EarFun Wave Pro - Black

I own (and have previously owned) 15-20 active noise cancelling (ANC) over-ear headphones like these, and have a pretty good idea what I like and don't like about each one. For the purposes of this review, I'm going to be using the Sony XM5 and Bose QC45 headphones as my comparisons. Even though both of those headphones are 3-4 times more expensive than the EarFun Wave Pro, the feature sets and target audience are very close.

Quality and Comfort
The design of these headphones is reminiscent to me of the Sony XM3 and XM4, including how you store these in the traveling case. Once on my head, I forget about them pretty fast. The build quality is way better than it should be at this price, a theme I found when reviewing most aspects of the EarFun Wave Pro. The case, too, is nice. I like it slightly more than Sony's cases, but the design is very similar. I have a large head and these fit me perfectly when the yokes are extended about halfway. The earcup shells feel like aluminum to me, but they might be nice plastic. The padding and surfaces that come in contact with the top of my head and ears is very similar to what you get on much more expensive headphones. Because of that material and the way these are designed to make a seal, my ears feel warm after about 20 minutes. But that's par for the course with most ANC headphones. Overall, the appearance, build quality, and comfort are 7/10 for me. That's mostly because I prefer open back headphones which are uniformly more comfortable and breathable.

Sound
Right out of the box, without any EQ adjustments, these have a pretty balanced, pleasing sound. In fact, I prefer the sound of these over the Sony XM5 or Bose QC45. Sony's default sound is far too boomy, with sloppy and uncontrolled bass. It takes a lot of EQing to fix the Sony sound. Bose's is a little closer to neutral, but doesn't sound natural to me, and it too suffers from too much bass by default. I'll take the sound of this headphone over either of those, EQ'd or not.

That's not to say these don't product plenty of bass. I just really appreciate how the bass on these is presented: restrained on songs that don't call for a lot of bass, and cleanly powerful on songs where it's meant to be there. This is the sound I'd originally hoped Sony and Bose could have delivered. Mids and treble are handled really nicely, too. Mids are clear and slightly forward in my opinion—just the way I like them. Treble is crisp, but never (to my ears) harsh or sibilant.

One last observation I have regarding sound. It's best, in my opinion, at 30% - 50% volume. It still sounds great at lower volumes where I prefer it, just a slight bit more anemic. At 60% and above, I hear the sound's cohesiveness fall apart somewhat. Bass gets looser and eventually you run into distortion. Fortunately for me, my sweet spot on most gear is 20% to 40% anyway.

The sound for me gets a 9/10 relative to other closed back ANC headphones, and handily beats the Sony and Bose products I'm familiar with.

ANC and Passthrough
This is the one area in which the EarFun headphones struggle to compete with the more mature brands. While the noise cancelling does work admirably (not quite to the level of Sony and Bose), it also introduces a bit of white background noise with it. It doesn't bother me at all the way some cheaper, older ANC headphones used to, but it's worth pointing out. The ambient sound mode is also a little behind the more expensive brands, but it still does a nice job. It can't compete with the industry leader, AirPods Max, but I can use it effectively at work to listen to my music and remain aware of my surroundings. For ANC and ambient, I'd give these 6/10.

Other Features
I like that these use only tactile buttons, no touch controls. Even in the best scenario, touch controls can cause issues that tactile buttons don't have to deal with. These buttons are easy to learn and have a satisfying click to them.

I did not download or use EarFun's app. It's nice that they produced one, and I might give it a try sometime. But my goal is to use headphones that don't require an app, or further tweaking to be just right. Since these sound so good and work great out of the box, I don't want to install yet another app.

Conclusion
If the EarFun headphones cost the same as those from Sony, Bose, Sennheiser, B&O, Bowers and Wilkins, and other big players, this still would have been a fair review. The EarFun Wave Pro do a remarkable job holding their own against the giants in the marketplace. What makes this comparison noteworthy to me (and should be embarrassing to the Goliaths) is how close EarFun gets at literally a fraction of the price. I really like my headphones from those other manufacturers, but I find myself reaching for these over the others more and more often.

This is hands-down a stupid simple recommendation. If you're in the market for a pair of capable, great sounding ANC headphones, start with these—they may be everything you want and need, for a much lower price. Show Full Review

I'm use to actually using earfuns earbuds which are fantastic! Loved them for price compared to big name in nose canceling for the price point and what you get from earfun. They do* update their app and release updates so everything works great and sounds great. With that said I tried these at work after the first half of the day using the ear buds. And these wave pro's are very light and comfortable. And do a moderate job at noise canceling. ( I work in a machine shop) so again if you're a headphone person over ear buds. You'll love this pair! And 80 hours of battery life ! Show Full Review

I purchased these for my wife ahead of a long travel trip. The sound quality supported by the App EQ exceeds anything I have heard in this price range. No complaints at all. The ambient mode is reasonable too. The noice cancellation on the other hand is very mediocre - and should not be compared in any way with Bose, Sony or Apple. Given the price, I really can’t complain about the noise cancellation - but potential buyers need to be mindful of this one concern. It’s hard to imagine a better value set of cans than these. Highly recommended! Show Full Review

These headphones are well done. To start, they come with a snazzy hard cover carrying case to protect your headphones. Left and right is easily identifiable in the case itself, which makes storing the headphones a snap. There’s a USB-C charging cord and aux cable, that are nicely stored in a pouch inside the case. See pictures.

These were super easy to connect. Hold down the power button and they immediately start pairing. There’s an Earfun App that gives you custom control of your equalizer settings or you can just choose a preset equalizer setting. The active noise cancelling is excellent. You can choose all the way up to a strong ANC setting.

The App is super easy to use as well. I posted several pics of the App screens.

When I initially opened the App, it upgraded the headphones to the latest firmware version. This took about 3-5 minutes and worked flawlessly. This means Earfun will be working to improve the headphones and fix any bugs, which I really like. Product support is a great thing in my book.

The sound is pleasant and not overly boomy. I like balanced sound, so they sound really nice to my ears. I used the “Rock” preset and listened to Dave Matthew’s song ‘Crash’. It was very detailed and rich. The great thing is, if you want more bass you can either choose that preset or customize to your preference in the App.

The pleather muffs are comfortable and the headphones fit my head comfortably. They are adjustable as well. The headphones appear to be well made. Overall I really like and I’m pleased with these headphones. I have another well known brand and these are every bit as good, but at a lower price point. I believe these are worth checking out. Please check out the many pictures posted. Show Full Review

The best ..... excellent sound, construction,.....I recommend it. Show Full Review