanced call screening, gesture control, conversational awareness, and adaptive audio. Pair all of these with a stunning high-end design, class-leading noise cancellation, and fantastic audio quality, and the AirPods Max 2 are definitely worth considering.

As we said in our Apple AirPods Max 2 review, they're the "the best noise-cancelling iPhone headphones on the planet", with a soundstage that's "expansive" and "a noise floor so low that bass frequencies rumble, snap and boom in so much space it's almost a crime".

If you own an iPhone, they're a no brainer.

Should I wait for Prime Day?

That's tricky question to answer. As I mentioned earlier, it's surprising that there's a discount of any sort on the AirPods Max 2. However, it only applies to the blue colourway — could Amazon be teasing discounts to expect when Prime Day rolls around next week, and apply a saving to all colours?

We'll ultimately have to wait and see. I feel the blue colour is pretty inoffensive and should suit most people pretty well — midnight (navy blue) or silver are obviously more ambiguous — so if you've been considering Apple's top-tier cans, but don't want to pay a grand, this is a good opportunity to save a decent chunk of cash.

Some of the most popular deals of Amazon Prime Day has been the discounts on AirPods, including AirPods 4 for $99 at Amazon (was $129), AirPods Pro 3 for $179 at Amazon (was $249) at Amazon, and AirPods Max 2 for $399 at Amazon (was $549).

However, Prime Day ends today, so these deals may end this evening as well.

• Browse the full Amazon Prime Day sale

That's not confirmed — AirPods aren't labeled as Prime Day deals specifically, and they're also discounted at Walmart and Best Buy, so it's possible that all three retailers will keep these offers going past today. But what that means is that I don't know exactly when they'll end, and they definitely won't stick around for long, so my advice is to buy today if you want to buy a pair of AirPods.

Ah, but which pair? Surely the $99 pair is the most tempting? Well, I've tested them all, and I'm here to tell you to avoid the AirPods 4 today. $99 is now a pretty standard price for them, but last Black Friday, they fell to just $69. That's the price where they start to get tempting, because frankly they're just not very good value at $99 — the Nothing Ear (a) for $53.20 at Amazon (down from $79) are the better budget earbuds. They're half the price, but they sound better and have active noise cancellation.

So, maybe the AirPods 4 with ANC for $148 are a decent deal? Also no. These have fallen to $99 in the past, and that's a good price for them.

No, the only pair of earbuds here that are a stone-cold bargain are the AirPods Pro 3. Now, they fell to $169 recently, but Amazon's $179 deal is still a phenomenal price for earbuds this good — I wouldn't worry too much about the 10 bucks. If you can afford the extra $80 over the $99 AirPods 4, you'll get way more than that in extra value. If you can't stretch to that extra, that's totally fair — but again, I encourage you to get the Nothing buds and save yourself $45.

(I'm not really going to touch on the AirPods Max 2 here — they're their own thing, in their own price world, but $399 is their cheapest price to date, and is great value.)

In the UK? Scroll down for the best UK deals

Today's best AirPods deals in the US

Today's best AirPods deals in the UK

So why do I rate the AirPods Pro 3 so much better than the AirPods 4? They're better than the cheaper model in every way, offering massively better sound quality, active noise cancellation, and all the same features, plus a load of others that are genuinely useful, and complete game-changers in some cases.

Take the case, for example. AirPods Pro 3's case has a 'UWB' wireless chip, which means your iPhone can detect what direction it's in when it's lost, and can literally point you towards it, so you can see which jacket you left it in. And the case has a speaker in, which you can also trigger to help find it.

Or take the Live Translation of other languages in your ears, or the heart-rate tracking, so you can keep an eye on your fitness without a wearable.

Basically, AirPods 4 are a poor value for budget earbuds compared to the competition. AirPods Pro 3 are an excellent value for premium earbuds compared to the competition. Which means with just an $80 difference — which might easily pay for itself if the case stops you from losing them — the AirPods Pro 3 should be what everyone buys.

More Prime Day deals in the US

• Amazon Devices: Fire Sticks & Echo from $18
• Amazon Haul: viral gadgets, tech & appliances from $1.99
• Apple: MacBooks, AirPods & AirTags from $29
• Beauty: 50% off toothbrushes & hair tools
• Cheap TVs: smart TVs from $69.99
• Garden: tools, mowers, planters from $24.99
• Headphones: 50% off Beats, Bose & Samsung
• Laptops: Apple, HP & Dell from $199
• Mattresses: Sealy, Serta & more from $186
• Patio: outdoor furniture, rugs & decor from $19.99
• Sports: 50% off fitness gear, treadmills & clothing
• Vacuums: Dyson, Shark & Bissell from $34

More Prime Day deals in the UK

• Amazon Prime: get a 30-day free trial
• Amazon Devices: Fire, Ring & Blink from £13.99
• Amazon Haul: up to 30% off
• Apple: up to 33% off AirPods & Apple Watch
• Appliances: up to 45% off Ninja & De'Longhi
• Beauty: up to 60% off Philips & Oral-B
• Essentials: household goods from £5
• Fans: from £20
• Fashion: up to 50% off
• Gaming: up to 25% off SSDs & games
• Grand Theft Auto 6: pre-order now
• Headphones: up to 50% off Beats & Sony
• Laptops: from £149
• Tablets: Samsung & Lenovo from £79.99
• Toys: up to 25% off Lego and Tonies
• TVs: from £129.99
• Vacuums: up to 40% off Shark & Roborock
• Wearables: up to 30% off Garmin & Oura

Here at TechRadar, we test dozens of pairs of headphones every year. And while we've been won over by many an ultra-pricey set of cans, we also love a cheap pair of headphones that punches above its price tag. This article is dedicated to showcasing these wallet-friendly wonders. I asked TechRadar's audio specialists which headphones they'd recommend to buyers on a budget, and you'll find their suggestions below.

If it's true wireless in-ears you're after, you'd struggle to do better than the Nothing Ear (a) buds, which Audio Editor Becky Scarrott awarded a perfect five stars, calling them "a resounding home run" for the British startup and praising the noise cancellation, sound quality and battery life in particular. In the current Amazon Prime Day deals, they're unbeatable value at under $55 / £50.

In the over-ear arena, standouts are the CMF Pro and the 1More Sonoflow Pro HQ51, both of which earned 4.5 stars in our tests. The former were put through their paces by Becky, who was impressed with the "superb" sound quality in general, and was pleasantly surprised to discover "the sort of... personal sound profile curation [we're] more used to seeing in headphones much higher up the food chain". The latter were reviewed by our review's team's resident headphone specialist Harry Padoan, who praised the "adept audio, noise-crushing ANC and eye-catching design". Both are even better value than usual right now, too, thanks to those Prime (and rival-Prime) deals.

Read on for more budget-maximizing buys — and hit the 'View details' button for a summary of what we thought of them in our tests, plus links to the full reviews.

Top cheap earbuds and headphones

I've been a hardcore headphones user for almost four years (thank you, Sony), but when I picked up the Cambridge Audio Melomania A100s a few months back, they restored my faith in earbuds.

Since introducing one of the best earbuds back into my life, I've been using them alongside my headphones interchangeably — headphones are better for certain things, and vice versa — but the performance exceeds the low price, and Amazon Prime Day just made them cheaper.

• Browse the full Amazon Prime Day sale

Your next audio upgrade is waiting for you for less than £80, and Amazon UK has dropped the A100s down to £79 from £119, saving you £40 on a solid pair of earbuds we awarded five stars.

Today's best Cambridge Audio Melomania A100 deal

I stopped using earbuds years ago after going through a number of models and being let down each time. From there, I swore that earbuds would never give me what I needed quite like headphones do.

However, since I started using the Cambridge Audio Melomania A100s, all the things I enjoyed about earbuds suddenly came flooding back to me.

For starters, they're just far easier to carry around with you, and though over-ear headphones win in the comfort department, the convenience aspect wins by a landslide. However, that's not to say the Melomania A100s aren't comfortable. If anything, they fit quite pleasantly and come with different-sized sponges for you to swap out.

On the audio side of things, the Melomania A100s' noise cancelling is quite impressive for in-ear buds — I find they block out sounds just as well as headphones. That said, switching between noise-cancelling, normal, and transparency settings is very simple. All it takes is a small tap on the left earbud.

Because of their price, you're not going to get all the health tracking bells and whistles as you do with the AirPods Pro 3, but for earbuds that are centred on dynamic and well-defined audio offerings, these earbuds are really all you need.

More Prime Day deals in the UK

• Amazon Prime: get a 30-day free trial
• Amazon Devices: Fire, Ring & Blink from £13.99
• Amazon Haul: up to 30% off
• Apple: up to 33% off AirPods & Apple Watch
• Appliances: up to 45% off Ninja & Tefal
• Beauty: up to 60% off Philips & Oral-B
• Essentials: household goods from £5
• Fans: from £20
• Fashion: up to 50% off
• Gaming: £90 off PlayStation 5
• Headphones: up to 50% off Beats & Sony
• Laptops: from £149
• Tablets: Samsung & Lenovo from £79.99
• Toys: up to 25% off Lego and Tonies
• TVs: from £129.99
• Vacuums: up to 40% off Shark & Roborock
• Wearables: up to 30% off Garmin & Oura