Earfun Air Pro 3 review: Great sound, but a few grumbles

I've been using the Earfun Air Pro 3 earbuds on and off for some time now, and I'm ready to share my thoughts. Are these budget earbuds worth the (little) money, or does their low price show in the quality?

Honestly, it's a little of both. There's a lot to like here, especially for the price of around $80/£80, but there are also some annoying quirks I just couldn't get over (though maybe you would). Find out all about my experience (and then check out my Nothing Ear (2) review.

Design: Earfun Air Pro 3 

These earbuds are well designed, with a sleek appeal (though possibly a bit long). The buds themselves feel more premium than they are, and though the case is a bit blah and plasticky, I like the curved edges. You'll get a range of four silicone tips for the buds (in four different sizes), and after flirting with the smallest pair I found the next size up fitted securely and sealed nicely.

The control buttons are well-situated on the outside of the buds, and didn't feel too fiddly. Through these you can change the volume, skip tracks forward and backwards, and play/pause. These buttons also let you switch between Ambient Sound and Active Noise Cancellation. A nice touch is that you can customise the tap functionality, so if you don't like tapping twice to play your music, you can reduce it to just one tap.

Performance: Earfun Air Pro 3

Let's talk about the good, first. The sound is surprisingly good for the cost. Though I certainly noticed the difference between these and my more expensive Nothing Ear (2) earbuds, the gulf wasn't as wide as I thought. They're a bit more tinny (when attached to my Peloton the sound sounded especially far away for some reason) but there is a richness of sound there I wasn't expecting – especially in the bass. If you're looking for decent sound at a very decent price, these are your friend. 

When talking on the phone, the quality of sound was good and, more surprisingly, the person on the phone can hear me clearly as well. This was not the case with another pair of cheaper earbuds I had, which made it impossible to talk hands-free. So that's a big plus.

Another plus is you can also connect to two devices at once, which is actually super-helpful if you're going from laptop to phone a lot. 

But onto the quirks. The big one for me was that the earbuds lose connectivity whenever you disconnect a phone call. It's really annoying that you have to go back into your phone and restart your music when this happens – with every other pair of earbuds I've used the music simply restarts when the phone call ends. 

And while they lose connectivity at the end of a call, they don't automatically pause music until they're put back in the case. Sure, that might not always be a big deal but when I arrive at my desk I often put my earbuds down and get distracted, which means I lose my place in the podcast until I remember to put them back. But maybe you're more focused and won't wander off without putting them back in their bed.

Should you buy the Earfun Air Pro 3?

If you've only got $80 to spend, these are a good shout. The sound is great and they fit well. There are a couple of annoyances, such as a connectivity issue and the lack of auto-stop when you take them out of your ears – but those niggles could be deemed normal at this price point.