You never judge a book by it’s cover. When I was first approached me to review the Earfun Air Pro 4, I was not sure what to expect. I took it on anyway, because that is what we do here at DRN – review and test gear honestly.
For a change of pace, I enlisted my fifteen year old audiophile son to road test these. He is always listening to something, if it’s not music then he is talking to friends, or a podcast. It is a coping mechanism for noise sensitivity – he takes control of what he listens to.
Getting Hands On
When the Earfun Air Pro 4 first arrived, the overwhelming first impression is that these are generic earbuds.
They look like paddle pops that bares some passing resemblance to the fruit company’s product. There is just some subtle highlights, such as the branding on the paddle part of the earbuds, and a circular ring at the top that is the controls.
The charging case is surprisingly compact, making it easy to just slip into a pocket and go. Yes as Liam found out a few times, also surprisingly easy to slip out of pockets too.
Technical specs wise, these comes with:
- 10mm composite drivers
- 6 microphones
- Bluetooth 5.4
- Google Fastpair
- Multi point connection
- Adaptive Hybrid ANC
- support for aptX and LDAC codecs
- Auracast
On paper it is no slouch. Let’s see what a picky teenager says.
It’s All About Connections
The Earfun Air Pro 4 has Bluetooth 5.4 support. It’s not the latest but there are not too many devices out there with Bluetooth 6. QCY has one off the top of my head, but Earfun is inline with the market here.
Connection is pretty straightforward. There are rarely issues although sometimes it seems to take longer than others. It is almost like it is thinking about it, but eventually gets over the line.
I didn’t hear much complains from Liam on this one. It could mean one of two things:
- it did not bother him enough
- he never disconnect long enough for this to matter
The All Important Audio Experience
One of the first impressions after using the Earfun Air Pro 4, was a comment that the earbud design was a bit awkward.
When pushed to give a bit more details (teenagers right? It’s like pulling teeth), it was explained as it was not uncomfortable, however it was quite dominant to fill the ear canal.
Bearing in mind that he is just an average size fifteen year old, he would have needed to swap to the smaller tips for a better fit. It helps with passive noise cancelling but you do not quite escape the feeling of blockage when the fit is tight.
His test tracks are:
- Ga1ahad and Scientific Witchery by Mili
- Dandelion by Iyowa
In Liam’s words, these two songs make for interesting benchmarks of audio quality due to their unique properties.
The Ga1ahad and Scientific Witchery has an incredibly dynamic and intense composition. The lead in is spearheaded by a piano piece, supported by string instruments and drums, all underscored by synth. When the vocals grabs the spotlight when it finally kicks into gear. As a test track, it stresses the soundstage with the composition bouncing from one side to another. Lesser earbuds have faltered here.
Dandelion is a chaotic track with an unique audio tuning. It is not my style personally, but the boy loves it.
The conclusion he drew was that the default tuning of the Earfun Air Pro 4 is bass heavy, which led to more complex elements of songs being overturned or just very muffled. The sound stage feels a little tight and lacks a full immersive experience.
This could be alleviated to a large degree with the Earfun App, which puts to shame some of the big name competitors. It comes with thirty presets and a 10-band custom EQ so you can squeeze a bit more customised profile out to your liking.
Call Quality
If there is an Archille’s Heel with the Air Pro 4, it is in the noise cancelling with calls.
Where there is little background noise, the earbuds performs just fine.
When the background noise start to ramp up, the Air Pro 4 noise cancelling algorithm can get pretty aggressive. It makes the talker almost unintelligible at times.
On the bright side, teenagers will only text me generally (or should I say, occasionally?). It is rare for me to call him so this is less of an issue for my use case. It may be a deal breaker for those who rely heavily on the microphones.
Battery Life
This is where the Earfun Air Pro 4 shines. They are rated for up to eleven hours of use on a single charge. With the charging case, you can get up to an incredible fifty-two hours of play time.
We didn’t test this one scientifically Judging by how often I see these in the kid’s ears through a whole day, I would say that 11 hour claim is not too far off with noise cancelling turned off.
Other Features
Aside from what was mentioned earlier, the Air Pro 4 comes with a Game Mode using a super low latency with aptX-adaptive codec.
It has a “Find my Earbuds” function based on last known location.
And for those who are multi lingo or have a preference, the voice prompt language can be set to Mandarin or Japanese rather than English.
Last. the Air Pro 4 has a IPX5 rating which makes the sweat and water resistant.
The Verdict
I will take it straight from the horse’s mouth. “Overall, I found these earbuds to be the gold standard of low cost earbuds, high quality, decent sound quality and great quality of life features. A nice case, comfortable albeit a little awkward earbud design and an in-bud microphone makes it more than worth the price tag.”
So despite some shortcomings, Liam was more than happy to use these as his daily drivers.
The Earfun Air Pro 4 are available from their website or Amazon Au for RRP A$143.35. Colourways include Black, Glossy White, Royal Blue and Violet. Depending on the colour, they are currently on a hefty discount for as low as A$89.96, and are certainly one of the better offerings as an overall package.
DRN would like to thank Earfun for providing the review unit.
Key Specifications
Advanced Qualcomm QCC3091 SoC with aptX Lossless Audio Tech & Bluetooth 5.4
Hi-Res Audio & Snapdragon Sound Dual Certifications with LDAC Codec Support
10mm Composite Dynamic Drivers for Lossless Astonishing Sound
QuietSmart 3.0 Adaptive Noise Cancellation up to 50dB
Enhanced 6-mic + AI algorithm + cVc 8.0 tech for Superior Clarity Call Quality
Personalise Your Buds with EarFun Audio App
Multi-device Connectivity with Auto-Pairing
<50ms Ultra Low Latency Mode for Better Video & Gaming Experience
Ultra-compact design & Secure Ergonomic Fit
IPX5 Sweat & Water Resistant
52-hour Playtime: 11 Hours + 41 Hours with Charging Case
Fast Charging, 10 Min Charging = 2 Hours Playtime
Wireless Charging Compatible
In-ear Detection
Google Fast Pair supported
Auracast & LE Audio supported : available via firmware update only
