Active noise-cancelling (ANC) headphones have become more prominent in the audiophile world. EarFun recently launched its flagship EarFun Wave Pro X, introducing what it calls the world’s first dual-driver Qualcomm ANC headphones. Does it sound nice? Hell yeah! Does it connect quickly to devices? You bet. But is it worth the $129.99 price tag?
The EarFun Wave Pro X comes with Auracast support, meaning it uses Bluetooth Low Energy (LE) Audio to let the headphones tune in to a public or private audio broadcast without requiring a traditional device-to-device pairing process. This made connecting to my phone and other Bluetooth receivers quick and easy because I did not need to go through the traditional Bluetooth menu on my device to sync the headphones. Out of the box, I turned the headphones on, and my phone immediately detected them and connected when prompted. Overall, connectivity was a 10/10 experience. The same was true when connecting to my PC.
ANC headphones have been growing more popular because life, among other things, can get a bit noisy. Tuning things out once in a while is a nice way to decompress and focus on tasks. I can confidently say the EarFun Wave Pro X’s ANC capabilities instantly took me aback. I was shocked by how much sound it could tune out, and I discovered its limits along the way.
“I can confidently say the EarFun Wave Pro X’s ANC capabilities instantly took me aback.”
While it can cut out consistent noise well, the adaptive ANC crackled a lot in response to rapidly changing background noise. As I was cutting the lawn with an edge trimmer, the noise level went up and down sporadically. This caused a crackling sound that made podcasts and music unbearable to listen to. Ultimately, I discovered the limits of its environmental noise suppression, but only while I was doing a task most people don’t do every day. Unless, of course, your job involves trimming lawns and foliage for a living. Even then, you can simply turn off ANC while doing the task.
In all other environments, though, the EarFun Wave Pro X worked like a charm with ANC activated. The best part is that the ANC function also works in both USB and AUX wired connection modes. Whether listeners are on a flight, sitting at a desk or want as little audio interference as possible while wired in, these headphones are flexible enough to use ANC in any connection mode.
For the most part, the main weakness of the EarFun Wave Pro X is its microphone quality. EarFun touts the headphones’ eight-microphone hybrid system as delivering precise voice capture and noise suppression, but my experience was a bit different. On Discord, some of my friends said the microphone sounded quite tinny.
Fortunately, the microphone quality was significantly better during calls on my mobile device. ANC was also super helpful for tuning out excess noise on the bus and subway, but watch your own volume when talking with it turned on. Funnily enough, I caught myself speaking a bit louder than I realized a couple of times. I did not notice until I saw a few eyes dart my way.
The overall audio gaming experience was superb, offering one of the best uses of spatial audio. I tested the spatial audio by playing Counter-Strike 2 and VALORANT, and the directional sounds were some of the best I have ever heard. There may have been one or two sound cues off, but definitely reliable to hear when the bomb/spike is being planted.
“For the most part, the main weakness of the EarFun Wave Pro X is its microphone quality.”
The EarFun Wave Pro X worked well on both modern single-player games like Resident Evil Requiem and older titles like Yakuza 0. Similar to my experience with the online shooter, the pinpoint accuracy of both prominent and ambient sounds in Resident Evil Requiem was very immersive—hearing zombies behind me or to my right. In Yakuza 0, it was the same story of how the headphones handled directional dialogue and sounds. Even for a more classic game, it was great to hear all the sounds of the Kamurocho streets.
As for the EarFun Audio app, it offered various options to customize a tailored experience that synced with the EarFun Wave Pro X in real time. It offered different ANC modes that use AI to block out specific noises, such as wind or general background noise. In Normal mode, you can also set it to Game mode to enhance spatial audio. I enjoyed how clear the UI was and how easy it was to sync with the headphones.
EarFun noted that these headphones can last up to 90 hours, and the company was not wrong. They were almost too efficient to die. Throughout this review process, I used the headphones for an average of five hours a day for about 14 days straight, and I still had 30% battery life remaining. I did not even charge them after taking them out of the box! Apparently, a 15-minute charge can add 10 hours of use, so I had to test that too. Although I cannot say it worked exactly that way, the battery level went from 30% to about 45% in that time. Fast-charging results can vary, but I used the standard cable included with the headphones.
Matching that longevity, the design and geometry of the headphones were nearly perfect for me. My ears fit snugly inside the earcups. I had one friend with larger ears try them, and they could not quite get the full over-ear experience. Even so, they still found the ANC feature worthwhile and noticed a major difference in how much environmental noise it tuned out.
The EarFun Wave Pro X headphones were an ultimate audio experience from top to bottom. With a few technical tweaks, I would like to see the ANC background noise blocker work without crackling—finding the right way to calibrate noise correction. Fine-tuning this feature would truly put it on par with Sony, Sennheiser, and Bose. Whether I was listening to music while commuting, taking calls outside on the city streets, or gaming late at night, these headphones were reliable and well worth the $129.99.
