EarFun Wave Pro Review
Update – May 2024
For “budget” gear, I don’t typically tend to update, but in the case of the EarFun Wave Pro, I felt compelled for a couple of good reasons.
First, the battery life is INSANE. If I had to charge a set of headphones every few days, I wouldn’t complain. Every week? I would be pleasantly surprised. Every couple of weeks? Now that’s amazing. But, once a month? You gotta be freakin kidding me! I have been using these as my daily drivers for a while now, and I have only had to charge them a couple of times.
Secondly, the ANC on these headphones is a game changer. I have used a lot of noise-cancelling headphones and earphones over the years. Most have been “decent”, meaning that they block out some ambient sounds. However, they never were ideal for things like mowing the lawn or using power tools. Not the EarFun Wave Pro headphones. I spent a couple of hours mowing, trimming and leaf blowing with barely a sound making it past my podcasts. In the past, I have settled for ANC which blocked out the loudest sounds but didn’t allow me to hear my music or podcasts well. No longer! I am in lawn care nirvana right now.
Lastly, there is the sound quality. After spending this long with them as my daily driver, and my new gaming headphones, they remain impressive for the price ($79). For $79, they have ANC, they work wired, and they have great sound. There was no time that I felt that I needed to turn them down because they were “breaking” apart. I usually have a honeymoon period with new gear, and then slowly I start to pick out flaws. I haven’t yet found anything to complain about with the EarFun Wave Pro headphones. They are as solid as the first day I tried them out.
The Verdict: Still a huge recommend and AV Gadget Approved!
Original Review
The majority of my earphone time is spent with in-ear models. Most of my time spent listening to media outside of my home theater is in the gym or doing yard work. While in-ear buds are convenient, I am hyper-vigilant that I may lose one to the abyss. That’s why I was happy when my editor asked for an EarFun Wave Pro review. I loved the EarFun Air 2 wireless earphones, so are these $79 over-the-ear headphones going to be the same killer value? Well, spoiler alert. The EarFun Wave Pro is a great-sounding set of cans with Active Noise Canceling (ANC), killer battery life, and Hi-Res Audio/LDAC. Oh and did I mention they are $79? Let’s discuss.
Specs For The EarFun Wave Pro
In The Box
The EarFun Wave Pro comes with a dark grey, hard, carrying case. Inside are the EarFun Wave Pro headphones, instructions, a USB-C charging cable, and a 3.5mm audio cable that allows you to hardwire to your devices. I love the 3.5mm cable as it allows me to plug directly into my Xbox controller when I want to game more quietly.
The case is nicely padded and has a molded portion for your headphones, keeping them securely in place. Let me point out again that these are $79 headphones. Not too bad in my books.
Looks/Quality of the EarFun Wave Pro Earphones
I like the subdued look of the EarFun Wave Pros. They have a matte dark grey finish, with the ear cups and headband cushion made from a black leather-like material. A small silver accent on the exterior of the earcups sets them off nicely.
The headband is plastic with an aluminum support that provides rigidity and some spring in the band. It doesn’t feel flimsy at all. The earcups themselves rotate 90 degrees and fold upwards to allow a more compact form factor when in the case.
Comfort, Controls, And Battery Life
The EarFun Wave Pro has four tactile buttons for controls. There is an up/down volume rocker, a power button, and an ANC button that cycles through the ANC modes. You can customize the volume +/- rocker and NC buttons to control items like play/pause, track skipping, and even your voice assistant.
I find the EarFun Wave Pro comfortable to wear. They fit my head perfectly without having to adjust them at all. The pad sits firmly across the top of my head, and the earcups have enough pressure to seal off my ears without crushing my skull. I think I have the “average” head they model this stuff for because I never had to adjust my earphones or change out tips in my in-ear stuff. I let others in my family test out the fit and they reported that the headphones were comfortable.
The only minor complaint I have is using the EarFun Wave Pro while working out with weight benches. No matter how I positioned them, the EarFuns would inevitably fall off my ears while doing a flat bench type of movement. Not a huge deal-breaker, but maybe be aware of this on chest day!
Battery life is impressive. I charged the EarFun Wave Pro headphones when I got them and have been wearing them to the gym and around the house for the last week and I am at around 97%. That is also with their strong ANC operating. I think that their 80-hour claim is conservative, and if you wear these with no ANC, you will get significantly more life! Check-in later to see how good the battery is. I will not recharge these till they hit 10%!
The App
The EarFun Wave Pro uses the same EarFun app as my Air 2’s. It allows you to see the battery life, update firmware, activate game mode, set controls, and use the equalizer. The app is easy to use and navigate, so there is no steep learning curve.
The EQ allows you to select the standard/pre-installed EQs or to set your own. Changing the EQ is as simple as selecting which band you wish to change, and moving it up and down with the slider.
Sound Quality Of The EarFun Wave Pro Headphones
For my test of the EarFun Wave Pro headphones, I used a Bluetooth connection to my iPhone 15+. Apple Music Lossless is how I stream all my music. I set my device to stream all songs at ALAC 24-bit/48Hz. Before you remind me that Apple Music is capable of 24-bit/192Hz, I know. But I need an external DAC for that, so 48Hz is more than good enough. The EQ was set to the default EarFun EQ and I turned off any processing in my Apple Music app. Any podcasts were through my Apple Podcast app, and gaming was via 3.5mm to my controller.
Music
I say this every review – I have an eclectic series of playlists that swing wildly between all genres. My playlist has jazz, alternative, rock, rap, hip-hop, classical, and heavy metal intermixed. That means that I will be able to put the EarFun Wave Pro headphones through their paces.
The stereo imaging and panning on the Wave Pro’s is excellent. My primary test song is Everything In Its Right Place by Radiohead. The music panned from left to right and centered impressively well. If you are not familiar with this song, it can be pretty chaotic and can be hell on lesser headphones. The Wave Pros left me with a pretty big smile on my face.
I would think that the EarFun Wave Pro headphones measure fairly neutral. That is to say that there are no exaggerated highs and lows that would make them bright or bassy. They are decidedly not bass-heavy, and that is a good thing. Lots of audio gear goes with that smiley-face curve, meaning exaggerated highs and lows. I found that the EarFun Pros had accurate bass and treble, and were neither shrill nor boomy.
Whether you listen to them at low or high volumes, the fidelity is excellent. The headphones don’t distort at higher volumes. That said, they are well sealed over your ears and have 40mm drivers. They can get uncomfortably loud, so safeguard your hearing! I found that their sweet spot was 35-75 percent of the max volume for my music.
Podcasts
I consume a lot of Podcasts (like AV Rant) in my downtime or when doing cardio or yard work. Since I listen to spoken word media at higher volumes, I want clear headphones that don’t distort. The EarFun Wave Pro were very clear, and I didn’t find them harsh or shrill. Plus, because the ANC on the Wave Pros is effective, I don’t need to crank the volume to drown out sounds around me.
Gaming
Gaming was great on the EarFun Wave Pro headphones. The sound was well balanced, with music, action, and vocals blending well. Even at low volumes, everything was crisp and clear. The one complaint I had of my gaming headphones is that action sounds were too loud, and spoken words too muffled. This would mean that I would have to go into the setting for each game and boost or lower individual parts.
The EarFun Wave Pro’s didn’t suffer from that. The dialogue was intelligible at any volume, and the action or music wasn’t overpowering.
Since I hardwired these into my controller, there was zero lag.
Noise Cancelling
The ANC on the EarFun Wave Pro is excellent. There are options for normal, ambient (it amplifies the world around you), wind, Comfort ANC, and Strong ANC modes. The Comfort ANC is great for most rooms and will drown out a lot of external noise.
EarFun’s Strong ANC is so good that I could hear my heartbeat. When I activated it, I thought that the air purifier that I was sitting next to shut off. I wore these at the gym on Strong ANC and it drowned out the clanging of the weights and music from the overhead speakers. If only it would drown out the smell!
There are five mics around the headphones, so even in strong wind, they were pretty effective at cancelling out the noise.
Our Take
At $79, it’s pretty hard to find any faults with the EarFun Wave Pro headphones. They offer impressive battery life and quality sound, are comfortable, look stylish, AND have ANC. Oh, and they have a case!
I feel uneasy when I can’t point out faults with a review product because I feel like I am not being objective. However, I think my EarFun Wave Pro review balances any criticisms (which are none) against the market segment of these headphones. I feel confident in saying that the EarFun Wave Pro will stack up well against more expensive competitors.
So if you are looking for a set of headphones that look great, sound great, and won’t break the bank, check out the EarFun Wave Pro!
