For a Chinese brand that sells "premium" earbuds for $89.99, this is clearly a gamble. But given that the new Air Pro 4 earbuds already come with the technology that soon will be flooding the consumer market - making new products even harder to differentiate - there is nothing to loose. And at least EarFun is not afraid of promoting everything that is possible with its new flagship true wireless model.
The new EarFun Air Pro 4 earbuds are labelled as a new category leader in Adaptive ANC, with support for Lossless Audio and Auracast. This is called picking your weapons carefully. What is unusual is to promise all these things at such a low price - but for a brand that is basically dependent from selling through Amazon and Chinese apps, that might not be surprising.
Actually very positive is the fact that EarFun is the first brand at this level that promotes "the all-new Auracast wireless technology" and all its benefits to allow users "to tune in and out of local broadcasts and to connect and share audio between personal devices." The shared experience is actually a prominent selling argument used by the brand with the Air Pro 4 earbuds. Good to see.
Of course, the brand clarifies that Auracast and LE Audio support will be "available via firmware update only". So, they are not shipping the dual mode from factory at launch, even though they are very positive in stating that "Auracast is just the beginning", and stating that battery-saving Bluetooth LE Audio and LC3 codec will bring "efficiency and greater versatility" for users of the Air Pro 4 earbuds - in the not so distant future.
Otherwise, the EarFun product marketing team (supposedly working from California) makes a good job of underlining the features that are enabled by the latest Bluetooth 5.4 standard, such as a fast and secure true wireless connection and multipoint connectivity. What EarFun doesn't mention is AAC. Meaning, it does mention that SBC will be benefit from being replaced with the superior LC3 codec once the LE Audio update is available. And that the aptX Adaptive and LDAC lossless high-resolution options will enable users to truly enjoy the qualities of the dynamic drivers in the Air Pro 4 earbuds. What is not said is that, without AAC, iPhone users will be limited to SBC for a while, making this a product for Android users only. But then again that shouldn't be a dilemma for iPhone users anyway...
Powered by the combination of a Qualcomm QCC3091 SoC and Snapdragon Sound technology, the Air Pro 4 earbuds are interesting for its support of both LDAC and aptX Adaptive, offering complete compatibility with a variety of source devices and playback up to 990 kbps and 24-bits. And with 6 microphones and an AI-assisted noise reduction algorithm, the Air Pro 4 earbuds will help users to be immersed in the music by removing any environmental noise when required, allowing the 10mm dynamic drivers with a composite diaphragm to perform their best.
Powered by the Snapdragon Sound suite, the hybrid active noise cancellation system is specified as reaching a staggering 50dB of cancellation "across a wide range of frequencies, effectively blocking up to 99.6% of unwanted environmental noise." A claim that needs to be verified and would place these earbuds at the top of the ANC category if effective. Coupled with EarFun's QuietSmart 3.0 implementation and AI adaptive algorithms, the system automatically detects varying environmental noise levels and adjusts the noise cancellation intensity accordingly. When calls come in, Qualcomm's cVc 8.0 technology ensures clear conversations anywhere.
Also thanks to the Qualcomm Snapdragon Sound SoC, when gaming or streaming, the Low Latency mode will keep voices and visuals in sync under 50ms. This mode and much more options are accessible from the dedicated EarFun Audio App, which is also rich in user customization options.
Otherwise the EarFun Air Pro 4 earbuds are a simple IPX5 design "AirPods-tribute style" that will work between 7.5 and 11 hours, depending on how much time the ANC is on, how much LDAC or aptX streaming is used, etc. That experience should improve slightly once the LC3 codec is activated in the future. The USB-C charging case should provide an additional 35 hours, and will provide fast-charging as well as Qi wireless charging support.
Priced at $89.99, the EarFun Air Pro 4 earbuds are a great candidate to review if there was any actual perspective of when the LE Audio update will arrive. But by that time, there will likely be plenty of other options also in the market, including many based on Qualcomm Snapdragon Sound. But this is a great sign of things to come.
www.myearfun.com
