TWS true wireless earphones - $25 to $50
FIVE STARS - The QCY MeloBuds Pro or QCY HT08 are among the best sounding wireless earbuds under 50 dollars and are great for everyday use as well.
QCY MeloBuds Pro/ QCY HT08 specs and features:
Bluetooth 5.3 with AAC and LDAC codec
IPX5 waterproof rating (rain and sweat proof)
7 - 8,5 hours playtime on a single charge (ANC on/off)
Charging case can charge earpieces fully 3 times
Has: ANC, Transparency, app support, multipoint connection, gaming mode, spatial audio
Doesn't have: wireless charging
Comes with 3 sets of ear tips, USB-C cable, English manual
$45 - See price on Amazon US, your Amazon country or AliExpress
In and underneath this QCY MeloBuds Pro review, you will find comparisons of the QCY Melobuds Pro vs QCY Ailybuds Pro, Realme Buds Air 6, Moondrop Space Travel, Soundcore Life A3i, and Edifier TWS1 Pro 2.
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Design, comfort and battery life
QCY almost single-handedly started the trend of highly affordable yet great-sounding wireless earbuds with the QCY QS1 in 2019. It then outdid itself with the QCY T5 later that year. Since then, QCY released countless new and updated models.
But while the QCY T13, the QCY T13 ANC, the QCY HT05 MeloBuds and the QCY T17 were and are great for their sub-$50 price, none of them reached the same balance and quality in the sound as the oldest models.
With the QCY MeloBuds Pro, the brand is back when it comes to sound quality!
The QCY MeloBuds Pro is the rubber-tip variant of the earlier reviewed QCY AilyBuds Pro. It has the same rounded, pebble-like charging case and the same stem-design earbuds.
Next to rubber tips, the MeloBuds Pro also offers Active Noise Cancelling (ANC), which the AilyBuds Pro+ lacks.
The case is thin enough to carry in a jeans pocket. It has a USB-C charging port, reconnection button on the bottom, and a single LED-light on the front to indicate the remaining battery life.
The earbuds provide great comfort. They sit snugly in your ears thanks to diagonal earpieces and oval rubber tips. In the extensive weeks of testing, I had no problems wearing these for hours in a row.
Their IPX5 waterproof rating protects the earbuds against sweat and rain.
The QCY MeloBuds Pro have great battery life, delivering up to 7 hours of music playtime with ANC on. That's an above-average performance.
The charging case can recharge the earbuds fully three times, while a 10 minute quick recharge is enough to give you two more hours of music with ANC on.
Wireless charging isn't supported.
The tested white version has a shiny yet matte green-ish finish of the charging case. The earbuds itself are made from matte white plastic, with metallic-looking stems. The darker version has a dark-grey matte-shiny finish, as seen on the AilyBuds Pro+. Both look neat for the price.
The QCY MeloBuds Pro has splendid battery life, usable waterproof protection and both the case and earbuds themselves are very comfortable to wear.
Controls, connectivity and app support
The QCY MeloBuds Pro has overall good Bluetooth stability up to ten meters away from your device.
It also has dual-device multipoint connection, so you can connect the earbuds to two devices at the same time. However, you have to turn this feature on manually from the free QCY app on iPhone or Android phones.
This is important: The QCY app urges you to install firmware 2.0.4. After this update, the earbuds require a factory reset from the app. Then put the earbuds back in the case and delete your existing Bluetooth connections on your phone(s)/ laptop. Finally, start over with setting up your Bluetooth connections.
I strongly recommend you to follow these steps. I didn't at first, and it got me a lot of re-connecting issues and weird flaws like failing controls and a crackling bass.
This process isn't very user-friendly, and it's the biggest downside of these earbuds. It's worth it doing it right.
After this firmware update, you can activate the multipoint dual-device connection from the QCY app. The app also has other great features:
Setup controls for the single, double, and triple tap, including the option to add volume controls.
(De)activate wearing detection, which is welcome, as it works well but it's also very sensitive and gives beeps in your ears for no reason.
(De)activate the dual device connection.
Find the headset when you've lost it.
Activate a timed power-off function.
Android phones only: activate the LDAC high-quality sound codec. This isn't recommended, as it attacks the Bluetooth stability significantly, dropping the signal mere meters away from your device.
Cycle between Active Noise Cancelling, Transparency and Normal mode
Switch between the default sound, different sound presets or create your own equalizer.
(De)activate Spatial Audio (this requires a connection restart on iPhone, not on Android - I have no idea why)
The Spatial Audio requires a connection restart since firmware 2.0.4. Every. Single. Time.
You can change the controls to your liking - hold an earbud to change ANC modes
The QCY MeloBuds Pro controls are outstanding. You can setup the controls entirely to your liking and the touch panels on top of the stems respond very well to your input.
The QCY app requires an account to login. Happily, you can now turn down most of the privacy permissions that the app required previously.
Installing firmware updates on the QCY MeloBuds Pro is cumbersome and the beeps you hear when you have Wear detection activated, are the biggest downsides of these earbuds.
As you're getting volume controls and multipoint connectivity in return, it's still worth it to use the app. They ultimately make these earbuds better.
Phone and video calls
The call quality is a pleasant surprise on the QCY MeloBuds Pro. There are few wireless earbuds that put your voice through so naturally!
Your voice has enough volume and sounds clear and incredibly natural.
Your voice is on the thinner side, but not so thin that it's sounds tinny.
Your voices clarity is also stable when there's a bit of wind or noise, or both.
The microphones do a fine job of reducing sounds like chatter and traffic noise around you. Even irregular sounds (like door slams) don't come through very loud in phone and video calls.
Wind noise is audible on the line, but doesn't really attack your voices output.
The QCY MeloBuds Pro are great for phone and video calls.
Video and games playback
The QCY MeloBuds Pro has no problem playing videos on iPhone and Android phones; with flawless synchronization between audio and video in apps like YouTube, Instagram and Netflix.
The synchronization can be worse when you're using the LDAC-codec on Android, however. I recommend sticking to the standard setting.
The game mode works very smooth, and synchronizes the sound effects superb with the action on your screen in the challenging Call of Duty mobile. You can't really place where the action around you is, however.
The Spatial audio setting from the app gives the sound more echo and metalness, but not very precise sound effect placement - so it doesn't increase the immersion in movies and games very much.
ANC quality of the QCY MeloBuds Pro
The Active Noise Cancelling (ANC) of the QCY MeloBuds Pro is among the best on wireless earbuds under 50 dollars.
The ANC dampens all frequencies well. It removes or heavily reduces constant darker tones, strongly reduces middle sounds like a passing train or keyboard typing, and also softens higher sounds well. Even nearby chatter and laughter are neatly reduced in volume.
The ANC strength is even slightly stronger than the previous best-in-class ANC earbuds under 50 dollars, the Edifier TWS1 Pro 2.
On rare moments, you have to cycle between the ANC modes to get the best ANC strength. This means you have to hold the earbuds’ touch panels to switch to ANC off, then Transparency, then ANC on again. Then it adapts the noise cancelling to your environments and increases the ANC strength.
In my three weeks of intensive testing, I've needed to do this twice.
The Transparency mode (called Passtrough here) makes you hear traffic and irregular higher sounds when you listen to music up to moderate volume, but doesn't let you follow a conversation.
Both the ANC and Transparency mode filter wind noise quite well, so you can still enjoy your music.
The QCY MeloBuds Pro has among the strongest Active Noise Cancelling under 50 dollars. These bring rest to your head on a budget.
Sound quality of QCY MeloBuds Pro
The QCY MeloBuds Pro are the best sounding earbuds from the brand in years - delivering a juicy deep bass and strong vocals.
The lower frequencies of the QCY MeloBuds Pro feel juicy and thick.
That's mostly because the mid-bass thumps can be felt well, feel deep and last longer than average. They can even rumble a bit.
The sub-bass ( the darkest bass tones you can feel as much as hear) rumbles deep too, yet still controlled in James Blake's great test track Limit to Your Love.
Lower-mids like darker male voices, drums and darker electronic tones are boosted. The bass can overflow into the lower-mids. Separation between the lower frequencies could therefore be better, but this crossover does give the sound its lovely thickness.
In the higher frequencies, the MeloBuds focuses on vocals. Female and higher male vocals are more prominent than instruments, and sound clear and detailed. Thanks to the weighty lower-mids, they also have plenty of body.
Treble is comfortable. This QCY doesn't reach far into the highs, which makes for a comfortable listening for hours on end. That said: higher instruments have enough body. Just like vocals, instruments like violins, trumpets, and cymbals feel grounded because of their dipping into the lower territories.
Center-mid instruments like guitars and piano play get the same treatment. They're not the clearest, but are visible enough and enjoy a warm basis because of the boosted lower-mids.
It's impressive how much detail The QCY MeloBuds Pro manages to pull out in these laidback higher frequencies. Vocals brim with life, there's good separation between instruments, and the sound feels immersive - even without displaying a wide soundstage.
This QCY has a great, rounded sound. Higher notes are never sharp or harsh and cymbals aren't too splashy.
To get the best and most lively treble response and best detail, you have to increase the volume to at least 80 percent of the volume bar on iPhone or Android. This is when the MeloBuds Pro gets the best balance and more openness in the sound.
With less volume, music is comfortable but less vivid. The darker tones can get the upper hand a bit.
The extra sound presets in the QCY app don't add much. But with the custom EQ setting, you can easily adjust the default sound and then save your adjustments into a new slot - which is great if you want more treble or less bass.
The Spatial Audio doesn't add much. The feature overrules the equalizer and adds echo and metalness, while not making the sound much more spacious. Happily - you don't need it.
The QCY MeloBuds Pro marks the brands return to form. These are among the best sounding wireless earbuds under 50 dollars, with juicy lows, brimming vocals and immersion on higher volumes.
—> These are the best sounding wireless earbuds from $25 to $100
QCY MeloBuds Pro comparisons
QCY MeloBuds Pro vs QCY AilyBuds Pro+
The $40 QCY MeloBuds Pro and QCY AilyBudsPro+ have the same design charging case and earbuds, with two huge differences: the MeloBuds Pro has rubber ear tips and usable ANC.
A third important difference is the battery life, which lasts around 2 hours longer on the MeloBuds Pro.
The MeloBuds Pro also sounds better, with a deeper, stronger and more immersive bass, and more rounded treble. The AilyBuds Pro+ puts more emphasis on higher frequencies, but also falls a bit flat in them.
Both earphones are IPX5 waterproof, provide clear calls, and a solid gaming mode that lack a bit of spatial information - and unfortunately, both also come with some user-unfriendly quirks. Nevertheless, the MeloBuds Pro is the bigger recommendation.
Around $45 on Amazon US, your Amazon country or AliExpress
QCY Melobuds Pro vs Edifier TWS1 Pro 2
The Edifier TWS1 Pro 2 has been the top recommendation of wireless earbuds under $50 for quite some time, but now sees itself challenged by the QCY MeloBuds Pro.
The Edifier is more user-friendly. The MeloBuds Pro's ANC may be slightly stronger, but the Edifier's works straight out of the box without switching ANC modes first.
The QCY is more feature-rich. It has up to 3 hours longer battery life on a single charge, a more straightforward fit thanks to its stem-design, and you can connect it to two devices at the same time. Its calls are clearer and its gaming mode works smoother too.
What's most impressive, is that the QCY MeloBuds Pro sounds even better. The Edifier has a thumpier and more textured bass, but it can get to the point where it becomes a bit tiresome. You won't find that problem on the QCY. The QCY also has fuller and livelier vocals, and manages to create a more spacious sensation on higher volumes. If you want your earbuds easy to use, go for the Edifier - otherwise, we have a new winner under 50 dollars.
Around $50 on Amazon US, your Amazon countries or AliExpress
QCY MeloBuds Pro vs Realme Buds Air 6
Realme also has a great pair of earphones around $50 to $60 that competes with the QCY MeloBuds Pro: the Realme Buds Air 6.
Especially in the sound department, it makes an alternative worth considering. The Realme has a more textured and detailed bass than QCY's deeper and fuller offering. The Buds Air 6 also brings out center-mids with more clarity, and puts more emphasis on treble. That's also its weakness, though. It can get a little harsh. Treble is more comfortable on the QCY. Both can immerse you on higher volumes, however.
Feature-wise, the QCY MeloBuds Pro offers more cumbersome but stronger ANC, calls with less background and wind noise, and it also has 1,5 to 2 hours longer battery life per charge.
Around $60 on Amazon US, your Amazon country or AliExpress
QCY MeloBuds Pro vs Moondrop Space Travel
The $30 Moondrop Space Travel also offers ANC and great sound quality, but it may be worth spending more on the QCY MeloBuds Pro.
The QCY's ANC is stronger (when you cycle through the ANC modes first…), it has clearer phone and video calls, and its video and gaming playback is more on point. More importantly, it lasts around 4 hours longer per charge!
In the sound department, the QCY can go louder than the Moondrop and it sounds more dynamic, with a further boosted bass and a more vocal-centric approach. The Space Travel does provide more texture in its bass, however, and if you're out for a more balanced and ‘dryer’ musical presentation, it may be a better choice.
Around $30 on Amazon US, your Amazon country or AliExpress
QCY MeloBuds Pro vs Soundcore Life A3i
The Soundcore Life A3i is another pair of great sounding earbuds under 50 dollars, battling the QCY MeloBuds Pro without stems and with actual buttons.
Both earbuds have great Active Noise Cancelling that doesn't come easy, as you sometimes have to cycle between modes on the QCY; and twist the earbuds in a specific way on the Soundcore.
The QCY is noticeably newer in features, with more extensive app support, multipoint connection, a great gaming mode, and slightly longer battery life.
The Life A3i has a thumpier bass and a thicker sound than the QCY. It's the more engaging choice for bass lovers, but it's also denser. The QCY has more space in higher frequencies, separating instruments better from each others and putting vocals more forward. Vocals can sound a bit nasal next to the thicker A3i presentation, but the QCY does have better dynamics.
Around $45 on Amazon US or your Amazon country
Verdict: QCy MeloBuds Pro
While firmware updates are cumbersome, it's worth investing your time and money in the QCY MeloBuds Pro. These earbuds are comfortable to wear, have stellar battery life, strong Active Noise Cancelling, great controls, clear calls and… they sound fantastic.
Five STARS - Excellent
Buy QCY MeloBuds Pro/ Check lowest price
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I received the QCY MeloBuds Pro from the manufacturer to test and review. This doesn't influence my judgment. My reviews are 100% independent and non-commercial - read about it here.
Update October 9th: These earbuds had 4.5 stars overall before due to the cycling between the ANC modes to get the best ANC strength. This didn't occur once after the publishing of this review, however: the problem isn't as big as I thought it was.
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