Earfun has developed a reputation for delivering solid earbuds for affordable prices. The Earfun Free Pro 3 is its latest swing at a budget-friendly flagship, offering powerful ANC, good battery life, and a customizable sound. At $79.99, they’re a good value and a solid pick that won’t strain your wallet.
Specifications
- Current Price: $79.99 (Amazon)
- Key Features:
- Personalize Your Buds with EarFun Audio App
- All-new Multi-device Connectivity with Auto-Pairing
- Advanced Qualcomm® QCC3072 SoC with aptX™ adaptive Audio Tech & Bluetooth 5.3
- Hi-Res Audio & Snapdragon Sound Dual Certifications
- Premium Immersive Sound with 7mm Wool Composite Drivers
- QuietSmart™ 2.0 Hybrid Active Noise Cancellation up to 43dB
- Enhanced 6-mic array + cVc™ 8.0 tech for Superior Clarity Call Quality;
- <55ms Ultra Low Latency Mode for Better Video & Gaming Experience
- Ultra-compact design & Secure Ergonomic Fit;
- IPX5 Sweat & Water Resistant
- 33-hour Playtime: 7.5 Hours + 25.5 Hours with Charging Case
- Fast Charging, 10 Min Charging = 2 Hours Playtime
- Wireless Charging Compatible
- Bluetooth Version: 5.3
- Bluetooth Codec: aptX adaptive, AAC, LC3, SBC
- Maximum Range: 15m (without obstacles)
- Battery Capacity: 40mAh x 2 (earbuds); 420mAh (charging case)
- Playtime:
- ANC OFF - Up to 7.5 hours, Totally 33 hours with the charging case; (varies by volume level and audio content)
- ANC ON - Up to 6 hours, Totally 27 hours with the charging case;(varies by volume level and audio content)
- Charging Time:
- 1.5 hour(for earbuds);
- 2 hours(for charging case via USB-C);
- 3.5 hours(for charging case via wireless charger)
- Dimensions: 67mm x 50mm x 31mm
- Weight: 41.5g
Earfun Free Pro 3 Review - Design and Highlights
Earfun is no stranger to making impressively affordable true wireless earbuds. We’ve reviewed a number of them here and I’ve always been impressed. So much so that I’ve purchased multiple additional sets. The balance of sound quality, ANC, and prices that won’t make you feel like the world is ending if they break make them a remarkably good value. Put another way, they feel “safe” in a way that many budget earphones don’t.
Its time in the business has also allowed it to refine its design and approach. The Earfun Free Pro 3 is the third release — the Free Pro 2 is my laptop bag set — and focuses on refinement rather than reinvention. That’s a positive move because the Free Pro 2s were already a good buy.
Like their predecessor, these earbuds use a single dynamic driver but this generation is slightly larger, coming in at 7mm instead of 6mm. It also claims enhancements to active noise cancellation, citing 43dB of noise reduction instead of 40mm on the Free Pro 2. Battery life is also improved and has a new rating of 6 hours with ANC, 7.5 hours without, and 33 hours total with the charging case. Last generation came in at 5 hours, six hours, and 30 hours respectively.
The design is largely the same. We still have the small, elliptical design that nestles right into your outer ear and still uses silicone wings for a more secure fit. Just like last generation, you’ll need to find the right size ear tip (silicone and memory foam are included) and wing for the best fit. Once you do, they’re comfortable and very well isolating against the outside noise.
The buds offer many of the same features, including full-featured capacitive touch controls, IPX5 water resistance, multi-point connectivity, a game mode, and fast charging. Beginning with the controls, they utilize one, two, or three taps and hold commands to control tracks, calls, noise modes, and summoning your virtual assistant. It’s very functional but takes a bit to learn as there are separate commands for tap and hold and double-tap and hold. Don’t throw away that manual with the packaging!
Multi-point connectivity works well. I was able to play games on my laptop without worrying about missing calls. When they did come through, the earbuds switched on their own. It’s a solid and reliable implementation.
Yes, I said gaming. On true wireless earbuds. Usually, the latency would make this difficult but the Free Pro 3 features a game mode that drops latency to almost imperceptible levels. Earfun quotes 55ms, which would line up with my experience playing multiple matches of The Finals and not noticing a significant delay between my clicks and action on screen. This mode does trade range, however, and the signal broke up quickly if I stepped out of the room.
On top of using a new driver, the Free Pro 3 brings another key sound quality enhancement: support for aptX Adaptive. aptX Adaptive is a newer Bluetooth codec that increases the usual bandwidth limit, allowing less compression of your music and games. The result is higher quality sound, though note that your phone or laptop will also have to support this format. My Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, for example, only supported standard aptX, and though Adaptive is backwards compatible, I wasn’t able to take full advantage of their capabilities, even with a new smartphone.
These buds also support the Earfun Audio app, which gives you quick access to different EQ presets and settings. With it, you can completely change the sound of the earbuds if you’d like — and you may just want to do that because they’re exceptionally versatile in the sound profile they can deliver. There are numerous presets to choose from for different genres, a pair of custom settings from Oluv of Oluv’s Gadgets on YouTube, a custom 10-band equalizer, and an adaptive EQ that puts you through a short hearing test to craft a custom frequency curve.
This adaptive EQ is worth trying and can deliver a noticeable enhancement to the sound. You’ll adjust sliders until beeping tones across the frequency range disappear, essentially allowing it to cater to your unique hearing profile. Once it’s done, you can adjust the final result. It’s not as effective as the custom EQ on the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 4 but, frankly, it’s impressive to see this feature at all at this price and gets you “close enough.” With a couple of extra tweaks, I was genuinely impressed at how much better they sounded.
Earfun Free Pro 3 Review - Listening and Daily Use Impressions
I’ve spent the last week living with the Free Pro 3 and have really enjoyed what they have to offer. They’re comfortable and offer some of the best active noise cancellation you’ll find at this price.
Earfun has come a long way with the quality of its ANC. It uses multiple microphones to monitor noise both outside and inside of the ear to drive its cancellation and it works well. The total amount of noise cancellation won’t compete with Sony or Bose but it’s sufficient to block out most engine noise on bus rides and even mid-range frequencies in an office setting. The app offers four flavors of adaptive ANC: the stock sound and three different “ear” settings. These seemed to increase the intensity to me but is described as catering to different ear shapes.
The stock sound is very V-shaped with lots of bass and treble energy. The low end is very thick and powerful. It’s clearly catering to mainstream pop music and gaming, so most people should find a lot to like here. The pop added to the treble helps to increase perceived clarity and bring out hi-hat hits and cymbals.
For my personal tastes, I found the Free Pro 3 to be too bassy. The stock tuning also makes the bass sound a bit soft and lacking the definition I prefer in kick drums, bass guitars and explosions. The treble tuning was better but treble sensitive listeners could find it to be a bit hot.
So, not my perfect preference, but that’s where the Free Pro 3’s versatility really shines. Turning on Oluv’s presets clean up these shortcomings substantially and offer a more balanced sound signature for different genres of music and games. Even better, the adaptive EQ seems to take a more balanced approach to tuning based on your particular ears. Regardless of your personal tastes, the Earfun Free Pro 3 should be able deliver on your preferred tuning.
Unfortunately, enabling ANC dramatically changes the sound signature. This isn’t unusual but ANC takes an already bassy sound and boosts it even further. Depending on what mode you’re in when you choose an EQ, you may need to change settings again if you decide to turn ANC off. My recommendation would be to choose your settings based on the listening mode you plan to use most often.
They also lack some of the more advanced features you’ll find on more expensive sets. There’s no spatial audio, for example, and no map to pair with its “find headphones” feature, only a tone. Their soundstage and detail are also only average; fine for the price but certainly not the most revealing true wireless buds you can find.
Call quality is good and did a good job of isolating my voice in a noisy environment. Again, Sony and Bose do this much better but I found the Free Pro 3 to be perfectly serviceable in all but the noisiest environments, which is very fitting for the price on offer here. The punch above their class while still leaving an upgrade path ahead of you.
Final Thoughts
The Earfun Free Pro 3 are an affordable and high quality pair of true wireless earphones. They don’t compete with the uber-expensive flagships but they do over-perform for their price point. If you’re looking for a versatile pair of earphones that offer flagship features, powerful ANC, and a very tunable sound under $100, these are absolutely worth considering.
The product described in this article was provided by the manufacturer for evaluation purposes. Some articles may contain affiliate links and purchases made through this will result in a small commission for the site. Commissions are not directed to the author or related to compensation in any way.
