The Last Two Digits Tell You Who Wrote the Price Tag on This Shelf

Zoutons Picks — Croma Audio, August 2026

185 Croma audio listings, read on August 5. Every stated MRP on a Croma-branded product is a round number; almost none of the others are. The last two digits identify who wrote the reference price, and the badge follows from that. Twenty-two picks.

By Zoutons Editorial Team · August 5, 2026

Prices & codes last verified August 5, 2026

The short of it 185 Croma audio listings read August 5. Every house-brand sticker is round - Rs. 1,000, Rs. 2,000, Rs. 25,000 - while boAt states Rs. 13,990 and JBL states Rs. 24,999. Croma's own earbuds at Rs. 899 show a 36 per cent badge; boAt's at Rs. 979 show 75. The shallowest badge on the shelf is 2 per cent and the deepest is 85. No listing publishes a rating count.

Every discount on a shopping page is arithmetic performed on a reference price, and it is usually impossible to tell who chose that reference price. On Croma's audio shelf you can tell at a glance, because the two authors write numbers differently. We read 185 listings on August 5, 2026 - four queries against the retailer's own search API covering soundbars, bluetooth speakers, headphones and earbuds, three pages each, keeping every row that returned a price, a stated MRP above it and an image - and looked at the last two digits before looking at anything else. All 26 listings carrying Croma's own brand name state an MRP divisible by 100, and 17 of the 26 by 1,000. The complete set runs Rs. 1,000, Rs. 1,200, Rs. 1,400, Rs. 1,500, Rs. 1,800, Rs. 2,000, Rs. 3,000, Rs. 3,500, Rs. 4,000, Rs. 5,500, Rs. 7,000, Rs. 8,000, Rs. 10,000, Rs. 12,000, Rs. 13,000, Rs. 15,000, Rs. 25,000, Rs. 35,000, Rs. 37,000. Not one exception. Of the other 159 listings, 140 state an MRP that is not round at all - 70 end in 90 and 70 end in 99. A manufacturer writes Rs. 2,990 or Rs. 24,999 because a marketing department decided decades ago that those read cheaper; a retailer writing its own reference figure has no such instinct and writes Rs. 3,000. The consequence lands on the badge. Croma's own entry earbuds are Rs. 899 against a Rs. 1,400 sticker, a 36 per cent tile. boAt's Airdopes 148 Gen 2 are Rs. 979 against a Rs. 3,990 sticker, a 75 per cent tile. Eighty rupees apart in what you pay, thirty-nine points apart in what the shelf shouts. And 127 of these listings display a star score while not one displays how many people produced it, which is why this page carries no rating pills at all. Our reads on stars without counts and per cent versus rupees built the habits this page applies. We have not heard any of these products.

Every price below was pulled from Croma on August 5, 2026 and checked against the MRP on the listing. Stack them with the live codes on our Croma coupons page, which the deals desk re-verifies daily.

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Jump to a pick

A sticker of exactly Rs. 1,000 — Croma 5W speaker
Rs. 1,400, exactly — Croma IN 101 earbuds
Rs. 2,000, and a bare 2.0 stars — Croma ENC earbuds
Same sticker, different product — Croma HE101 headphones
The deepest house-brand badge — Croma ANC earbuds
Rs. 5,500 stated — Croma 60W soundbar
Rs. 12,000 against JBL's Rs. 25,999 — Croma 120W soundbar
The largest round sticker here — Croma 400W soundbar
Deepest badge, lowest score — boAt Airdopes 138 Pro
A Rs. 13,990 sticker — boAt Nirvana Ion ANC Pro
Rs. 979 against a Rs. 3,990 sticker — boAt Airdopes 148 Gen 2
The 99 convention, deeply cut — JBL Tune Beam 2
Cheapest Sony on the shelf — Sony MDR-EX14AP
Both numbers end in 999 — JBL Live Beam 3
Rs. 999 above Croma's sticker — JBL Cinema SB560
Shallowest badge in 185 — Apple AirPods 4
Five per cent, and that is the sale — Apple AirPods Pro 3
Most expensive listing here — Sony HT-A9000
The shallowest brand band — Marshall Woburn III
A 99 sticker with an honest gap — realme Buds T200 Lite
Above Sony's own median — Sony WF-C510
Sony's deepest soundbar cut — Sony HT-A3000

22 Picks From 185 Croma Audio Listings, Sorted by Who Wrote the Sticker

Chapter One

The House Brand Writes Round Numbers

All 26 Croma-branded listings on this shelf state an MRP divisible by 100, and 17 of them divisible by 1,000: Rs. 1,000, Rs. 1,400, Rs. 2,000, Rs. 3,500, Rs. 5,500, Rs. 12,000, Rs. 25,000. Not one is a 90 or a 99. That is the complete set.

A sticker of exactly Rs. 1,000

Croma 5W Portable Bluetooth Speaker (Water Proof, 21 Hours Playback)

Rs. 649 against a stated MRP of precisely one thousand rupees.

Why it earned its spot The cheapest house-brand listing, and the cleanest example of a reference price nobody arrived at by accident.

Rs. 649Rs. 1,00035% off

Price: Rs. 649 | stated MRP of exactly Rs. 1,000 - the cheapest house-brand listing here | 35% off a stated MRP, which is Rs. 351 | No rating count published | Role: A sticker of exactly Rs. 1,000

Full specs & the long story

Rs. 649 against a stated MRP of Rs. 1,000. Not Rs. 999, not Rs. 990 - one thousand exactly. Across all 26 Croma-branded listings in this pull, every single stated MRP is divisible by 100 and 17 of the 26 are divisible by 1,000. Across the other 159 listings, 140 are not round at all: 70 end in 90 and 70 end in 99. That difference is the most reliable signal on this shelf about who authored a number. A manufacturer's MRP is a psychological price built by a marketing department; a retailer's own-brand reference figure is a round number chosen to sit above a target selling price. As a product this is a 5W waterproof speaker with a claimed 21 hours of playback, which at Rs. 649 is an unremarkable and reasonable thing to buy.

Price: Rs. 649 (stated MRP Rs. 1,000)
Key detail: stated MRP of exactly Rs. 1,000 - the cheapest house-brand listing here
Discount: 35% off a stated MRP, which is Rs. 351
Rating: no count published - 127 of the 185 listings show a score and none states its sample
Role: A sticker of exactly Rs. 1,000
Buying logic: A pocket speaker at this price is a beach-and-bathroom device, not a listening one.

Buy on Croma

Rs. 1,400, exactly

Croma IN 101 TWS Earbuds with Passive Noise Cancellation (IPX4)

Rs. 899 against Rs. 1,400 - round to the hundred, like all 26 house-brand stickers.

Why it earned its spot The second round sticker in as many listings, which is what makes the pattern a pattern.

Rs. 899Rs. 1,40036% off

Price: Rs. 899 | a stated MRP of exactly Rs. 1,400 - round, like all 26 house-brand stickers | 36% off a stated MRP, which is Rs. 501 | No rating count published | Role: Rs. 1,400, exactly

Full specs & the long story

Rs. 899 against a stated Rs. 1,400. Set that beside the boAt Airdopes 148 Gen 2 in the next chapter - Rs. 979 against Rs. 3,990 - and you have two earbuds at almost the same selling price with stated MRPs Rs. 2,590 apart. One shows a 36 per cent badge and the other 75. The products are competing directly and the prices are nearly identical; only the reference figures differ, and they differ because different organisations wrote them. Croma shows a 2.8 star score on this listing and does not publish how many people produced it, which is why no rating appears in the pill above.

Price: Rs. 899 (stated MRP Rs. 1,400)
Key detail: a stated MRP of exactly Rs. 1,400 - round, like all 26 house-brand stickers
Discount: 36% off a stated MRP, which is Rs. 501
Rating: no count published - 127 of the 185 listings show a score and none states its sample
Role: Rs. 1,400, exactly
Buying logic: Passive noise cancellation means physical isolation only - no active circuitry.

Buy on Croma

Rs. 2,000, and a bare 2.0 stars

Croma TWS Earbuds with Environmental Noise Cancellation (IPX4 Water Resistant)

An exactly-Rs. 2,000 sticker, and a 2.0 star score with no sample size published.

Why it earned its spot This listing carries both of the page's findings at once: a round house-brand sticker and an unusable rating.

Rs. 1,249Rs. 2,00038% off

Price: Rs. 1,249 | exactly Rs. 2,000 stated - and a bare 2.0 star score with no count published | 38% off a stated MRP, which is Rs. 751 | No rating count published | Role: Rs. 2,000, and a bare 2.0 stars

Full specs & the long story

Rs. 1,249 against a stated Rs. 2,000. The sticker is round, as all 26 house-brand stickers in this pull are. The rating is 2.0 - low - and Croma publishes no count behind it, as it publishes no count behind any of the 127 rated listings on this shelf. So we have a number that might reflect one disappointed buyer or two hundred, and no way to tell which. That is why there is no rating pill on this pick or any other on this page. We are seating it rather than quietly skipping it, because a page that only shows the house brand's flattering scores would be doing exactly the selection this page is arguing against.

Price: Rs. 1,249 (stated MRP Rs. 2,000)
Key detail: exactly Rs. 2,000 stated - and a bare 2.0 star score with no count published
Discount: 38% off a stated MRP, which is Rs. 751
Rating: no count published - 127 of the 185 listings show a score and none states its sample
Role: Rs. 2,000, and a bare 2.0 stars
Buying logic: Environmental noise cancellation refers to call quality, not to what you hear.

Buy on Croma

Same sticker, different product

Croma HE101 Bluetooth Headphone with Mic (Environmental Noise Cancellation)

Over-ear headphones at the identical Rs. 1,249 and identical Rs. 2,000 sticker as the earbuds.

Why it earned its spot A round reference price applied to two structurally different products at the same tier.

Rs. 1,249Rs. 2,00038% off

Price: Rs. 1,249 | the same exactly-Rs. 2,000 sticker as the earbuds above, on over-ear headphones | 38% off a stated MRP, which is Rs. 751 | No rating count published | Role: Same sticker, different product

Full specs & the long story

Rs. 1,249 against a stated Rs. 2,000 - the same two numbers as the Croma TWS earbuds above, on a completely different form factor. This is what a round own-brand sticker looks like in practice: it marks a price tier rather than describing a product. Over-ear headphones and in-ear buds have different bills of materials and different acoustic problems to solve, and here they share a reference figure. Croma shows 4.3 stars on this listing against 2.0 on the earbuds, which would be a meaningful difference if either number came with a count. Neither does. On specification, over-ear headphones at Rs. 1,249 will generally give you more battery and more low-end than buds at the same price.

Price: Rs. 1,249 (stated MRP Rs. 2,000)
Key detail: the same exactly-Rs. 2,000 sticker as the earbuds above, on over-ear headphones
Discount: 38% off a stated MRP, which is Rs. 751
Rating: no count published - 127 of the 185 listings show a score and none states its sample
Role: Same sticker, different product
Buying logic: Over-ear designs give more battery and bass per rupee than earbuds at any price.

Buy on Croma

The deepest house-brand badge

Croma TWS Earbuds with Active Noise Cancellation (IPX5 Water Resistant)

53 per cent - and the sticker is exactly Rs. 3,500.

Why it earned its spot Even Croma's biggest own-brand discount is calculated from a round number, and it is 32 points shallower than boAt's biggest.

Rs. 1,649Rs. 3,50053% off

Price: Rs. 1,649 | the deepest house-brand badge, 53%, on a stated MRP of exactly Rs. 3,500 | 53% off a stated MRP, which is Rs. 1,851 | No rating count published | Role: The deepest house-brand badge

Full specs & the long story

Rs. 1,649 against a stated Rs. 3,500, a 53 per cent badge - the deepest of the 26 house-brand listings. It is worth comparing that ceiling to the other side of the shelf: boAt's deepest badge in this pull is 85 per cent and its median across 29 listings is 67. Croma's own brand runs a median 30 per cent. Both sell earbuds at similar real prices; only the stickers, and therefore the badges, differ by that margin. Active noise cancellation at Rs. 1,649 is a real specification claim and a meaningful one - it is the feature that separates a commuting earbud from a quiet-room one - and it is the listing's claim rather than something we have verified.

Price: Rs. 1,649 (stated MRP Rs. 3,500)
Key detail: the deepest house-brand badge, 53%, on a stated MRP of exactly Rs. 3,500
Discount: 53% off a stated MRP, which is Rs. 1,851
Rating: no count published - 127 of the 185 listings show a score and none states its sample
Role: The deepest house-brand badge
Buying logic: ANC under Rs. 2,000 usually attenuates engine hum well and voices poorly.

Buy on Croma

Rs. 5,500 stated

Croma 60W Bluetooth Soundbar with Remote Control (Stereo Sound)

The cheapest soundbar among our picks, on a round Rs. 5,500 sticker.

Why it earned its spot The house brand's entry into soundbars, where the round-sticker convention holds at a higher price tier.

Rs. 3,249Rs. 5,50041% off

Price: Rs. 3,249 | stated MRP of exactly Rs. 5,500 - the cheapest soundbar among our picks | 41% off a stated MRP, which is Rs. 2,251 | No rating count published | Role: Rs. 5,500 stated

Full specs & the long story

Rs. 3,249 against a stated Rs. 5,500. Soundbars are the category where a house brand has the most obvious case, because the gap between a television's built-in speakers and any external bar is enormous while the gap between a cheap bar and an expensive one is far smaller than the price difference suggests. Sixty watts and stereo sound is a modest specification and it will still transform dialogue clarity on a flat-panel television, which is what most buyers actually want. The Rs. 5,500 sticker is round because Croma wrote it; JBL's comparable listings state Rs. 25,999 and Rs. 36,999.

Price: Rs. 3,249 (stated MRP Rs. 5,500)
Key detail: stated MRP of exactly Rs. 5,500 - the cheapest soundbar among our picks
Discount: 41% off a stated MRP, which is Rs. 2,251
Rating: no count published - 127 of the 185 listings show a score and none states its sample
Role: Rs. 5,500 stated
Buying logic: Any soundbar beats built-in TV speakers; the returns diminish sharply after that.

Buy on Croma

Rs. 12,000 against JBL's Rs. 25,999

Croma 120W Soundbar with Remote (Preset EQ Modes, 2.1 Channel)

A round Rs. 12,000 sticker where the branded alternative states Rs. 25,999.

Why it earned its spot The clearest side-by-side of the two sticker conventions, on comparable products.

Rs. 6,999Rs. 12,00042% off

Price: Rs. 6,999 | exactly Rs. 12,000 stated - against JBL's Rs. 25,999 for a comparable class | 42% off a stated MRP, which is Rs. 5,001 | No rating count published | Role: Rs. 12,000 against JBL's Rs. 25,999

Full specs & the long story

Rs. 6,999 against a stated Rs. 12,000, at a 42 per cent badge. Now look at the JBL Cinema SB560 in the next chapter: Rs. 11,999 against a stated Rs. 25,999, at 54 per cent. The JBL is a 250W 2.1 system and this is a 120W 2.1 system, so they are not identical, but they sit in adjacent tiers and the pricing cultures could not be more distinct. Croma states a round Rs. 12,000; JBL states Rs. 25,999. The shopper sees a bigger badge on the JBL and pays Rs. 5,000 more. Neither of those facts follows from the other, and neither tells you which bar sounds better - a question no rating on this shelf can answer either.

Price: Rs. 6,999 (stated MRP Rs. 12,000)
Key detail: exactly Rs. 12,000 stated - against JBL's Rs. 25,999 for a comparable class
Discount: 42% off a stated MRP, which is Rs. 5,001
Rating: no count published - 127 of the 185 listings show a score and none states its sample
Role: Rs. 12,000 against JBL's Rs. 25,999
Buying logic: Watt ratings are not comparable across brands; treat them as tier indicators only.

Buy on Croma

The largest round sticker here

Croma 400W Bluetooth Soundbar with Remote (Dolby Audio, 5.1 Channel)

A stated MRP of exactly Rs. 25,000, on the priciest house-brand listing.

Why it earned its spot At the top of its own range Croma still writes a round number, which is what makes the convention convincing.

Rs. 15,490Rs. 25,00038% off

Price: Rs. 15,490 | a stated MRP of exactly Rs. 25,000 - the largest round sticker on the shelf | 38% off a stated MRP, which is Rs. 9,510 | No rating count published | Role: The largest round sticker here

Full specs & the long story

Rs. 15,490 against a stated Rs. 25,000 - the biggest house-brand price and the biggest round sticker in the pull. If the roundness were coincidence you would expect it to break down somewhere across 26 listings spanning Rs. 649 to Rs. 15,490, and it does not: Rs. 1,000, Rs. 1,200, Rs. 1,400, Rs. 1,500, Rs. 1,800, Rs. 2,000, Rs. 3,000, Rs. 3,500, Rs. 4,000, Rs. 5,500, Rs. 7,000, Rs. 8,000, Rs. 10,000, Rs. 12,000, Rs. 13,000, Rs. 15,000, Rs. 25,000, Rs. 35,000, Rs. 37,000. That is the complete set of house-brand stated MRPs on this shelf. Every one divisible by 100. As a product, 400W across 5.1 channels with Dolby Audio at Rs. 15,490 is a lot of stated specification for the money.

Price: Rs. 15,490 (stated MRP Rs. 25,000)
Key detail: a stated MRP of exactly Rs. 25,000 - the largest round sticker on the shelf
Discount: 38% off a stated MRP, which is Rs. 9,510
Rating: no count published - 127 of the 185 listings show a score and none states its sample
Role: The largest round sticker here
Buying logic: 5.1 needs rear-speaker placement and cable runs - plan the room before buying.

Buy on Croma

Chapter Two

Everyone Else Writes 90s and 99s

Of the 159 listings not carrying Croma's own name, 140 state an MRP that is not round at all - 70 end in 90, 70 end in 99. These are the listings where the badge goes deepest, because a manufacturer's sticker has the furthest to fall.

Deepest badge, lowest score

boAt Airdopes 138 Pro TWS Earbuds with Environmental Noise Cancellation

85 per cent off a Rs. 2,990 sticker - and Croma shows 1.0 stars with no count.

Why it earned its spot The largest discount in 185 listings, sitting on the lowest star score in 185 listings.

Rs. 450Rs. 2,99085% off

Price: Rs. 450 | 85% off a Rs. 2,990 sticker - the deepest badge here, and Croma shows 1.0 stars | 85% off a stated MRP, which is Rs. 2,540 | No rating count published | Role: Deepest badge, lowest score

Full specs & the long story

Rs. 450 against a stated Rs. 2,990. That badge, 85 per cent, is the deepest anywhere in this pull, and Croma displays a star rating of 1.0 on the same listing - the lowest score on the shelf. It publishes no count, so we cannot tell you whether that is one person or many, and we are not going to imply either. What we can say is that this pairing is the exact opposite of what a discount-sorted shelf implies: sort by badge and this appears first. The sticker follows the manufacturer convention precisely - Rs. 2,990, ending in 90, like 70 of the 159 non-house-brand listings here. At Rs. 450 it is the cheapest audio product in the entire pull.

Price: Rs. 450 (stated MRP Rs. 2,990)
Key detail: 85% off a Rs. 2,990 sticker - the deepest badge here, and Croma shows 1.0 stars
Discount: 85% off a stated MRP, which is Rs. 2,540
Rating: no count published - 127 of the 185 listings show a score and none states its sample
Role: Deepest badge, lowest score
Buying logic: At Rs. 450, treat any earbud as consumable rather than as equipment.

Buy on Croma

A Rs. 13,990 sticker

boAt Nirvana Ion ANC Pro TWS Earbuds with Active Noise Cancellation

84 per cent off - measured against a sticker no boAt earbud sells anywhere near.

Why it earned its spot The second-deepest badge here, and the clearest case of a 90-ending sticker set to produce one.

Rs. 2,299Rs. 13,99084% off

Price: Rs. 2,299 | a Rs. 13,990 sticker - the 90-ending convention, at 84% off | 84% off a stated MRP, which is Rs. 11,691 | No rating count published | Role: A Rs. 13,990 sticker

Full specs & the long story

Rs. 2,299 against a stated Rs. 13,990. boAt's 29 listings in this pull run a median badge of 67 per cent and a median selling price of Rs. 1,899, which tells you the stickers across the range sit far above where the products trade. Read as a price, Rs. 2,299 for earbuds with active noise cancellation is competitive and worth considering. Read as a Rs. 11,691 saving, it is not a claim we would repeat. The number to hold on to is the left-hand one. Note the ending: Rs. 13,990, the 90 convention, which appears on 70 of the 159 manufacturer-authored stickers in this pull and on none of Croma's 26.

Price: Rs. 2,299 (stated MRP Rs. 13,990)
Key detail: a Rs. 13,990 sticker - the 90-ending convention, at 84% off
Discount: 84% off a stated MRP, which is Rs. 11,691
Rating: no count published - 127 of the 185 listings show a score and none states its sample
Role: A Rs. 13,990 sticker
Buying logic: ANC quality varies enormously below Rs. 3,000 - try before committing where possible.

Buy on Croma

Rs. 979 against a Rs. 3,990 sticker

boAt Airdopes 148 Gen 2 TWS Earbuds with Environmental Noise Cancellation

Nearly the same money as Croma's own Rs. 899 earbuds - at more than double the badge.

Why it earned its spot The most direct product-for-product comparison between the two sticker conventions on this shelf.

Rs. 979Rs. 3,99075% off

Price: Rs. 979 | Rs. 979 against Rs. 3,990 - boAt's 29 listings run a median 67% badge | 75% off a stated MRP, which is Rs. 3,011 | No rating count published | Role: Rs. 979 against a Rs. 3,990 sticker

Full specs & the long story

Rs. 979 against a stated Rs. 3,990, a 75 per cent badge. The Croma IN 101 earbuds in chapter one are Rs. 899 against Rs. 1,400, a 36 per cent badge. Two entry TWS earbuds, Rs. 80 apart in actual price, with stated MRPs Rs. 2,590 apart and badges 39 points apart. If you were choosing between them on the discount, the choice would be obvious and it would be based on nothing. On the numbers that describe the transaction, the Croma is Rs. 80 cheaper and the boAt is a far better-known name with a wider service presence. Neither listing publishes a rating count, so the crowd cannot break the tie either.

Price: Rs. 979 (stated MRP Rs. 3,990)
Key detail: Rs. 979 against Rs. 3,990 - boAt's 29 listings run a median 67% badge
Discount: 75% off a stated MRP, which is Rs. 3,011
Rating: no count published - 127 of the 185 listings show a score and none states its sample
Role: Rs. 979 against a Rs. 3,990 sticker
Buying logic: Entry TWS earbuds are a one-to-two-year purchase; batteries degrade before drivers do.

Buy on Croma

The 99 convention, deeply cut

JBL Tune Beam 2 JBLTBEAM2BLK TWS Earbuds with Adaptive Noise Cancellation

Rs. 4,699 off a Rs. 11,999 sticker - 61 per cent, JBL's deepest here.

Why it earned its spot JBL uses the 99 ending rather than boAt's 90, and discounts hard from it - a third pricing culture on one shelf.

Rs. 4,699Rs. 11,99961% off

Price: Rs. 4,699 | a Rs. 11,999 sticker - the 99-ending convention, at the deepest JBL badge here | 61% off a stated MRP, which is Rs. 7,300 | No rating count published | Role: The 99 convention, deeply cut

Full specs & the long story

Rs. 4,699 against a stated Rs. 11,999. JBL's 23 listings in this pull run a median 40 per cent badge, between boAt's 67 and Sony's 26, and its stickers consistently end in 999 rather than 990. Three conventions therefore sit on this one shelf: Croma's round hundreds, boAt's 90s and JBL's 999s. None of them tells you anything about sound quality. What is genuinely useful about this listing is the adaptive noise cancellation claim - adaptive systems adjust attenuation to ambient noise rather than applying a fixed profile, which matters on a commute that moves between a quiet office and a loud street. That is the listing's claim; we have not heard these.

Price: Rs. 4,699 (stated MRP Rs. 11,999)
Key detail: a Rs. 11,999 sticker - the 99-ending convention, at the deepest JBL badge here
Discount: 61% off a stated MRP, which is Rs. 7,300
Rating: no count published - 127 of the 185 listings show a score and none states its sample
Role: The 99 convention, deeply cut
Buying logic: Adaptive ANC is worth paying for on variable commutes, less so in a fixed environment.

Buy on Croma

Cheapest Sony on the shelf

SONY MDR-EX14AP Wired Earphone with Mic (In Ear, Black)

Rs. 549 for wired earphones - and wired means no battery to die.

Why it earned its spot The cheapest listing from the shelf's largest brand, and a reminder that the whole category has an alternative.

Rs. 549Rs. 1,29057% off

Price: Rs. 549 | Rs. 549 - the cheapest Sony on the shelf, on a Rs. 1,290 sticker | 57% off a stated MRP, which is Rs. 741 | No rating count published | Role: Cheapest Sony on the shelf

Full specs & the long story

Rs. 549 against a stated Rs. 1,290, a 57 per cent badge - unusually deep for Sony, whose 30 listings here run a median of 26 per cent. These are wired in-ear earphones with a microphone, and the reason to seat them on a page full of wireless products is straightforward: a wired earphone has no battery, so it does not become landfill in two years when a cell that cannot be replaced stops holding charge. That is the single largest hidden cost in the TWS category and no listing on this shelf mentions it. At Rs. 549 this is the cheapest way to get Sony's tuning into your ears, and the caveat is obvious - most current phones have no headphone socket.

Price: Rs. 549 (stated MRP Rs. 1,290)
Key detail: Rs. 549 - the cheapest Sony on the shelf, on a Rs. 1,290 sticker
Discount: 57% off a stated MRP, which is Rs. 741
Rating: no count published - 127 of the 185 listings show a score and none states its sample
Role: Cheapest Sony on the shelf
Buying logic: Check your phone has a 3.5mm socket, or budget for a USB-C adapter.

Buy on Croma

Both numbers end in 999

JBL Live Beam 3 TWS Earbuds with Adaptive Noise Cancellation

Rs. 9,999 off Rs. 24,999 - neither figure is round, and that is the tell.

Why it earned its spot Selling price and stated MRP both follow the 999 convention, which is what manufacturer-authored pricing looks like end to end.

Rs. 9,999Rs. 24,99960% off

Price: Rs. 9,999 | Rs. 9,999 off Rs. 24,999 - both numbers end in 999, neither is a round figure | 60% off a stated MRP, which is Rs. 15,000 | No rating count published | Role: Both numbers end in 999

Full specs & the long story

Rs. 9,999 against a stated Rs. 24,999, a 60 per cent badge. Both numbers end in 999, which is the point worth noticing: when a manufacturer authors the reference price, the psychological-pricing convention runs through the whole listing rather than only the sticker. Croma's own listings do the opposite - Rs. 649, Rs. 899, Rs. 1,249, Rs. 3,249, Rs. 6,999, Rs. 15,490 against round stickers, so their selling prices vary while their reference figures do not. As a product this is JBL's flagship adaptive-ANC earbud at Rs. 9,999, which is roughly six times the Croma ANC earbuds in chapter one. Croma shows no rating on this listing at all.

Price: Rs. 9,999 (stated MRP Rs. 24,999)
Key detail: Rs. 9,999 off Rs. 24,999 - both numbers end in 999, neither is a round figure
Discount: 60% off a stated MRP, which is Rs. 15,000
Rating: no count published - 127 of the 185 listings show a score and none states its sample
Role: Both numbers end in 999
Buying logic: Flagship TWS earbuds justify their price on call quality and ANC, not on sound alone.

Buy on Croma

Rs. 999 above Croma's sticker

JBL Cinema SB560 250W Bluetooth Soundbar with Remote (Dolby)

A stated Rs. 25,999 - almost exactly Rs. 1,000 above Croma's own Rs. 25,000 soundbar sticker.

Why it earned its spot The two conventions land within Rs. 999 of each other on the same shelf, in the same category, at the same tier.

Rs. 11,999Rs. 25,99954% off

Price: Rs. 11,999 | Rs. 25,999 stated - Rs. 999 above Croma's own Rs. 25,000 soundbar sticker | 54% off a stated MRP, which is Rs. 14,000 | No rating count published | Role: Rs. 999 above Croma's sticker

Full specs & the long story

Rs. 11,999 against a stated Rs. 25,999, a 54 per cent badge. Croma's own 400W soundbar states Rs. 25,000 and sells at Rs. 15,490, a 38 per cent badge. The two stated MRPs are Rs. 999 apart; the selling prices are Rs. 3,491 apart in JBL's favour; the badges are 16 points apart in JBL's favour too. This is the comparison the page exists to make possible. JBL is a specialist audio brand with decades of reputation and this bar carries a 4.8 star score on Croma - with no count published, as with every rated listing here. At 250W against 400W the Croma claims more power, which across brands is not a comparable measurement.

Price: Rs. 11,999 (stated MRP Rs. 25,999)
Key detail: Rs. 25,999 stated - Rs. 999 above Croma's own Rs. 25,000 soundbar sticker
Discount: 54% off a stated MRP, which is Rs. 14,000
Rating: no count published - 127 of the 185 listings show a score and none states its sample
Role: Rs. 999 above Croma's sticker
Buying logic: Dolby support and channel count matter more than watt ratings on a soundbar.

Buy on Croma

Chapter Three

Where the Sticker Barely Moves

Apple, Marshall and Sony's premium listings carry the shallowest badges on the shelf - 2, 5, 7 and 8 per cent - which by this page's own reasoning makes their stated MRPs the most credible on it. The chapter ends on two listings that break their own brand's pattern.

Shallowest badge in 185

Apple AirPods 4 Active Noise Cancellation with Charging Case

2 per cent - a Rs. 410 gap on a Rs. 17,900 sticker.

Why it earned its spot The smallest discount on the shelf, and by this page's reasoning the most credible reference price on it.

Rs. 17,490Rs. 17,9002% off

Price: Rs. 17,490 | 2% - the shallowest badge in all 185 listings, on a Rs. 17,900 sticker | 2% off a stated MRP, which is Rs. 410 | No rating count published | Role: Shallowest badge in 185

Full specs & the long story

Rs. 17,490 against a stated Rs. 17,900. The gap is Rs. 410 and the badge rounds to 2 per cent - the smallest in all 185 listings. A sticker Rs. 410 above the selling price is a sticker doing essentially no promotional work, which makes it the most trustworthy number on this page. Note also that Rs. 17,900 is not a 99-ending figure but not a round hundred in the Croma sense either; Apple runs its own convention. Apple's six listings in this pull run a median badge of 7 per cent. If you are waiting for AirPods to be discounted at an electronics retailer, this shelf suggests the wait is not worth having.

Price: Rs. 17,490 (stated MRP Rs. 17,900)
Key detail: 2% - the shallowest badge in all 185 listings, on a Rs. 17,900 sticker
Discount: 2% off a stated MRP, which is Rs. 410
Rating: no count published - 127 of the 185 listings show a score and none states its sample
Role: Shallowest badge in 185
Buying logic: AirPods integrate deeply with iPhones and unremarkably with anything else.

Buy on Croma

Five per cent, and that is the sale

Apple AirPods Pro 3 with MagSafe Charging Case

Rs. 24,490 against Rs. 25,900 - Rs. 1,410 off, and no more is coming.

Why it earned its spot The flagship of the shallow-badge end, seated so the page's range runs from 2 per cent to 85.

Rs. 24,490Rs. 25,9005% off

Price: Rs. 24,490 | a 5% badge - Apple's six listings here run a median of 7% | 5% off a stated MRP, which is Rs. 1,410 | No rating count published | Role: Five per cent, and that is the sale

Full specs & the long story

Rs. 24,490 against a stated Rs. 25,900, a 5 per cent badge. Put this beside the boAt Airdopes 138 Pro at the top of chapter two - Rs. 450, 85 per cent off - and you have the two ends of this shelf: an 83-point badge spread across products that both go in your ears. Nothing about those two percentages is comparable, because the reference figures behind them were written by different organisations to different ends. What is comparable is the money: Rs. 24,490 against Rs. 450, a factor of 54. Whether AirPods Pro are worth 54 entry earbuds is a real question and this page cannot answer it, because Croma publishes 5.0 stars here with no count and we have not heard either product.

Price: Rs. 24,490 (stated MRP Rs. 25,900)
Key detail: a 5% badge - Apple's six listings here run a median of 7%
Discount: 5% off a stated MRP, which is Rs. 1,410
Rating: no count published - 127 of the 185 listings show a score and none states its sample
Role: Five per cent, and that is the sale
Buying logic: Active noise cancellation at this tier is genuinely category-leading on iPhone.

Buy on Croma

Most expensive listing here

SONY HT-A9000 585W Bluetooth Soundbar with Remote (Dolby)

Rs. 1,39,990 at a 7 per cent badge - the top of the shelf, barely discounted.

Why it earned its spot The ceiling of the pull, and further evidence that badges shrink as prices grow.

Rs. 139,990Rs. 149,9907% off

Price: Rs. 139,990 | Rs. 1,39,990 - the most expensive listing in the pull, at a 7% badge | 7% off a stated MRP, which is Rs. 10,000 | No rating count published | Role: Most expensive listing here

Full specs & the long story

Rs. 1,39,990 against a stated Rs. 1,49,990 - a Rs. 10,000 gap on the most expensive listing among all 185. Seven per cent. The pattern across this shelf is consistent and worth naming: the deepest badges sit on the cheapest products and the shallowest on the dearest. boAt's Rs. 450 earbuds carry 85 per cent; this Rs. 1,39,990 soundbar carries 7. That is partly because expensive audio brands protect their pricing and partly because inflating a sticker is easier at the cheap end where nobody has a reference point. At 585W across a Dolby-capable system this is a home-cinema purchase rather than a television upgrade, and it should be auditioned rather than ordered.

Price: Rs. 139,990 (stated MRP Rs. 149,990)
Key detail: Rs. 1,39,990 - the most expensive listing in the pull, at a 7% badge
Discount: 7% off a stated MRP, which is Rs. 10,000
Rating: no count published - 127 of the 185 listings show a score and none states its sample
Role: Most expensive listing here
Buying logic: At this price, listen in a store first - room acoustics dominate the result.

Buy on Croma

The shallowest brand band

Marshall Woburn III 150W Portable Bluetooth Speaker (Home Audio)

8 per cent off - Marshall's nine listings run a median of 13.

Why it earned its spot A whole brand that barely discounts, which is a different thing from a single listing that does not.

Rs. 54,999Rs. 59,9998% off

Price: Rs. 54,999 | Marshall's nine listings run a median 13% - the shallowest brand band here | 8% off a stated MRP, which is Rs. 5,000 | No rating count published | Role: The shallowest brand band

Full specs & the long story

Rs. 54,999 against a stated Rs. 59,999, an 8 per cent badge. Marshall's nine listings in this pull run a median of 13 per cent with a maximum of 25 - the narrowest and shallowest band of any brand on the shelf, shallower even than Apple's median of 7 across only six listings would suggest at scale. A brand that consistently refuses to discount is making a positioning statement, and Marshall's positioning has always been design-led: these are speakers bought substantially for how they look on a shelf, which is a legitimate reason to buy something and not one that any specification captures. Croma shows 5.0 stars here, again with no count published.

Price: Rs. 54,999 (stated MRP Rs. 59,999)
Key detail: Marshall's nine listings run a median 13% - the shallowest brand band here
Discount: 8% off a stated MRP, which is Rs. 5,000
Rating: no count published - 127 of the 185 listings show a score and none states its sample
Role: The shallowest brand band
Buying logic: Marshall is a design purchase as much as an audio one - judge it on both.

Buy on Croma

A 99 sticker with an honest gap

realme Buds T200 Lite TWS Earbuds with Environmental Noise Cancellation

Rs. 1,499 against Rs. 1,999 - a 99-ending sticker only Rs. 500 above the price.

Why it earned its spot Not every manufacturer sticker is inflated, and a page arguing otherwise would be overreaching.

Rs. 1,499Rs. 1,99925% off

Price: Rs. 1,499 | Rs. 1,499 against Rs. 1,999 - a 99-ending sticker with an honest gap behind it | 25% off a stated MRP, which is Rs. 500 | No rating count published | Role: A 99 sticker with an honest gap

Full specs & the long story

Rs. 1,499 against a stated Rs. 1,999 - the 99 convention, but with a gap of only Rs. 500 and a badge of 25 per cent. This matters for the honesty of the page's own argument. The finding here is that round stickers identify retailer-authored prices and 90 or 99 endings identify manufacturer-authored ones; it is not that manufacturer stickers are always inflated. Realme's 12 listings run a median 33 per cent badge, well below boAt's 67, on stickers that sit much closer to their selling prices. The convention tells you who wrote the number. How far that number sits above the price is a separate question, and it varies by brand.

Price: Rs. 1,499 (stated MRP Rs. 1,999)
Key detail: Rs. 1,499 against Rs. 1,999 - a 99-ending sticker with an honest gap behind it
Discount: 25% off a stated MRP, which is Rs. 500
Rating: no count published - 127 of the 185 listings show a score and none states its sample
Role: A 99 sticker with an honest gap
Buying logic: Entry ANC earbuds from phone makers usually pair best with that maker's phones.

Buy on Croma

Above Sony's own median

SONY WF-C510 TWS Earbuds (IPX4 Waterproof, Siri & Google Voice Assistant)

44 per cent - well clear of Sony's 26 per cent median across 30 listings.

Why it earned its spot Seated because it breaks its own brand's pattern, and a chapter of conforming examples would be selection.

Rs. 4,990Rs. 8,99044% off

Price: Rs. 4,990 | Rs. 4,990 - Sony's 30 listings run a median 26%, and this is well above it | 44% off a stated MRP, which is Rs. 4,000 | No rating count published | Role: Above Sony's own median

Full specs & the long story

Rs. 4,990 against a stated Rs. 8,990. Sony is the largest brand on this shelf with 30 listings, running a median badge of 26 per cent and a median price of Rs. 17,240. This listing sits at 44 per cent and Rs. 4,990 - well outside both. Brand bands are tendencies rather than rules, and printing only the listings that conform to them would misrepresent the shelf. On specification these are entry-tier Sony TWS earbuds with an IPX4 water resistance rating, which covers sweat and rain but not immersion, and the listing does not claim active noise cancellation. Croma shows 5.0 stars on two identical entries for this product, with no counts.

Price: Rs. 4,990 (stated MRP Rs. 8,990)
Key detail: Rs. 4,990 - Sony's 30 listings run a median 26%, and this is well above it
Discount: 44% off a stated MRP, which is Rs. 4,000
Rating: no count published - 127 of the 185 listings show a score and none states its sample
Role: Above Sony's own median
Buying logic: IPX4 covers sweat and light rain; it does not cover dropping them in water.

Buy on Croma

Sony's deepest soundbar cut

SONY HT-A3000 250W Bluetooth Soundbar with Remote (Dolby)

43 per cent off - Rs. 30,000 below its stated Rs. 69,990.

Why it earned its spot The largest rupee gap between price and sticker anywhere in this pull, on a brand that rarely discounts.

Rs. 39,990Rs. 69,99043% off

Price: Rs. 39,990 | 43% off - by far the deepest badge on any Sony soundbar in the pull | 43% off a stated MRP, which is Rs. 30,000 | No rating count published | Role: Sony's deepest soundbar cut

Full specs & the long story

Rs. 39,990 against a stated Rs. 69,990 - a gap of Rs. 30,000, the largest absolute difference in the pull, and a 43 per cent badge that is far beyond anything else Sony offers here on a soundbar. The Sony HT-A9000 three picks up carries 7 per cent. Two soundbars, one brand, badges 36 points apart. The most economical explanations are ordinary - a generational transition, an inventory position, a promotional period - and none of them is visible in the listing. What the shelf shows is that even within one manufacturer's own range the badge is not a stable measure of anything, which is the case for reading the price. At Rs. 39,990 for a 250W Dolby-capable bar, this is a serious purchase.

Price: Rs. 39,990 (stated MRP Rs. 69,990)
Key detail: 43% off - by far the deepest badge on any Sony soundbar in the pull
Discount: 43% off a stated MRP, which is Rs. 30,000
Rating: no count published - 127 of the 185 listings show a score and none states its sample
Role: Sony's deepest soundbar cut
Buying logic: A generational transition is often why a good soundbar is suddenly cheap - check the model year.

Buy on Croma

“A manufacturer writes Rs. 2,990 because a marketing department decided it reads cheaper. A retailer writing its own reference figure has no such instinct, and writes Rs. 3,000.” Zoutons Editorial Team

Four rules for reading an audio shelf with two pricing cultures on it

First: check how the stated MRP ends before you look at the badge. A round hundred usually means the retailer wrote it; a 90 or a 99 usually means a manufacturer did. Neither is more honest by default, but knowing which you are looking at tells you what the percentage beside it is measuring. Second: compare selling prices across the two conventions, never badges. Croma's own entry earbuds and boAt's sit Rs. 80 apart in money and 39 points apart in badge, and only one of those numbers describes the transaction. Third: treat every star score on this shelf as absent, because in the way that matters it is - 127 listings show a score and none shows a sample size, which means a 5.0 and a 1.0 are equally unusable. Look for the specifications instead: active versus environmental noise cancellation, an IPX rating, a channel count, whether a soundbar names Dolby support. Fourth: at the top of the range, expect the badge to disappear and read that as information rather than disappointment. Apple at 2 and 5 per cent and Marshall at a median 13 are telling you their stated prices are close to their real ones, which is worth more than an 85 per cent tile calculated from a figure nobody pays. Our read on what actually gets discounted at Croma covers the pattern across categories, and the Croma coupons page holds the bank offers that stack on these prices.

How our picks compare

Product	Sale price	MRP	Discount
Croma 5W Portable Bluetooth Speaker (Water Proof, 21 Hours Playback)	Rs. 649	Rs. 1,000	35%
Croma IN 101 TWS Earbuds with Passive Noise Cancellation (IPX4)	Rs. 899	Rs. 1,400	36%
Croma TWS Earbuds with Environmental Noise Cancellation (IPX4 Water Resistant)	Rs. 1,249	Rs. 2,000	38%
Croma HE101 Bluetooth Headphone with Mic (Environmental Noise Cancellation)	Rs. 1,249	Rs. 2,000	38%
Croma TWS Earbuds with Active Noise Cancellation (IPX5 Water Resistant)	Rs. 1,649	Rs. 3,500	53%
Croma 60W Bluetooth Soundbar with Remote Control (Stereo Sound)	Rs. 3,249	Rs. 5,500	41%
Croma 120W Soundbar with Remote (Preset EQ Modes, 2.1 Channel)	Rs. 6,999	Rs. 12,000	42%
Croma 400W Bluetooth Soundbar with Remote (Dolby Audio, 5.1 Channel)	Rs. 15,490	Rs. 25,000	38%
boAt Airdopes 138 Pro TWS Earbuds with Environmental Noise Cancellation	Rs. 450	Rs. 2,990	85%
boAt Nirvana Ion ANC Pro TWS Earbuds with Active Noise Cancellation	Rs. 2,299	Rs. 13,990	84%
boAt Airdopes 148 Gen 2 TWS Earbuds with Environmental Noise Cancellation	Rs. 979	Rs. 3,990	75%
JBL Tune Beam 2 JBLTBEAM2BLK TWS Earbuds with Adaptive Noise Cancellation	Rs. 4,699	Rs. 11,999	61%
SONY MDR-EX14AP Wired Earphone with Mic (In Ear, Black)	Rs. 549	Rs. 1,290	57%
JBL Live Beam 3 TWS Earbuds with Adaptive Noise Cancellation	Rs. 9,999	Rs. 24,999	60%
JBL Cinema SB560 250W Bluetooth Soundbar with Remote (Dolby)	Rs. 11,999	Rs. 25,999	54%
Apple AirPods 4 Active Noise Cancellation with Charging Case	Rs. 17,490	Rs. 17,900	2%
Apple AirPods Pro 3 with MagSafe Charging Case	Rs. 24,490	Rs. 25,900	5%
SONY HT-A9000 585W Bluetooth Soundbar with Remote (Dolby)	Rs. 139,990	Rs. 149,990	7%
Marshall Woburn III 150W Portable Bluetooth Speaker (Home Audio)	Rs. 54,999	Rs. 59,999	8%
realme Buds T200 Lite TWS Earbuds with Environmental Noise Cancellation	Rs. 1,499	Rs. 1,999	25%
SONY WF-C510 TWS Earbuds (IPX4 Waterproof, Siri & Google Voice Assistant)	Rs. 4,990	Rs. 8,990	44%
SONY HT-A3000 250W Bluetooth Soundbar with Remote (Dolby)	Rs. 39,990	Rs. 69,990	43%

What we skipped — and why

What we skipped, and why: 163 of the 185 listings. Chapter one seats 8 of the 26 house-brand rows, chosen to span the full price range from Rs. 649 to Rs. 15,490 and to show the round-sticker convention holding at both ends; the remaining 18 repeat it at Rs. 1,200, Rs. 1,500, Rs. 3,000, Rs. 4,000, Rs. 8,000, Rs. 10,000, Rs. 13,000, Rs. 15,000, Rs. 35,000 and Rs. 37,000 stickers, and listing them all would restate one finding ten times. On the manufacturer side we left out most of boAt's 29 rows once three had established the 90 convention and the 67 per cent median, and most of Noise's eight, which run a median 69 per cent on the same pattern. We skipped the Samsung, LG, OnePlus and Bose rows entirely for space rather than for any fault - LG's eight run a median 44 per cent and OnePlus's eight span 5 to 58, both of which would have made reasonable chapter-three seats. We did not seat the second identical Sony WF-C510 entry or the second identical realme Buds T200 Lite entry, which appear twice each in the pull with different star scores and no counts. We dropped every listing whose stated MRP fell at or below its selling price. Nothing was excluded for scoring badly - the 1.0 and the 2.0 are both seated deliberately.

What we look for

We looked at the last two digits of every stated MRP before anything else

On August 5, 2026 we ran four queries against Croma's own search API - soundbar, bluetooth speaker, headphones and earbuds - three pages each, keeping every listing that returned a price, a stated MRP above that price and an image, which gave 185 deduplicated rows. Then we checked how each stated MRP ended. All 26 listings carrying Croma's own brand name state an MRP divisible by 100, and 17 of those 26 are divisible by 1,000; the complete set is Rs. 1,000, Rs. 1,200, Rs. 1,400, Rs. 1,500, Rs. 1,800, Rs. 2,000, Rs. 3,000, Rs. 3,500, Rs. 4,000, Rs. 5,500, Rs. 7,000, Rs. 8,000, Rs. 10,000, Rs. 12,000, Rs. 13,000, Rs. 15,000, Rs. 25,000, Rs. 35,000 and Rs. 37,000. Of the other 159 listings, 140 state an MRP that is not round to a hundred at all: 70 end in 90 and 70 end in 99. That is a clean separation, and it is the most reliable indicator on this shelf of who authored a given reference price.

127 listings carry a star rating, none carries a count, so we show none

Of the 185 listings we read, 127 displayed a star score and not a single one displayed how many ratings produced it. That makes every score on this shelf unusable, and not only the low ones. A 5.0 appears on the Marshall Woburn III, on two Sony WF-C510 entries and on several Croma house-brand listings; a 1.0 appears on the boAt Airdopes 138 Pro and a 2.0 on a Croma earbud. Without counts, none of those can be distinguished from a single review. So there are no rating pills anywhere on this page, and nothing here is a sound-quality or reliability judgement. We have seated both the 1.0 and the 2.0 rather than passing over them, because a page that only quotes the flattering unusable numbers is doing worse than one that quotes none. Where this page comments on how a product type generally behaves, that is category reasoning of ours and is flagged as such.

Badges are compared within a brand, never across the sticker conventions

Comparing an 85 per cent boAt badge with a 38 per cent Croma badge would be comparing two different organisations' pricing departments, not two products. So every badge below is read against its own brand's median in this pull: boAt runs a median 67 per cent across 29 listings, Noise 69 across eight, JBL 40 across 23, Realme 33 across 12, Croma's house brand 30 across 26, Sony 26 across 30, Bose 23 across three, Marshall 13 across nine and Apple 7 across six. The most instructive comparison the shelf offers is a product one: Croma's own entry earbuds at Rs. 899 against a Rs. 1,400 sticker, and boAt's Airdopes 148 Gen 2 at Rs. 979 against a Rs. 3,990 sticker. Eighty rupees apart in what you actually pay, thirty-nine percentage points apart in what the tile shouts. We have also seated listings that break their own brand band, including a Sony soundbar at 43 per cent where the brand median is 26.

We report the pattern and stop short of explaining it

A retailer's own-brand products and a manufacturer's products reach a shelf through completely different commercial routes, and there are several ordinary reasons a house-brand reference price might be a round number - internal pricing policy, a margin-led rather than positioning-led calculation, or simply that nobody in the chain has a reason to write Rs. 2,990 instead of Rs. 3,000. We cannot see which applies, we have not asked Croma, and we are not alleging that any stated MRP on this shelf is improper or that any brand has done anything wrong. What we can do is report an exact and checkable count - 26 of 26 round against 140 of 159 not round - and draw the one conclusion a shopper can act on: the last two digits of a stated MRP tell you who wrote it, and a reference price written by the party selling you the product deserves the same scepticism as one written by the party that made it.

FAQs

Why are Croma's own-brand MRPs always round numbers?

We can report the pattern precisely and we are not going to guess at the reason. Of the 26 listings carrying Croma's own brand name in our August 5, 2026 read of 185 audio products, every single stated MRP is divisible by 100 and 17 are divisible by 1,000 - the complete set being Rs. 1,000, Rs. 1,200, Rs. 1,400, Rs. 1,500, Rs. 1,800, Rs. 2,000, Rs. 3,000, Rs. 3,500, Rs. 4,000, Rs. 5,500, Rs. 7,000, Rs. 8,000, Rs. 10,000, Rs. 12,000, Rs. 13,000, Rs. 15,000, Rs. 25,000, Rs. 35,000 and Rs. 37,000. Of the other 159 listings, 140 are not round at all. There are several ordinary explanations - an internal pricing policy, a margin-led calculation rather than a positioning-led one, or simply that nobody writing a house-brand reference price has the marketing instinct that produces Rs. 2,990 instead of Rs. 3,000. We have not asked Croma and we are not alleging anything improper. The usable point for a shopper is that the ending identifies the author, and a reference price set by the party selling you the product deserves the same scepticism as one set by the manufacturer.

Are Croma's own-brand audio products good value?

On price they are competitive and on evidence we genuinely cannot tell you, which is an unsatisfying answer we would rather give than a confident one. The house brand's 26 listings run a median selling price of Rs. 2,049 at a median 30 per cent badge, which places them directly against boAt at a median Rs. 1,899 and Noise at Rs. 1,199 in earbuds, and well below JBL at a median Rs. 10,999. The sharpest single comparison in our pull: Croma's IN 101 earbuds at Rs. 899 against boAt's Airdopes 148 Gen 2 at Rs. 979 - eighty rupees apart, for products doing the same job. Where the house brand looks strongest is soundbars, where a 120W unit at Rs. 6,999 sits well under JBL's 250W at Rs. 11,999 and any bar transforms television dialogue. What we cannot supply is a quality verdict: Croma shows star scores on many of these listings and publishes a count on none of them, and we have not heard any of them.

Is an 85 per cent discount on boAt earbuds at Croma real?

The arithmetic is real and the sticker behind it is the thing to examine. The listing carrying the deepest badge in our pull is a boAt Airdopes 138 Pro at Rs. 450 against a stated MRP of Rs. 2,990. Across boAt's 29 listings on this shelf the median badge is 67 per cent and the median selling price is Rs. 1,899, which tells you the whole range is priced against stickers sitting far above where the products trade. Read Rs. 450 as a price for entry TWS earbuds and it is genuinely low - it is the cheapest audio product in all 185 listings. Read it as a Rs. 2,540 saving and it is not a claim we would repeat. It is also worth noting that Croma displays a 1.0 star score on this exact listing, the lowest on the shelf, with no count published - so we cannot tell you whether that reflects one unhappy buyer or a pattern, and neither can the shelf.

Why do AirPods and Marshall speakers barely get discounted?

Because their stated MRPs sit close to what they actually charge, which is the opposite of a problem. In our pull the Apple AirPods 4 carried the shallowest badge of all 185 listings at 2 per cent - Rs. 17,490 against a stated Rs. 17,900, a gap of Rs. 410 - and the AirPods Pro 3 carried 5 per cent. Apple's six listings run a median 7 per cent. Marshall's nine run a median 13 per cent with a maximum of 25, the narrowest band of any brand on the shelf. Brands that hold their pricing this tightly are making a positioning statement, and the practical consequence is that waiting for a sale on them at an electronics retailer is not a strategy worth pursuing. It also means their stickers are the most credible reference prices on this page: a Rs. 410 gap is a number doing no promotional work, unlike an 85 per cent badge calculated from a figure nothing in the range sells near.

What should I look at instead of the discount badge?

On this shelf, four things. The selling price on its own, compared against other products of the same type rather than against its own sticker - that is the only number describing what leaves your account. The specification words that mean something: active noise cancellation genuinely differs from environmental noise cancellation, which mostly describes call quality rather than what you hear; an IPX rating tells you what the product survives, with IPX4 covering sweat and rain but not immersion; and on soundbars, a named Dolby capability and a channel count matter far more than a watt figure, which is not measured on a common basis across brands. The form factor, because over-ear headphones generally deliver more battery and more low-end per rupee than earbuds do. And the battery question nobody mentions: a wireless product's non-replaceable cell usually fails before its drivers do, which is why a Rs. 549 wired Sony earphone in our picks may outlast several Rs. 450 wireless ones.

More Croma coverage on Zoutons

How Zoutons picks deals Zoutons may earn a commission when you buy through links on this page. Every price, stated MRP, discount percentage and star score here was read from Croma's own search API on August 5, 2026, across four queries - soundbar, bluetooth speaker, headphones and earbuds - at three pages each, keeping only listings that returned a price, a stated MRP above that price and an image, which yielded 185 deduplicated rows. All of these can change without notice. The central finding of this page is a count and can be checked: of the 26 listings carrying Croma's own brand name, 26 state an MRP divisible by 100 and 17 state one divisible by 1,000, while of the remaining 159 listings, 140 state an MRP that is not divisible by 100, with 70 ending in 90 and 70 ending in 99. We report that separation and do not explain it. There are several ordinary reasons a retailer's own-brand reference price might be a round figure while a manufacturer's is not, we have not asked Croma which applies, and we are not alleging that any stated MRP on this shelf is improper or that Croma or any brand has done anything wrong. Discount percentages are computed against each listing's stated MRP, and a stated MRP is a reference figure rather than evidence that anyone paid it. Of the 185 listings, 127 displayed a star rating and not one displayed a rating count, so no rating is shown or claimed anywhere on this page and nothing here is a sound-quality, comfort or reliability assessment; scores as high as 5.0 and as low as 1.0 appear on this shelf and all of them are equally unusable without a sample size. The brand medians quoted are computed across that brand's listings in this pull only - 30 Sony, 29 boAt, 26 Croma, 23 JBL, 12 Realme, 9 Samsung, 9 Marshall, 8 Noise, 8 OnePlus, 8 LG, 6 Apple and 3 Bose rows - and are medians of listed selling prices and stated discounts rather than of transacted prices. Every specification quoted - wattage, channel count, driver configuration, active or environmental noise cancellation, IPX rating, Dolby support, playback hours - is the seller's listing claim, reported as a claim and not verified by us; wattage ratings in particular are not measured on a common basis across brands and should not be compared between them. Where this page comments on how a product type generally behaves, such as over-ear designs offering more battery per rupee than earbuds or non-replaceable batteries limiting the life of wireless products, that is category reasoning of ours and is identified as such. We have not heard, worn or tested any product on this page. Warranty terms, in-store availability and return windows should be confirmed with Croma before ordering.