What headphones should you buy for under €100?
You can get a surprising amount of headphone for under a hundred euros these days. You can also get a surprising amount of rubbish. China ships containers full of €29.90 "premium" headphones whose sound quality roughly matches two tin cans and a piece of string. We don't sell those.
For under a hundred euros, we've got two options, and both are genuinely good. Not "good for the price" – genuinely good.
Two options, two different use cases
NL21 True Wireless earbuds are Valco's base model. Wireless earbuds, IPX6 water resistance, 7.5-hour battery, and sound tuned by Jasse. Nothing extra. No ANC either – and that's a deliberate choice, not a cost-cutting measure. With earbuds that sit in your ear canal, passive isolation already handles a big chunk of the job.
These are a pocket-sized everyday tool. For runs, the bus, the office.
VMK20 ANC Headphones are over-ear cans with proper ANC using four microphones. Qualcomm chip, aptX Low Latency, 45-hour battery, and a fabric-covered design from Lauri Lumme's pen. At full price these climb above a hundred, but on sale they land within budget.
45 hours of battery. You read that right. Charge on Sunday, and you might remember the charger again around Thursday.
Honest comparison
Let's be straight: under a hundred euros won't get you the world's best ANC. The Sony WH-1000XM5 costs three times as much and cancels noise a touch better. If you sit eight hours a day in an open-plan office and want absolute silence, save up a bit longer.
But the VMK20's ANC is plenty for aeroplanes, trains, and that open-plan office – as long as you put some music on. Low frequencies vanish effectively. No technology on this planet will cancel out children screaming, though.
The NL21 earbuds, on the other hand, have no ANC at all. Good to know upfront so there are no surprises. Passive isolation still works reasonably well because the buds sit in your ear canal.
As for sound quality: both are Jasse's handiwork. Jasse is the bloke whose ears are insured and who can hear if the neighbour's dog barked at the wrong frequency three blocks away. You won't find better tuning in this price range.
Why Valco?
Three reasons.
Price. You get headphones with a Qualcomm chip and ANC for under a hundred. The big brands charge €250–400 for the equivalent. Know why? Because their marketing budget is bigger than our entire revenue. We spend the money on sound design and fixing Henri's Alfa Romeo.
Repairability. When your Sonys break, you chuck them in the bin and buy new ones. When your Valcos break – and yes, electronics do break sometimes – Jasse and the crew fix them in Kajaani. Pads get swapped, parts get replaced, headphones carry on.
Finnish-made. A 14-person company from Oulu. Every cent goes to salaries, R&D, and the Death Star construction fund. We're at roughly 0.00003 percent now. Your purchase helps.
When should you pick something else?
If you need the absolute best noise cancelling and don't care about price, get Sony or Bose. They're ahead on ANC. We'll happily admit that.
If you want earbuds that integrate into the Apple ecosystem, AirPods work more seamlessly with an iPhone. You'll pay double for that integration, mind you.
If you're buying headphones purely for sports and need hooks that stay on your ears even if you ran through a wall, there are more specialised sport models out there.
Summary
- NL21 – wireless earbuds for under a hundred. No ANC, but great sound, water resistance, and simplicity. Best pick if you want something small and hassle-free.
- VMK20 – over-ear ANC headphones, under a hundred on sale. ANC, 45h battery, Qualcomm chip. Best pick if you want to shut the world out.
Both get repaired, not binned. Both are tuned by Jasse. Both fund the Death Star.
If you still can't decide: buy both. Henri needs money for the Alfa Romeo's timing chain, and the Death Star's corruption budget won't fill itself.