This $150 pair of ANC earbuds are the perfect budget alternative to the AirPods Pro 3

The Cambridge Melomania A100 are the brand's latest earbuds, packing in noise canceling, top-notch sound, and a brand new design.

(Cambridge, I appreciate that your new name is simpler and more punchy, but given I’ve been calling you Cambridge Audio since I was about 12, this review has had at least five passes to make sure I’ve spelled your name right throughout. Still, at least the new products you’ve launched under this refreshed moniker are some of the best on the market.)

With the new Cambridge logo adorning their touch panels, the Melomania A100 stroll into the bar with a kind of confidence that few others can muster. They might not be the most interesting-looking buds, with their AirPods-esque stems and simple gray or black color schemes, but Cambridge has packed enough goodies inside to excite the busiest line of wireless audiophiles on a budget.

They fit effortlessly into your ears, block out a decent amount of noise, and play your tunes at a level you’d normally have to pay a whole lot more to achieve. They’re not perfect — the ANC is better from other brands, and they look slightly dated — but they’re easily some of the best wireless earbuds you can buy for $150.

Let’s find out why.

Cambridge Melomania A100 review: Cheat sheet

• What is it? A pair of affordable ANC earbuds
• Who is it for? Those looking for the best sound under $250
• What does it cost? $149/£119
• What do we like? Excellent sound, very comfortable fit, solid app, and truly epic battery life
• What don’t we like? The ANC is better elsewhere, and the design is a bit old-hat

Cambridge Melomania A100: Specs

• Price $149/£119/AU$249
• Connectivity Bluetooth 5.4
• ANC Yes
• Battery 12 hours (buds) 39 hours (case)
• Weight 5oz
• Dimensions 4.2 x 4.2 x 1.6 inches
• Colors Gray/Black
• Compatibility iOS, Android
• Frequency response 10Hz - 22kHz

Cambridge Melomania A100 review: Price and availability

So the Melomania A100 might not be cheap, but they’re a whole lot cheaper than other brands' flagship earbuds. In the U.S. they cost $149, bringing them in $100 under the AirPods Pro 3 and $150 less than the Sony WF-1000XM5 and the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Gen 2. They’re more comparable price-wise to the AirPods 4 with ANC, a more expensive pair of earbuds that doesn’t offer ANC that’s as impressive or sounds as good.

Bose’s QuietComfort Earbuds are around the same price, offering better ANC but less impressive sound. The $119 Sony WF-C710N are perhaps the buds that give the A100 a stronger fight, although the A100 bring a better build and superior sound. Alas, no Transparent Blue option for Cambridge customers.

U.K. buyers get an even better deal — £119. That’s the same price as the AirPods 4 without ANC — and they’re a much better option than Apple’s weird open earbud… things.

Cambridge Melomania A100 review: Build and design

• Simple, dated design
• Excellent build
• Comfortable fit

It’s not that they’re an unattractive pair of earbuds, but the Melomania A100 don’t quite have the design pizazz of the Bose and Sony alternatives. They still seem to be living in 2022, with AirPods-like stems and the kind of shape that reminds you of a mix between the OG AirPods and the AirPods Pro. That’s no massive problem, but it does make you wonder if you’ve really got earbuds from 2025.

Thankfully, the charging case is a little better, but no more interesting. It’s a gray or black lump with a sturdy-feeling swing lid that hides your buds when they’re charging. It’s slim and well-shaped, so you won't worry about slipping into a tight pocket in your backpack or in your jeans. I like the silver accent around the base of the lid, although I do wish that the buds and their case were available in more colors than the austere gray and black.

Build quality is very good all around. The buds themselves, while light, feel dense and well put together. I didn’t run them over with my car because I am risk-averse, but they feel like they could take a real beating. Considering they’re going to go everywhere with you, that’s a big plus. The case feels nice and pebble-like in the hand, and the case’s hinge appears like it will put up with some abuse. It closes with a nice clack, and doesn’t open with a vigorous shake like others do. I’m looking at you, Sony and Bose. Get those magnets in check.

The fit is best in class. There are three silicon tip options in the box, and I found them slightly on the larger side — so those with diminutive ear canals might want to try the smallest size and then size up if a more secure fit is needed. They fit in your ear without the need of a twist. Just push them in, and you’re away. Considering how many earbuds, like Bose, need a fancy gesture to get in place, something so simple and effective is most welcome indeed.

They’re light, and they don’t impact any of the typical pain points that some earbuds put pressure on. As a result, I’ve been able to wear them for hours on end without the need to pull them out for a quick break. If you live in your earbuds, this might just be the pair for you. I’ll get more into touch controls later, but they’re light enough that you don’t end up pushing the buds further into your ears. Excellent comfort and fit.

Cambridge Melomania A100 review: Features

• No spatial audio
• Healthy and helpful EQ
• Nice, simple app

As Cambridge’s flagship in-ears, there are plenty of features found in the buds. There have been some sacrifices made on the altar of price, however. There’s no spatial audio, but given the general lower quality of surround systems in cheap buds, I’m not bothered in the slightest. There are no sound and fit tests either, something you’ll increasingly find in other buds. Given the strength of the EQ within the app, it’s no great loss.

So, on to what you do get. First up are the expected features within the solid Melomania app. It’s simple, easy to use, and well laid out. Each setting has its own small pane in the main menu, with labelled toggles so you know what you’re doing. There’s a control for the ANC, the EQ panel that lets you choose between presets and a seven-band adjuster.

You can also access something unique to Cambridge's devices — “DynamEQ.” The idea is to bring more bass to the table when you’re listening at low volumes. It works very well. Bass heads no longer have to crank the volume or dip into an EQ if they don’t want to damage their hearing.

There’s also a gaming mode that shortens latency, and even a mono audio option should you want to share your music with a friend, or otherwise use one earbud instead of two. Finally, there’s the Find My Headphones feature, which plays a small tone out of the buds so that you can find them if they tumble down a couch. They have to be out of the case and connected to your phone for it to work, mind you, so it’s not quite as useful as Apple’s Find My.

My favorite feature is one of the voice alerts — Matt Berry, the voice of Snip Snip the terrifying robot butler in the Fallout TV show, has recorded voice lines for Cambridge to use in its headphones. It’s loads of fun and adds spice to their personality.

Cambridge Melomania A100 review: ANC

At this price, there are options that block out more noise. The most notable are the Sony WF-C710N and the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds, which have better noise-cancelling algorithms. That’s not to say the A100 are bad at blocking noise. They’re actually very good — play some music, and the outside world soon melts away into the background. But when that music starts to get a little quieter, and the ANC has to do additional work on its own, more sounds are allowed through.

There’s been a focus on low-range sounds in the A100. That means that rumbling engines and other drones are better blocked than higher sounds, like clacking keyboards. It’s a classic noise-canceling curve for the price, and one that works well enough if you don’t want to hear as much of the world around you. I’d like to see more attention paid to mid-sounds like voices, but they’re only really a problem when the music gets quiet or you’re in between tracks.

Bus rides and train journeys are more tolerable while wearing the buds, and offices become a whole lot quieter and easier to work in. That’s about all you can really ask of ANC, but it would be nice if the A100 were up there with the very best. Still, the transparency mode is very good and sounds nice and natural, so you won’t have to worry about robotic-sounding shop clerks and bus drivers.

Cambridge Melomania A100 review: Controls

• Touch controls
• Customizable
• Sensitive

I don’t generally enjoy touch controls, but as I’m learning, there’s little else you can fit to earbuds that are smaller than your pinky finger. The A100 feature touch controls housed on the outer edge of the buds, although there’s nothing in the stems that hang down.

That feels like a missed opportunity for some AirPods-like volume controls, which continue to be my favorite touch controls ever placed in an in-ear device. Alas, no such luck, but the controls we do have are competently implemented and work much better than touch controls I’ve experienced elsewhere.

A quick tap of the left earbud cycles through the ANC modes, a double tap skips back a track, a triple tap conjures your chosen voice assistant, and a long-press lowers the volume.

Tap the right earbud and you pause the music, tap it twice and skip a track, three taps brings up the voice assistant, and a long-press raises the volume. They’re sensitive enough that they don’t require an uncomfortably stiff push, but smart enough that they don’t constantly activate when you go to adjust the buds should they become dislodged. I don’t like touch controls, but these are more than tolerable — which, in my books, makes them excellent touch controls.

You can customize the functions within the app as well, so you can distribute the functions to different touch layouts. I never felt like I had to swap things around at all, but it’s useful that you can. You could even make the ANC a long press, and volume a single press. You mad, mad thing.

Cambridge Melomania A100 review: Call quality

• Good sound quality
• Fine for calls to mom and work meetings
• Clear and concise

Call quality is about par for the course. You won’t experience game-changing microphone audio, but neither will your call partner want to pull their headphones off and throw them across the room. I called my Mom (you should call yours, by the way), and she was more than happy with the quality of my voice as I walked by a busy road. She could hear noisy trucks as they passed, but it was never enough that I was completely inaudible.

Mic quality might not be up there if you’re going for an online job interview, but then you’re likely better off using the one built into your laptop, tablet or phone. The mics are not bad, but they’re a little too peaky and edgy for more professional settings.

My mom sounded great throughout the call, thanks in part to her excellent choice in earbuds (AirPods Pro 2) and the sound quality of the A100. All around solid performance that more than gets the job done.

Cambridge Melomania A100 review: Sound Quality

• Big, punchy bass
• Buckets of detail
• Wide soundstage

“Oh no,” cries the Dolby Atmos fan. “There’s no spatial audio option in my $149 pair of earbuds, whatever shall I do?” they continue, a tear dropping onto their copy of the 2016 Dolby Atmos test disc. “My soundstage…” Worry not, Dolby Atmos fan, you’re about to hear something much better than an artificially widened soundstage — true stereo separation, and a very well-tuned sound profile indeed.

No, there’s no spatial audio option inside the buds, but given the track record of the format in other similarly priced options, I’m not concerned at all. The soundstage on offer inside the A100 is excellent without the need for either Dolby Atmos or a proprietary system. Musicians are very well placed in the mix, without any of the kind of blending that some sub-$200 earbuds can be privy to. This is a wide open, natural sounding soundstage that works perfectly for everything from Blackened death metal, big band jazz, classical music and everything in between.

You’ll immediately notice the warmth of the sound. Cambridge’s house sound spends a lot of its time warming up your music, and I find it very pleasing indeed. It makes your music sound welcoming and extremely listenable, without any of the high-end fatigue that some in-ears can fall into. That’s not to say there’s no detail — there’s loads to be found in the buds, as they reveal some lovely elements to your music that similarly priced buds might miss.

There’s perhaps a little roll off in the top end, but it’s nothing that a quick trip to the EQ can’t fix. I found that bringing up the trebles a little helped, and brought back in some of the cymbal sounds that I was missing. Or, you could have a play with some of the presets and find the one that sounds best to you. The buds sound great out of the box, though, and my adjustments were more for personal taste than “these need sonic adjustment.”

Vorga’s blistering black metal Magical Thinking brings the noise — and a busy soundscape that some buds struggle to pick apart. The A100 had no such problems; each instrument was easily distinguishable amongst the devilish din. The cymbals crash with an evil, edgy fervor, while the distorted guitars are sharp as a brutal saw blade. The bass guitar growls below, and the vocals are clear and easy to decipher. All the while, the soundstage makes the track sound enveloping and huge.

Turning to some Jazz Fusion, and Casiopeia's I Love New York shows us some funk. The buds love the bassline, as its infectious groove lays the perfect groundwork for the synthetic voice and noodling instrumentation. The drums are quick and precise, and the detail in the synths and guitar lines is excellent.

The A100 are some great-sounding buds, with a sound profile befitting something a whole lot more expensive. They’re more than happy to oblige over a range of different genres, and pack in some truly epic bass that’s groovy at any volume thanks to the DynamEQ setting. Very tasty indeed.

Listen along to the Cambridge Melomania A100 test tracks:

Cambridge Melomania A100 review: Battery life

• Incredible staying power
• Best in class
• Useful quick charge

Cambridge claims that you’ll get 12 hours out of the earbuds with ANC turned on, and 16 with the ANC turned off. That’s some of the best battery life you’re likely to get out of any earbuds out there, beating out the Sony and Bose options handily.

There’s even loads of battery life in the case, with 39 hours on tap to keep your buds topped up. The only thing in buds-land that I’ve seen with more battery? The previous model, the M100, lasted for 52 hours in the case, although they had less battery life for the buds themselves.

In my testing, I found that the buds matched up to Cambridge’s claims with aplomb, lasting for plenty of time while I was listening to my music on mid-volume. After five hours of use with the ANC turned on, I had 60% battery life remaining. That’s some impressive staying power, and it can likely be extended if you listen at a slightly lower volume and to less intensive content like podcasts and audiobooks.

A quick fast charge gives you 3.2 hours of playback after 10 minutes in the case to make sure you don’t have to go too long without tunes should the battery run out. The battery life is some of the best I’ve ever seen out of a pair of buds — very impressive indeed.

Cambridge Melomania A100 review: Verdict

The Melomania M100 were unconventional, but provided a solid alternative to the established options. The A100 refine the formula, bring some welcome tweaks, and present an excellent package that in many ways completely outperforms the likes of Sony and Bose. They sound much better, with a well-judged and very pleasing sound profile. They’re comfortable and bring loads of fitting options to the table to make sure they’re good for all ears. The battery life is the very best in class too.

They’re not perfect. They look outdated and their ANC doesn’t quite reach the heady heights of some of the similarly priced competition, but the overall package makes them the best buy at their $149 price point.

Want to listen along to the Tom's Guide testing team? Check out the Tom's Guide testing playlist below: