Headphone Reviews

Performance
Features
Comfort
Value

Noise-canceling true wireless buds for $60? What's the catch? In the Earfun Free Pro's case, it's not-great ANC, primarily. But with surprisingly decent sound quality, battery life, and comfort, these Earfuns prove you don't need to spend hundreds of bucks to get a decent set of wireless buds.

I was quite frankly stunned by the robust sound the cheap Earfun Free Pros provided. You get bouncy if over-emphasized bass in an otherwise airy, open soundstage—a perfect combination for today's pop chart-toppers.

While the Earfun's noise-canceling isn't as effective as the other buds in this roundup, it did eliminate around half of the most egregious airplane engine drone, though I was able to hear some remaining hum even with loud music playing. But external voices were dampened nearly as effectively as with the more expensive ANC buds, and they were effectively eliminated once music playback began. However, the Free Pro's ambient listening mode is useless, with external voices sounding essentially the same as in the ANC Off mode. Bottom line: You will need to remove the Free Pro buds from your ears to clearly hear announcements or conduct conversations.

While there is no app to customize sound or controls, the Earfun Free Pro is otherwise packed with convenience features. They can be charged via the included USB-C cable or on a Qi wireless charging pad. You can use single buds in mono mode, and you can control both track playback and volume level via on-bud taps. Unfortunately, removing a bud does not automatically pause music playback.

The Earfun also has surprisingly good battery life: up to 6 hours playback with ANC on and 27 hours with recharges, and 7 hours plus 32 hours with recharges with ANC off. It takes 3.5 hours for a total recharge of the depleted case and buds, and 10 minutes of quick- charging yields 2 additional listening hours.

The Earfun Free Pro buds are the tiniest and lightest I auditioned, which is both a good and a bad thing. In the good column, the buds are incredibly light and felt barely there over several hours of listening. Four sets of silicone ear tips are included, although I did have problems getting a tight noise-isolating fit even with the default largest size. You get two sizes of stabilizing ear wings, though the buds barely protrude and are unlikely to be accidentally dislodged. In the bad column, I had some minor difficulties digging the tiny buds out of their case and also out of my ears once they were twisted in. The Earfun Free Pro case also weighs a next-to-nothing 1.48 ounces, and at less than one-inch-wide it will slip easily into a pocket.

The Verdict
Inexpensive buds with bass- heavy but otherwise clean sound, the Earfun Free Pros are best for basic everyday use rather than noise-isolation during travel.