What headphones should you buy for under 100 euros?
These days you can get a surprising amount of headphone for under a hundred bucks. You can also get a surprising amount of garbage. China ships whole containers of 29.90 euro "premium" headphones whose sound quality is roughly on par with two tin cans and a piece of string. We don't sell those.
For under a hundred, we've got the NL21, and it's actually good, not just "good for the price." If the budget stretches to 169 euros, the VMK20 brings active noise cancellation to the table.
Two options, two different use cases
NL21 True Wireless earbuds are Valco's base model. Wireless earbuds, IPX6 water resistance, 7.5 hours of battery life and sound tuned by Jasse. Nothing extra. No noise cancellation either, and that's a deliberate choice, not a corner cut. With earbuds that sit in the ear canal, passive isolation already handles a big chunk of the job.
These are your everyday pocket tool. Runs, buses, the office.
VMK20 noise cancelling headphones are the over-ear model with real ANC across four microphones. Qualcomm chip, aptX Low Latency, 45 hours of battery life, and a fabric-covered design courtesy of Lauri Lumme. At full price these climb past a hundred, but on sale they hit budget.
45 hours of battery. You read that right. Charge it Sunday, and you might remember the charger again by Thursday.
An honest comparison
Let's be straight: under a hundred euros, you won't get the world's best ANC. The Sony WH-1000XM5 costs three times as much and cancels noise a shade better. If you sit eight hours a day in an open-plan office and want absolute silence, save up longer.
But the VMK20's ANC is plenty for a plane, a train, and that open-plan office, as long as you put some music on. Low frequencies disappear effectively. No technology on this planet removes a screaming kid, though.
The NL21 earbuds, meanwhile, have no ANC at all. Good to know upfront so there are no surprises. Passive isolation still works reasonably well, since the buds sit in the ear canal.
Speaking of sound quality: both are Jasse's handiwork. Jasse is the guy whose ears are insured, who can hear if the neighbor's dog barked at the wrong frequency three blocks away. At this price point, you won't find better tuning.
Why Valco?
Three reasons.
Price. You get a Qualcomm chip and ANC for under a hundred euros. Big brands' equivalents cost 250 to 400 euros. Know why? Because their marketing budget is bigger than our entire revenue. We spend our money on sound engineering and Henri's Alfa Romeo repairs.
Repairability. When Sony's headphones break, you toss them and buy new ones. When Valco's headphones break, and yes, electronics do break sometimes, Jasse and the crew fix them in Kajaani. Pads get replaced, parts get replaced, the headphones keep going.
Being Finnish. A 14-person company from Oulu. Every cent goes into salaries, product development and the Death Star construction fund. We're currently at about 0.00003 percent. Your purchase helps.
Who should pick something else?
If you need the best possible noise cancellation and don't care about price, buy Sony or Bose. They're ahead on ANC. We happily admit it.
If you want earbuds that integrate into the Apple ecosystem, AirPods work more seamlessly with an iPhone. You do pay double for that integration, though.
And if you're buying headphones purely for sports and need hooks that stay in your ears even if you run through a wall, there are more specialized sports models out there.
Summary
- NL21 , wireless earbuds under a hundred euros. No ANC, but good sound, water resistance and simplicity. Best choice if you want something small and hassle-free for everyday life.
- VMK20 , over-ear noise cancelling headphones, under a hundred on sale. ANC, 45h battery, Qualcomm chip. Best choice if you want to shut out the world.
Both get repaired instead of thrown away. Both were tuned by Jasse. Both help fund the Death Star.
If you still can't decide: buy both. Henri needs money for his Alfa Romeo's timing chains, and the Death Star's corruption budget doesn't fill itself.
