Redefining Budget ANC: Earfun Wave Pro

Finding a pair of budget bluetooth ANC headphones that isn’t a boomy mess and delivers quality sound is hard. When I heard that the new EarFun Wave Pro from EarFun Audio might have a neutral sound signature, were very affordably and had some good ANC features, I had to give them a go.

I have been listening to these for a few weeks now and comparing them with some similarly priced headphones in the under $100 price range and thought I would share my experience.

Read on to find out what to expect with the EarFun Wave Pro …

Headphone use-cases

I believe it is impossible to find a single headphone that works well for every use-case, part of the fun of the headphone hobby is finding the right headphone for each of these use-cases:

1. When at home (especially at night after everyone else had gone to bed ) for me, it has to be an open back with a super wide soundstage, I have had many headphones filling this role over the year, with the Edition XS being a common favourite of mine.

2. When either listening to new equipment or evaluating some new music, I usually pick up my HD600 or some good quality IEM e.g. the Kiwi Ears Orchestra Lite is still a favourite, but there are many great IEM’s.

3. When working in a busy office I often pick a closed back, the AKG K371 was a favourite for a while, but my current pragmatic choice is the Hifiman Sundara Closed Back ( but with Oratory’s EQ ).

But none of these headphones work well when travelling, either commuting to work on public transport or especially on an Airplane or noisy train journey. In these environments, you really need decent noise-cancelling headphone, but finding a pragmatic one has been challenging.

Since I personally do not travel enough to get value from an expensive ANC headphone like a Sony XM-5, the Apple Airpod Max or maybe even Focal Bathys, I am always curious what you can get for less than $100, so enter the Earfun Wave Pro.

Let’s see what you can expect from the Earfun Wave Pro.

Retail Packaging and Build quality

The EarFun wave pro arrives in a nice well-designed retail box:

Some useful specification and information about where to download the companion Application are available on the back of the box:

What’s in the box

Mostly inside the external packaging you get a nice carrying case:

Opening the case you find the Wave Pro’s sitting securely: I especially liked the sculpted holders for each ear cup - this will keep the headphones in a good shape when stored in the case.

The case also has a nice little compartment storing the charging cable and an audio cable (for some wired listening):

Overall, it is a higher quality case than I would have expected at this price point. Some competitors, for example, the Soundcore Space One doesn’t even some with a case.

The Headphone:

Let’s get into the details of the headphone. I do like the design, Earfun have borrowed some design aesthetics from some higher end headphones but with their own twist.

Fit, Comfort and Feel

The EarFun Wave Pro headphones boast an impressive level of comfort for this price range, providing a snug yet gentle fit that conforms effortlessly to the contours of the head. Personally, I find them to be very comfortable with minimal adjustments. The padding along the headband ensures a secure and comfortable fit, distributing pressure evenly without causing any discomfort even during extended listening sessions.

A key aspect of ANC headphones is getting a good seal and this comes down to the shape of each cup (do they properly cover your ears) and the clamping force.

Ear cup Shape

So I thought it might be useful to get into the comparisons here, so for example here are the sizes and shapes of the Wave Pro compared to the Soundcore Space One and Q30:

Compared to the Q30: the Wave Pro is on the Left and is longer

Compared to the Space One: the Wave Pro is on the Left and is slightly longer though not as wide

Here are the measurements I got:

So, effectively the Wave Pro is taller than either of the other 2 headphones, while Space One is slightly shorter but wider (a more round shape) and the Q30 is shorter and the same width.

At least for my large ears the Wave Pro has an excellent fit but hopefully these measurements above can help you decide.

The ear cups exert just the right amount of clamping force to create a reliable seal around the ears, effectively blocking out external noise without exerting excessive force on the skull. This balance is crucial for maintaining comfort over prolonged periods of use. Though my ears did get a bit warm after a few hours.

One other aspect which can be important is the Wave Pro and the Q30 can lie flat while the Space One will not - I believe this is why the Space One does not come with a case as it doesn’t sit flat inside a case:

Swivel Mechanism and Suspension:

The adjustable headband allows for a customized fit, accommodating a wide range of head sizes and shapes with ease.

The swiveling ear cups ensure a comfortable fit regardless of how they are positioned, they have a reasonable swivel to get a comfortable fit :

Here are the ’extremes’ of the swivel:

Button Layout and connections

I did like the simplicity and layout of the buttons, having just 4 on a single side was definitely easier to remember and use:

It also helped me put on the headphones without looking at them by just feeling which side has buttons without looking for the R or L symbol on these headphones.

Here are the defaults for each button:

These are sensible default and having a prominent ANC button is very beneficial as the lack of “Adaptive ANC” is a slight weakness of the Wave Pro compared to higher end ANC headphones.

There is also a connection for the USB charging and a light that will indicate that it is charging:

You can also use the supplied analog cable which even works when the device is switched off, so can be used if your battery dies.

Features

The sub $100 bluetooth headphone market has become very competitive in the past few years and the Wave Pro has the feature set people should expect, but let’s get into the details:

ANC and Transparency

There are 3 modes for ANC “Strong ANC”, “Comfort ANC” and “Wind Cancelling” and each of these works well and has its place.

1. Strong ANC
   The Strong ANC is great for a noisy environment (like an Airplane) but its suffers from that “feeling of pressure” that ANC can have.
2. Comfort ANC
   This is where the Comfort ANC comes in - it’s almost as good as the “Strong ANC” but is more comfortable in environments where you do not need extra ANC.
3. Wind Detection ANC
   I found the “Wind Cancelling” mode was excellent when out on a walk in windy spring day in Ireland ( lots of windy spring days in Ireland !!! ). I especially thought this mode worked very well compared to the Soundcore Space One, it was almost at the level you would expect from a $200 headphone.

Transparency (called ‘Ambient Sound’ by Earfun) also worked well though I missed a simple way to switch to Transparency (e.g. some headphones including the Space One, implement a way to toggle tranparency by holding your hand over one of the earcups ), but having to toggle using the ANC button is a reasonable fast way to get to the Transpareny mode.

The lack of ‘Adaptive ANC’ is a little annoying, though I did find on cheaper headphones with Adaptive ANC that it does not always work as well as it should and can sometimes had to be disabled e.g. on a train journey with the Space One I had to disable the Adaptive ANC as it continuously switched modes during the journey ( which caused an audible differences ).

So picking the right ANC manually was not a problem for me, but I can imagine a future Wave Pro will add adaptive ANC.

Note: The “Strong ANC” mode can be too much in a very quiet environment even causing a slight hiss when nothing is playing. So I found myself switching to ‘Normal’ mode, if I was using the Wave Pro in a quiet environment, though as I mentioned in the introduction, my use-case for ANC headphones is when using them when travelling in noisy environments, I would always pick an open back headphone for listening in a quiet environment.

Companion Mobile App

The Wave Pro comes with an excellent Companion App though not as feature rich as the Soundcore Application, but as you will see here it has all the key features covered.

Upon downloading the companion application - I was given the option to download the latest firmware update:

Once updated and restarted you are presented with the following home screen:

Clicking on the Wave Pro you get its details - showing which ANC mode is selected:

There is a separate settings page with some extra configuration options:

For example customising the buttons:

The dual connection mode:

The language:

But for me the most important section is usually the EQ.

The default sound signature as you will see is pretty good so less reason on this headphone to need customisation but since everyone has their own preferences there are some custom presets:

And then the ability to EQ the sound profile to your own tastes with a 10-band Equaliser:

I would love see a PEQ editor here as an advanced option, especially as sometimes the area to tweak falls between 2 of these bands. I believe the first company to start selling their headphones with built-in PEQ will do very well in the audiophile world.

Overall compared to just a few years ago it is amazing to have this level of sound customisation in a sub $100 headphone.

Battery Life

The battery life has been excellent, I had a long trip to Turkey when I was 5 hours on a flight with ANC enabled and using LDAC as well as a few buses and extended time waiting in the airport, I believe it was used for about 10 hours that day and I still had 60% battery. So I would believe Earfun published figures on battery life.

Codecs

The Wave Pro supports SBC, AAC and impressively LDAC for the best quality on Android. I was very impressed with the quality of LDAC between the Wave Pro and my FiiO M23 DAP even with a large distance between the Wave Pro and the M23, so I believe there is an excellent bluetooth stack providing a strong connection to allow the LDAC codec sustain a high bitrate stream. AAC worked very well also with my iPhone. In my opinion, AAC sounds much better on iPhones than it does on Android Phones, so it is always good to have 2 of the best codecs for each platform available.

Microphones and Call handling

You can see the holes for the microphones on each ear cup:

According to the documentation there are 5 microphones in total and when working at home, they worked very well, when I use it for some work calls, but I found when out walking the microphone volume wasn’t great I had to stop walking and ‘shout’ to be heard. Overall though this was similar to other headphones at this price point.

Listening and Sound impressions

With an ANC headphone with EQ capabilities I usually start listening to the default sound profile for a few days then start looking at the tweaking the sound and doing some measurements. But I quickly found the default sound signature was excellent and as you will see later on I eventually did some minor EQ tweaks later. I do like how it does not have a typical boomy bass out of the box, but there is a EQ profile to enhance the bass if that is your preference, EarFun are obviously a company trying to do the right thing as far as audio.

Bass: Solid Foundations and Rhythmic Resonance

Despite its modest price tag, the Earfun Wave Pro headphones deliver a surprisingly robust bass performance that is satisfying but not boomy in any way. With tracks like “Billie Jean” by Michael Jackson or “Another One Bites the Dust” by Queen, listeners can expect punchy, well-defined bass notes that add depth and groove to their favorite tunes. While not as pronounced as higher-end headphones, the Wave Pro’s bass response is more than capable of satisfying the cravings of bass enthusiasts without overwhelming the overall sound signature, which is usually the problem with ANC bluetooth headphones in this price bracket.

Midrange: Warmth and Clarity in Harmonious Balance

The midrange while mostly excellent has some uneven aspects which sort of muddies the midrange clarity but this is a minor complaint and only because I am comparing the Wave Pro to much more expensive headphones. Whether it’s the soulful crooning of Amy Winehouse in “Back to Black” or the intricate guitar work of Eric Clapton in “Layla (Unplugged),” the Wave Pro faithfully reproduces the nuances I expected of each performance, capturing the essence of the music with fidelity and finesse. While not as rich or detailed as higher-end headphones, the Wave Pro’s midrange presentation remains engaging and enjoyable across a wide range of genres.

Treble: Subtle Sparkle and Gentle Grace

In the treble range, the Earfun Wave Pro headphones offer a modest yet respectable performance that adds a touch of sparkle to your listening experience. Tracks like “Take Five” by Dave Brubeck Quartet or “Stairway to Heaven” by Led Zeppelin reveal the Wave Pro’s ability to reproduce high-frequency detail with clarity and finesse, albeit with some limitations due to the budget-friendly nature of the headphones. While audiophiles may notice an uneven treble, the Wave Pro’s treble response remains pleasant and non-fatiguing, ensuring hours of comfortable listening enjoyment. Set your expectations appropriately and the Wave Pro deliveries excellent treble well above it price range.

Soundstage: Intimate Encounters and Close Quarters

Obviously with the closed-back design and wireless convenience, the Earfun Wave Pro headphones offer a more intimate soundstage compared to their open-back counterparts. While tracks like “Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen or “The Dark Side of the Moon” by Pink Floyd may lack the expansive sense of space and airiness found in higher-end headphones, the Wave Pro excels in creating a sense of closeness and immediacy that draws listeners into the heart of the music. Despite its limitations, the Wave Pro’s soundstage remains surprisingly immersive, making it an ideal companion for on-the-go listening sessions and casual listening enjoyment.

Imaging: Navigating the Musical Landscape with Confidence

In terms of imaging, the Earfun Wave Pro headphones exhibit a commendable performance that allows listeners to navigate the musical landscape with confidence and clarity. While not as precise or detailed as higher-end headphones, the Wave Pro’s imaging capabilities ensure that instruments and voices are well-defined and spatially separated within the sonic panorama. Tracks like “Hotel California” by the Eagles or “Money” by Pink Floyd showcase the Wave Pro’s ability to convey the spatial cues and positional accuracy needed to immerse listeners in a lifelike listening experience, albeit with some limitations inherent to its budget-friendly design.

Specifications and Measurements

Frequency Response

So, here is the default ‘ANC On’ Frequency Response, ‘ANC Off’ and my very slight ‘Harman’ EQ tweak. I think mostly it’s an excellent default out of the box sound profile:

Note: disabling ANC does change the sound profile adding a bit more subbass and some subtle changes.

EQ recommendation

So with my EQ tweaks I got the Wave Pro very close to a harman tuning, but I have highlighted 3 areas where your own preference might want to tweak it further:

If the Wave Pro application included PEQ I would have evened out the uneveness at little more but these areas typically fall between 2 of the bands of the 10 band EQ.

I decided to measure all the max and min values availalbe within the EQ and ’normalise’ them so you can see the range of values available:

As you can see the 1K area especially has very little ‘wiggle’ room and when designing a EQ you need to get that area right before tweaking the other bands. So I ended up with this EQ to get my slightly smoother frequency response for the Wave Pro:

Again I would to see a built-in PEQ capability as it would have been easier to flatten out the Wave Pro without as it has a very balanced sound out of the box. So you should not feel the need for these tweaks.

Distortion

The Wave Pro shows very little distortion:

FR Comparisons

So, out of the box, the Wave Pro while not perfect is far better than the Soundcore Space One and the Q30:

And even when I apply a similar process to all 3 headphones the Wave Pro has a smoother frequency response:

Note: The 3K dip is typical of ANC headphones in this price range

Some similar priced Bluetooth Headphones :

When comparing the EarFun Wave Pro to similarly priced options like the Soundcore Space One and Q30, several key differences emerge, particularly in terms of audio quality and features.

The EarFun Wave Pro stands out for its impressive audio performance even without the need for EQ adjustments.

In contrast, the Soundcore Space One offers more application features but falls far short in terms of audio quality.

On the other hand, the rather dated, Soundcore Q30 has a limited set of features despite sharing the same EQ app as the Space One. The dated look, horrible boomy out of the box sound signature and the lack of LDAC especially mean the Wave Pro is a far better buy now.

Rating

I gave the Earfun Wave Pro a pragmatic rating of 5, based on it on its price, the feature set offered with high quality codec’s like LDAC, some decent ANC modes and a good out of the box sound signature it has that balance I had hoped for with a Bluetooth ANC headphone.

In this price range it has everything you should want, I would love to see what EarFun does to follow up on the Wave Pro as they could easily build upon this design headphone more expensive drivers, maybe PEQ capabilities and some extra features like Adaptive ANC, and they would move into competing with the sub $300 tier of ANC headphones.

Summary

The Wave Pro is an excellent bluetooth ANC headphone with a good (for its class) sound signature, decent active noise cancellation (ANC) capabilities and a nice companion application with EQ making the Wave Pro one of the best all round Bluetooth ANC headphone in the sub $100 price range.