Earfun Air Pro 4 review: the best budget earbuds

Earfun Air Professional 4

MSRP $90.00

“With the Air Professional 4, Earfun proves (once more) that nobody must spend greater than $100 on wi-fi earbuds.”

Professionals

  • Nice sound
  • Alternative of hi-res codecs
  • Wonderful noise canceling
  • Put on sensors
  • Bluetooth Multipoint
  • Auracast-ready
  • Tons of customization

Cons

  • Awkward LE Audio/Auracast setup
  • Common name high quality with out Snapdragon Sound

When Earfun launched its first set of wireless earbuds, it redefined our expectations for sub-$100 merchandise. And each new mannequin has pushed these expectations additional. The corporate’s latest wi-fi earbuds — the Earfun Air Professional 4 — aren’t any exception to this development. At $90, they continue to be among the many most reasonably priced buds you should buy, however their characteristic set and sound high quality problem (and in a couple of circumstances, exceed) rivals from Sony, Apple, and Bose that price as a lot as thrice that value. Furthermore, they tackle the few downsides I famous on their predecessors, the Air Pro 3.

Whether or not you’re an iPhone consumer or an Android fan (actually, particularly should you’re an Android fan), the Earfun Air Professional 4 are the best budget wireless earbuds on the planet. Interval.

Earlier than we get into the total evaluate, let’s take a fast take a look at the Air Professional 4’s characteristic checklist as a result of, frankly, it’s astonishing.

  • Wi-fi charging
  • Put on sensors (new)
  • IPX5 water resistance
  • Lively noise cancellation (ANC) and transparency modes
  • Bluetooth Multipoint
  • Google Quick Pair (new)
  • Bluetooth LE Audio with Auracast compatibility
  • Sony’s LDAC hi-res codec (new)
  • Qualcomm Snapdragon sound (aptX Adaptive hi-res codec, aptX Lossless CD-quality codec, low-latency mode, and HD voice transmission) (new)
  • As much as 52 hours of playtime (new)
  • 30 EQ presets, 10-band equalizer (new)
  • App assist with customization for EQ, controls, and earbuds locator

About the one factor that’s lacking is head-tracked spatial audio, and the jury remains to be out on whether or not that’s a characteristic folks truly need.

Earfun Air Pro 4 with accessories.
Simon Cohen / Digital Traits

I’m not going to spend a lot time speaking in regards to the design. Should you’re conversant in Earfun’s earlier stem-based Air Professional lineup, or comparable merchandise just like the Apple AirPods Pro or Soundcore Liberty 4 NC, you realize the drill. It’s a really snug form that can simply keep put for many every day actions.

Solely these with probably the most vigorous exercise routines might want to think about one thing safer. The Air Professional 4 ship with a really beneficiant choice of 5 sizes of silicone eartips (another than the Air Professional 3), kind of making certain that everybody will get a superb match. With IPX5 water resistance, rain and sweat received’t be a problem — you’ll be able to even rinse them beneath the faucet.

The charging case is a primary affair. Not fairly as pocketable because the AirPods Professional — however shut — and with the lid in its open place, it provides wonderful entry to the earbuds. Wi-fi charging is customary, and also you get a brief USB-A-to-USB-C cable within the field for wired charging.

I suppose lately extra folks would like a double USB-C cable, however I’m guessing you even have a couple of of those mendacity round already. Indicator lights on the entrance inform you the case’s cost degree, and a second set of lights within the earbud charging sockets provide you with suggestions on issues like pairing modes.

The Earfun app offers an awesome variety of ANC modes, together with a pair that declare to be adaptive and powered by AI. My feeling about these modes (on all wi-fi earbuds that supply them, not simply the Air Professional 4) is that they’re typically pointless.

My perspective towards ANC is considerably binary: I wish to reject as a lot noise as attainable or let in as a lot as attainable. Having an AI determine which sounds to cancel and when is simply distracting. The one exception to that is Apple and Bose’s fantastic loud-noise detection, which rapidly activates ANC when a doubtlessly dangerously loud sound occurs and also you’re in transparency mode.

The excellent news is that the usual ANC mode is great — a giant enchancment over the Air Professional 3 — and the wind noise mode does precisely what it guarantees.

Transparency mode is blissfully freed from bizarre AI extras, and it’s superb at letting you hear your environment. I’d desire it embody extra of my voice, which remained pretty muffled. This isn’t an Earfun weak point. Each set of wi-fi earbuds I’ve tried that use Qualcomm ANC tech suffers from this drawback.

Earfun Air Pro 4 in front of case.
Simon Cohen / Digital Traits

Right here’s one factor that Earfun can and may repair: If you wish to swap between ANC and transparency with out biking via the traditional mode (ANC/transparency off), you’ve gotten that choice. However good luck discovering it within the app. It’s buried within the app’s Customise Controls menu. To entry it, you want to entry the Lengthy Press gesture, then faucet on Noise Management — even when it’s already chosen — and that can deliver up the choices.

The Air Professional 4’s sound high quality could be one of many few areas that haven’t been considerably improved from the Air Professional 3. And but your potential to maximise that sound high quality has elevated significantly. That sounds somewhat contradictory, I do know.

Right here’s what I imply:

The brand new mannequin, similar to its predecessor, sounds nice. Particularly since we’re speaking about earbuds that price solely fractionally greater than a tank of gasoline. (Assuming $3.45 per gallon for a 23-gallon F-150, for many who have been about to object.)

Readability, element, soundstage definition, and bass response are all top-notch, although should you’re a real bass-head, you need to look elsewhere. However getting access to so many non-compulsory hi-res audio codecs (LDAC or aptX Adaptive) and the extra EQ tweaks within the app will increase the probability that you simply’ll get the absolute best sound.

With both LDAC or aptX Adaptive, you’ll get higher element and nuance, and it reduces the sharpness of sure highs, as in comparison with the usual AAC codec. Sorry, iPhone customers, you’re caught with AAC.

The truth that the Air Professional 4 assist the entire main hi-res codecs is outstanding — even earbuds that price 4 instances as a lot can’t declare this. Since I occur to have one of many few smartphones that may truly assist all three (a Motorola ThinkPhone) I used to be curious to see if I may inform the distinction amongst LDAC, aptX Adaptive, and aptX Lossless. There was certainly a perceptible distinction, however I’m nonetheless unsure which one I desire.

Earfun Air Pro 4 in front of case.
Simon Cohen / Digital Traits

What I can say with confidence is that except you sequester your self in a really quiet area and provides your self a couple of hours with lossless CD quality and hi-res audio sources, you received’t discover a lot of a distinction both. In reality, these stands out as the solely situations the place you’ll be capable of admire the distinction between AAC and any of those superior codecs.

With all that stated, after I in contrast the Air Professional 4 to Soundcore’s $100 Liberty 4 NC (utilizing LDAC for each), they have been extraordinarily shut.

The Earfun app now has 30 presets, and a 10-band equalizer for creating and saving your individual presets. There’s additionally a personalised sound characteristic that makes an attempt to create a customized EQ profile primarily based in your potential to listen to particular frequency bands. My luck with these personalizers has been blended, and I can’t say I beloved what this one did for the sound — your mileage could differ.

Simon Cohen wearing the Earfun Air Pro 4.
Simon Cohen / Digital Traits

One other space the place your particular cellphone could have an effect on your expertise with the Air Professional 4 is name high quality.

Utilizing an iPhone, name high quality was common. In noisy areas, the earbuds struggled to maintain my voice clear, although they did an excellent job at blocking the sounds that made my surroundings noisy within the first place. When issues have been quiet, my voice sounded significantly better.

Nevertheless, as a set of Snapdragon Sound earbuds, should you’re utilizing a appropriate cellphone, you’ll get actually clear voice replica.

What you received’t get in both situation is the power to change from ANC to transparency mid-call utilizing the earbuds’ controls. For that, you’ll want to make use of the Earfun app. And, similar to transparency in non-call conditions, your individual voice will nonetheless be fairly muffled.

Having Bluetooth Multipoint is a large comfort, and the Air Professional 4 assist this helpful characteristic that allows you to keep linked to 2 gadgets concurrently. To make use of it, although, you’ll have to disable LDAC. AptX Adaptive/Lossless, in contrast, are appropriate with Multipoint.

I actually like that within the Earfun app’s dual-device settings display screen, you’ll be able to choose any two of your beforehand paired gadgets for a Multipoint session.

Earfun Air Pro 4 in front of case.
Simon Cohen / Digital Traits

Since we’re on the subject of Bluetooth, right here’s the great and the unhealthy on the subject of Auracast on the Air Professional 4:

It’s nice that Earfun has added this characteristic. I firmly imagine that Auracast shouldn’t be solely the way forward for audio sharing, it’s additionally the way forward for public audio. By that I imply TVs in gyms, airport gate bulletins, translated content material each at reside occasions and films, and so on. It’s actually cool.

However enabling Auracast on the Air Professional 4 requires some gymnastics.

You first allow LE Audio from throughout the Earfun app (which suggests disabling LDAC and aptX codecs). Then you could return to your Bluetooth machine checklist and “neglect” the earbuds. Then pair them once more. Then be sure to allow LE Audio within the earbuds’ Bluetooth settings. Lastly, assuming your cellphone is even Auracast appropriate, you employ the “Discover broadcast” characteristic to search for and hopefully be part of an Auracast transmission … which in my case, utilizing the Motorola ThinkPhone merely didn’t work.

Counting on a cellphone’s working system for the Auracast Assistant operate (the software program that scans for and connects the earbuds to an Auracast transmission) is — at this early stage within the growth of Auracast — a dicey proposition.

You’ll possible get higher outcomes in case your earbuds’ companion app has this performance built-in. I used to be in a position to take a look at this with an as-yet-unreleased set of wi-fi earbuds on my iPhone and it labored like a attraction. I’d inform you all about it, however I’ve been sworn to secrecy till September.

I’ll give Earfun the good thing about the doubt. Auracast in all probability will work with the Air Professional 4 quickly. Simply not fairly but. What I’m loads much less obsessed with is the advanced set of steps to make it work. Maybe all earbuds that assist hi-res codecs might want to do one thing comparable — it’s nonetheless too early to know.

On the Air Professional 3, I discovered the contact controls somewhat inaccurate, however the Air Professional 4 have confirmed very dependable. Higher but, Earfun has added put on sensors to auto-pause your music once you take away an earbud. For some people, that single enchancment will probably be value the additional $10.

The Earfun app enables you to modify 4 gestures per earbud — good for management freaks.

Earfun has all the time supplied greater than ample battery life on its earbuds, and the Air Professional 4 up the numbers additional. From seven hours per cost with ANC on (Air Professional 3), to 7.5 hours. With ANC off, it goes from 9 hours (Air Professional 3) to 11 hours. And whole ANC off time is now 52 hours (versus 45).

Take into account that your alternative of codec and quantity degree will have an effect on these stats. LDAC is extra power-hungry than aptX so should you use LDAC and adaptive ANC collectively, playtime drops to 6 hours per cost.

Questioning if you can purchase the Earfun Air Professional 4? Until you personal the Soundcore Liberty 4 NC, don’t hesitate. With stable enhancements throughout the board, Earfun has delivered quite a lot of extras for under a tiny enhance in value. There’s some particular weirdness across the implementation of Bluetooth Auracast, however I don’t suppose that’s a purpose to keep away from them (it’s additionally very early days for this expertise). The Air Professional 4 are a superb worth and would possibly simply be the very best wi-fi earbuds beneath $100.






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