If you want inexpensive, SE 215 is what you're looking for, for $99.

I have the 535's, which are a step up in drivers, and I love them. They aren't reference quality (which I recommend Etymotics for, and you can buy the isolating sleves for them), and are a bit on the warm side. The 425s are fairly similar, but the 535s are a bit clearer in the high-mids.

Any Shure headphones will have better sound quality than Apple, Beats, or Boise at similar price ranges, since they're built for listening, not fashion.

>If you want inexpensive, SE 215 is what you're looking for, for $99.

Shure has jumped the shark. I own these and have stopped endorsing them, the sound quality is utterly rubbish compared to some alternative wireless pairs, which might cost a little bit more, but even a punt on some of the cheaper pairs like Airdots et al. would be worth it.

They get better when an EQ increases the high frequencies.

I can recommend the 1more E1001 triple driver for a similar price point but better sound.

For sound quality I have a pair of in-ear B&O but they are falling apart after a couple years which is pretty annoying because the sound quality is really good.

* the sound quality is utterly rubbish compared to some alternative wireless pairs*

Compared to airpods?

I would pick Airpods over Shure, but they don't fall in the $99 category! I was replying on the basis of a specific model and made it explicitly clear that an alternative pair meant either a foray into slightly expensive pairs (still cheaper than Airpods) or go all the all way to the bottom, for the more adventurous.

I had the equivalent model of these about ten years ago, no complaints. IEMs will have better sound quality than regular headphones. There was more cord noise, from what I remember, probably because they make everything else quieter so it's more noticeable.

On a side note, I didn't like the AirPods at all, and returned them. The sound quality is worse than the default iPhone corded earbuds, and they were frustrating if you wanted to frequently switch pairings between a phone and computer (like getting an incoming call and the bluetooth pairing takes 10-15 seconds to change over).