Best Cheap Headphones

Let us have no illusions what we are buying when we shop for something cheap -- like cheap headphones. You are not buying something "high-end", no Beats by Dre, here. You are buying headphones from which you can expect average audio quality at best.

But do not let ol' Regi B bring you down. You can still get quality cheap headphones, if you are more willing to spend $20 than $10. (Click on the following links for examples of $20 headphones and $10 headphones.)

And when you do buy cheap headphones, you get something that the manufacturer is producing for a mass audience, but with a warranty of up to one year, if the maker is an electronics company that stands behind its product. Who stands behind their products? Not charlatans nor other dubious characters!

Quality makers of cheap headphones include companies that also make high-end headphones -- like:

• Sony
• Sennheiser
• Philips
• Samsung
• Skullcandy

If you want a shot at your new cheap headphones lasting and being there for you for more than mere weeks or days, pick a pair that is a brand you know. For instance, I would go with Sony, Philips, or Sennheiser long before some brand I had never heard of before.

Keep in mind that features matter. If you can find a pair with more than basic features, I say buy it! Good, cheap headphones can be found with tangle-free cables, and features to help ease stress on the cable, so the headphones last longer.

Still -- no matter what brand of cheap headphones you select -- keep in mind that headphones, earbuds, etc., wear out -- period. In my mind, this goes for all headphones, but especially the cheaper ones!

It is almost as if headphones are disposable. I wish it were not so, but it is. If you know that going in, you may be more satisfied with what you get from a pair of budget headphones.

Once you have chosen the right cheap headphones for you, rock on, brother! (Or sister, or grandma!)