I test a lot of the best earbuds, and not all of them impress me. Actually, I'm quite a harsh critic when it comes to audio gear. If a pair of earbuds, headphones, or a speaker doesn't sound good, then what's the point? Surely its entire reason for existence is to play music well?
Thankfully, there's a new pair of the best cheap earbuds on the market. Drum roll, please....
Sound so good I can barely believe it
As soon as I tried the EarFun Air Pro 4+ at IFA 2025, I couldn't wait to review them properly. I had about twenty minutes to test them in a loud convention hall, and the ANC immediately drowned out external noise. Obviously, a super-loud room isn't the best place to test sound quality, but I was also majorly impressed by the sound.
Thankfully, I reviewed the Air Pro 4+ this week, and I gave them 4.5 stars. It's true — they're nearly perfect.
And what makes them nearly perfect? The sound. Oh, boy. They sound like angels.
The Air Pro 4+ have dual drivers: one balanced armature driver and one standard dynamic driver. These drivers "share the load," so to speak, of representing different parts of the frequency range, so there isn't just one driver trying to cover bass, mids, and highs.
The result is a dynamic, surprisingly wide soundscape, with fantastic instrument separation and a balanced performance across the whole frequency range. If you have a compatible device, the earbuds also have aptX and LDAC, two high-res Bluetooth codecs.
If you don't like the sound out of the box, though, you're not stuck with EarFun's default EQ. With the EarFun Audio app, you can customize your EQ to your heart's content. There's even a personalized audio profile setting, which is basically a hearing test that then generates an ideal EQ based on your ears' ability to perceive sounds.
This feature is similar to JBL's PersoniFi or Soundcore's HearID (from the JBL Live 770 NC and the Soundcore Space One Pro, respectively), but it's great to see on some budget earbuds. Although it's not as advanced as Denon PerL Pro's fantastic Personalized Sound — which uses tiny mics in the earbuds themselves to measure your eardrums' responses to high- and low-frequency sounds), for $99 earbuds, this is awesome.
Obliterates other budget competition
I've tested a lot of budget earbuds, and let me tell you, it's not all sunshine and rainbows.
Only a couple of models stick in my mind: the JLab Go Pods ANC ($36), which are 100% the best sub-$50 earbuds money can buy. Even though I love the EarFun Air Pro 4+, the Go Pods ANC are still my top choice for those on a super-low budget.
I also liked the Soundpeats Air5 Pro, but the companion app requested access to my entire media library, which put me off using the earbuds. Sorry, but I'm not about to give a random app access to every single photo and video on my phone. I actually don't allow any apps access to my entire library. I grant app access to individual photos when I need to, which takes more time but it helps me sleep at night.
Anyway — I'm getting off track. I'm talking about the utterly fantastic EarFun Air pro 4+, not discussing my app privacy settings.
My main point of comparison is to Apple's AirPods series. I suppose you might have heard of them? They're kinda popular, I guess.
I use my AirPods Pro 2 every day, and even though they're now discontinued, I still think it's worth comparing to them. They were the flagship premium earbuds for years.
I'd say the EarFun Air Pro 4+ sound 90% identical to the Pro 2. Obviously, this isn't a scientific metric — it's just my opinion — but as someone who spends hours and hours every week reviewing earbuds, I think I've got an ear for it now.
I also compared the Air Pro 4+ to the brand-new AirPods Pro 3, and I'd estimate the former are 80-85% the quality of the Pro 3.
Honestly? I'd go as far to say that the Air Pro 4+ sound identical to the AirPods 4 ($179). There's no doubt in my mind. I also hate the AirPods 4's lack of silicone eartips, but that's just me being picky.
For $99 earbuds, that's a phenomenal achievement. If you don't believe me, that's fine. I wouldn't believe me either.
I guess you'll just have to try the EarFun Air Pro 4+ for yourself.
But annoyingly priced
As I mentioned earlier, the EarFun Air Pro 4+'s price on Amazon isn't correct. Although the list price is $129/£109, the earbuds are $99/£89 respectively. If you see the earbuds at a "discount," do not be fooled. This is not a discount. Only a price below $99/£89 is a real discount.
This is a wider issue with budget gear on Amazon, so EarFun isn't the only brand that does this, but please heed my warning. Everyone from EarFun to Tozo does this. Even so, I have confirmation from EarFun itself that the Air Pro 4+'s list price is $99/£89.
I fundamentally disagree with this pricing strategy, but I understand why budget brands do it. They want you to think the product is even cheaper than it first appears, so that you buy it faster. It's simple psychology.
You can use sites like Camel Camel Camel to track Amazon prices, which proves that these earbuds have only ever been sold at $99.
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