How We Research
We compare products from their published specs and features; the verdicts below are our independent editorial opinions.
If you want truly wireless earbuds with adaptive noise cancelling, a charging case that doubles as a control dial, and LDAC hi-res audio, choose CMF BY NOTHING Buds Pro 2; if you need a wired over-ear gaming headset with virtual surround sound, a boom mic and plug-and-play USB for PC and consoles, choose MARVO H8921.
• CMF BY NOTHING Buds Pro 2 — biggest strength: a genuinely loaded spec sheet for a budget pair — 50dB adaptive hybrid ANC, an 11mm bass driver plus a 6mm tweeter with LDAC support, and up to 43 hours total playback with the case.
• CMF BY NOTHING Buds Pro 2 — biggest trade-off: it's an in-ear bud, so it relies on a good seal for that noise cancelling to work, and the battery eventually runs out mid-session unless you top it up.
• MARVO H8921 — biggest strength: it never needs charging and it's built for long desk sessions — 50mm drivers, virtual surround sound, memory foam protein-skin ear pads and a microphone that's always ready.
• MARVO H8921 — biggest trade-off: it's wired only, over-ear only, and tethered to a USB port, so it's useless for walking, commuting or the gym.
• Pick CMF BY NOTHING Buds Pro 2 if you want portable, wireless, noise-cancelling listening for travel, work, gaming on the move and calls.
• Pick MARVO H8921 if you want a fixed, comfortable, RGB-lit headset for PC, PS4/PS5 or Switch gaming sessions with team chat.
The Buds Pro 2 is the pick for anyone who wants their audio to travel. The charging case is small — roughly 5.3cm square and 2.3cm tall — and it does more than store charge: there's a smart dial on it that lets you adjust volume, skip tracks and switch noise modes without pulling out your phone. That's a small thing that turns into a big one when you're on a train with your hands full.
On the audio side, this is a dual-driver setup: an 11mm ultra-bass driver paired with a 6mm tweeter, with LDAC lossless transmission and Dirac tuning, plus Dynamic Bass Boost 2.0. In plain terms, that combination is built to give you both punch and detail rather than one or the other. The 50dB adaptive hybrid ANC is the headline feature — it actively checks for leakage between the bud and your ear canal and adjusts, which matters because in-ear ANC lives or dies by fit. There's also a transparency mode with ambient sound recognition, useful for running or crossing a street.
Battery is where it separates from most budget buds: up to 10 hours on a single charge, 43 hours total with the case, and a 10-minute quick charge that gets you roughly 3 hours of playback. Bluetooth 5.3 brings multipoint, so it can hold two devices at once, and the 120ms low-latency mode is aimed squarely at mobile gaming. Six microphones with AI Clear Voice Technology 3.0 handle calls, and IP55 means sweat and a quick post-swim rinse won't kill it.
Who should buy it: commuters, travellers, gym-goers, students and mobile gamers who want one pair of buds to do everything and don't want to think about cables. Who should skip it: anyone who wants an over-ear fit, anyone whose devices have no Bluetooth, and anyone who'd rather never think about charging at all — a wired headset simply removes that problem.
The H8921 is a different animal entirely. It's a wired, over-ear USB headset with 50mm dynamic drivers and virtual surround sound, which is the feature that matters most here — virtual surround is designed to give you positional cues, so footsteps, reloads and directional audio land where you expect them to. For competitive multiplayer, that's the whole point.
Comfort is clearly the second design priority. Protein-skin ear pads over memory foam, an adjustable headband, and closed-back cups that give you passive noise isolation. That last part is worth understanding: the H8921's noise control is listed as active noise cancellation via push button, but the closed-back cup design is doing a lot of the isolation work by physically blocking sound. Either way, the practical result is you can stay locked in during a long session without the headset fighting your ears.
The microphone is built in and designed for clear team communication — no separate mic to buy, no charging, no pairing. Connectivity is USB 2.0, plug-and-play for PS4, PS5, Switch and PC. The braided cable is durable and long, and the flowing RGB lighting is there to match a gaming setup. Build materials are metal, plastic and PU, and MARVO backs it with a 2-year manufacturer warranty.
Who should buy it: desktop and console gamers who sit in one place, want surround sound and a mic ready at all times, and value a big comfortable over-ear fit. Who should skip it: anyone who listens on the move. There's no battery, no Bluetooth, and no headphone jack — it's USB only, so a phone or a laptop without a free USB port isn't a target for this thing.
• Best for portability → CMF BY NOTHING Buds Pro 2. A 46g case that fits in a pocket versus a wired over-ear headset — there's no contest here.
• Best for long gaming sessions at a desk → MARVO H8921. No battery to drain, memory foam pads, and a cable that won't run out on you.
• Best for noise cancelling → CMF BY NOTHING Buds Pro 2. 50dB adaptive hybrid ANC with smart ambient recognition is a far more aggressive approach than passive closed-back isolation.
• Best for battery life → CMF BY NOTHING Buds Pro 2. Up to 10 hours per charge and 43 hours total, plus a 10-minute top-up for about 3 hours of playback.
• Best for calls and voice pickup → CMF BY NOTHING Buds Pro 2. Six microphones with AI Clear Voice Technology 3.0 is a lot of hardware dedicated to voice.
• Best for team chat while gaming → MARVO H8921. A dedicated boom mic beats earbud mics when you're talking tactics for hours.
• Best for high-resolution audio → CMF BY NOTHING Buds Pro 2. LDAC lossless transmission, dual drivers and a 20Hz–20kHz-class tuning approach on the MARVO side versus a hi-res-focused chain on the CMF side.
• Best for console and PC plug-and-play → MARVO H8921. USB into PS4, PS5, Switch or PC, no pairing, no app, no charging.
• Best for workouts and rain → CMF BY NOTHING Buds Pro 2. IP55 water resistance is the deciding spec; a wired USB headset isn't made for sweat.
In my opinion, most people shopping in this bracket should buy the CMF BY NOTHING Buds Pro 2. It covers more of real life — commute, work, calls, gym, mobile gaming — and the feature list (adaptive 50dB ANC, LDAC, dual drivers, 43-hour total battery, multipoint, IP55) is unusually complete for a budget pair. The MARVO H8921 is the better tool for exactly one job, and it does that job well: sitting at a desk or console, hearing directional audio, and talking to teammates without ever charging anything. If that's your entire use case, the MARVO wins on comfort and convenience. If your listening happens anywhere else, the CMF is the one I'd pick. Either way, check the current price on Amazon before you commit — both sit in the budget tier, but the gap between them is worth knowing.
how to make cheap headphones sound better
Start with fit and source quality, because those two things move the needle most. On the CMF Buds Pro 2, getting a proper seal is essential — the 50dB adaptive ANC actively compensates for leakage between the bud and your ear canal, so a good fit unlocks the noise cancelling and the bass. Then feed them a better signal: both the dual-driver setup and LDAC support only pay off if your source audio and codec aren't the bottleneck. On the MARVO H8921, make sure virtual surround is actually enabled in your game or console settings, and check that your PC's audio output is set correctly — a lot of "bad sounding" headsets are just running through the wrong device.
how to get cheap headphones
Buy for your actual use case instead of buying the most features you can find. If you listen on the move, a wireless in-ear set like the CMF Buds Pro 2 with a charging case makes more sense than a wired over-ear. If you only game at a desk, the MARVO H8921's USB plug-and-play design removes the need for a separate mic, a DAC or a charging routine. Budget headphones are also worth buying from a brand that publishes real specs — driver size, impedance, Bluetooth version, ANC depth, warranty length — because that's how you tell a genuinely capable pair from a vague one. And check the current price on Amazon, since budget models move around more than flagship ones.
what budget headphones
Budget headphones are simply sets that cut cost by trimming extras rather than core function. The CMF Buds Pro 2 is a good example: it keeps the important stuff — Bluetooth 5.3, multipoint, 50dB adaptive hybrid ANC, LDAC, dual drivers, 43-hour total battery, IP55 — and skips the premium branding. The MARVO H8921 does the same on the wired side, keeping 50mm drivers, virtual surround sound, memory foam ear pads and a built-in mic while dropping wireless entirely. Both are "budget" in the sense that they compete on features per dollar, not on materials or brand prestige.
how long do cheap headphones last
There's no fixed answer, but the specs give you real clues. Battery is the usual first thing to age on wireless buds, and the CMF Buds Pro 2 is rated at 43 hours total with the case, so its lifespan depends on how many charge cycles you put it through — using the quick-charge feature more gently over time helps. The MARVO H8921 has no battery at all, so its weak points are the cable and the ear pads, both of which are wear items; its metal-and-plastic build and 2-year manufacturer warranty suggest MARVO expects it to hold up. Physical care matters more than price: store buds in the case, don't yank cables, and replace pads when they flatten.
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