I review audio gear for a living, and the only budget over-ear headphones I've ever recommended are 35% off right now — hurry!

the jlab jbuds lux anc headphones worn by the author with a tom's guide price drop tag — (Image credit: Tom's Guide)

I test the best headphones, the best earbuds, the best speakers, and much, much more every single day. If an audio product exists, I've probably listened to it at some point.

There are a few budget earbuds and speakers that I love, but only one pair of budget headphones. Other inexpensive headphones seem to fall flat in almost every area, especially the most important: sound quality.

Enter the JLab JBuds Lux ANC...

There are so many reasons why these headphones outperform every other pair I've tested, but it basically boils down to one element.

Sound quality.

The JLab JBuds Lux ANC simply excel in terms of sound quality. While other brands' budget headphones tend to send me to Tinny City (an overly-obvious metaphor for trash sound quality), the Lux ANC cans offer balanced yet deep sound.

I will admit the bass performance is a little heavy-handed. In my review of the JLab JBuds Lux ANC, I wrote, "Jazz-tinged crooning vocals from Clairo’s ‘Sexy to Someone’ was smooth and gentle, with the charisma you’d expect from much pricier headphones. I especially liked the sliding guitar notes in the chorus; but the bass notes were a touch muddled."

the jlab jbuds lux anc headphones in black photographed against a blue background — (Image credit: Tom's Guide)

I added, "Confidence Man['s] ‘Let Them Bells Ring’ pounded through the drivers with such groove that I wanted to stop mid-walk and start boogie-ing (I won’t, for everyone else’s sakes), although a little of the bass was lost amongst the liveliness of the track."

While it's true that the bass can be muddled, this isn't rare on budget headphones. Actually, this is the main symptom of cheap headphones. I've yet to find budget cans that completely blow me away, but the Lux ANCs are the closest I've ever got to affordable perfection.

Now they're just $51, so I'd boogie over to Amazon to snag this deal before it's too late.

Erin Bashford is a senior writer at Tom's Guide, focusing on reviews. She has a Masters in Broadcast and Digital Journalism from the University of East Anglia. As an ex-barista, she knows her way around a coffee machine, and as a music lover, she's constantly chipping away at her dream of having a multi-room home sound system. In her spare time you can find her reading, practising yoga, writing, or stressing over today’s NYT Games.

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