15 Useful Tech Devices You Can Buy for Under $50 - Lifehacker
Wireless earbuds can get expensive, but Anker makes a solid pair often sold for well under $50. While other earbuds have that ability as well, they typically cost much more. These earbuds are available in both USB-C and 3.5mm audio options.
Tech is often expensive, and the ongoing memory crisis isn't helping. If you're looking to pick up a new device or gadget, you might be bracing for what that purchase will do to your wallet. But the good news is, while many of the most-hyped products out there are pricey, there exist plenty of high-quality options that are quite reasonably priced.
There are some things you simply aren't going to find in decent quality at ultra-low prices—laptops, tablets, game consoles: these things might not need to cost you as much as some companies want you to believe, but you will need to spend a bit more than $50 if you want something that will last. Still, plenty of other inexpensive tech products are worth what they cost, and then some. These are my picks for the best tech under $50.
You don't need to spend hundreds of dollars to get a capable speaker for on-the-go use. The JBL Go 4 is plenty powerful for its small size, with up to seven hours of playtime between charges. This speaker is also both IP67-rated against dust and water, which makes it suited for trips to locations that would otherwise be treacherous for audio equipment.
While this JBL speaker is excellent for individual use, my favorite feature isn't necessarily exclusive to this speaker. JBL makes it easy to pair its speakers together with a single button on each unit. If your friends also have their own JBL speakers—among JBL's many different offerings—you can connect them to establish a quick multi-speaker setup. (Note that you can find the Go 5 on sale under $50 at times, so keep an eye out if you'd prefer the newer model.)
If you're looking for a JBL alternative, the Anker Soundcore 2 could be the move. Anker is known for making good "budget" speakers, and while the Soundcore 2 is cheaper than, say, the Soundcore Boom 2, it still offers great sound quality for the price. It has a much larger battery than the JBL Go 4 (24 hours versus seven), and while it's as waterproof as the JBL, it isn't as well protected against dust and debris, so while it should be fine when stacked against your pool, watch out when using it around sand. If your friend happens to have another Soundcore 2, you can also pair them together.
If you're in the Apple ecosystem and need a device tracker, you can't really do better than the AirTag. Apple's tracker communicates with other Find My-enabled devices, like iPhones, to update its location on the map. If you lose your AirTag, or the device it's attached to, you'll be able to see its last-known location through Find My.
Depending on your iPhone or Apple Watch, you may even be guided directly toward your AirTag, through Apple's "Precision Finding," which provides step-by-step directions toward the AirTag. AirTags have a battery lifespan of one year, so you only have to replace the batteries annually. These trackers retail for $30 each, well below $50, and are often on sale for less—and you can pay as little as $20 each if you buy a four-pack on sale.
If you're not all-in on the Apple ecosystem, AirTags might not be the best choice for you. Instead, look to something like the Tile tracker. These trackers work similarly to AirTags, but they don't operate on Find My. As such, they're better for users who aren't tied to Apple. There are a number of versions too—and they can be used with or without a paid subscription. There's the standard Tile tracker, Tile Pro for added features, and Tile Slim to fit in your wallet, each of which retails under $50.
Wireless earbuds can get expensive, but Anker makes a solid pair often sold for well under $50. The Soundcore P31i come with Active Noise Cancellation, high-quality sound, and 10 hours of playback on one charge. (Anker says you get up to 50 hours when you take the case into consideration.) A 10-minute top-off can bring you up to 3.5 hours of playback.
Anker also advertises that these earbuds are capable of live translation for up to 100 languages. While other earbuds have that ability as well, they typically cost much more. In addition, these buds are IP55-rated against dust and water, which means they won't be waterproof, but they should do fine for exercise and for use in rain.
If you're an Apple user, you might want to consider the Beats Flex over the Anker buds. That's because Apple includes its W1 chip in the earbuds, which gives you some benefits found in other Beats and AirPods models, like easy device switching. These earbuds also have up to 12 hours of battery life, auto-play and pause when you take an earbud out, and the ability to share audio with another Beats or AirPods model.
Typically, these earbuds wouldn't make this list because they retail for $65.95. But according to Keepa, the Beats Flex have been $49 or lower for the past three months. Assuming that doesn't change, these earbuds are effectively under $50 in my book.
Wireless earbuds have taken the world by storm, but wired earbuds still have their place. Take these earbuds from Sennheiser, known for their audio products: They never run out of battery (because there is no battery), and because they connect directly, there's no compression. If you have access to lossless music, you might be able to hear more detail with these earbuds compared to Bluetooth alternatives.
These earbuds are available in both USB-C and 3.5mm audio options. For most of us, USB-C will be the move, to avoid needing to pick up an adapter for our smartphones (and, potentially, tablets) that lack a headphone jack. But if you're buying these primarily to use in a device with a headphone jack, 3.5mm might be a good option.
If you don't care for the in-ear design of something like the CX 80U, you might prefer Apple's original EarPods. While these buds no longer come standard with every iPhone purchase, they're reasonably priced at $19. You can even find them cheaper by opting for the 3.5mm option. Apple hasn't changed much about these buds over the years, minus USB-C connectivity, but that's not a bad thing: They have decent sound quality, come with a mic, and, because they're wired, there's no need to charge them.
You don't need to spend a fortune on a streaming device just to improve the experience of your smart TV. While there are plenty of options out there under $50, Amazon's Fire TV Stick 4K Plus is among the best. It supports 4K streaming and multiple HDR formats, including Dolby Vision, HDR10, HDR10+, and HLG. It supports picture-in-picture, Alexa Home Theater, and Wi-Fi 6, as well as Amazon Luna, Xbox Game Pass, NVIDIA Geforce NOW.
You can save by opting for one of Amazon's other Fire Sticks, like Fire Stick HD or Fire Stick 4K, but the Plus model gives you the most features while still keeping the price reasonable. By comparison, Roku's 4K options are typically listed above $50, though they can be found under that price when on sale.
Game controllers like the Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller are famously pricey, but third-party options aren't always reliable substitutes. 8BitDo, however, is known for its suite of controllers and accessories. And while the company makes a wide variety of controllers that suit many different consoles and play styles, the Ultimate 2C is an excellent choice for Switch and Switch 2 players alike. This controller replicates the setup of Nintendo's Pro Controllers, with an added set of trigger buttons if you need them. These work with both consoles over Bluetooth and USB.
There are a lot of portable chargers out there, but your main requirements should be quite simple: It should be portable, of course, meaning small and light, and it should have a relatively large capacity, so it can charge your devices for extended periods without needing to be charged itself.
Iniu's 10,000mAh portable charger checks those boxes. This is a small, light portable charger with a lot of juice. It also supports 45W charging, so you quick charge compatible smartphones like the iPhone 17 Pro and Galaxy S26 Ultra. It comes with a detachable and braided USB-C cable, so if anything happens to it, you can swap it out. (Compare that to chargers that come with preattached cables that are useless once they die.)
If you want to charge your iPhone on the go, but you're going to be stationary for a while, Anker's magnetic power bank stand could be the way to go. This 5,000 mAh portable charger lets you stand your iPhone up while using it. This is a MagSafe product, so your MagSafe-compatible iPhone will connect to it and stay put—assuming you don't knock it off the stand by accident. Note: This item isn't compatible with Android phones.
If you have access to an outlet, this Anker charger block can help you charge your devices quickly. The block supports 65W charging when connecting one device over USB-C, but it supports charging up to three devices at once. It has two USB-C ports and one USB-A, which comes in handy when you have a mix of products. For me, this would work well when charging my iPhone (USB-C), MacBook (USB-C), and AirPods Max (Lightning to USB-A).
Smart lights don't have to be prohibitively expensive. WiZ has excellent smart lights available at a reasonable price. You can pick up individual bulbs for around $10, but multi-packs bring down that individual price. My recommendation is to either go for the four-pack ($37.99), or buy two of the three-packs ($24.99), which will get you six bulbs for $50.
Did you know you can watch TV for free, 100% legally? At least, you can watch for free once you buy an antenna. Even in 2026, there are free channels broadcast through the air, accessible from your TV via an antenna like this one from Daant. Your results may vary depending on your location, as well as the location of the antenna, but you can pick up all kinds of channels. That includes networks you've definitely heard of (NBC, CBS Fox, etc.), as well as many you might not know. It's no true replacement for cable, but if you're sick of paying for TV, it might fill some of the gaps of cutting the cord.