EarFun Air Pro 2 ANC earbuds deliver quality sound at a low price [Review]

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EarFun Air Pro 2 ANC Wireless Earbuds offer good sound for the price.
EarFun Air Pro 2 ANC Wireless Earbuds offer good sound for the price.
Photo: David Snow

If you’re looking to save a few bucks on true wireless earbuds with active noise cancellation, you could certainly do worse than the recently released EarFun Air Pro 2 ANC Wireless Earbuds. They deliver quality sound and a solid feature set for $79.99 — much cheaper than a lot of premium buds. And sometimes you can get them at an even lower price (see below).

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EarFun Air Pro 2 review

The EarFun Air Pro 2 ANC earbuds are an update on the company’s previous Air Pro earbuds, offered at the same price point since September 2020.

The new ones feature a more slender stem design, Bluetooth 5.2 connectivity rather than 5.0, a couple hours’ additional playtime, and enhancements for better clarity and noise-reduction for music as well as calls (two more microphones added, for a total of six).

Good earbuds, but you can’t have it all for $80

While the EarFun Air Pro 2 earbuds offer a number of premium features, they don’t have everything. They don’t come with their own app, for example. So, while you have plenty of options through numerous touch controls — once you get used to them — you can’t open an app on your iPhone and adjust an equalizer or change the level of noise cancellation, for example.

As I recently tried out a pair of Edifier Neobuds Pro ANC earbuds ($129) that came with an app — and are touted as a budget AirPods Pro competitor — I can say I missed the app alternative to tapping the sides of my head.

At their relatively low price, the EarFun earbuds have a much more workmanlike presentation out of the box than the Edifiers, and they come with a significantly shorter USB cable. But the Earfun buds, while not as sophisticated as the Neobuds, are comparable with them regarding sound quality — at least with ANC activated.

(Note that the comparison above did not involve the Neobuds’ Low Latency High Definition Audio Codec, LHDC, because the paired audio device used with both sets of earbuds does not support it.)

The EarFun buds also compared well for basic sound quality to a couple of other earphones I’ve tried and liked recently: The budget-friendly Tozo T12 wireless earbuds ($39.99) and the Beyerdynamic Soul Byrd wired earphones ($69). All devices were paired with an iPhone 13 Pro.

Sound quality with and without ANC

EarFun’s new earbuds offer three settings for noise cancellation: normal (none), ambient sound (like Transparency mode on AirPods Pro) and noise canceling. The sound of music with ANC fully engaged is lush and full, while the other two settings have a noticeably thinner sound.

More treble comes through with the normal and ambient settings than with full noise cancellation engaged. But the noise-canceling setting sounds much more luxurious, comparable to the sound of pricier products.

And the noise cancellation, advertised as effective up to 40dB (increased by 2dB over the previous model), will keep much of the world’s sound out of your ears while you listen to music or talk on the phone.

Speaking of talking on the phone, call clarity with the Air Pro 2 buds is good.

Too many touch controls?

Part of my issue with changing the noise cancellation level via touch has to do with it seeming inconsistent. You tap the left earbud and hold for two seconds to move to the next option. While it works, at times I had to do it a handful of times in a row to get that little voice to indicate I had shifted to the next setting.

The other touch controls are many and varied. To play or pause, tap twice on either earbud. To advance to the next track, tap three times on the right. For the previous track, tap thrice on the left. Tap once on the right to increase volume (though that sometimes paused music for me) and once on the left to decrease volume.

In a nutshell, it’s not super-easy to get used to all the tapping and holding. You find yourself asking, “Did it not work that time, or I am just a bad tapper?” It’s tempting to pull the smartphone out of your pocket for some adjustments, like changing the volume or advancing the track.

Notable features

  • 10mm titanium composite dynamic drivers
  • 40dB ANC, ambient sound and normal listening modes
  • 34 hours of playback time — 7 hours playback with earbuds alone, plus an additional 27 hours with USB-C charging case
  • IPX5 rating for sweat and water resistance
  • In-ear playback detection
  • Touch controls with volume adjustment and voice assistant activation
  • Single earbud mode with either earbud

Pricing and availability

If you’d rather not pay a premium price for premium earbuds, the Earfun Air Pro 2 ANC Wireless Earbuds are a solid choice. That’s not to say they’re equivalent to an AirPods Pro or a Sony WF-100XM4, but they’re worth considering alongside flagship earbuds from any number of manufacturers.

The Air Pro 2 buds come in one color scheme, a matte black casing with glossy black stems. They’re available at Earfun or at Amazon for $79.99. Earfun said the discount code EARFUN225 plus the coupon on the Amazon product page can get you up to 25% off that price, however.

Where to buy: Amazon

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