Earfun Air Pro Review – Doin’ it Right

Comparisons –

Lypertek TEVI ($109): The TEVI is a more audio-focused model and remains one of the best sounding TWS earphones I’ve heard at any price. It is smaller but isn’t as stable fitting. It has no ANC or aware mode but strong passive noise isolation. It has a sub-bass boost but is otherwise very faithful to the diffuse-field neutral curve so the two earphone sound remarkably different. Where the Air Pro is bassy and full, the TEVI is clean and precise but also with a lot less warmth and body. The Air Pro has a lot more mid-bass fulness and punch, the TEVI is far more controlled and defined through the bass but simply has a lot less of it which won’t be to every listener’s tastes. To specify, the TEVI is clearly targeting those coming from a wired audio enthusiast earphone rather than regular consumers.

The midrange is more coherent and linear on the TEVI. Both are natural, the TEVI sounds less coloured with a bit more lower-midrange body and a smoother upper-midrange. The Air Pro is higher contrast, with greater clarity but less coherence and it is a lot more laid-back. The treble is smoother on the TEVI, but it has better driver quality, delivering more bite and definition. The Air Pro is a bit more present here relative to the midrange, making it more articulate. Its tuning is equally even, in fact, slightly more so, but it lacks the same resolving power and air above. The TEVI has a wider stage especially and sharper imaging. It has better separation too.

1More ANC TWS ($149): I considered the ANC TWS a high-value earphone and, stunningly, it is almost twice the price of the Air Pro. For that money, the ANC performance is impressively close, the 1More does cancel low-frequencies stronger. The Air Pro’s are a sleeker design while the 1More has a more locked-in fit with its ring stabilizers. The 1More’s have a similar approach to tuning as the Air Pro’s with two key differences. The bass is slightly cleaner with less mid-bass focus and it has a brighter, more energetic treble response. The hybrid driver configuration here gives the 1More a big advantage on technical performance.

Bass extends deeper and delivers a tighter slam. The Air Pro has a bit more bass, sounding fuller, but it is also tubbier and softer around the edges, lacking the same texture. The 1More’s also have a laid-back midrange, it has slightly more upper-mid bias and a bit more warmth and coherence. The Air Pro’s are slightly cleaner and less coloured here but are also a little more laid-back due to the bigger bass. The 1More’s have a crisper, brighter treble. It sounds much more detailed with its BA tweeter, albeit, treble is also peakier and thinner – I actually found the Air Pro to be more balanced and accurate here, albeit not as defined and detailed. The 1More’s also provide a more spacious stage, however, if you are averse to brightness but still want a full, punchy bass, I can see some preferring the tuning on the Air Pro.

Sony WF-1000XM4 ($279): The class-leader on noise cancellers coming in cool at almost 4x the price. The Sony’s are larger but more stable fitting. They have an app with eQ and customizable controls. The ANC is better in all regards, call quality is slightly clearer. The Sony’s have a more balanced sound with less of a bass shelf, they are more coherent overall. The Air Pro is more engaging with higher contrast. The Sony’s have a higher quality driver, it is faster and cleaner, delivering more defined notes and a more detailed sound throughout.

The Air Pro is a little cleaner tonally in the midrange but also less coherent. It has more bass and impact but isn’t as tight as the Sony’s. The top-end is even and well-tuned on both, the Air Pro has a softer note attack so it lacks the same bite and detail of the Sony. The Sony also has better extension and soundstaging. This is all to be expected, but in reality, if you prefer a bassy sound, the Air Pro’s tuning is equally refined to the far pricier Sony’s, just don’t expect the same detail retrieval and smart features.

Verdict –

The Air Pro is an interesting product that sums up the ethos of its two creators well. Both Earfun and Edifier ride this line between true audio enthusiast products – with Earfun’s Oluv collaboration and Edifier’s acquisition of STAX – and general consumer gear. This makes sense when looking at business from both a marketing and sales POV. While I was disappointed by the lack of codec support and incompatibility with Edifier’s smartphone app, overall, the Air Pro represents a very solid value proposition. Upon first use, it was apparent that the Air Pro was made by a company that knows audio. Sure, it’s bassy and consumer orientated, but the midrange and high-end are masterfully tuned and compensated to provide a natural listening experience. This means that using them for video content where bass isn’t as present, you still get clear, clean vocals. Combined with effective ANC, stellar aware mode and call quality, this is surely one of the best all-rounders you’ll find at a pretty sub-$100 price point.

The Air Pro is available from Addicted to Audio (Australia) for $129 AUD at the time of writing. I am not affiliated with Busisoft, Earfun or Addicted to Audio and receive no earnings from purchases made through these links.