As an audio reviewer, I get sent a lot of great stuff to review, some on loan, others to keep. It’s a privilege I am most grateful for, and one of the joys of my life, but it creates a problem sometimes. When you have the opportunity to try so much fantastic and fantastically expensive stuff without having to budget for it, it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that others are not as fortunate and have to fit their purchases into a work-a-day budget. Early on, I bought many of the items I reviewed and it kept that in perspective, but as your reputation grows, so do the offers of free stuff (and the loan offers of very expensive stuff) and without even realizing it, my grounding in reality has slowly eroded.
It is for that reason that I have been doing a number of more economical headphone reviews of late with models like the Final UX2000, Sennheiser Accentum, and today’s topic, the EarFün Wave Pro ($79.99). Expect to see a few more affordable offerings including the JLab JBuds Lux and a second look at the 1More SonoFlow coming soon as well.
There is a battle raging in the $75-$150 headphone market today. Big brands like Sennheiser and lesser known names like EarFun are competing for consumer dollars by delivering the most features, highest sound quality and longest battery life into a headphone as possible, while keeping prices in a range that most will find palatable.
EarFun was founded in China in 2018 and has released a series of well-regarded in-ear models since then. The Wave Pro is EarFün’s first foray into over-ear headphones and it comes at a time when the market couldn’t be more crowded, so it has a real challenge to break through the noise to become a staple in the market. Retail price is $79.99 with Amazon currently offering a 20% off coupon that reduces out of pocket cost to roughly $70, including tax and delivery for US consumers. Similar offers may be available on Amazon and other e-commerce sites in other countries.
With that as a background, I’ll admit I was more than a bit skeptical when asked to review these. The company had never produced an over-ear headphone before: Strike one! They are priced so inexpensively, you know some corners had to be cut to meet that price point: Strike two! It’s a closed back wireless model with ANC (Active Noise Cancellation): Strike Three… or so I thought. Let’s face it: most inexpensive ANC headphones don’t hold up well when compared to premium models like the B&W Px8 or Sony XM5. So it’s hard not to judge them against the strongest performers even if doing so is completely unfair.
What’s In the Box?
When the EarFün Wave Pro arrived, I was pleasantly surprised as it shipped in a hard case which was more than I expected. The kit was pretty simple with the headphones, case, manual, 3.5mm cable, and USB type-C charging cable included. But the case was surprisingly well thought out with a pocket for cables inside, and the molded cutout for the headphones even has L and R marked for ease of returning the headphones to the case. That seems like a small thing until you have to fold a headphone 4 different ways to finally figure out how to get it back in the case (been there, done that).
Fit ‘n Finish
The EarFün Wave Pro headphones themselves are mostly built from polymer materials with a metal headband with memory foam lining and pads covered in protein leather. The headband, pads, and controls are matte black with the gimbals, cups, and hinges finished in charcoal gray. The silver metal band, a ring around the outside of each cup face, and the EarFün nameplate stand in contrast to the otherwise subdued appearance.
Ergonomics and Design
There is a wide range of adjustment possible for different head sizes and the cups rotate 90° forward and 15° to the rear on the vertical axis and roughly 20° on the horizontal axis. Clamping force is moderate and they were comfortable for me while wearing glasses.
Both cups sport microphone ports just beneath the silver ring of the face and both have a vent hidden beneath the gimbal. The charging port is at the bottom of the left cup with power, volume, noise cancelling controls and a 3.5mm port on the right cup. Personally, I prefer these tactile buttons, as opposed to swipe controls, but it does mean you have to feel around to make sure your finger is on the right button. And this can make operating them a bit more sluggish.
One feature I really like is that the EarFun Audio app allows for customization of controls. One of the first things I did was to set the NC button to play/pause on a short press and I moved the Noise Cancelling to press and hold on the same button. I stop and start my listening much more often than changing noise cancelling modes so this makes good sense for me. All but the power button are configurable so each can be configured to any two of about 10 options. It is important to note that volume controls cannot be interchanged with ANC so realistically each button only has 5 choices.
Weight is kept to 268 grams (9.5 ounces) and clamping force is moderate making the Wave Pro a comfortable headphone to wear, even for extended listening. However, it can get a bit warm due to the sealed synthetic ear pads.
Internally, the Wave Pro has some surprises too. The Bluetooth 5.3 Codec supports SBC and AAC like most of its budget counterparts, but it also supports LDAC which isn’t quite so common in the budget space. Multi-point connectivity is also supported for quick switches between sources. With 5 microphones on board, the ANC chipset uses an AI algorithm to reduce noise both at the ear and during calls on chat. A game mode reduces latency to below 55ms to help sync audio and video more closely.
The EarFün Wave Pro features 40mm dynamic transducers with a diamond-like carbon coating over a PET diaphragm for added stiffness and speed. Specs are not listed for the transducers, but since the headphones will work with the 3.5mm cable without powering them on, I was able to test them as a wired headset, My test results showed an impedance of 29Ω and a sensitivity of roughly 102dB/mW. This makes the Wave pro easy to use with its wired connection from any laptop or tablet with a 3.5mm port or from a phone using a dongle in the event the battery runs out before listening time does.
Unlike some of its competitors, the USB port on the Wave Pro is only for charging. Connecting the headphones to a laptop or phone via that port will recharge, but will not allow for listening over the same connection. So you may want to travel with both the 3.5mm cable and the USB cable so you can charge and listen, too.
The likelihood of the battery dying is quite low, though, as the documentation lists an 80 hour battery life (ANC off). If you do manage to run out of juice, a 10-minute quick charge nets another 10 hours of listening time. Listening time with ANC enabled is listed as 55 hours. Total charge time from drained to full is roughly 2 hours using a 1 amp charger. I found it to be a bit slower charging from an older 0.5A charger.
In my testing, I found the battery numbers to be accurate if using modest volumes and SBC protocol but if LDAC is enabled expect playback times to drop by about 10 hours from the 80 and 55 respectively. Still an LDAC-enabled ANC headphone that can last a work-week on a single charge is very respectable performance.
In a lot of aspects, the EarFün Wave Pro is very much like the 1More Sonoflow. Outward appearances are quite similar including button placements. Padding shape and size is the same, pads are interchangeable between the two, drivers are the same size, and look identical, both have SBC, AAC, and LDAC, and battery life and charge time are identical. Other than Bluetooth 5.0 for the SonoFlow and 5.3 for the Wave Pro, these two competitors are a pretty tight match.
This isn’t a bad thing as the SonoFlow was one of the better inexpensive options in the market a year or so back. I did wonder if the sound had been updated or if it too would be a Déjà vu experience.
Listening notes
Sub-bass has good depth and a minor elevation with no discernable roll-off as bass transitions from heard to felt somewhere in the 20Hz range. Mid-bass steps back a bit and is close to neutral leavi,ng the sub-bass rumble as its most prominent feature. The mid-bass has a good bit more texture than the sub-bass and better clarity which helps give the Wave Pro a listenable low-end without feeling boomy or bloated as can sometimes be the case in headphones where isolation is at a premium. The mid-bass continues to drop below neutral and bottoms out at roughly the transition point to the lower-mids.
The lower-mids are recessed and lower voices step back as a result. From that low point, the levels climb all the way through the upper-mids and into the treble. This makes the mids a bit uneven as the lower mids sound a bit thin and recessed while the upper-mids are a bit forward and fuller. Despite the split personality, guitar has good clarity and rasp as do strings (at least the clarity part). Piano and keyboard sound more natural in the true mids than the lower which is a great way to hear the dichotomy I am referencing.
Treble starts off with an elevation in the lower treble that gives higher voices a bit of extra energy and pushes those voices to the front. Mid treble drops back a bit but remains at or slightly above neutral and gives snare a nice crisp rattle and cymbals good energy. The final roll-off at the northern end is well above the limits of my hearing and does provide a little air at the top but expectations should be tempered as the closed back design and ANC processing limit openness and sparkle.
As expected, the soundstage is small and feels a bit cramped at times. At least the dimensions of the stage are well proportioned so it doesn’t feel oddly shaped. Instrument separation is about average and seating the orchestra feels a bit crowded due to the limit in stage width. Imaging is good, but not great as there is a bit of a donut hole at center front where movements are lost and it can be hard to distinguish motion behind the subject vs motion to the side in some games.
After listening for a while, I decided to see how responsive the Wave Pro was to EQ since there is a 10-band EQ provided in the EarFün Audio app. This highlighted both the ability of the Wave Pro to adjust signature using the pre-sets and the quirkiness of the app which sometimes stalled and at other times would unceremoniously close. I found that a mild lift in the mid-bass/lower-mids did indeed help make the Wave Pro sound a bit more linear and improved my enjoyment as a result. The custom EQ allows for fine tuning and since none of the pre-sets matched my preferences, I stuck with the custom option.
ANC Performance
The Wave Pro supports 3 ANC modes: one specifically for mitigating wind and two for every-day use. EarFun calls them Comfort ANC and Strong ANC, which equates to moderate and maximum noise removal in other vernaculars. The comfort ANC is the best balance between noise reduction and impact to sonic signature. The Strong ANC has more impact on the sound signature without improving the ANC performance enough to warrant that impact in my judgement.
The Wave Pro does a good job with removing low droning noises like motors, railroad noise, and vacuums, but struggles at times with voices, crying babies, and higher pitched noises. Those higher-pitched unpredictable noises are the bane of all ANC devices, but some of the more expensive models have mastered them to a higher degree.
The Anti-wind function does work to remove noise in the listeners’ ears, but the microphones can still be impacted as called parties sometimes commented on background noise during my testing.
The ambient sound mode worked well if music volumes were kept low. This too is a common issue as most models do not amplify the incoming ambient sounds above the level of the music being listened to.
The Bottom Line
The EarFün Wave Pro won’t knock the B&W Px8 or Sony XM5 headphones off their pedestals, but it wasn’t meant to. With Amazon currently offering a 20% off coupon, the Wave Pro can be had for around $70 USD. Put in that context: the Wave Pro offers an awful lot of great functionality, long battery life, LDAC connectivity, and good enough ANC and sound quality for most travelers, all at an affordable price.
With the provided hard-case, they travel well, and with the 3.5mm cable they can be used even when the battery is spent. Although they share a lot with headphones like the previously mentioned 1More SonoFlow, the updates in the Wave Pro are welcomed as connectivity was a bit more stable when I retried the 1More to compare. With 1More SonoFlow having been one of our recommendations in the budget space, the EarFün Wave Pro easily slides into that same slot on our best of budget headphones list. Highly recommended.
Pros:
- Remarkably affordable
- Comfortable
- Excellent battery life
- Sturdy travel case included
- Decent ANC performance and sound quality for the price
Cons:
- Lacks imaging depth and specificity
- Midrange slightly uneven (can be mitigated with in-app EQ)
- ANC can’t compete with (much more) expensive models
Where to Buy
Related Reading
