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After spending a few weeks with the EarFun Air Pro 3, I was shocked by how well these $80 headphones replaced my trusty AirPods Pro 2 that cost almost four times as much. EarFun’s latest affordable headphones offer noise cancellation and sound quality that’s nearly on par with Apple’s top-of-the-line headphones, and even surpasses them with some unique advantages, thanks to their helpful companion app.
That said, you’re making some major concessions at this lower price, and if you’re an Apple user, the AirPods Pro’s seamless connectivity is hard to resist. So is it worth it to save up? Here’s how the AirPods Pro 2 (our best true wireless headphone pick for Apple users) and the EarFun Air Pro 3 (our favorite budget ANC headphones) stack up after weeks of head-to-head testing.
|
|
 |
|
|---|---|---|
| Active noise cancellation |
Yes |
Yes |
| Ambient sound |
Yes |
Yes |
| Battery life (nominal) |
6 hours (headphones), 30 hours (with case) |
9 hours (headphones), 45 hours (with case) |
| Wireless charging |
Yes |
Yes |
| Waterproof |
IPX4 (headphones and case) |
IPX5 |
| Ear tip sizes |
XS, S, M, L |
XS, S, M, L |
| Software support |
iOS |
iOS, Android |
| Colored |
White |
Black |
| Weight |
0.19 oz |
0.18 oz |
| Price |
$230 |
$72 |
If you choose to splurge on the EarFun Air Pro 3, you won’t be sacrificing much for comfort. Both of these headphones have a similarly soft and secure fit, to the point where I often forgot which pair I was wearing when using them back to back. The Air Pro 3 even has the same four eartip sizes as the AirPods Pro 2 (extra small, small, medium, and large), so you’ll have plenty of options to switch between them if they don’t feel right out of the box.
However, while the Air Pro 3 feels great, it may come as no surprise that you get what you pay for in terms of overall design and build quality. These larger buds aren’t quite as sleek as the AirPods Pro, and while they’re not obnoxiously ugly, I definitely noticed the extra bulk every time I took my reflection for a walk. Speaking of bulk, the Pro 3’s charging case is also much thicker than Apple’s (which is worth noting for those with tight pockets), and its flimsy plastic design picks up smudges and scratches all too easily. And while the Air Pro 3’s touch controls are impressively customizable, I didn’t find them as consistent and reliable as the AirPods Pro’s touch controls whenever I needed to skip or pause a song on the fly.
None of these are outright dealbreakers, but if looks and controls are your priority, the AirPods Pro are worth the splurge.
TL;DR: The AirPods Pro 2 and EarFun Air Pro 3 are neck and neck when it comes to comfort, but Apple’s buds have a much better design.
Competitive sound quality and noise cancellation, but Apple has the edge
As you might expect, the $80 EarFun Air Pro 3 trails the $249 AirPods Pro 2 in sound quality — but not by much. The EarFun buds deliver surprisingly great sound for the price, pumping out my usual mix of loud rock guitar and soft indie acoustic with enough boost to keep my head spinning and enough clarity to let me hear every subtle detail and vocal harmony hidden in the mixing. It wasn’t until I went back to the AirPods Pro that I realized what I’d given up. Apple’s buds just provide a cleaner, more detailed sound that makes the otherwise good EarFuns sound a little fuzzy in comparison. Call quality was a similar story, with the Air Pro 3 holding up perfectly well for long calls and trailing only the AirPods Pro when comparing recordings.
There was even less of a gap between the two when it came to active noise cancellation, which the AirPods Pro do better than almost any pair of buds on the market. Both buds did a great job of smoothing out everyday annoyances like the banging of nearby construction and the chatter of people in a subway car. In fact, the Air Pro 3 was even slightly more oppressive when it came to stifling my loud bedroom fan as I worked from home. The two sets of headphones were also very comparable when using the Transparency/Ambient Sound mode to let the noise out, although the EarFun buds tended to overamplify harsh noises like wind.
TL;DR: These buds are just as good at blocking out noise, but the AirPods pro have the edge in overall sound quality and transparency mode
You’d think cheaper headphones would mean fewer features, but that’s not the case with the EarFun Air Pro 3. Thanks to the EarFun Audio app for both iOS and Android, the Air Pro 3 is packed with extras — including some that AirPods Pro can not do.
EarFun’s app offers plenty of customization options, starting with a fully adjustable equalizer that lets you turn on presets (like Bass Boost or Treble Boost) or play around with the sliders yourself to create and save your own sound profiles . While the AirPods Pro sound great out of the box, there is no custom equalizer option. You can also fully map the Air Pro 3’s controls, with the ability to assign any function you want to things like single, double and triple taps as well as long presses. In comparison, you can only customize the long-press controls on the AirPods Pro, and the options are pretty limited on that.
The EarFun Audio app isn’t the most intuitive to navigate, but the fact that it exists at all gives it a big advantage over Apple’s buds — especially if you’re using an Android phone. AirPods Pro don’t have their own companion app, though iPhone users can adjust things like noise cancellation, controls, and surround sound through the iOS settings menu. Android users won’t have the same luxury when using the AirPods Pro and will have to largely depend on the in-ear controls. So, if you’re an Android user who cares about customization, the Air Pro 3 wins here.
Of course, if you’re in the Apple ecosystem, the AirPods Pro (and any pair of AirPods, for that matter), have a big advantage over the cheaper competition. Apple buds simple work with your iPhone, iPad and Mac in a way that makes other Bluetooth headsets feel clunky by comparison. You’ll be prompted to pair them the moment you open the case, and switching between, say, your iPhone and Mac with the same pair of buds is seamless (to their credit, the Air Pro 3 can be paired to two devices in once). The AirPods Pro are also smart enough to automatically pause your music when you take out even one bud — by comparison, the Air Pro 3 often kept playing even when I took them out, which was a frequent disappointment. You’ll also benefit from immersive 360-degree surround sound in supported apps like Apple Music and Disney+, which can be personalized to your ears via the iOS Settings app.
TL;DR: The EarFun Air Pro 3 are the most customizable headphones overall and will work equally well on both iOS and Android. Meanwhile, the AirPods Pro 2 have some important perks specifically for Apple users.
Now it’s an area where less can be more. Despite being a fraction of the price of the AirPods Pro, the EarFun Air Pro 3 beats Apple’s buds in battery life by a decent margin. EarFun’s buds are rated for nine hours of playback from the earbuds alone and up to 45 from the case, which is an impressive increase from the AirPods Pro 2’s six-hour/30-hour rating. I found these considerations to hold true in my day-to-day testing as well. While I often went up to four days without needing to recharge the Air Pro 3 case, the AirPods Pro 2 usually drained me after two or three. You also won’t sacrifice wireless charging if you look for the cheapest buds here. both sets worked fine with my Belkin Boost Charge pad.
TL;DR: EarFun Air Pro 3 has better battery life and like AirPods Pro supports wireless charging.
The gap between affordable and high-end headphones has never been closer, and the EarFun Air Pro 3 is the best example of that yet. They’re a bargain at $80 (and often less thanks to frequent sales and coupons), offering sound quality and ANC that rival the AirPods Pro 2 — not to mention longer battery life and more customization options, especially for Android users.
That said, if you’re in a position to splurge — and especially if you’ve got an iPhone — the AirPods Pro 2 really are worth their hefty price tag. They’re our pick for the best Apple headphones for a reason, offering truly seamless compatibility with your iPhone, iPad and Mac, while offering some of the best sound quality and noise cancellation you’ll find in any pair of buds. They also look nicer, with a sleeker case that’s better built to last.
Of course, there’s a wide gap between these two buds, and there are plenty of great options in the middle to consider. The Sony LinkBuds S are our favorite Android headphones, offering a unique adaptive sound feature, a powerful app for both operating systems, and high-resolution audio support for Android users. But if your budget is firmly under $100, the EarFun Air Pro 3 proves you don’t have to give up a ton when you want to save money.
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