Budget In-Ear Headphones under Php1k (July 2016)

In-Ear Headphones or simply “Earbuds” are somewhat essential in today’s society. With the Philippines being the highest ranking APAC country streaming over 2.5 billion songs on Spotify in 2014, everyone today is expected to have their own pair of earbuds whether it’s the stock from their phones, or high-end audiophile IEMs such as the Sennheiser Momentums in-Ear.

If you’re looking to replace that old earbud of yours here we have our Budget in-Ear Headphonesaround Php1,000. Take note that this list isn’t in any order whatsoever, and do keep in mind that we didn’t choose these earbuds for a specific sound target such as bassheads, or stage presence.

Sennheiser CX213

Price: Php890 (Egghead)

Personally it’s the best In-Ear Headphone that I’ve bought for less than Php1,000. Despite the rubber and plastic build, the Sennheiser CX 213 is a great all-around In-Ear Headphone that has a good mix of mids, lows, and highs. I listen to a wide variety of songs and the CX213 is great in all them, especially for the price.

In contrast to rock/alternative/punk/metal music, the CX 213 delivers clear vocals while delivering a clear and good sound stage, great separation, and if you’re a basshead that listens to RnB, Rap, and the like, this is perfect for you.

The best part about Sennheiser’s products is the warranty. The CX 213 like all Sennheiser products has a 2-year Global Warranty, and if you buy this in select stores such as Egghead, they provide  great customer service that will quickly attend to your faulty CX 213 with a conditional unlimited replacement warranty for 2 years. This is  currently my backup on-the-go earbuds.

Specifications:

Pros:

• Low Impedance
• A Bang for the Buck
• Absolutely amazing 2-Year warranty (I’ve replaced mine 5 times now without any questions in less than a year)

Cons:

• Average-Looking Design
• Not that durable

Philips SHE8000

Price: Php850

The first In-Ear Headphone I’ve ever bought. The Philips SHE8000 is a great all around earbud that can be bought literally everywhere from AstroPlus to Odyssey, to AstroVision. The SHE8000 is one of the most popular IEMs that Philips has created thanks to its great sound quality, good looking plastic-rubber design, and 24k gold plated 3.5mm jack.

The SHE8000’s younger brother, the SHE7000 is almost similar in design, but with a big difference in sound quality and if you’re interested with this In-Ear Headphone and is looking for an alternative with a mic, the SHE8005 is just the same thing expect it’s coupled with a microphone.

Specifications:

Pros:

• Low Impedance
• Good Looking Design
• Gold plated 24k 3.5mm connector

Cons:

• Philip’s Customer Service is bad.
• 3-Months Conditional Warranty

SoundMagic ES18

Price: Php400 – Php800

One of SoundMagic’s famous earbuds under the $20 mark, the SoundMagic ES18 is a good sport ranging around Php400 to Php800 depending on the store. It’s not much on sound stage, nor presence, but it is better than some stock earphone models such as the one on iPhone. It has good separation and the bass is just as pleasing.

It is available at Egghead and other select stores in the Philippines.

Specifications:

Pros:

• Low Impedance
• Good Looking Design

Cons:

• Cheap Plastic Feel
• 3-Month Conditional Warranty

Coloud The Pop

Price: 950

Coloud is sometimes compared with UrbanEars due to its flashy colors and uniquely named products. Here we chose Coloud The Pop thanks to its good sound quality, tangle-free cable design, and overall pleasing aesthetics.

Not really my most favored earbud in the list, the Coloud still delivers thanks to its great soundstage, and its good mix with the highs, lows, and mids. It’s transparent plastic case is also a plus, and it is available in almost every CD Store, Headphone branch here in the Philippines.

Specifications:

Pros:

• Low Impedance
• Good Looking Design
• With Microphone
• Sleek straight tangle-free fire

Cons:

• Cheap Plastic Feel
• 3-Month Conditional Warranty
• 32 Ohms (Needs more power to drive than the other IEMs in this list)

Xiaomi Pistons v2

Price: 895

A very rare In-Ear Headphone to find this year, the Xiaomi Pistons are famed for their low-cost yet incredible build and sound quality design. Based on personal experience, I’ve owned the Xiaomi Pistons and they are really worth mentioning. Having an emphasis more on mids, the Xiaomi Pistons is perfect for any music lover out there especially for rock enthusiasts and the like.

Bass-wise, the Sennheiser CX213 beats the Xiaomi Pistons but that isn’t really much of a problem since that the Pistons are capable of driving bass to their standards.

Be careful of fakes because in the last few years, several fake versions of the Pistons have been found.

Specifications:

Pros:

• Professional-Looking Design
• Sturdy and Good Looking Case
• Braided Wires
• With Microphone

Cons:

• Hard to find original products nowadays
• 3-Month Conditional Warranty

With everyone having their own taste in music, it’s always hard to come up with a verdict on who’s to say is the best IEM out there especially with our price range. Nevertheless, we can all agree on one thing; good music is good music. We’ll be keeping this article up-to-date if there are price changes.

Think there’s an earbud worth mentioning that we’ve missed? Comment it down below.