The Ultimate Verdict on EarFun Air 2: High-Quality, Cost-Effective Wireless Buds for All Hearing Needs

Key Takeaways

• Good sound quality for price, comparable to higher-end options.
• Impressive battery life, up to 40 hours with wireless charging case.
• Lack of ANC and unreliable touch controls may deter some buyers.

It wasn’t all that long ago that buying cheap wireless earbuds meant putting up with sub-par sound and connectivity issues. Fortunately, they’ve come a long way in a short time, as evidenced by the EarFun Air 2 , a set of quality affordable earbuds with surprisingly few downsides for less than $50.

EarFun Air 2

7/ 10

While the EarFun Air 2 may lack ANC, these affordable wireless earbuds sound great for the price, have excellent battery life, and even feature a case with wireless charging.

Battery Life

40 hours

Charging Case Included?

Yes

Microphones

4-Mic Noise Cancellation Technology for Clarity Call

Brand

EarFun

Supported codecs

SBC, AAC, LDAC

Bluetooth

5.3

Price

$49.99

IP Rating

IPX7

Driver Size

10mm

Charging type

USB-C,Wireless

Colors

Black

Charging Port

USB-C

Noise Cancellation

No

Pros

• Good sound quality for the price
• AirPods-style design and slim charging case
• Excellent battery life
• Wireless charging

Cons

• No ANC may put off some potential buyers
• Touch controls have issues

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$50 at Amazon $49.99 at EarFun

Familiar Design and an Easy Fit

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Jerome Thomas / How-To Geek

There are two general types of wireless earbuds: those with a bean sort of shape, and those with a long stem, similar to Apple’s AirPods. EarFun makes wireless earbuds in both styles, with the Air 2 using the longer stem-style design. These are closer to Apple’s AirPods Pro than the standard AirPods, mainly due to the inclusion of silicone tips for a better fit.

In my case, the tips that were pre-fitted to the Air 2 earbuds worked fine. If that isn’t the case for you, there are three different tip sizes included in the box, making it fairly likely that you’ll be able to find a fit that works for you.

One pleasant surprise when it comes to the EarFun Air 2s is the IPX7 water resistance rating. This means that these can easily stand up to rain, sweat, and likely even a quick dip into water, provided you don’t leave them for too long.

The included charging case is slim and easily pocketable. This didn’t come as a surprise to me as I’ve reviewed other EarFun earbuds before. If you’re used to other affordable earbuds, you may be impressed with just how thin and light the case is.

Surprisingly Good Sound

Jerome Thomas / How-To Geek

The EarFun Air 2 use Bluetooth 5.3 and feature 10mm drivers, fairly common for wireless earbuds. While the size may be common, the sound wasn’t as these relatively small drivers were able to push out a decent amount of bass in my listening tests.

I started with James Gang’s “Funk #49 .” Despite being a guitar-forward song, the bass is the most important instrument here, and the EarFuns do it justice surprisingly well. On the default EQ setting, everything sounds wider than you’d expect from inexpensive earbuds.

Moving on to the Desert Sessions song “Crawl Home ,” I was equally impressed, but for different reasons. PJ Harvey’s breathy voice on this song can sound slightly harsh on some earbuds, but these avoid sounding overly harsh. As with the other song, there is an interesting amount of depth to the bass line that I wasn’t expecting on such affordable headphones.

Something I didn’t expect to see on this class of earbuds was support for Sony’s LDAC Bluetooth codec . This can make for better audio fidelity over Bluetooth, but it’s only supported on Windows 10 or 11 and some Android devices, including Sony’s Walkman line of digital audio players.

No ANC, But Decent Microphones

Jerome Thomas / How-To Geek

One missing feature here may be a major dealbreaker for some: there is no active noise cancellation (ANC) of any kind here. You get some passive noise isolation from having the earbuds in your ears, but the Air 2 earbuds aren’t using any DSP trickery to keep you from hearing your surroundings.

On the other hand, there appears to be some cleverness at work when it comes to the built-in microphones, as they sound pretty good, and deal well enough with wind noise on a relatively breezy day. They likely won’t become your go-to earbuds if you spend a lot of time on the phone, but they’re perfect for quick calls.

Unreliable Controls, But Solid Software

Jerome Thomas / How-To Geek

If you’ve ever tried any other EarFun earbuds, you may be aware of the issues they have with the controls. They use touch-sensitive controls, which can range between being too sensitive and outright ignoring inputs. You can learn to work around them, but they’re never a joy to use.

One other minor fault here is the lack of a wear sensor. Whereas many other earbuds will automatically pause playback when you pop an earbud out of your ear, that isn’t the case here. If you want to stop playback, you’ll need to do it manually, either on your phone or via the touch controls.

The EarFun Air 2 are supported in the EarFun app, available for iPhone and Android . You don’t get the ANC controls that you may expect from other EarFun models, but you can change between EQ presets and even customize the touch controls.

Solid Battery Life and Wireless Charging

Jerome Thomas / How-To Geek

The lack of ANC makes for solid battery life. You can get up to nine hours of playback time on a single charge, though listening via LDAC will cut that time significantly. Add in a few charges from the charging case, and you can get a maximum of around 40 hours before you’ll need to fully recharge.

Recharging is relatively quick and convenient, with a full charge for the earbuds taking around 90 minutes in the case. Plugging in the case to recharge takes only slightly longer. Surprisingly, the EarFun Air 2 charging case supports wireless Qi charging, which is not only convenient but something I relatively see left out of earbuds that sell for double the price.

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Pricing and Availability

The EarFun Air 2 earbuds are only available in a black finish, and they retail for $49.99. That’s already fairly affordable, but you’ll also see them discounted, meaning you can get them for even less.

In terms of competition, the main competition these face comes from the Moondrop Space Travel . This is a set of wireless earbuds that features ANC as well as a wear sensor, which the EarFun Air 2 lacks. On the other hand, I haven’t actually had the chance to test these, so the jury is still out on how they sound.

Should You Buy the EarFun Air 2?

For as low as they’re priced, the EarFun Air 2 earbuds pack an impressively fun sound signature. They’re not aimed at audiophiles, but your average music or podcast fan, and for this, they punch above their weight in terms of quality. Throw in a microphone array that works well enough for calls and substantial battery life, and they’ve got a lot going for them.

They’re not perfect. The main issue is the inconsistent controls, which I’ve encountered in other EarFun products, but how much this affects you will come down to how often you use the controls on earbuds as opposed to your phone or playback device. The lack of ANC won’t be a problem for many people, but it will be a problem for some.

If you’re looking for a set of cheap wireless buds that you won’t regret spending your money on, the Air 2 are a solid buy. Even if you just pick them up as a backup set or to use while working out, they’re well worth the asking price.

EarFun Air 2

7/ 10

While the EarFun Air 2 may lack ANC, these affordable wireless earbuds sound great for the price, have excellent battery life, and even feature a case with wireless charging.

$50 at Amazon $49.99 at EarFun

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