2020’s Best Wired Headphones Under $150

Sometimes the sequel is better than the original

Alex Rowe
3 min readDec 14, 2020

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Photo taken by the author.

It was a relatively quiet year for affordable wired headphone releases. Most of the movement in the consumer sector is now in the wireless space, and that shows no sign of slowing down.

Last year was also a tough act to follow, thanks to the huge splash made by the AKG K361 and K371. Sennheiser made some aggressive moves with their new HD 560S, and its $200 price tag and high level of performance seem bafflingly designed to eat away at the market share of their own massively popular HD6XX model.

Still, $200 is too much to pay for a huge swathe of the market. If you want to get into good audio at a fair price and you want the latest-and-greatest in wired headphones, my favorite pick this year is the Philips SHP9600. You can check out their official site by clicking right here. That’s not an affiliate link, as I think those are gross.

You’re not paying for fancy packaging, just for great audio. Photo taken by the author.

Like the Sennheiser model mentioned above, the SHP9600 has a wildly popular predecessor to contend with…and at first glance, the new one is on the back foot. The older SHP9500 has been a star of the budget space for a few…

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Alex Rowe
Alex Rowe

Written by Alex Rowe

I write about gaming, tech, music, and their industries. Audio producer, video editor, and former magazine game critic. Look mom, I’m using my English degree!

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