With so many of us tightening our budgets, expensive earbuds may seem frivolous. After all, cheap earbuds have improved over the past few years. Many earbuds that cost $50 or less boast pretty good sound quality and even offer features like water resistance and wireless charging. With all that cheap earbuds have to offer, is it even worth it to pay more for Sony, Samsung, or Apple’s flagships?

With concrete examples, we’ll break down the differences between cheap and expensive true wireless earbuds. In the end, you may find the price is just right between those two extremes.