Earfun’s new earbuds bring cutting-edge features for a third the price of AirPods Pro
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Having released a range of well-received products over the past few years, including the Earfun Air Pro and Earfun UBoomL, affordable audio brand Earfun has built a solid reputation for quality sound at wallet-friendly prices. With the latest new release, the brand is breaking new ground entirely, with its new true wireless EarFun Air Pro 3 earbuds claimed to be the world’s first sub-$100 noise-cancelling earbuds to offer next-generation Bluetooth LE Audio technology .
The Earfun Air Pro 3 is now available directly from Earfun’s website (opens in new tab) or Amazon, and are priced at $79.99 / £79.99 (they’re not available in Australia).
LE Audio is the latest iteration of the Bluetooth transmission standard that uses a new codec called LC3 that improves both sound quality and battery life. LC3 is able to compress and decompress audio data more efficiently than previous codecs, meaning Bluetooth wireless chips can do their job without using as much power – and it’s capable of higher quality at the same time.
As if that weren’t enough, the Air Pro 3 also offers support for Qualcomm’s apt-X Adaptive audio codec, capable of delivering 16-bit.44.1kHz CD-quality audio over Bluetooth. The codec also provides low latency performance when streaming from devices that support the Qualcomm standard.
Support for LE Audio means there’s also support for Auracast technology that lets you seamlessly switch between audio playing from two different devices, so you can share audio with nearby friends or hear sounds spoken to large numbers of people in public places. spaces are streamed. (Auracast won’t be activated for a while, though.)
By comparison, Apple’s AirPods Pro 2 came out late last year and don’t support LE Audio or any Hi-Res Audio transmission standard — the Earfuns have some significant feature advantages over some of the best wireless earbuds available today that cost three times as much.
Running on the latest Bluetooth 5.3 standard, the new headphones also feature active noise cancellation, the QuietSmart 2.0 hybrid ANC system, which delivers a claimed ambient noise reduction of up to 43dB. We’ve reviewed the original Earfun Air Pro as the best noise-canceling earbuds for the price, so we’ll see if these can pick up the mantle.
The call quality of the earbuds’ built-in mics – so often an Achilles heel for even the best TWS headphones – promises to impress, too. Wind interference is dampened by a special algorithm that works constantly to reduce wind noise from the tri-mic array in each button, while the Air Pro 3s also feature Qualcomm’s cVc 8.0 echo cancellation and noise reduction to further improve call quality.
There’s IPX5-level water and sweat resistance, meaning they’re fine for use in light rain, while battery life is nine hours on a single charge of the earbuds, with the USB-C storage case providing a further 36 hours. can handle. backup juice. That’s 45 hours in total – it’s one of the best we’ve seen, assuming it holds up in practice.
Analysis: Well-specified earbuds should mean new Bluetooth fun for everyone
From their hyper-budget EarFun Air TWS in-ears to their Earfun UBoom L travel speaker, EarFun has been quietly rolling out a steady stream of devices over the past 18 months that exceed their price point.
However, they seem to be stepping up the game big time with the Air Pro 3s, with a feature list that puts high-end earbuds to shame. These have better connectivity technology than the Sony WF-1000XM4 or Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II!
LE Audio has had us tech audio enthusiasts waiting with bated breath for devices to support the feature since it was first announced a few years ago, and they’ve been rolling out for a while – but we’re surprised by how quickly it’s coming the best cheap wireless earbuds, as the feature is not yet supported by phones. (It was supposed to be included in Android 13, but hasn’t been activated yet, it seems.)
While we fully expect many more earbuds with LE Audio to follow in the wake of the Air Pro 3, few will beat them in terms of price.
Will the sound of the earbuds live up to their long list of features? While you wait for the full TechRadar review, check out our current list of the best true wireless earbuds.