Avantree E171

The Avantree E171 nails comfort and fit with a 95th percentile score, but the sound quality is bottom-of-the-barrel at 2nd percentile. They're cheap wired earbuds built for workouts, not music enjoyment. Worth it only if staying put matters more than sounding good.

The 12mm dynamic drivers pump out sound that lands in the bottom 2% of everything we've tested. Bass is thin, mids are muddy, and highs get harsh when you push the volume. Avantree even admits in their own copy that if you want strong bass, look elsewhere. The inline controls work fine for music and calls on most Android phones, but volume buttons don't work on PC, laptop, iOS, or a handful of Samsung and Pixel models. The mic is serviceable for calls, sitting at 39th percentile, which is fine for quick check-ins but not great for important meetings. Build quality is mediocre at 34th percentile, and the 28g weight is light enough to forget you're wearing them.

Against the Nothing Buds 2, Soundcore P31i, or Anker Space A40, the E171 gets absolutely smoked on sound, build, and features. Those are all wireless with better drivers and ANC options. But they also cost significantly more and can fall out during intense movement. The Baseus Bass BP1 Pro and TOZO Crystal Pods offer better audio for not much more money, though neither has the same ear hook security. The E171's only real advantage is that it's wired, which means no battery anxiety and no Bluetooth pairing headaches. For a gym-only pair that lives in your bag, that's not nothing.

At USD 20 to USD 38 depending on where you shop, these are cheap enough to treat as disposable workout gear. The best deal we found is at Best Buy, where the price sits at the low end of that range. For EUR buyers, the spread is tighter at EUR 16 to EUR 20. You're not paying for audio quality here, you're paying for a secure fit and a working mic. If that's all you need, the value is solid. If you want to actually enjoy your music, save up for something better.

The Avantree E171 is a wired sports earbud that leans hard into one thing: staying put. The ear hook design and 95th percentile comfort score mean these things grip your ears like a determined toddler. If you're tired of wireless buds bouncing out mid-run, this is a cheap fix. But the sound quality is a real problem. We're talking 2nd percentile, which is about as bad as it gets in our database. These are workout tools first, music devices a distant second.

Skip these if you care about music quality at all. The 2nd percentile sound score means everything sounds flat and lifeless. Also skip if you have a newer phone without a 3.5mm jack, since adapters add cost and the volume controls won't work on iOS or many Android models anyway. If you need something durable, the 34th percentile build quality suggests these won't survive being tossed in a gym bag for long.

Buy these if you need cheap, wired earbuds that won't fall out during exercise and you don't care much about sound quality. They're perfect for podcasts, audiobooks, and gym playlists where you're not critically listening. The mic works well enough for calls, and the inline controls are handy when they actually work with your device. If music quality matters even a little, skip these entirely.