“Sound quality and noise-canceling beat many earbuds at twice this price.”
Pros
- Comfortable fit
- Good sound quality courtesy of in-app EQ
- Impressive ANC performance
- Customizable controls
- Multipoint support
Cons
- Poor battery life
- Finicky touch controls
- Default sound needs tweaking
EarFun is the form of company that tries to take less of your money because it makes products of the low cost, cheerful, and reasonably priced kind. That features wireless earbuds, where it has at all times buttered its bread on undercutting competitors by offering good value relative to cost.
That’s what the EarFun Air S are presupposed to be, presenting a package of features for $70 that might make you are feeling such as you got an important deal each time you place them on. Whether or not it’s the form of deal you’d need to make relies on what compromises you’re willing to simply accept.
What’s within the box
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EarFun includes 4 pairs of ear suggestions, from x-small to large, broadening the very best possible fit options barely enough for more listeners. You furthermore may get a brief USB-C charging cable and a user manual. The opposite unique addition is a cleansing stick, whose purpose is to maintain the magnetic connectors clean, thus avoiding any prospect of the earbuds not charging while you put them within the case.
Design
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As one more pair of earbuds drawing inspiration from the AirPods, the Air S have stems with thicker buds, which is to say they bear a robust resemblance to many other reasonably priced pairs on the market. After I first unboxed them and examined the construct and design, I kept considering of brands like Anker, Soundpeats, Tribit, Edifier, and others — all of which routinely experiment with similar designs or form aspects.
I discovered the construct good to remain in place for longer listening stretches.
That’s to say, the Air S don’t stand out for his or her looks, they follow a well-recognized formula to maintain things neutral. Should you’re not seeking to turn any heads and just want the functionality, then chances are you’ll care little concerning the aesthetics, but when you are in search of a bit flash, I’m undecided these are it. To me, they’re not bad, though I did find it off-putting that the EarFun logo appeared the other way up on the left earbud.
The nice thing is that they are quite comfortable, and the eartip selection all but ensures it, as you’re greater than likely going to seek out a pair that suits you. Neither too thick nor too thin and slippery, I discovered the construct good to remain in place for longer listening stretches without feeling like they were about to fall out.
The onboard controls are plentiful but finicky to operate.
Mind you, they’re a bit delicate. Despite a matte finish, the earbuds and case showed scuffs and scratches more easily than I expected. The IPX5 protection is okay for the odd run or workout, though I might recommend vigilantly cleansing them after sweating with them on. They’ll do a reasonably good job staying in place when you move, but in the event that they get slippery, you’ll need to adjust them along the best way.
The onboard controls are plentiful. Tap once on the correct to lift the quantity, once on the left to lower it. Twice to play/pause, thrice on the correct to skip a track. I used to be wondering why the manual omitted the triple tap to repeat a track on the left earbud, only to find EarFun assigned that function to toggle Game mode on and off. Tap and hold on the correct prompts the phone’s voice assistant, while doing it on the left toggles between energetic noise cancelation (ANC) and ambient mode. For calls, tapping twice answers or ends a call, while a triple tap can switch between two concurrent calls, which is pretty cool.
Ted Kritsonis / Digital Trends
The one problem is those controls are finicky to the purpose where attempting that may inadvertently end each calls. It’s the state of affairs across the board with the controls, which I discovered inconsistent and difficult to master. That’s a shame for the reason that EarFun app offers a technique to customize what the controls do. Assuming the corporate issues a firmware update that may in some way fix that, it’s a learning curve that may carry on for a while.
The Air S support multipoint connections, albeit not quite as seamless as other earbuds do. I could pair to 2 devices without delay, only switching between them is entirely manual, meaning the earbuds don’t at all times switch from one device to a different robotically. For example, if I would like to change to listening to music on a phone from a tablet, I actually have to manually select the Air S within the Bluetooth menu. Tapping play on the phone doesn’t wake the earbuds into motion in any automatic way.
This may need been an issue with our review model — other reviewers haven’t reported similar problems. Thankfully, in cases where it’s music on one device, and a phone call on one other, it stayed connected to the phone I used to be using for the decision.
EarFun app and custom settings
I prefer it when cheaper earbuds include good app support, and EarFun does a superb job with the Air S. I discussed the customizable touch controls, and you’ll be able to stay up for a reasonably good set of EQ settings on top of that. It comes with 4 presets and a six-band EQ you’ll be able to tinker with to create your personal. The earbuds at all times remember the last preset you selected, keeping things consistent each time you’re taking them out for a listen.
The Air S sound considerably higher than the Third-Gen AirPods.
Under the settings, you too can go to Mode Switching and choose when you only need to toggle between ANC and Ambient, leaving Normal mode out, toggle between all three, or simply follow one. There may be a toggle for Game mode, which reduces latency, and works well enough for gaming and watching shows or movies. Firmware updates route through the app, and I saw one come through during my testing. In my experience, EarFun has shown a willingness to support its products, so here’s hoping that continues with the Air S.
A product tutorial and FAQ are also in there, together with a “The way to Wear” section in case you wish a refresher on find out how to get these buds to suit good.
Sound quality
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EarFun tuned the Air S to follow a balanced soundstage, yet as an alternative of skewing further toward the bass, as so many inexpensive earbuds do, these actually go easy on the lows. Bass response is flat from the beginning, never really hitting its stride unless you force the difficulty within the EQ. With middling mids, the highs stand out more, as I noticed when fooling around with the bands to see what form of sound I could finagle via pure experimentation.
Despite the awkward beginnings, I discovered that boosting the bass and mids, while leaving the highs somewhat restrained delivered a reasonably punchy sound, no matter song or genre. It was more work to get there than I managed with the Anker Soundcore Life P3 or Soundpeats Air3 Pro, for instance. Each of those got here through with cleaner sound out of the box, and the Life P3 particularly stand out for Anker’s excellent app support.
The irony, at the very least for me, is that the Air S sound considerably higher than the newer Third-Gen AirPods, mainly since the EQ presents wider audio flexibility, and the tighter fit keeps those tunes from leaking away out of your ears. That puts the $70 price tag in greater perspective as a $100 savings over Apple’s iconic earbuds. For the budget-conscious, the Air S would need to be a win, given the general discrepancies I’ve observed. It also doesn’t hurt that EarFun includes support for SBC, AAC, and aptX Bluetooth codecs, the latter of which aren’t a part of the AirPods’ repertoire.
Canceling noise, letting it in
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Not to maintain beating up on the AirPods, but as they don’t have ANC support, the Air S take one other shot at being the worth alternative. Noise cancellation on these earbuds impressed me, doing a superb job at blocking out low-frequency sounds in ways I haven’t at all times noticed on earbuds at double the worth. It struggles more with higher frequencies, and certain pitches will slip through the cracks, but all told, the outcomes are definitely nothing to scoff at.
Incidentally, when you leave the controls as is, in order that ANC activates by tapping and holding the left bud for 2 seconds, it finally ends up being essentially the most consistent of all of the controls. I used to be in a position to easily toggle between ANC and ambient after I desired to block out noise and after I needed to listen to it.
Ambient mode is wonderful for what it’s, adequate enough to listen to the background or engage someone in conversation without removing the earbuds. I discovered it fitting and about right for a pair of earbuds on this price range, though I’ll give the Air S a nod for good phone call quality, especially in quieter settings. In louder environments, background sounds can get through, making calls tougher on each side.
Battery life
Ted Kritsonis / Digital Trends
EarFun won’t be a lot fun in relation to battery life. It rates the Air S at as much as six hours with ANC off, and five hours with it on. I can all but guarantee you won’t hit those numbers. One reason is volume levels, where creeping it up will knock the battery down. It’s the identical with Game mode, when you find yourself using that, too. In my testing, I heard a verbal low battery warning — a pleasant touch — after about three hours and 45 minutes. That’s with ANC on, or a mixture of ANC and ambient.
By any measure, or any price, those aren’t great numbers, and yet, they’re right according to the AirPods. What’s interesting is the case, being noticeably larger than that of the AirPods, carries one other five charges. That’s another than Apple’s, overall, but more importantly, a obligatory feature since the Air S will probably be sitting of their cradles to charge often.
You get wireless charging, which is good, though no fast charging ability. The earbuds will take about an hour to totally charge from empty when you’ve placed them of their case. There may be fast charging, or at the very least what passes for it. EarFun claims the Air S can play for as much as two hours on a 10-minute charge, nevertheless it’s actually closer to twenty minutes. And the 2 hours may be very elastic since the batteries within the earbuds are so sensitive to the features and volume levels you ultimately use.
What I discovered interesting concerning the EarFun Air S is that they have tough competition from not-so-well-known brands in the identical price bracket, while also standing out as solid alternatives to the favored AirPods. They might not have spatial audio, the very best controls, or the clearest phone calls, but they sound higher, cancel noise, fit tighter, and have an app with more customization.
For $70, it’s hard to argue against that combination, and there’s at all times the likelihood the worth drops to pile up the savings much more. Not bad for a pair of buds that aren’t all that exceptional in a decent market, nevertheless it’s also why the Soundcore Life P3 are a greater bet when you’re willing to pay a bit extra for them.
Editors’ Recommendations
