Not too shabby

A pair of cheap earbuds like this can be strangely liberating. Because as time goes on, we’re steadily increasing the number of common consumer items people carry around that both cost hundreds of dollars and can easily disappear into the crack of a bus seat.

So while we’re guessing you probably have a pretty nice set of earbuds that you worry about sometimes, these can be the ones that you can take out and about without a care in the world. Plus while they’re cheap, they’re not just cheap. They also have some of the basics that more expensive earbuds have taught us to expect—things like active noise cancellation and halfway decent sound quality.

They’re also excellent for kids, since the stakes are low. Have a tween begging for AirPods this Christmas? Stall for a year with the SideDeal Holiday Challenge: if they can keep their new pair of Kalocs alive until this time next year and get some pricey ones under the tree next holiday season. Or something. It certainly beats gambling your sanity on Apple’s “Find My” feature, which if you’ve ever used seems vaguely like it was designed as a prank.

Whatever use you have in mind for these, we’re pretty sure that $9.99 is a reasonable price of admission. Happy listening.