---
title: 'Best Earbuds Under $200: AirPods vs Soundcore vs Samsung vs Beats'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=oDVfF00bkAA'
video_id: 'oDVfF00bkAA'
date: 2026-08-06
duration_sec: 1502
---

# Best Earbuds Under $200: AirPods vs Soundcore vs Samsung vs Beats

> Source: [Best Earbuds Under $200: AirPods vs Soundcore vs Samsung vs Beats](https://youtube.com/watch?v=oDVfF00bkAA)

## Summary

This video compares five top earbuds under $200: Galaxy Buds 3 Pro, Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro, Nothing Ear 3, AirPods 4 with ANC, and Powerbeats Pro 2. The host tests them across ANC, transparency, microphones, fit, comfort, design, controls, sound quality, features, battery life, and ecosystem compatibility, then scores them to determine the best overall pick.

### Key Points

- **Introduction to the contenders** [00:01] — The video tests five earbuds under $200: Galaxy Buds 3 Pro ($159), Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro ($169), Nothing Ear 3 ($179), AirPods 4 with ANC ($179), and Powerbeats Pro 2 (~$200). The host notes these are personal favorites covering a wide range of users.
- **ANC test results** [02:01] — Galaxy Buds 3 Pro block up to level 62 (best), Powerbeats Pro 2 block 61, Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro block 57.5, Nothing Ear 3 let some low frequencies through, and AirPods 4 (open earbuds) block 55.7, surprisingly good for open design.
- **ANC artifacts and transparency** [03:22] — In a quiet room, all are silent except Galaxy Buds 3 Pro, which have a chirping/hissing artifact. For transparency, AirPods 4 are best (open design), followed by Galaxy Buds, Powerbeats, Soundcore, and Nothing.
- **Microphone tests** [04:30] — Indoor and outdoor mic tests were conducted. The host notes that Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro excel at blocking ambient noise, and AirPods 4 with voice isolation on iPhone perform exceptionally well in windy conditions.
- **Fit and comfort** [07:46] — Powerbeats Pro 2 win for fit due to ear hooks, making them ideal for sports. AirPods 4 are last for fit (gravity only) but first for comfort due to open design. Others are similar in comfort.
- **Design and water resistance** [09:24] — Water resistance ratings: AirPods IP54, Nothing IP54, Soundcore IP55, Powerbeats IPX4, Samsung IP67. The host notes the Nothing Ear 3 survived a washing machine accident. Aesthetics are subjective; the host likes the Nothing's transparent design.
- **Case design ranking** [11:28] — Soundcore's case has front controls (useful for connecting to laptops/gaming consoles), AirPods case is tiny with speaker, Nothing case scratches easily, Galaxy case is compact, and Beats case is large and chunky.
- **Controls comparison** [12:49] — Galaxy Buds have pinch/swipe and voice controls (first place), Soundcore has voice controls and tap controls (second), Nothing and Beats have basic pinch/swipe, AirPods have force controls and Siri.
- **Sound quality ranking** [14:05] — Nothing Ear 3 takes first for sound with deep bass and sparkle, but highs can be fatiguing. Soundcore is second with bassy tuning and high-res codec. Samsung third, AirPods fourth (impressive for open earbuds), Beats last with congested sound.
- **Features and ecosystem** [16:47] — Beats have heart rate tracking and audio sharing (first place). Soundcore has case controls, easy chat, 360 audio, and multi-point with three devices. AirPods, Galaxy, and Nothing tie for third with various features like Siri, Galaxy AI, and ChatGPT integration.
- **Battery life** [19:35] — Beats: 8h earbuds, 36h with case (ANC on). Soundcore: 6.5h, 28h total. Galaxy: 6h, 26h. Nothing: 5.5h, 20h. AirPods: 4h, 20h (ANC on), 5h/30h without ANC.
- **Ecosystem compatibility** [20:38] — Soundcore and Beats are most device-agnostic (tie for first). Nothing is third, Samsung fourth (best with Samsung), AirPods last (only work well with Apple).
- **Final scores and winner** [21:47] — Scores (lower is better): AirPods 34, Powerbeats 33, Nothing 32, Galaxy 31, Soundcore 30. Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro wins as the best overall under $200, being feature-rich and purpose-built for the price class.

### Conclusion

The Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro emerge as the best overall earbuds under $200, offering a strong balance of features, sound, and value. However, the best choice depends on individual priorities like fitness (Powerbeats), sound quality (Nothing), or ecosystem (AirPods or Galaxy).

## Transcript

earbuds, but which ones are actually the best under $200? Is it going to be a discounted or a model that was specifically made to be under $200? have five of my personal favorite earbuds under the $200 mark. And in this
video, we'll do the full gamut of tests from sound quality, ANC, microphones, battery life, everything you need to know. And in the end, we'll add up the scores and see which is actually the best pair of earbuds under $200. Now,
to kind of point out something that will inevitably get people mad in the comments. These are just my picks for the five best earbuds. If I did not include your earbuds that you purchased, that doesn't mean they're bad earbuds.
there, but these are my personal favorites. And they actually cover a pretty wide spectrum of users from runners to commuters, large ears, small like one of these five pairs. And the candidates we have here, in order of
price, are first of all, the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro, an older flagship about 2 years old now, but they're on sale. So, originally they were $250. At the time of making this video, I see them at my local Best Buy for $159.
Then we have the Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro at $169. These are brand new, just came out a couple weeks ago. We have the Nothing Ear 3 at $179. The AirPods 4 with ANC. There's two different models of the AirPods 4, but the ones with ANC
are $179. And of course, the very popular And of course, the very popular Powerbeats Pro 2 at almost exactly $200, going to be a part of the score because like I said, earbuds of this price range
are so likely to get sales, and I'll have links down below if you want to see ultimately, whenever you make your decision in this video, uh you can order support the channel at no cost to you, and and keep videos like this completely
sponsored. No brands have any input on this video whatsoever. So, test number one is the active noise cancellation. I play the sound of a jet. I turn up the volume till the earbuds are no longer able to block it. And in first place,
the best ANC out of all of these are the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro, blocking up to level 62. Very strong, but there is one little quirk that I'll point out later on in the next test. Secondly, we have the Powerbeats Pro 2, which is no surprise.
with the AirPods Pro, and these are blocking up to level 61. They actually do a really good job and block pretty much all frequencies very evenly. Then Liberty 5 Pro, blocking up to level 57.5, which is very impressive and a
generation Liberty 4 Pros. Then in fourth place, we have the Nothing Ear 3, probably more capable than they get credit for, but they let some of the block more low frequencies, which gives you the perception of more sound leaking
through. And then in last place, kind of unsurprisingly, the AirPods 4 with ANC. AirPods Pro. For anyone who doesn't know the AirPods lineup well, these are open earbuds. So, these really shouldn't even be on the list for ANC at all, but
impressively, Apple managed to put ANC in these earbuds, and it actually does a really, really impressive job for open earbuds. These are blocking up to 55.7, so really not that far behind the Nothing Ear 3. And I think that's
all of the benefits of open earbuds, like much more breathability, much easier to clean, faster to take in and out of your ears. There's a lot of benefits. I think Apple did a great job there. So, the second ANC test, much
more brief. Basically, quiet room, which ones are going to actually sound quiet, and which ones have artifacts of the ANC working? Well, the good news is, there's these are absolutely silent. The only ones that are not, which absolutely just
irritates me so much, the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro. Even though they're so powerful and chirping and hissing sound that it makes, and it makes it almost all the quality, with the ANC. I'll mention it a few times throughout this video, and
it they have to take a little bit of a hit on their score just from that. Now, transparency, the AirPods 4, no surprise, these are open earbuds, the best transparency out of all of them. In second place, the Galaxy Buds, minus
otherwise they sound very natural and well-done. Third place, the Powerbeats Pro sound great, again no surprise, being owned by Apple and kind of related but they do have slightly more white noise than I would like. In fourth
bit quiet and a little bit muffled with slightly more white noise, but still pretty solid. And then in fifth place, the Nothing Ear Buds are definitely the natural-sounding, but all of these get the job done if you're just trying to
and stuff like that. Now, let's get into a microphone test, starting off indoors. All right, indoor microphone test using the Nothing Ear 3. Let's see how it sounds. Um, this is just using the earbuds, not
indoor microphone test using the Powerbeats Pro 2. Indoor microphone test using the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro. We do have an advantage using a Samsung phone with this, we'll get some extra bandwidth on um
know how this sounds. Actually, all of these, let me know what you think, and a number down in the corner of what I think the ranking is 1 through 5. Here's the indoor microphone test with the Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro. By the way, uh
they launched the 5 Pro and the 5 Pro Max at the same time. There are some subtle differences I talk about in my my first video about them. So, the main difference is going to be the case has a few extra features and a larger display
filming on an iPhone once again for the AirPods, using them as the microphone, uh which you can do with like a Mac or, you know, any Apple device, of course. comparison again cuz we're using a different device to record this, but I
again would probably have an iPhone instead of a Samsung phone, so it just let me know which of these microphones you like the best. >> All right, outdoor microphone test with the Nothing Ear 3. In concept, I should
thought the super mic performed that well, and I think most people talking on going to wear the earbuds and talk like this. You're not going to necessarily just wasn't really that well executed. >> All right, now the microphone test with
the Powerbeats Pro 2. Um I think the wind maybe died down a traffic noise behind me. Also, transparency is excellent on these. I all. >> All right, outdoor microphone test with
>> All right, outdoor microphone test with the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro. These, I don't the sounds when I'm doing a video like this because it is a Galaxy phone I'm focusing on the surrounding sounds in like a spatial 360 audio, but
test sounds like with these. >> Okay, outdoor microphone test with the Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro. Uh these, I already know do an excellent job of blocking a lot of sound around me. In fact, I even did a test where I had a
weed whacker at full throttle in my original video of these, and you could think, are very impressive. The question's just going to be how natural does your voice sound if you have like a medium or even lower level of ambient
microphone test, I'm actually connecting this to an iPhone because I think anyone iPhone. Wind's blowing my hair up. Anyway, um Prepare to be blown away. This is like the standard version right now, but if
you go into voice isolation, which you could do on any video, phone call, iPhone and you have AirPods, check this out. So, it is windy out, there's cars behind me that are obviously pretty loud. There's a lot of traffic here, and
uh from my testing in the past, the AirPods do an excellent job in voice isolation mode of blocking all of that out and sounding very natural. Look at right there. And uh you probably barely even heard it.
going to be the fit. Now, fit and comfort, I kind of separate these two categories in this video. Fit is going to be how well they stay in your ears. Powerbeats Pro 2 are even in this video is for their fit. If you're going to be
could use any of these earbuds, but the Powerbeats Pro 2 are really renowned for sports. Uh they have these hooks that go over your ear, so you hang them on your ear like that. They're going to be like it's almost impossible to get these to
flexible and it goes over your ear. The only downside is that it could possibly interfere with sunglasses, but otherwise, definitely first place there. because these do have little adjustable wingtips on the top. They don't do a ton
geometry that they have already fits quite well, but the ear tips are sizes are more likely to have a good fit with those. In third place, we have a tie. The Nothing Ear and the Galaxy Buds almost have the same geometry, so they
stay in similarly well. And then in last place, the AirPods 4 may fall out because there's nothing really holding them in other than just gravity. There's inside of your ear. Now, as far as comfort goes, that is actually really
much less hot. They're much easier to clean. They are very, very comfortable and are therefore in first place for comfort. In second place, the Soundcore, Nothing, Galaxy uh actually, I think all the earbuds here are probably the same,
second place. I hate to do that, but again, they're all, you know, silicone ear tips that go in your ears. None of them really get particularly hot for me. I find that they're all almost identical in geometry and they feel very good. And
Now, the design I'm not going to include in the final score because this is so cons of the design as well as the water resistance, but you can do your own ranking and save that for the end and add it into your own personal score. So,
the water resistance, uh well, one little note here. I put the entire Nothing Ear 3 uh buds and case in the washing machine once by accident, obviously, and it still works perfectly fine. The AirPods are IP54-rated,
Nothing is IP54, Soundcore's IP55, Powerbeats are IPX4, and Samsung's IP67. So, the last number there is water resistance, and the higher number is category. As far as colors and aesthetics go, Nothing comes in black
and white. I actually really like the way these look. It's kind of like a very futuristic kind of tech style here. The transparent case, the transparent design on the earbuds. It says Ear 3. You've got the little dot on the right earbud.
pair of earbuds. And I'm very impressed. Like, of all of them, I think I personally really like the way these look best. The AirPods are just engraving in the front, which is pretty nice. Um and I love how tiny the case
is. I think as far as style and aesthetics go, nobody's even going to really notice you have these because AirPods are just so popular that you'll see them absolutely everywhere. The Powerbeats come in five, honestly, very
diverse colors from like more neutral colors to much more vibrant oranges and even like a Nike colorway that's kind of green speckle-looking thing. The Galaxy Buds come in black or white, but the black ones, like you can see, it's like
very silvery Cybertruck-looking design here. Very triangular. You got the blade AirPods if you get the white ones, the black ones are very distinctly Galaxy style here. And then the Soundcore earbuds come in four different colors
with the Liberty 5 Pro. There's also the 5 Pro Max, which has slightly different but that's going to be more expensive, so technically not qualified in this video. Also, it's hard to deny that Beats are very popular, and wearing them
basically says, "I play sports." And, you know, for a lot of people, that's a in your identity. Beats are very popular for a reason. Now, what is a little bit less subjective is going to be the case design. Fortunately, they do all have
But, let's talk about my ranking here of the cases. So, I think Soundcore they have controls on the front of the case, something that you don't have on here. Some people may say is useless. I actually really appreciate this. If
you're connecting to something such as a laptop or a gaming console or literally don't have the Soundcore app and you want to change some settings, the little that. The AirPods case I'm giving second place here because it is incredibly
tiny. As a case, I love the way this is built. The free engraving, wireless Watch charger. It has a little built-in speaker on the bottom, so you can find something, which by the way, Soundcore also has a small speaker in the case.
The Nothing case looks great, has a talk feature as I'll I'll mention later on in scratched quite a bit. That's definitely something you want to be aware of. The Galaxy Buds, nice and compact. Honestly, nothing remarkable about this case. I
charging, of course, USB type-C on the bottom. Just a really good, solid case. one. Unfortunately, Beats is in last place here just because it is such a large and chunky case. I mean, it kind of needs to be for the earbuds
let's talk about the next category being the controls. We have pinch and swipe controls on the Galaxy Buds. I'm giving them first place here because they also have voice controls where you can ask it to play and pause and things like that.
In second place, Soundcore also has voice controls here where you can just say play track or or pause music and things like that. Uh and I find that's if you have groceries in your hand, whatever it is, it's really, really
helpful. But, Soundcore has slightly different touch controls on the earbuds. They have tap controls, which I find is a little bit loud, so I think pinch is they do also have of up and down for volume, and there's also controls in the
case as well, as I mentioned before. In third place, the Nothing earbuds have pinch and swipe controls, pretty basic. Tied in third place, the Beats have if you're doing a lot of working out, you want to wear gloves, or your hands
are sweaty, or maybe it's just really cold out. Sometimes touch controls are just much more reliable for those environments, and the Powerbeats have customizable, but if you're on an iPhone, you could also use Siri with
going to say the AirPods. They only have force controls, they don't have the swipe controls we see on the Pros, but they do also have Siri on them as well. there's just some subtle trade-off. Now, the sound quality. This is actually very
diverse among these, and it is something that I really value a lot, and if you're something that sounds really good. So, in my [clears throat] opinion, first place here, the Nothing Ear 3. Now, out of the box, these have a huge emphasis
on not just bass, but like very, very low bass, and even sub bass. They also them a lot more sparkle and clarity. For some songs, this gives an extra wide sound stage, and honestly, they're very dynamic sounding, very capable with a
large frequency spectrum. But on other songs, the strong highs can be a little bit fatiguing. They do have a high-resolution codec, really quite tuning is wider than most, like I said, it's not just like a little bit of bass
and it gets muddy, like these really go deep, and they really go high. Fortunately, there is an EQ, actually the best EQ on the market in the app, and overall, these are very, very capable earbuds, and
head-shaking bass, you should get these. If you want really neutral sound, you probably still get these. In second place, Soundcore has a pretty bassy tuning, but high-resolution codec for all devices. Otherwise, not particularly
V-shaped, kind of interestingly. A lot of earbuds have this like this V-shape bass, and they boost the highs. Soundcore is bassy, so they boosted the over-emphasized in my opinion. I would say these are a pretty clear number two.
you go into like the clear vocal setting or or adjust it in your own way, uh they fatigue. You just maybe need to reduce the bass a tiny bit. In third place, Samsung has high-resolution codecs, but only with Samsung phones. So annoying. I
also have that chirping sound, which drives me nuts. Um but they are less bass-heavy compared to nothing. Still an emphasis on the highs and a little bit of a V-shape tuning. The bass sounds less clear and a tad muddier than the
occasionally you have like a little bit more distortion or a harsh note here and good. There's not I'm just kind of nitpicking here on what I don't like on on how they sound. They're just kind of a testament to how good the other
sound is on nothing and on Soundcore. In fourth place, AirPods actually have a really pleasant and relatively neutral balance. It's very impressive because a lot of open earbuds like this really struggle with bass, but these do it very
well. Not just having too much bass or too little bass or like dirty bass. The overbearing. I think they did a really good job. The catch here is going to be the instrument separation. Some sounds can blend together. It's also not
kind of makes sense because again, they are open earbuds. So overall, I continue to be impressed by the sound on these considering the design. In last place, the Beats shockingly are not super bass-heavy, but uh they do have a pretty
decent balance, just not a ton of fidelity, not the best head space, and they can sound a a little bit congested. Not a huge complaint, but I think that far as features go, well, Beats goes from fifth place to first place. They
earbuds out there. They can track your heart rate, and they can track it actually quite well. There's also audio sharing on Apple devices. So if you and a friend are both watching something on a plane on an iPad, you can play to two
Bluetooth devices at the same time as long as they're both AirPods or Beats devices. These are firmly in the Apple ecosystem with easy Siri integration, but they also work with Android and they actually have, you know, fast pairing on
Android. There's a Beats app for Android. You have an ear fit test and of course, you know, within the Apple ecosystem a lot of cool features there a lot of cool features here. So, Soundcore has the case obviously. You
can adjust like the ambient sound, sound effects, 360 audio. They have easy chat so you can just start talking and it'll pause your music. You've got camera choose what devices you're connected to. These also have multi-point with three
different devices, not just the normal multi-point connectivity to like your devices. These can also do a third one. So, maybe like personal phone, work phone and laptop or whatever you might want to do. The case also has a speaker
like I said for locating. So, you can make that chirp or the earbuds chirp if you lose them. And then, I'm going to give the other three a tie in third place. It just depends on what you want. So, if you're in the Apple ecosystem,
AirPods. The audio sharing like I switching, Siri. You also have the nod phone calls or responding to Siri, personalized spatial audio, Find My
just tell you where they were last thing when you walk around with your iPhone. That doesn't work with these. conversational awareness and just all the normal AirPods stuff. But, but no
hearing aid features. They don't They don't have that. The Galaxy Buds also have a lot of great features, mostly for Samsung phones. But, they've got like the Galaxy AI stuff. So, real-time interpreter, basically live translation.
ability to find devices with the blade lights on the back, which is pretty nice. Voice detect rejects like a cough, but can detect your speech and again a conversation. They also have things like siren detection and and different
things for being outdoors. And of Of the third tie in this one is going to be the Nothing earbuds. They have the talk feature, which is called Super Mic, as I it to perform that well, so I don't really use it. But, you can double pinch
your earbuds to talk to chat GPT if you have a Nothing phone. They also have things like multi-point connectivity, low lag mode, fit test, and and find my them, and obviously a lot of overlap as well.
For the battery life among these, Beats is in first place here. Pretty big battery, pretty big earbuds though. So, 10 hours in the earbuds, 45 hours when adaptive ANC. Actually, you should probably just scratch that number.
Really, the number is going to be 8 hours in the earbuds, 36 hours with full using. In second place, Soundcore has 6 and 1/2 in the earbuds, 28 total with the case. That's with ANC on. Without ANC, you get up to 12 hours and 50
hours. In third place, the Galaxy Buds have 6 hours in the earbuds, 26 with the case when you have ANC on. Fourth place, the Nothing earbuds have 5 and 1/2 hours in the earbuds and 20 total hours, but you're going to have less battery as you
start turning on higher resolution codecs and different things like that. And in last place, honestly unsurprisingly, the AirPods. It's quite they do have. 4 hours in the earbuds and 20 hours when you include the case.
That's with ANC on. Without ANC, you're looking at 5 and 30 hours. But, considering just how tiny these are, not just the case, but the actual earbuds themselves are very, very small, partly why they're so comfortable. I think it's
pretty solid the battery life they get. And of course, I kind of have been ecosystems with these, and and some people might say, "Oh, if you have an Samsung, get Galaxy Buds." That's not necessarily true, but ecosystem does
this video. So, in first place, I have a tie between Soundcore and Beats. So, Soundcore is technically the most device agnostic. You can adjust settings just on the case. You don't need to worry about which ecosystem you're in. And
native, but they also have an Android app. So, no matter what you use, they're going to work quite well. In third place, the Nothing Earbuds play nicely You can get the Nothing app on an Android or on an iPhone. And then we
have the more ecosystem-specific ones. In fourth place, Samsung works best with other Androids, just missing some of the things like the higher-resolution codecs have up their sleeve, and also some Galaxy AI things. But, as earbuds, they
work just fine for pretty much everybody. And the AirPods really only work with Apple. But, much like the Galaxy Buds, they can technically connect to anything Bluetooth, just they won't be able to really adjust settings.
So, like, you can connect your Galaxy Buds to an iPhone, but you're not going to have an app to really adjust the settings and and vice versa there. So, talk about the overall scores of these. I'm going to add up all the scores, and
a lot of people get confused in these videos when I do this. A lower number is Basically, it means the earbuds came in first place more and last place less. the chart at the end of the video, and you can kind of pause there and add up
the scores however you want. And what I mean by that is you can put a 2x or a 3x or a 5x weight on certain certain factors. So, maybe comfort is so important to you, you can multiply that by five, and then add up the scores and
be the best pair for you. So, for me personally, I put a 2x weight on sound pretty balanced among these. If you don't put any weight on anything, you're just looking at which are the most versatile earbuds. And so, based on my
scoring here, in last place, actually not by much though, with 34 points, were the AirPods. They're actually excellent earbuds if you really want to have more hygienic earbuds that don't have to be cleaned a lot, they're very comfortable,
a lot to really like about these, and if you're in the Apple ecosystem, they're certainly not a bad choice here. The ANC is also beyond impressive considering going to be as versatile as the others and they did fall behind in a few
categories. In fourth place then with only one point less than the AirPods are the Powerbeats Pro 2. These nonetheless are going to be the absolute best choice do a lot of working out. If you're running, if you're cycling, if you're
outside all the time or in a gym, these are going to stay on so incredibly well. they're still a pretty much a jack of all trades. I think the microphones were pretty decent, the sound quality was pretty decent, the ANC was very
impressive, transparency across the board. They did a really good job. They just didn't quite win in this one for a few main drawback. The case is quite quality as the other ones, but still a very recommendable pair of earbuds for a
certain crowd. In third place, the Nothing earbuds, kind of a jack of all going to be in the middle. Um but I think that if you really value sound quality or a unique aesthetic, these are without a doubt going to be your
earbuds. In second place, we have the Galaxy Buds. I think these could have buzzing and chirping sound. And maybe that's different unit to unit, um but for me, I've tried several pairs of Galaxy Buds 3 Pro and they always had
that issue for me. So again, these are in second place with 31 points. And then sense, these are feature-rich, they're purpose-built for the under $200 price class. They're very new so they have a lot of great features on them. Uh these
are the Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro. So I think that they make a lot of sense to buy them and $169 is the highest price they're ever going to be, I I believe at least. Um they're most likely going to go on sale at some point. So whichever
enjoyed this video, the best thing you could do would be choose to maybe go absolutely nothing and it does help to this video. Thanks for watching. Leave a comment and let me know which one you
like best and I'll see you in the next video.