EarFun Air S review: Good feature set, performance for the price

Judged by specs alone, you’d assume the Earfun Air S true wi-fi earbuds would value considerably extra their $90 record worth. They use Bluetooth 5.2, help the aptX and AAC codecs for higher-resolution audio, promise energetic noise cancellation (ANC) to scale back ambient environmental noise, and are rated to final 6 hours on a cost.

Clever customers, nonetheless, know to not purchase a product primarily based on specs alone. The excellent news is that these inexpensive buds ship the necessities: They’re handsomely designed and cozy to put on. They’re additionally succesful musical performers—no less than while you’re indoors. In a comparatively sedate setting, the Air S ship well-articulated sound with whistle-clean highs, a heat and prepared midrange, and a fairly hefty, fairly well-defined backside finish.

Put on them open air, and their efficiency falls extra consistent with their price ticket. Extra on that in a bit.

The EarFun Air S provide a robust function set

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EarFun would really like customers to match its Air S to such higher-priced headphones because the Apple AirPods Pro (second generation) and the Sennheiser Momentum True Wi-fi 2. And on paper, no less than, the Air S holds up nicely in opposition to that competitors. Assist for Bluetooth 5.2, as an illustration, provides multipoint connection, so you possibly can pair the earbuds with two units—a smartphone and a pc, for instance—and immediately change between the 2 audio sources.

This overview is a part of TechHive’s in-depth protection of the best noise-cancelling headphones.

Avid gamers will recognize the headphone’s low Bluetooth latency: lower than the 100-millisecond threshold that the everyday particular person’s ears can detect. Take notice, nonetheless, that enabling low-latency mode reduces the vary over which the sign can journey.

A weatherization score of IPX5 signifies that the EarFun Air S can stand up to gentle water jets, so they need to be fully shielded from rain or sweat, however the producer makes no declare for defense from particulate matter (that explains the X within the IP code. You’ll discover everything you need to know about IP codes on the previous hyperlink.) Patrons also needs to pay attention to the warning to wipe dry the earbuds’ uncovered metallic contacts earlier than returning them to their charging case.

Throughout my analysis, the EarFun Air S delivered middle-of-the-road battery lifetime of about 5.5 hours with ANC turned off. That’s barely decrease than the 6 hours EarFun guarantees. However you possibly can recharge the buds 4 occasions by returning them to their charging case. The case itself helps wi-fi charging (a function as soon as reserved for higher-priced merchandise) or you possibly can plug a USB-C cable into it. Go the wired charging route with depleted earbuds within the case, and you will get two hours of listening after simply 10 minutes.

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Judging the EarFun Air S audio efficiency

The function that intrigues me most about these buds is their unusual 10mm wool composite dynamic drivers. Consciousness of this woven fiber development vegetation the subliminal thought that the Air S ship a hotter sound than most, however that materials is not only a gimmick. These earbuds ship candy, even-tempered sound with every kind of music.

They take advantage of every little thing from the generally slamming, generally achy-breaky alt rockers Paramore (loving their new set This Is Why), to the ever-thumping Latinx famous person Unhealthy Bunny, to jazz keyboard grasp Brad Mehldau’s recasting of The Beatles’ most attention-grabbing tunes on the attractive solo piano bundle Your Mom Ought to Know.

Jonathan Takiff/Foundry

I’ve been having fun with the Air S’s twin match/twin persona whereas listening indoors. Putting them frivolously—as in half-way—into my ears accentuates the readability of the mid- and high-frequency-ranges, whereas recessing the bass only a tad. I’ve most popular this mode for background listening—occasions once I must give attention to different issues. This positioning can be much less fatiguing and makes for a match so comfy I can put on them till the batteries run dry.

If you crave a extra partaking relationship, observe EarFun’s instructions to insert these buds into your ears after which twist the stem suggestions ahead to realize a tighter seal. The Air S’s persona shifts: The music grows extra intense and the bass kicks up with a vengeance.

Are the EarFun Air S good earbuds for touring?

As I’ve already hinted, the Air S listening expertise is diminished when the buds are worn open air. They simply can’t match the type of isolation-chamber detachment and massive daring sound {that a} top-notch—and far pricier—set of earbuds can ship. I’m speaking about headphones such because the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II or second-generation Apple AirPod Pros I reviewed not too long ago (you’ll discover a hyperlink to my in-depth comparability on the previous hyperlink).

For starters, the Air S have unimpressive energetic noise cancellation. Whereas using on a crosstown bus, the ANC damped some, however hardly all, of the bus’s engine rumble. Qualcomm, which manufactures the chipset in use right here, says its processing cuts noise by 30dB, however I’m not shopping for it. Turning on ANC did virtually nothing to squelch the sound of different patrons speaking in a espresso store. And once I went on walks, the earbuds would amplify the buffeting sound of a breeze blowing previous my ears.

Jonathan Takiff/Foundry

To get one of the best efficiency from the EarFun Air S, I might counsel customers change to the least-invasive “regular” sound setting and depend on passive noise discount. And while you insert them into your ears, push and twist them into place further firmly to realize the tightest attainable match. However these fixes work solely to a level, and just for some time.

Because the buds heat up in your ears, their silicone ear suggestions will turn into extra pliable, and also you’ll lose a few of the seal that blocks outdoors noise. I don’t have sweaty ears, however this saved occurring to me regardless of which measurement tip—small, medium, or giant—I used. Maybe EarFun ought to add an extra-large tip to the bundle? Or use stickier silicone?

The ear-modeling curvature of the Air S enclosures contributed to the issue as nicely. That design didn’t maintain the buds in place whereas bouncing down the block—no less than not in my ears. A set of ear hooks would most likely assist with this concern.

Bodily controls on the EarFun Air S

EarFun bit off greater than it could actually chew within the controls division. Typical of stem-style earbuds, there are touch-sensitive controls on the out-facing surfaces. However these surfaces are both too delicate or not delicate sufficient to register my fingers. I used to be nonetheless having issues controlling the earbuds by contact after three weeks of analysis. Single faucets (for quantity up/down and summoning my telephone’s voice assistant) too typically register as double faucets, whereas double faucets (for pause/play and answering telephone calls) are generally misinterpreted as triple faucets (play the following monitor or flip sport mode on and off).

There’s additionally no in-ear detection function. The music retains on taking part in even after I’ve eliminated each buds from my ears—until I return them to their case. In the long run, I discovered it far much less irritating to drag out my smartphone and launch the peerlessly responsive EarFun app—no less than once I wasn’t jogging.

A case of “you get what you pay for”

Should you’re on the lookout for reasonably priced earbuds for listening indoors, and you’ll reside with just a few flaws, the EarFun Air S ship good sound for a low worth. Simply keep in mind the idiom “you get what you pay for.”