EarFun Wave Pro

Verdict

Good comfort, respectable noise-cancellation and a surprisingly clear and detailed sound for the asking price, the EarFun Wave Pro offers really good value for the money.

Introduction

We’ve liked EarFun’s true wireless efforts in recent years – they tend to be battling for our best budget earbud award. Now the brand has launched some over ears.

The Wave Pro is EarFun’s attempt to do the same with its over-ears as it has done with its true wireless, which is to bring a high level of value and solid features.

On paper, you’ve got Hybrid ANC, extensive battery life, and Hi-Res wireless audio support. Can its real-world performance live up to its specs?

Design

• Smart looks
• Good clamping force
• 3.5mm jack

There’s an undeniably plastic feel about the EarFun Wave Pro, but it actually wears it well enough. Wiggle them about in the hand and there are creaks and groans but once they’re on the head, there’s nothing distracting about the build quality.

The sound of the slider is a little distracting with its ‘clackety-clack’ sound but pretty much common at this price point. The design is foldable, and unlike the Sony WH-CH720N and Edifier W830NB, this model does come with a carry case.

It comes in both a grey/black and a striking and softer oat white finish, and comfort levels are pretty good. The earpads are nice and plush and the clamping force isn’t too tight on the head.

Buttons are located on the right earcup and cover power/playback, volume, and noise-cancelling. There’s a decent firmness and clicky feel to the buttons, which don’t feel as cheap as you might have expected at this price. You also get a 3.5mm port for wired listening and a USB-C input for charging.

Features

• 80 hours battery with ANC off
• LDAC
• EarFun audio app

Let’s start with battery life as I feel that could be a slightly misleading aspect about these headphones. EarFun claims a headline statement of 80 hours but that’s with noise-cancelling turned off. With it on, it says a battery life of 55 hours.

A three hour drain at about 50% volume resulted in a drop of 10%. That suggests a performance closer to 30 hours. This was in its LDAC mode, which draws more power, so perhaps in its SBC or AAC mode, you could get closer to the 55 hour mark.

In a similar fashion to the Edifier W830NB, a ten-minute charge provides a massive 10 hours of playback.

Elsewhere the Wave Pro ticks off the features. There’s Bluetooth multi-point for connecting to two devices at once, though to have it enabled you will have to disable LDAC streaming. Bluetooth 5.3 features support for SBC, AAC, and the aforementioned LDAC.

The EarFun app has EQ controls with a 10-band custom equaliser, and you can create your own sound profile. There’s also a Fernanda Signature EQ, a tech creator from Indonesia, who’s shared EQ options for the headphones in its ‘Normal’ and ‘ANC’ mode.

The Game mode attempts to reduce latency to less than 55ms. You’ve got customisable controls and can adjust the noise-cancelling performance, with options such as Comfort ANC and Wind Noise cancellation included.

The noise-cancelling is reasonably good for the money. It’s nowhere near as suppressive as the best headphones, but used on a flight it did a good job in reducing ambient noise/cabin noise so it’s less inconvenient. Among its peers – the Edifier W830NB and Soundcore Space One – it’s slightly better in terms of suppressing external sounds.

If you’re going to use these headphones for calls, the voice pick up is fine but these are headphones that have a tendency to latch onto the sounds around you. They’re better to be used in quieter places.

Sound Quality

• Clear, defined sound
• Not the biggest bass performance
• Clear treble

From the get-go, the EarFun Wave Pro deliver a clear and balanced sound. Compared to one of my favourite headphones at this price, the Sony WH-CH720N, and the Sony pair sounds warmer, louder and a bit more energetic. It carries more of a presence with bass that makes the EarFun appear a lighter touch with the low frequencies, but there are aspects that the Wave Pro does better than the Sony.

I feel with these headphones there’s a better sense of isolation with the voices in the centre of the stage, and there’s more clarity and better separation between the instruments and beats.

With a track such as GoGo Penguin’s Erased by Sunlight, it’s more incisive with high frequencies which are brighter, sharper and clearer – it’s more convincing with treble than the Sony is. In terms of retrieving detail from the top end of the frequency range, the Wave Pro is better, bringing out more detail, and definition.

Just What I Needed by The Cars sounds a little sharper to my ears with the EarFun than it does on the Sony, but the percussion hits harder on the WH-CH720N, and tonally the Sony sounds more natural with voices and instruments. I do like the focus the EarFun puts on vocals – they’re defined with more clarity – but the overall soundstage it describes is flatter and more distant.

Its sound is not as lively or as energetic as the Sony or Edifier headphones, but it’s more balanced than the W830NB and while not as fun as the Sony is, the EarFun is arguably the more detailed and clearer of the two.

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