The EarFun Free Pro 3 are a great set of earbuds for 80 bucks, featuring decent sound quality, a comfortable fit with plenty of silicon tip options, customizable EQ, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Sound, multi-device connectivity, and much more. It’s a wonder EarFun can push these earbuds at this price, given the range of features and specs on show.
But there’s a catch. The extensive features list can’t escape the poor ANC performance, despite the overall quality of the EarFun Free Pro 3 package.
EarFun Free Pro 3
The EarFun Free Pro 3 are a surprisingly feature-rich set of budget wireless earbuds that offer a comfortable and secure fit, very good battery life, the latest Bluetooth standard and audio codecs, customizable sound via the EQ, and extra features like wireless charging and an IPX5 rating. The audio quality brings music to life with punchy bass and clear treble, although the noise cancellation is quite poor. Overall, they provide excellent value, given the extensive features and decent sound at this low price point.
Decent Style, Familiar Comfort
EarFun’s Free Pro 3 are a comfortable set of earbuds. They use EarFun’s tried and tested pill-shaped earbud shape with a small rubber wing-tip to help hold it in place. The default silicon tips fit me well on this occasion, and the ear tips help to keep the Free Pro 3 buds locked in but don’t cause any irritation during longer listening sessions. Weighing 5.3g per earbud, they’re not particularly heavy, and because they stay well positioned, you don’t really notice you’re wearing them.
In the box are four additional ear tip pairs, one set of memory foam tips, and two different wing tip options. It’s a great showing and shows EarFun is considering all the options when it comes to user comfort.
The Free Pro 3 are an all-black and grey matte-plastic design, as you might expect. It does give the EarFun Free Pro 3 some extra style points, as the rear of the buds looks good, and the EarFun logo shimmers in the light when you turn the earbuds in your hand. Similarly, the larger pill-shaped Free Pro 3 case is matte-plastic, wonderfully smooth in the hand, and features the EarFun logo on the cover. There’s also a USB-C port at the rear for charging. I like the case as it has good hand feel, but I’m not sure it would survive many trips to the floor without picking up scratches or an accidental trip in your pocket with a set of keys. Still, it’s decent enough at this price.
Multi-Day Battery Life and Multiple Bluetooth Codecs
Battery life is one of the Free Pro 3’s major plus points. The earbuds provide up to 7.5 hours of playback on a single charge, with another 25.5 hours in the charging carry case. There is also a fast charging option that delivers two hours of playback on a rapid ten-minute charge. Nearly every set of earbuds has a fast charge feature now, but it’s great to see it on more budget-focused buds.
During testing, the EarFun Free Pro 3 battery life was accurate enough. It drops when you use ANC and ultra-low latency modes, as you’d expect when the earbuds have to do more processing. But overall, I’m happy with the battery life the Free Pro 3 delivers.
Now, connectivity is where it gets interesting. The Free Pro 3 buds use Bluetooth 5.3, the latest version of the standard, and comes with support for the SBC, AAC, LC3, and aptX Adaptive codecs. The inclusion of LC3 is useful, as it is a low-energy codec that can transmit better audio than the standard SBC codec, while Qualcomm’s aptX Adaptive should also deliver some additional audio quality. Switch between them where you can, as it does make a difference, though these options are unfortunately limited for iOS users.
Extensive Range of Features: Microphones, Snapdragon Sound, IPX5 Rating, and More
Along with the great battery life and decent range of Bluetooth codecs, EarFun has packed the Free Pro 3 buds with other features—many of which you’d want to see on a more expensive set of earbuds. For example, they have a six-microphone array with Qualcomm’s cVc, which means your voice is exceptionally clear when on a call. It also does a great job of blocking out external noises, too.
The earbuds also support Snapdragon Sound, which, when paired with a device with similar functionality, can deliver spatial audio, lossless audio, and high-resolution audio streaming. Unfortunately, Snapdragon Sound support is limited, but it’s yet another feature EarFun has managed to squeeze into these budget buds.
There is also multi-device connectivity that works well out of the box, IPX5 sweat and dust resistance, and wireless charging—it’s quite the package.
The Free Pro 3 does have touch controls, but these are somewhat temperamental, suffering from classic touch-control issues such as registering multiple taps as one, not registering at all, and so on. You can customize or disable the touch controls in the EarFun Audio app—more on this later—but I decided against using the touch controls early on.
Fun Sound, Pitiful ANC
The sound quality on a set of budget earbuds will never directly compete with the much more expensive alternatives. However, the EarFun Free Pro 3’s 7mm wool composite drivers and overall tuning deliver a bouncy, fun sound that brings your music to life. Note that the 7mm drivers are an okay size for a set of earbuds, but will also limit the overall soundstage.
It’s a broadly V-shaped tuning, with elevated bass and treble at the expense of some of the mid-range. Still, if you know what you’re getting and what to expect, it’s a good listening experience. There is little use comparing the EarFun Free Pro 3 to more balanced earbuds because of it, mind, but they’ll suit most people. It’s not the widest soundstage you’ll ever encounter, but it’s broad enough to give some space for the mids at least.
I’ve been listening to enormous amounts of Jungle recently, which presents an interesting challenge for the Free Pro 3 (the genre, not electronic group, though they’re also great.). The dank, heavy basslines work well, but the harsher top end can make Jungle tracks sound tinny. Also, while testing the Free Pro 3, CASISDEAD released his long-awaited album, Famous Last Words. Again, it’s an interesting proposition for the earbuds. Aside from being one of the best albums of 2023, it features an extensive range of musical styles with a heavy 80’s synth-wave vibe. The EarFun Free Pro 3 actually does many of the tracks on this album justice, bringing the retro-sounding reverbs and deep basslines to life.
However, turning to Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young, and the quality of their lilting, cascading melodies and harmonies just doesn’t sound the same. Sure, they’re still good because CSNY was amazing, but the lack of depth and overall quality is noticed here more than anywhere else.
Unfortunately, the ANC on the EarFun Free Pro 3 is poor. Despite being advertised with the ability to block up to 43dB of noise, I felt the earbuds have no chance of blocking that level of background noise.
An update pushed out by EarFun did improve the situation somewhat (and introduce ear profiles), but the ANC just isn’t strong enough. Whether that’s due to a processing issue or otherwise, I’m not sure, but it’s surprising, as I’ve found the ANC on previous EarFun models like theAir Sand theAir Pro 3to be decent.
Make Sure to Use EarFun’s Handy Companion App to Customize the EQ
If you do pick up a pair of EarFun Free Pro 3, make sure you also download the EarFun Audio app. I’ve always liked EarFun’s companion app; it’s not flashy, but it gives you enough additional options to exert some control over your earbuds.
In this case, you’ll find the EarFun Audio app’s custom EQ options useful, with the ability to adjust up to ten different frequencies. It’s a far cry from the ultra-limited EQ apps that give you just four or five options, and it means that although the Free Pro 3 default tuning might not suit everyone, you can make significant adjustments.
The EarFun Free Pro 3 Are Low-Cost and Largely Good
TheEarFun Free Pro 3 retails for $80, and I have to say, it’s a decent overall budget earbud package.
Sure, the ANC might not be up to scratch, but the audio is decent, and there are numerous customization options in the EarFun Audio companion app. I’m pleased with the battery life, especially at this price, and they’re comfortable for long periods. Throw in the clear call quality and the IPX5 rating, and it adds up to a really good value proposition, especially if spending more than $100 is out of the question.
