One of the most common requests from the Earjobs faithful was for us to start stocking audio equipment for everyday life. We spent a long time testing and evaluating a variety of units, looking for something affordable but effective for our customers. In this review, we’re looking at one of the debut units: the Earfun Air Pro 2. It’s a true wireless ear phone with active noise cancellation, seamless Bluetooth, and high quality audio. Is it the affordable AirPod Pro?
Ease of Use
Right out of the box, these are ready to go. Removing the ear phones from the included carry case activates them (as determined by a light on the back of each ear phone) and they are also immediately available for connection in your device’s bluetooth menu. Once connected, the Earfun will attempt to automatically re-connect each time they’re removed from the case. This was seamless in testing. They consistently and immediately connected to my laptop each time, while also returnings to the same sound settings as in previous use.
While wearing them, removing one ear phone pauses whatever you’re listening to, and re-inserting them into the ear presses play again. While there was some slight latency in pause-unpause, it was almost unnoticeable. For sheer use-ability, the Earfun gets huge points. It’s almost fool proof provided you’re consistently connecting to the same unit, whether it’s a phone, a laptop or another bluetooth enabled device.
Audio Quality
The Earfun 2 Air Pro had an impressive audio quality that far outperforms its price point. It has great clarity, particularly in the mids, with punchy bass that’s noticeable at all volume limits. In my own tests, listening to a variety of different genres, I heard clear definition, with a good soundstage, even at the lowest volumes. Testing these listening to podcasts or watching television, I found the same thing. Authentic sounding stereo, high performance in the midrange, and great definition at low volumes. With the ANC activated, I was able to clearly listen along at the lowest level of volume — great for preserving my hearing health over longer listening sessions. During calls, my voice was clear, audible and loud.
As we’ll discuss further later on, a major selling point for the Pro 2 is that it’s got such strong performing active noise cancellation. It works well at filtering out noise without distorting anything that you’re actually listening to, silences and transient control is still evident even with ANC activated. They’re especially good in windy environments. The active noise cancellation has a specific filter optimised for wind noise, which made for a good listening experience no matter what La Nina threw at me!
Hands Free Operation
You can operate the Earfuns without touching your phone via a quick press on the back of the ear phone. Touching and holding the back of the left ear phone toggles audio mode. There are three:
- Active Noise Canceling: this is the mode you’ll be using most often. Active noise canceling (ANC) technology uses small microphones on the exterior of the ear phone to monitor and suppress ambient sound. When playing no music, we perceived the ANC as like a mild shhh noise. It’s slightly more conspicuous than the ANC for a product like the AirPod Pro, but almost impossible to notice when listening to anything. It’s extremely strong for the price point, doing a great job at suppressing televisions, ambient traffic noise, loud dishwashers and washing machines, as well as conversation. For basically every ordinary use you could imagine in daily life, the ANC was more than a match, making this one of the most effective units on the market, while substantially cheaper than those offered by rivals.
- Ambient Sound: in this mode, the microphones monitor and play through your surroundings beneath what you’re listening to. This is great for retaining your awareness or having conversations. I found this was good for situations where I needed to be aware briefly, for example hearing announcements on public transport, or remaining aware when jaywalking (don’t tell the police).
- Normal: in this mode the ANC is disabled. This allows you to last longer on a single charge, though we found we used this mode the least. In general, we either wanted to dampen the sound or have it filtered through.
In terms of other controls, a short press on the left lowers the volume, a short press on the right raises the volume, and a long press activates Siri on Apple devices. However, there was slightly more latency/inconsistency with the volume controls. While I was able to consistently switch hearing modes and activate my voice assistant, I had less consistent luck in adjusting volume. Being totally transparent, however, I found myself not really trying to do this in ordinary use. I was always able to adjust it easily with my phone or laptop, rendering it a bit of a moot criticism.
Fit
In terms of fit, they come with multiple tip sizes, which we recommend experimenting with to ensure you have the best possible seal. For me, wearing a set of the medium tips allowed the best results from the ANC. When compared to a unit like the AirPod Pro, the Earfun’s speaker has a slightly larger diameter. For regular sized ears, this can improve the seal against noise, though if you have smaller or shallower ears it may cause discomfort over longer listening sessions. For me though I found them comfortable over several hours.
Once in the ear, they sit securely even with sharp movement. They’re super light at about 50 grams, almost unnoticeable when set. They’re IPX5 waterproof, so great for exercising, getting to the gym, running or cycling even in mild inclement weather. It makes for an excellent every day set, suitable for work, exercise, commuting or just listening around the house.
Charging and Carry Case
The Earfun will last up to seven hours on a single charge. We found that this was slightly lower, particularly if you’re playing music loudly or consistently using ANC. However, it has a fast charge functionality: ten minutes in the charging case will give you another two hours of listening, which is great for when you accidentally run them dry.
The charging case itself is expected to carry up to another 27 hours of charge. We came nowhere near exhausting these in all of our use. For me, remembering to flick them onto charge about once a week was sufficient.
The included charging case is made of plastic and charged by an included USB-C to USB-A cable. You can either charge it by plugging into a USB-wall outlet, or your port on your computer. The case is only on par for wireless earphones and we’d like to see it smaller in future releases, but the included magnets work really well. The ear phones snap tightly into place and charge quickly.
Conclusion
+ Really impressive audio quality, particularly in the mids and bass.
+ Excellent battery life, with fast charge for when you need a quick top up.
+ Really effective ANC that competes well against more expensive units.
- A hardier carry case would be better particularly for commuting.
- An actually pressable button on the back of each ear phone would allow for more consistency with light touches.
The Earfun Pro 2 is a strong performer at an affordable price, with really high quality ANC and a great sound quality. It’s so easy to use right out of the box and, with reliable connection and an unbeatable battery life, it’s a great option for anyone looking for a workhorse set of wireless ear phones.