You would not really expect that much from a pair of Bluetooth earbuds that cost no more than $100. Nevertheless, the new EarFun Air Pro 4+ promises a lot when you look at the technical specifications. It boasts a particularly long battery life, new drivers, ANC, and other features that ought to make these inexpensive earbuds a good alternative for those who are on a tight budget. Our review reveals whether they can live up to this claim.

Pros

• Support LDAC and AptX Lossless codecs
• Fantastic battery life of up to 52 hours
• High level of customizability
• ANC works well in everyday use

Cons

• New drivers “screech” in the mid-frequency range
• Inserting the earbuds into the new charging case is a little awkward
• Wear detection is a little oversensitive

Price & Availability

The Air Pro 4+ is brand new, hot out of the oven. The manufacturer, EarFun, is now offering them in two color variants at an RRP of $99.99. However, the earbuds are already cheaper on Amazon. A 38 percent discount is available, dropping the price to $74.99. And it’s also cheaper than the RRP on the official website: if you use the code BNCAP4P when purchasing, you’ll end up with an asking price of only $75.99.

• Get the EarFun Air Pro 4+ Here

Unique Design & Good Workmanship

EarFun really dared to do something with the design of the Air Pro 4+! The charging case has been transformed from a classic clamshell design, with the earbuds on the side, into a rather unconventional look. Although you still open the case like a pocket mirror, the earbuds are now vertically positioned in the case.

Our impression was that this made inserting them a little more complicated. At the same time, the AirPro 4+ charging case is also slightly larger at 6.4 x 4.9 x 3.1 cm.

At first glance, the design of the earbuds themselves remained the same. However, EarFun now uses oval speaker grilles, which should ensure a better fit and optimized sound. Wearing comfort is very high thanks to the two included silicone tips. We also benefit from its IP55 certification against water and dust protection.

However, there is another problem when wearing it while being active. This is because the wear detection of the AirPro 4+ is extremely sensitive. During the review duration, music frequently stopped for no apparent reason. Fortunately, the function can be disabled in the settings. The same applies to the touch-sensitive surfaces on the sides of the earbuds.

Comfort Functions & App

There are plenty of settings to play with when it comes to the Air Pro 4+ in the EarFun app. We were already impressed by this app in other products from the manufacturer, courtesy of its good mix of clarity and range of functions. Throughout the review duration, for instance, we also liked how we could select the preferred microphone for calls or activate gaming mode with a lower latency of less than 50 ms.

The new EarFun earbuds also come with dual pairing again, support for Google’s FastPair technology, and boast of two functions for hearing health. We can limit the maximum volume and adjust the balance between the two earbuds via the menu. Hence, if you have poorer hearing in one ear, you can compensate for this — pretty nifty!

Sound Quality Reviewed: It has its Highs and Lows

The Air Pro 4+ changed the most in terms of its technical specifications. EarFun gave the earbuds Bluetooth 6.0 connectivity, dual drivers, and new 10 mm drivers. EarFun also used Qualcomm’s QCC3091 to process audio signals, which supports SBC, AAC, and LDAC codecs as well as the modern aptX lossless codec.

EarFun also incorporated other tricks into the earbuds to optimize the sound quality. These include a particularly lightweight balanced armature driver, which was designed to transport music into the ear canal at an optimal angle of 11°. But how do the Air Pro 4+ sound in reality?

First of all, you can really notice a difference whether you use the earbuds with LDAC or AAC codecs. Switching from the iPhone Air (review) to an LDAC-compatible Android smartphone ensured that individual instruments are much better differentiated from one another. This was even noticeable with Spotify content without the Lossless codec, and was especially stark with the LDAC codec activated, as the mids and highs were wonderfully clear. The bass was also sufficiently powerful with the EarFun Air Pro 4+.

The Air Pro 4+ also stood out positively in terms of customization. We don’t get an ultra-neutral sound profile like with the EarFun Free Pro 3 (review). However, the Air Pro 4+ allowed us to create individual equalizers and find out our individual sound profile via a listening test. The setup process was child’s play and less technical than the hi-fi options of the Free Pro models.

Like its predecessor — the EarFun Air Pro 4 — the Plus edition also comes with Auracast. This means the earbuds could be used to pick up the soundtrack from screens in public buildings, for instance. However, Auracast is not really widespread.

How the ANC Performed

Of course, the EarFun Air Pro 4+ also offers ANC (Active Noise Cancellation). Compared to the previous model, this is even more powerful and reacts as adaptive ANC either to the ambient noise or to noise that occurs directly around our head. For instance, we were able to reduce the volume of the loud ventilation system behind a supermarket by around 80 percent when we enabled it.

The only thing that could be improved here is its susceptibility to wind noise. When cycling, it is advisable to disable the ANC and set the headphones to “Normal”.

The Highlight? Its Battery Life is Phenomenal!

EarFun stated the earbuds have an impressive runtime of 54 hours. This means the manufacturer offers a wholesome 4.5 charges via the case of the otherwise 12-hour battery in the earbuds themselves. However, the EarFun Air Pro 4+ will not achieve these peak values with active ANC.

If you were to enable Active Noise Canceling, the runtime drops to 6 to 8 hours in our experience. These are still top values compared to other earbuds. If the earbuds do run out of charge, there is, of course, Quick Charging support. This charges the earbuds for 3 hours of audio playback with just 10 minutes of charging time. In this aspect, the inexpensive earbuds are definitely impressive.

Conclusion of the EarFun Air Pro 4+

In our portfolio of earbuds reviews and on the Internet, manufacturer EarFun has now established itself as an absolute price-to-performance champion. Needless to say, we had high expectations of the Air Pro 4+.

This time, the new earbuds only fulfilled these expectations partially. A battery life of 12 hours without ANC and 52 hours in combination with the charging case is beyond fault. Wearing comfort was pleasant, and thanks to the excellent EarFun app, the Air Pro 4+ is, once again, extremely customizable.

The new drivers, in which EarFun has obviously invested a great deal of research and work this time, also impressed us with a very high level of clarity thanks to support for LDAC and AptX Lossless codecs.

With an asking price of less than $100, the new Air Pro 4+ from EarFun is impressive. If you’re looking for affordable, feature-rich, and great-sounding in-ear headphones, you’ve come to the right place — especially if you’re an Android smartphone user.

By the way: During Black Friday weeks (November 20 to December 1), you can get the Air Pro 4+ for 38 percent less.

• Get the EarFun Air Pro 4+ Here