These $66 headphones have no business sounding this good - and they're 20% off

Over the past year, I've been seriously impressed with the quality of low-end earbuds and headphones. Although there has been the rare occasion that a pair has failed to make the cut, most of those $40 to $90 devices have me realizing just how far technology has come that a $66 pair of headphones today would blow away a similarly-priced pair from when I was in undergrad.

These budget earbuds and headphones make up with software for what they lack in hardware. Rock-bottom headphones that pull off decent sound don't use the best materials, and their designs are often uninspired. Thanks to software advances, those bargain-bin headphones can deliver some impressive sound, which means they can better compete in a market that is overly saturated.

Also: I test dozens of headphones a year, and these might be the best ones under $100

Where do the QCY H3 Pros stand? Well, back in August, I reviewed the QCY H3 headphones and concluded that $40 headphones had no right sounding that good. As expected, the H3 Pros are even better.

Keep in mind that headphones this cheap will never compete with a company like Focal, but then again, that company's products cost thousands of dollars. In the world of low-end audio, it's always best to keep an apples-to-apples perspective.

The specs

ANC capable of reducing noise by up to 50dB with Indoor, Commute, Crowd, and Anti-Wind Noise modesHi-Res audio certified
LDAC support for high-fidelity audio (only available on Android and must be enabled in the QCY app)
40mm Dynamic Drivers with titanium diaphragms and 360° spatial audio
Three microphones with AI enhance voice clarity
Wired and wireless connectivity via Bluetooth 5.4 or a 3.5mm aux cable (included)
55-hour playtime from a full charge and a 10-minute charge gets two hours of playback time
Price - $66 on Amazon

Also: I listened to wireless earbuds with xMEMs drivers and they've set a new standard for me

My experience

I had a fun little thing happen to me after first connecting these headphones to my MacBook Pro. I had no idea the sound on the laptop was cranked to 100%. After connecting the headphones, I opened Spotify and started playing my usual first song for all my tests… Rush's "Analog Kid." The volume was far louder than I would have liked, but it wasn't nearly as bad as some headphones I've experienced at full volume.

After that incident, I rolled the volume back to a more ear-pleasing level and hit play a second time. That's more like it.

What immediately took me by surprise (and the reason why I always start with this song) was how agile the low-end is. I use that term a lot with regard to bass, because I find it to be a very important aspect of quality sound. If the bass response on a speaker is slow, the sound tends to get muddy on the bottom, which causes headphones and earbuds to sound cheap (especially when paired with mids that are too prominent). Two of the best bassists in the business for testing low-end agility are Geddy Lee and Les Claypool.

Also: The best headphones for $200 or less: Expert tested

With that in mind, I fired up "My Name Is Mud" to see if the H3 Pros could keep up. They could. Claypool's slapping and plucking was lively, with just the right amount of bottom. Even once the guitar joined in on the fun, the song didn't get even slightly muddy.

I then jumped to "Happy Birthday" By Devin Townsend Project. There are always two things that get me about that song. First, it's Anneke Van Giersbergen's angelic voice. Any time she sings, it takes my breath away, and although the melody of this song doesn't test the limits of her voice, it shows off the gorgeous tone and vibrato she has. The other thing about this song is the depth of the clean guitar that just hints at the slightest bit of distortion and when the bass finally enters, you get this feeling: it's a bottomless pit of heart and soul.

Also: The best headphones you can buy: Expert tested

The H3 Pros handled every song I tested with class. I decided to dip into the early 90s and listen to Steve Perry's "Somewhere There's Hope," which seems like the right song to listen to now. I love this song -- it's Perry spilling his heart like never before. The H3 Pros voiced every instrument well, but did show a slightly narrower soundstage. All the instruments seemed to be crowded to the left and right side of my head, and Perry's incomparable voice lived right behind my forehead. It would be nice if the soundstage was a bit more forward so it could widen out a bit and give the instruments a bit more separation. When the guitar solo hit, it moved to replace Perry's voice in the center and then drifted back when Steve started singing again.

Over to the poppier side of things, I pushed play on Chvrches' "Violent Delights" (a song that helped inspire one of my most recent book series) and found the H3 Pros handled it well. This is a tough song because every song on the album is quite compressed, so getting high-quality sound (even on my turntable) is a challenge.

ZDNET's buying advice

Let me be straight with you. You can toss a pebble into an ocean of technology and hit any number of decent headphones for under $100. Still, when you can find a pair for $66 that can handle every genre as well as these, it's a no-brainer. 

Before you get the wrong idea, the QCY H3 Pros are not on the level of a pair of headphones from Beyerdynamic, Audio Technica, Marshall, or Portal. QCY is a Chinese company that is creating cost-effective solutions, and the result is budget-friendly devices. When you hold these headphones, they give away the low price, but when you pump your favorite tune through them, you'll find the quality of sound reaches far higher than you might expect.

Although these headphones don't have the weight of a well-known audio manufacturer behind them, they're still worthy of your consideration as low-end headphones with higher-end sound.