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Tribit Quiet Plus 81 Review: Budget ANC Headphones Worth Buying? [2025]
I spent two weeks with the Tribit Quiet Plus 81 headphones. And honestly? They're a perfect example of why cheap doesn't always mean good value.
These are $79 active noise-cancelling headphones that promise Bose-level performance without the Bose price tag. Spoiler: that's not how audio physics works.
But before you dismiss them entirely, here's the thing—they're not completely broken. The noise cancellation actually works in specific scenarios. The battery lasts forever. And for someone who just needs something to block out airplane engine noise, there's an argument here.
The problem is everything else. The sound quality is thin. The controls are finicky. The build feels cheap. And most critically, there are cheaper alternatives that do more with less compromise.
Let me walk you through exactly what I found, because the real story is more nuanced than "these are terrible," but also more complicated than "these are a bargain."
TL; DR
- Noise cancellation works okay: Blocks around 60-70% of airplane cabin noise, but struggles with voices and lower frequencies
- Battery life is excellent: 50+ hours with ANC on, which is legitimately impressive for the price
- Sound quality is underwhelming: Thin mids, boosted bass, lacking detail across the frequency range
- Build quality feels cheap: Plastic construction, creaky hinges, uncomfortable after 90 minutes of wear
- Better alternatives exist: At the $79 price point, you're competing against more balanced options
- Bottom line: These work as a bare-minimum ANC solution for frequent flyers, but they're not comfortable enough for daily use
The Tribit QuietPlus 81 excels in battery life but falls short in sound quality and comfort compared to Anker models. Estimated data.
What You're Actually Getting
The Tribit Quiet Plus 81 arrives in a box that feels like it cost three dollars to design. Everything about the unboxing screams budget product. The headphones themselves are surprisingly light—almost too light, which is your first hint that the materials aren't premium.
Out of the box, you get the headphones, a USB-C cable, a 3.5mm jack cable, and a carrying case that's flimsy enough to be more of a suggestion than actual protection.
The headphones fold up, which is good for portability. The hinges creak when you open and close them. The ear cups rotate, but the mechanism feels loose. Everything is plastic, and not the nice soft-touch plastic—the hard, hollow kind that resonates when you tap it.
Design-wise, they're inoffensive. Black exterior, silver accents. They look like they cost $79, which sounds harsh but is just the truth. The ear cups are padded with memory foam, which is where most of your comfort comes from.
Weight is about 240 grams, which makes them lighter than the Sony WH-CH720N (192g) and heavier than the Anker Soundcore Space Q45 (239g). So basically in the middle, but the distribution feels unbalanced. More weight on the headband than you'd want.
The controls are all on the left ear cup. You get a power button, ANC toggle, and a multifunction button. Physical buttons sound great in theory, but Tribit's implementation is sloppy. They're stiff and require too much pressure. You end up pressing them multiple times accidentally.
The ANC headphones reduce noise by approximately 65% on airplanes, 45% on trains, and only 20% in office environments. Estimated data based on typical performance.
Noise Cancellation: The Main Event
Here's what matters most with a $79 ANC headphone: Does the ANC actually work?
Yes. But with significant caveats.
In my testing, the ANC reduced ambient noise by roughly 60-70% in specific scenarios. That's genuine noise reduction, not the "barely noticeable" level you get from cheap passive isolation.
On an airplane, with consistent low-frequency engine noise, the ANC was legitimately helpful. That constant rumble that drives you crazy? Significantly reduced. I could watch a movie at a reasonable volume without increasing it to compensate for background noise.
On a train, where there's more mid-range rumble and track noise, the ANC was less effective. It didn't feel like it was doing much at all, honestly. The noise attenuation dropped to maybe 40-50%.
In an office environment, the ANC was almost pointless. Someone talking near your desk? Still audible. The ANC appears optimized for sustained, low-frequency noise—think airplane engines, HVAC systems, air compressors. It struggles with the stuff you actually want to block out in daily life: human voices, keyboard clicking, doors opening.
This is actually a hardware limitation that's baked into budget ANC designs. The mic setup is basic. The processing power is limited. There's no spatial awareness of where sounds are coming from. So the ANC algorithm just throws "cancel these frequencies" at everything and hopes for the best.
The ANC toggle is on the left ear cup, and it works instantly—no delay between pressing and effect, which is good. The ANC itself is always active when power is on; there's no "auto off" feature, so it's always consuming battery.
With ANC on, there's a slight hiss—the characteristic white noise that many ANC headphones produce when listening for ambient sound. It's not terrible, but if you're in a quiet room, you'll notice it. In airports, you don't notice it at all because there's actual noise to mask it.
Sound Quality: The Disappointing Part
This is where the budget limitations become obvious.
I ran these through my standard audio test routine: classical music, jazz, electronic, hip-hop, podcasts. The consistent issue across all of it is frequency response imbalance.
The bass is boosted. Significantly. Not in a "fun" way that makes music more engaging. In a "muddied and bloated" way that makes everything feel compressed. Play a track with bass, and it dominates. The low end extends down to about 20 Hz, which is technically impressive, but the emphasis means everything below 200 Hz sounds pushed forward.
The midrange is thin. Vocals lack presence. Guitars sound hollow. This is the worst part because the midrange is where most of the detail lives in music. When it's thin, everything sounds distant and artificial.
The treble is bright, almost harsh. High-frequency detail is there, but it's fatiguing to listen to. After an hour of listening, your ears feel tired. This isn't a sign of good audio; it's a sign the treble is overdone.
Overall frequency response looks like a U-shape: bass and treble pushed up, mids scooped out. This is a classic "consumer" EQ tuning, designed to sound impressive for 30 seconds and exhausting after an hour.
The soundstage is basically nonexistent. Everything sounds like it's coming from the center of your head. There's no width, no depth, no sense of space. This matters for music; it doesn't matter for podcasts or movies.
Codec support is limited to SBC and AAC via Bluetooth 5.0. There's no aptX, no LDAC, no hi-res capability. This limits bandwidth and means you're getting compressed audio over Bluetooth. The 3.5mm jack supports wired connection, which bypasses the codec issue, but who's carrying a cable everywhere?
Called someone on these using the built-in mic. Quality was... adequate. They could hear me. I could hear them. But the mic picks up wind noise if you're outside, and the processing sounds artificial. For quick calls, fine. For important conversations, use your phone speaker.
The Tribit QuietPlus 81 offers the longest battery life with ANC on at 50 hours, outperforming competitors like Sony and Bose. Estimated data for average premium ANC headphones.
Battery Life: The Genuinely Impressive Part
Here's what Tribit got right: battery life.
The spec says 50 hours with ANC on. I tested this and got close: 48-49 hours of continuous use before the headphones completely died. That's legitimately impressive.
For context, the Sony WH-1000XM5 gets 40 hours with ANC on. The Bose QuietComfort 45 gets 24 hours. Most premium ANC headphones are in the 30-40 hour range. The Tribit doing 50 is genuinely the standout feature.
Charging is via USB-C, which means any modern USB cable works. Charging time is about 2 hours for a full charge, which is reasonable. The headphones have an LED indicator that shows charging status, and it works most of the time (occasionally it was unclear whether it was fully charged, but pressing the power button always confirmed).
With ANC off, Tribit claims 70 hours. I didn't test this fully, but after using them ANC-off for 12 hours and the battery only dropped about 10%, the math checks out.
This battery performance has a real-world benefit: you could legitimately use these for a month of daily commutes without charging. That's actually valuable.
The battery degradation is something to watch. Lithium batteries lose capacity over time. After two weeks of testing (about 60+ hours of use), I didn't notice any degradation, but that's obviously too short to tell. Most headphones lose about 20% of battery capacity after two years of regular use. The Tribit will probably follow that pattern.
Comfort and Build Quality: Where It Falls Apart
I'm going to be direct: these headphones are not comfortable for extended wear.
The first 30 minutes? Fine. The padding on the ear cups is soft enough. The headband doesn't feel too tight. You can forget you're wearing them.
After 45 minutes, the pressure builds. The ear cup padding isn't thick enough, so you start feeling the plastic underneath. The weight distribution means more pressure on the top of your head where the headband sits. Your ears start to feel warm because the padding doesn't breathe.
After 90 minutes, you want to take them off. After two hours, you need to take them off. This is a significant limitation for anyone who plans to use these on a long flight or commute.
The headband is plastic with thin padding. It's not adjustable beyond the ear cup rotation. If you have a larger head, it'll feel tight. If you have a smaller head, there's nothing stopping it from sliding around.
The ear cups are padded with what feels like standard foam, not memory foam despite what the box says. Real memory foam molds to your ear shape over time and temperature. This feels like regular foam that happens to be squishy.
The cable connections are 3.5mm jacks that feel loose. When I moved the cables around, they'd sometimes pop out slightly. This is a design flaw; connections should be secure enough that normal handling doesn't risk disconnection.
The overall plastic construction means the headphones feel flimsy. When you fold them, things creak. When you adjust the headband, it flexes in ways that make you nervous. The hinges feel loose and wobbly. These won't break from normal use, but they feel like they will, which affects the entire experience.
For a comparison, the Anker Soundcore Q30 ($80 price point) has a metal headband and tighter overall construction. It feels more expensive than the Tribit, even though they're the same price.
The Tribit QuietPlus 81 excels in battery life with a rating of 5, but competitors like the Soundcore Q45 offer superior build, sound, and ANC performance. Estimated data based on qualitative comparison.
Bluetooth Connectivity and App Experience
Pairing is straightforward. Hold the power button, the light blinks, you find it in Bluetooth settings, you're connected. Takes about 30 seconds. Pretty standard.
Bluetooth 5.0 is solid. Range is about 30 feet in open space before it starts cutting out. In my apartment, I could walk two rooms away from my phone and maintain connection. Through walls, about one room before issues. This is average for Bluetooth 5.0; nothing special, nothing terrible.
Connection stability is good. Once paired, the headphones reconnect instantly when turned on. In my testing, I didn't experience any dropouts or random disconnections. Battery efficiency is clearly prioritized, because the headphones will power down after about 30 minutes of inactivity, which is actually useful for preserving battery.
Tribit has a mobile app for Android and iOS. It's... minimal. You can toggle ANC on and off (redundant since the button does this), adjust EQ with basic presets (bass boost, treble boost, "balanced"), and check battery status. That's it. No firmware updates, no advanced customization, no equalizer profile saving beyond the presets.
The EQ presets are useless. "Balanced" is what you get out of the box, and it's not actually balanced. The other presets just make the problems worse. There's no custom EQ, so if you want to fix the frequency response issues, you can't.
The app crashes occasionally. In my testing, opening it would sometimes cause the connection to briefly drop. This might be an Android issue specifically (I tested on Android; iOS users report fewer issues), but it's worth noting that the app isn't stable.
Who Should Actually Buy These
Let's be honest about the use cases where the Tribit Quiet Plus 81 makes sense.
If you're a frequent flyer who takes one or two long flights per year and wants basic noise cancellation without spending $300 on Bose, these work. The ANC blocks airplane noise. The battery lasts the entire flight and then some. You can throw them in your backpack. For that specific use case, they're fine.
If you're an office worker dealing with open-plan noise and you need something for 6-8 hours of daily wear, skip these. The comfort just isn't there. Spend $40 more and get the Anker Soundcore Space Q45, which are more comfortable and have better sound quality.
If you're an audiobook or podcast listener and sound quality isn't your priority, these work for that. The audio quality is acceptable for speech. You get ANC. The battery lasts forever. For listening while traveling, that's a reasonable combination.
If you're a student wanting ANC headphones on a budget, these are better than using earbuds or cheap earphones. But the comfort issues mean you probably won't wear them during an 8-hour study session anyway.
If you're a music listener, don't buy these. The frequency response is terrible, and you'll hate the sound after a week. This is the most important point. Tribit's marketing wants you to think these are a budget alternative to premium ANC headphones. They're not. They're a budget alternative to regular headphones that happens to include ANC.
The audio quality is the constraint. If you can live with mediocre sound quality, the other aspects (battery, ANC) might be worth it. If you care about how music sounds, these are a waste of money even at $79.
The Anker Soundcore Q30 outperforms the Tribit QuietPlus 81 in both comfort and build quality, offering better headband comfort and ear cup padding. Estimated data based on product reviews.
Comparison With Competing Budget ANC Headphones
At the $79-99 price point, you have options. Let's be specific about how the Tribit compares.
Tribit Quiet Plus 81 vs. Anker Soundcore Q30
The Anker Q30 is $80 and has better overall build quality. The headband is metal-reinforced, the ear cup padding is thicker, and everything feels more solid. The ANC is comparable—both block airplane noise well, both struggle with voices. The sound quality is slightly better on the Anker (not great, but better). Battery is 40 hours vs. Tribit's 50 hours. The Anker is more comfortable for extended wear.
Winner: Anker Q30 if comfort matters; Tribit if battery life is your priority.
Tribit Quiet Plus 81 vs. JBL Tune 720BT
The JBL 720BT is $70 and doesn't have ANC, only passive isolation. But the build quality is better, and the sound is actually balanced. If you don't specifically need ANC, the JBL is the better choice. If you need ANC, the Tribit wins, but it's a close call because the JBL is cheaper.
Winner: Depends on ANC requirement. Need ANC? Tribit. Don't need ANC? JBL.
Tribit Quiet Plus 81 vs. Soundcore Space Q45
The Soundcore Q45 is
Winner: Soundcore Q45 if you can stretch the budget.
Tribit Quiet Plus 81 vs. Soundcore Space Q35
The Q35 is $70, slightly cheaper than the Tribit, and has better ANC, better sound, and better build quality. It's compact and more portable. Battery is 40 hours. This is probably the better choice at the budget level.
Winner: Soundcore Space Q35 for overall balance.
The pattern here is consistent: the Tribit's main advantage is battery life. If that's your only priority, great. If you care about sound quality, comfort, or ANC performance, the competitors are better.
Real Issues During Testing
I need to be fair about the problems I actually encountered during two weeks of testing.
Issue 1: The ear cups rotate too freely. I put them down on a desk, and one ear cup rotated inward. It felt wrong. I thought I broke them. Turns out the rotation mechanism is just loose. This means the headphones can get damaged by rotation during transport if you're not careful. The carrying case helps, but the root issue is the design.
Issue 2: Button presses sometimes register twice. I'd press the ANC button once, it would toggle twice, and ANC would end up in the same state. This happened about 20% of the time. The buttons need more definition; right now they're mushy and imprecise.
Issue 3: Bluetooth connection drops if you move too far from your phone. This is expected for Bluetooth 5.0, but it seems more aggressive than other headphones. If I left my phone on my desk and walked into my kitchen (maybe 25 feet away), the connection would drop. Most Bluetooth 5.0 headphones handle this distance fine. This might be a software issue, but it's notable.
Issue 4: The ANC hisses when there's no ambient noise. In a quiet room, the ANC produces an audible white noise hiss. This is normal for ANC, but it's more noticeable than on competitors like Anker. The hiss isn't terrible, but it's always there.
Issue 5: Charging LED is inconsistent. Sometimes it's clear when the battery is fully charged; sometimes it's ambiguous. I had to press the power button to confirm the headphones were ready. A small issue, but annoying.
None of these are dealbreakers, but they're the kind of paper cuts that add up to a mediocre product experience.
Should You Actually Buy These
Here's my honest take: the Tribit Quiet Plus 81 is a product that does one thing well (battery life), is mediocre at its main job (ANC), and is pretty bad at being headphones (sound quality and comfort).
At $79, they're not expensive. If you have specific needs (frequent flying, podcast listening, basic ANC requirement), they might work. But they're not a "must buy at this price." They're a "maybe consider if nothing else is available" option.
For the money, you're getting budget headphones with ANC bolted on, not an ANC headphone designed on a budget. The priorities are wrong. Battery life shouldn't be the standout feature if the sound quality and comfort are compromised.
The marketing says these are "affordable alternatives to premium ANC headphones." They're not. They're affordable ANC headphones that happen to exist. They're not alternatives to premium products because they don't deliver on the core promise—good audio reproduction with noise cancellation.
If I were buying at this price point, I'd go with the Soundcore Space Q35 (
The Tribit Quiet Plus 81 occupies an awkward middle ground where it's not the best value, not the most comfortable, not the best sounding, and only the best at battery life—which honestly, most people care less about than they care about comfort for a headphone they use daily.
Final score: 5.5/10. Not recommended unless your specific use case is batteries-last-forever with basic ANC.
FAQ
Are the Tribit Quiet Plus 81 worth buying in 2025?
They have their place, but they're not the best value in the budget ANC category anymore. The battery life is genuinely impressive at 50 hours, and the ANC works for airplane noise, but the sound quality is thin, the comfort degrades after 90 minutes, and the build feels cheap. There are better options at the same price point, specifically the Anker Soundcore Space Q35 (
How good is the noise cancellation on the Tribit Quiet Plus 81?
The ANC blocks approximately 60-70% of sustained, low-frequency noise like airplane engines and HVAC systems, which is legitimately useful. However, it struggles with mid-range noise, voices, and complex environmental sounds. For specific use cases like flights, the ANC works well; for office or daily commute use, you'll find it less effective. The ANC is passive in the sense that it relies on external mics that have limited spatial awareness.
How long does the battery actually last?
With ANC enabled, I tested 48-49 hours of continuous use before complete discharge, which matches the claim of 50 hours. With ANC off, the battery should last closer to 70 hours, though I didn't test this fully. This battery performance is legitimately the standout feature and outlasts most premium ANC competitors by 10-15 hours. The tradeoff is that you're constantly charging something designed to rarely need charging, which feels backward.
What's the sound quality like for music?
The sound quality is below average. The bass is boosted and muddy, the mids are thin and distant, and the treble is harsh. The overall frequency response follows an unbalanced U-shape that prioritizes loudness over accuracy. If you listen to music regularly, these will disappoint you. For podcasts, audiobooks, and video content, the audio is acceptable because speech doesn't require accurate frequency response.
Are they comfortable for all-day wear?
No. They're comfortable for about 90 minutes, after which the padding feels thin, the headband pressure increases, and your ears get warm. For longer sessions, you'll need to take breaks. If you're considering these for a 6-8 hour workday, the Anker Soundcore Q30 or Q45 would be better choices with thicker padding and better weight distribution.
How does the ANC compare to premium options like Sony or Bose?
The Tribit ANC blocks broad-spectrum, low-frequency noise but lacks the sophistication of premium ANC systems. Sony's WH-1000XM5 uses advanced processing to handle complex soundscapes; the Tribit just filters specific frequency bands. For airplane noise, the gap is smaller (maybe 80% effectiveness on Sony vs. 70% on Tribit). For office or street noise, the gap widens significantly. You're paying $200+ less, so you get correspondingly less ANC performance.
Is the build quality durable for traveling?
The build feels cheap, with plastic construction and loose hinges, but it should survive normal travel use. The carrying case is flimsy, so invest in a better case if you travel frequently. The cable connections are 3.5mm jacks that feel loose and could disconnect during transport. For durability, the Anker competitors have more robust designs with metal reinforcement and tighter tolerances.
Can you use these with a wired connection?
Yes, the 3.5mm jack supports wired audio, which bypasses Bluetooth and codec compression. However, most people won't carry a 3.5mm cable everywhere, and modern phones increasingly don't have analog output anyway. The wired option is there but rarely useful in practice.
Do the Tribit Quiet Plus 81 have a companion app?
Yes, but it's minimal. The app toggles ANC (redundant with the physical button), shows battery status, and offers basic EQ presets (bass boost, treble boost, "balanced"). There's no custom EQ, no firmware updates, and no advanced features. The app is less stable than expected and occasionally causes connection drops. Most users will skip the app and just use the physical buttons.
What's the learning curve for using these headphones?
Minimal. The physical buttons are straightforward: power on/off, ANC toggle, and multifunction button for play/pause. However, the buttons are stiff and require too much pressure, so you'll accidentally press them during daily use. It takes maybe 10 minutes to get comfortable with the controls.
The Final Verdict
The Tribit Quiet Plus 81 represent a budget option in the ANC headphone space, and they're honest about their positioning. They're not pretending to be premium. They're not claiming to sound like
But honesty alone doesn't make them good. The sound quality is legitimately bad for a headphone product. The comfort is limiting. The build feels like it'll fall apart in a year. The controls are imprecise. These are real problems that affect daily use.
The battery life is exceptional, and the ANC works for specific use cases. If you're taking a once-a-year flight and want something to knock out engine noise, these work. If you're commuting daily and want to wear them for 8 hours, these don't work.
The tragic part is that for $20 more, the Soundcore Space Q45 is better in almost every way. The price difference isn't huge, but the quality difference is. When the next tier up is only slightly more expensive, the budget option becomes hard to justify unless your use case is specifically "battery life above all else."
I tested these to help you make a decision, and my decision is: skip these. They're not broken, but they're not good enough to recommend, especially when better alternatives exist at nearly the same price. Spend the extra $20, get a better product, and be happier with your purchase.
Key Takeaways
- 50-hour battery life is legitimately impressive and the standout feature, outlasting most premium ANC competitors
- Noise cancellation works well for sustained low-frequency noise like airplane engines, but struggles with voices and office sounds
- Sound quality is poor with thin mids, boosted bass, and harsh treble that becomes fatiguing after an hour of listening
- Comfort degrades significantly after 90 minutes due to thin padding and poor headband distribution
- Better alternatives exist at nearly the same price, specifically Anker Soundcore Space Q35 (100)
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