Buyer's Guide

Budget Ear-phone Recommendations.  

This guide will mainly focus on Indian Audiences (so the same should be available in Other countries too probably for cheaper) since that's the market I am familiar with, and this guide will only point out pairs that are locally available. So lets start. 

Under Rs. 500 (~8 $)

1. Venture Electronics (VE) Monk Plus (without mic)

Costing you Rs 449 (delivery charge extra usually not much but depends on your location, mine was Rs 43) these are a specially gifted ear bud type (NOT IN-EARS) that I will be discussing in a review later. By far the best sounding option at this range or above. Good build and durable. 

Buy it here. 

2. Xiaomi Mi In ear

There is very little one could want with a pair under 500/- . Xiaomi, the company that brought us the Pistons once again graces us with another wonderful product. Cheap enough to toss in your bag without giving a damn, and yet not cheap enough for those who refuse to spend over 50 INR and swear by their pieces bought from shops under the railway station, these are the buffer everyone was looking for. 

Even those humble folks might start a little foray into the world of audio. Did I tell you these have a universal mic?

Buy it here

3. Philips Bass Vents SHE 1360 (without mic)

The bass vents are an extremely cheap (Rs 150) bang for your buck option. Shoddy build quality, light as a feather and being an ear bud means it will fall out of your ears from time to time. But at the price these come at, one should not complain, these sound surprisingly punchy and detailed but lack any other quality, I buy these when I need something to throw into my bag just in case I forget to bring anything else. 

Get these at any local retailer or mall, since it will be cheaper offline. 

Under Rs 1000 (~16 $)

This is the range I recommend spending at minimum to get a good pair of headphones to start off. 

1. Venture Electronics Monk Plus (With MIC)

The VE Monk plus are really that good, they sound better than anything near Rs 2000 actually, with a detailed, rich sound. And actual soundstage on a ear bud, I previously considered the Seinnheiser MX 170 to be the best ear-buds available in the Indian market but when Hifinage brought these in, they blew the competition away. 

These are the best sounding ear buds ever, personally serving as my daily driver outdoors since I find the noise isolation of in-ears troublesome when walking on the road. 

The with-MIC version sells for Rs. 778 without delivery charges. Get them here. 

2.  KZ EDR2 (Without MIC/With MIC)

KZ EDR2 really hit the sweet spot for me with these. Excellent bass, and great highs. Sound that will appeal to almost anyone. Read my full review here.

Alternatively for a trusted name you could get the Seinnheiser CX 180 Street II (without MIC), with its bit more aggressive sound more to my preference. Buy here.  

3. KZ ZST

Clear winners of the under 1000/- category these are period the best looking and arguably value for money IEMs in this range, KZ makes some sweet stuff thats for sure. Finding it in India under 1000 INR might be an issue, but Aliexpress should have these in stock, Buy from trusted sellers only and look for reviews on the items. 

Under Rs 2000 (~30$) 

A sincere word of advice to every Indian reader here, if you have to spend around Rs 1000-Rs 1500 please don't. Get a Philips bass vent for Rs 150 and save up for some time to buy one of the two options below, it will be a proper investment because the following will be worth every penny. 

1. KZ ZSN (With Mic) 

I love these IEMs, these are some of KZs best built earphones and did I tell you how good the removable cables on these are?

Is this the same of Old that made the shoddy cable on the ZS3 ? 

Oh how far you have come... KZ. 

Buy these, nothing under 2000 INR feels nicer for the normal consumer. 

Get it on Aliexpress for around 1400 - 1500 INR and be a happy man... or woman.

2. Seinnheiser CX 275S (With-MIC)

These Seinnheisers are a gem. And personally my favourite Seinnheiser In ears, in terms of price to performance. Beautiful to look at, with punchy bass and detailed sound that goes well with almost anything mainstream. 

But the best thing is the two year warranty. To make the best use of this warranty get these from a local Seinnheiser store. Seinnheiser service in India is by far the best for headphones. 

The prices fluctuate but you should get these for Rs. 1900 or even lower online here. 

3. Soundmagic E10C(with MIC)

These Soundmagic's are all about value, value and value. Earlier the costlier E10S made it hard for me to recommend but for Rs. 1400- 1700 these are a steal. Well built, with a plethora of accessories and sound that has been rewarded, valued and spoken for it is indeed an excellent purchase. 

Buy it here.

Under Rs. 2500 (~38 $)

It isn't completely necessary to spend over Rs. 2000 for that great sounding everyday use in-ears, because the CX 275 and E10C do the job well enough, and personally I don't recommend it if you are not collecting headphones in general. Spend that money on a better source instead. 

(Update: Please get the KZ ZSN, you wont need anything better until you're willing to drop a few 1000 INR more)

Anyways, there are a few recommendations: 

1. Vsonic VSD1S (without MIC)

For any average user that dares, this will be this proper step into buying a headphone that not many have heard of, but compensates it equally with extremely dilligent sonic performance. In the headphone community these are some of the most recommended bugdet in ears. Good bass, smooth treble, a moving(articulating) nozzle and excellent soundstage, these are classic VSONICs and the only ear hook design in this list. 

A definite recommendation for anyone seeking to explore the hobby. 

These sell for about Rs. 2200 (without delivery charges), get them from the official retailer here. I suggest emailing the seller before buying, to clear any queries. 

This concludes our list. I'll update it if needed in the future, when I try more headphones.