‘These headphones boast 110 hours of battery life — but fail to make up for the poor sound’: Tribit QuietPlus 81 review

Tribit is well-known for making budget audio gear, and the latest addition to its extensive lineup are the Tribit QuietPlus 81 over-ear headphones. These cans pack some serious battery life, rated at 110 hours with ANC off — yes, they’ve got ANC, which is quite cool considering they cost just under $50!

Alongside long battery life and ANC, you get decent sound quality, as sub-$50 headphones go. But if you’re an audiophile or someone who truly appreciates the nuances in music, I’d consider other options. Muddy bass, tinny percussion and a lackluster companion app really let these cans down.

To find out if they deserve a spot among the best cheap headphones, read my full Tribit QuietPlus 81 review.

Tribit QuietPlus 81 review: Specs

Tribit QuietPlus 81 review: Cheat sheet

• What is it? A very cheap pair of headphones with ANC
• Who is it for? Anyone who’s on a tight budget and doesn’t mind a few compromises
• How much does it cost? $49 / £49
• What do we like? The low price tag, long battery life, decent ANC, and decent sound quality for the price
• What don’t we like? The muddy bass, tinny percussion, and lackluster companion app

Tribit QuietPlus 81 review: Price & availability

If you’re on the hunt for cheap headphones, then the Tribit QuietPlus 81 should be right up your street. They retail for just $49 / £49 at Amazon, making them some of the cheapest headphones or earbuds I’ve used so far. However, you aren’t exactly spoiled for choice when it comes to colors, as the headphones come in just black.

Since they’re so inexpensive, do they even face any competition? They do indeed. The EarFun Wave Life ($59) cost $10 more, but honestly, I wouldn’t recommend them to even my worst enemy. I would, however, recommend the 1More SonoFlow SE ($54), which boast a robust sound profile. There’s also the JLab JBuds Lux ANC ($79), which are some of the best-sounding budget cans out there.

All of this is to say that I’d happily spend a little more on either the 1More or the JLab over the QuietPlus 81. These headphones aren’t bad per se, but they won’t impress any hardcore music lovers.

Tribit QuietPlus 81 review: Design & comfort

• Soft protein leather earcups
• Hit-or-miss wear detection
• Foldable design for easy transport

I’ll be honest: when it comes to design, the Tribit QuietPlus 81 aren’t winning any awards at Paris Fashion Week. As run-of-the-mill headphones, they look like practically any other pair out there. In fact, if I asked you to draw a photo of headphones — any headphones — I’m fairly certain you’d end up drawing the QuietPlus 81. They come in all-black, with their body made of ABS plastic.

The QuietPlus 81 weigh 10 ounces, which is fairly light. They’re a little heavier than the JLab JBuds Lux ANC (8.2 ounces) and the 1More SonoFlow SE (8.4 ounces), but the difference is barely noticeable. Their headband is fitted with protein, artificial leather cushioning, which helps lighten the pressure you’d otherwise feel on the top of your head.

My favorite design feature on the QuietPlus 81 are the soft ear cushions, which are super comfortable to wear for long periods. Having worn them for six consecutive hours, I didn’t experience much discomfort, and my ears didn’t get too hot, as they had previously done when testing. The earcups also fold inwards, making it easy to carry the headphones in a small bag.

Though Tribit doesn’t mention this on the product page, I noticed that the headphones feature wear detection — but it’s very hit-or-miss. It worked sometimes when I removed the cans, but most of the time, it didn’t. Even my coworker, Erin, noticed this glaring flaw, so I know it wasn’t just me gaslighting myself.

Tribit QuietPlus 81 review: Connectivity

• Bluetooth 6.0 with SBC
• Can connect to two devices at once
• 3.5mm for wired playback

The Tribit QuietPlus 81 boast Bluetooth 6.0, and this is the first time I’ve tried a set of cans with the latest version. This means that the headphones maintain a stable connection to your smartphone even when they’re 50 meters / 164 feet away from the source. I tested this out by walking the entire length of our testing lab, and not once did the connection drop.

As for codecs, the only codec the QuietPlus 81 support is SBC, which means you don’t get access to hi-res codecs, such as AAC, LDAC or aptX Lossless. Keep in mind that these cans cost under $50, so it isn’t surprising that these have been left out. This is also the case with the pricier JLab JBuds Lux ANC, so not unheard of in this price range.

Thanks to multipoint connectivity, you can pair the QuietPlus 81 with two smart devices at once, and swap between input sources as and when needed. I tried this by connecting the headphones to my Google Pixel 10 Pro XL and MacBook Air M2 simultaneously, and it worked like a charm.

If you fancy wired playback, you can do that too, as the headphones feature a 3.5mm jack on the right earcup, and an aux cable is included in the box. Overall, this is a fairly solid feature set for a pair of budget headphones.

Tribit QuietPlus 81 review: Controls & app

• Easy-to-use physical buttons
• Touch controls too!
• Lackluster companion app

The Tribit QuietPlus 81 utilize a combination of touch and physical buttons. The buttons located on the right earcup let you toggle ANC on and off, and change the volume, so they’re fairly straightforward. Tapping the earcups lets you activate a smart assistant, as well as activate the XBass EQ, which, in all honesty, doesn’t make much of a difference.

To customize the touch controls, you first need to update the QuietPlus 81’s firmware via the Tribit smartphone app. Easily done, yes, but customization is very limited. I was unable to assign any playback controls to the earcups, such as increase/decrease volume, as that’s bound to the physical buttons. I wish Tribit had settled for one or the other: either give me full touch controls or a full set of physical ones. It feels convoluted for no reason.

This also brings me to my next point: the Tribit app. The app is… fine, and there’s nothing special about it. It lets you update the firmware, customize controls, choose an EQ preset, and customize the 10-band equalizer. What I dislike, though, is that the app feels very clunky. There are three sub-menus when there only need to be two: one for hardware settings (like controls) and EQ. This app could have definitely been more polished.

Tribit QuietPlus 81 review: Sound quality

• Vocals are probably the best part
• Muddy bass and tinny percussion
• Static noise when nothing is playing

As a senior reviews writer at Tom’s Guide, I’ve tested my fair share of headphones: the good, the bad and the ugly. I feel like the Tribit QuietPlus 81 fall somewhere between the first two categories. I wouldn’t recommend them to hardcore music enthusiasts or audiophiles as the bass is muddy, percussion lacks character and vibrance and the best part is probably the vocals.

To test the headphones, I put on a few tracks I’m intimately familiar with on Qobuz, the best music streaming service for hi-res audio. I’ll talk about the good thing first: the vocals. The folksy vocals in First Aid Kit’s ‘My Silver Lining’ sounded warm and smooth. The duo’s vocals sounded harmonious, and the transition between low notes to high ones towards the end didn’t feel abrupt.

Similarly, in ‘Hayloft II’ by Mother Mother, the male and female voices and pitches were well-balanced. Their screams never sounded too shrill or distant.

The QuietPlus 81 are equipped with 40mm dynamic drivers, which, Tribit claims, deliver “an incredible boost to bass performance.” I don’t fully agree with that because, to me, the bass just sounds loud. Not detailed. Not nuanced. Loud.

This was most apparent while listening to ‘Longview’ by Green Day, a track in which Mike Dirnt’s bassline feels like the protagonist, driving the song. The bass notes here are usually bouncy with a slight growl in the mid-range. The QuietPlus 81 negate that completely, making the bass sound muddy and muffled, and it loses all nuance.

I gave the bass another shot by listening to Linkin Park’s ‘Casualty,’ a post-hardcore track featuring multiple guitars and drums. The bass sounded a little better here with better low-end impact, but I immediately noticed the drums and percussion sounding tinny. The heavy snare hits ended up sounding shrill and unpleasant. It felt like the QuietPlus 81 got overwhelmed and didn’t know what to do with themselves.

It’s also worth noting that when nothing is playing through the headphones, there’s a strange static noise that stops once music plays. It sort of sounds like you’re underwater, but thankfully, it doesn’t intrude on the actual listening experience.

Listen along to my review with the Tribit QuietPlus 81 testing playlist:

Tribit QuietPlus 81 review: Call quality

• Decent microphone
• Works fine in busy environments, too

When you look at the Tribit QuietPlus 81’s box, you’ll notice that it says “SMOOTH TALKING.” It’s hard to miss, really, because it’s in all caps, bold letters. You’d think that the headphones are smooth-talkers, like they’ve got rizz, as the youths say. I can’t attest to whether they have rizz or not, but it basically implies that they have a decent microphone, as proven in my testing.

I spoke with my partner on the phone and through the headphones, and she said that my voice was loud and clear, and that she could hear the construction workers behind me, but only slightly. This is because the QuietPlus 81’s mic features five noise-canceling mics, and clearly, these work well.

Tribit QuietPlus 81 review: ANC

• ANC for very, very cheap
• Okay at best, indoors and outdoors

Before I purchase headphones or earbuds, I always check that they feature active noise cancelation (ANC). It’s a non-negotiable for me, as I like to fully immerse myself in the music I’m listening to, and I don’t want to be bothered on my commute. The Tribit QuietPlus 81 certainly check that box as they feature ANC — at such a low price too. Whether that ANC is good or not is another story. I’d describe it as "okay" at best.

In my testing, I found the ANC worked decently indoors. The clickity-clackity sounds emitting from my Keychron Q12 HE were minimized, but I could still hear my coworkers speaking with each other, as well as the coffee machine whirring to life. Outdoors, I could hear cars honking in the distance. All of this took place while I was listening to music at 60% volume.

If you want better, more effective ANC, I’d recommend the JLab JBuds Lux ANC instead.

Tribit QuietPlus 81 review: Battery life

• Whopping 110-hour battery life
• 70 hours with ANC on

If there’s one thing the Tribit QuietPlus 81 excel at, it’s battery life. After all, the box clearly reads “ULTRA LONG BATT” in all caps. With ANC off, these headphones can last up to 110 hours, and this drops to 70 hours when ANC is active. I still had 100% battery, according to my phone, after having used the headphones for six hours. Mind you, this is even longer than the headphones I use every day: the Marshall Monitor III ($349) can last up to 100 hours with ANC off, and 70 hours with ANC on.

They also blow their competition out of the water in the battery department. With ANC off, the JLab JBuds Lux ANC and the 1More SonoFlow SE can both last 70 hours each, while the EarFun Wave Life are rated at just 60 hours between charges. The QuietPlus 81 are bested only by the EarFun Tune Pro ($69) with their 120-hour battery life.

Tribit QuietPlus 81 review: Verdict

As sub-$50 headphones go, the Tribit QuietPlus 81 aren’t the worst ones I’ve tested so far. For the price, you get fairly decent ANC and up to 110 hours of juice packed into a comfortable, foldable design. Sound quality is where the headphones, unfortunately, suffer the most. While vocals are clear, bass and percussion are not, and you struggle to appreciate the finer details.

But say you’re at an airport and your headphones just broke, and you need a pair to get you through a long-haul flight, and you spot these cans at a shop, you’d buy them. You’d be satisfied for the duration of your flight, yes, but once you’re off the plane, you’ll want to get your broken cans fixed as soon as possible.

The QuietPlus 81 are good in a pinch, but for serious listening, look elsewhere.