EarFun Air 2 NC test – Noise canceling becomes affordable

It doesn’t always have to be the absolute top model if you can get good performance at a lower price. EarFun’s previous top model, the Air Pro 3, was already impressive in terms of value for money. Here, good sound, effective ANC (active noise canceling) and good handling came together with an astonishingly good price when compared to some long-established brands. EarFun is still a fairly young brand – founded in 2018. In this EarFun Air 2 NC review, we take a look at the series, which ranks below the top model, but also comes in at a slightly lower price.

Specifications

The specifications are therefore very similar to the EarFun Air Pro 3. What has been added is the 3D surround sound simulation. What has been omitted, for example, is the aptX Bluetooth codec. The 11 mm driver, ANC efficiency, robustness and charging options look identical at first glance. Let’s see how they compare in practice.

Packaging and scope of delivery

• Cardboard box with charging cradle, accessory box and instructions
• Protective film on the in-ear headphones
• Interchangeable ear tips and a charging cable are included

The outer packaging of the EarFun Air 2 NC is kept relatively simple and the yellow signal color stands out at best. This can also be found inside the cardboard box, as it contains the charging case with the in-ear headphones as well as the yellow accessory box. The charging case is also packed in a plastic sleeve for protection. Instructions are of course also included.

Ultimately, there’s not too much in the accessory box. A short USB-C charging cable without a power plug is included. Next to it are ear tips in three other sizes from very small to very large.

Both earphones in the EarFun Air 2 NC set have protective films on them, which need to be removed so that the charging contacts of the earphones can be connected. Once the films have been removed, the earphones have to be put back into the charging case to start them up.

Design

• Unobtrusive design
• Black housing with metallic gray exterior

As far as the design of the EarFun Air 2 NC is concerned, it has to be said that they are relatively inconspicuous: For better or worse. The inside is made of high-gloss black plastic. The outside has a matt metallic sheen, but is also unobtrusive and still visibly made of plastic. The ear tips are also black to very dark gray, but matt. Overall, the EarFun Air 2 NC are therefore not very striking in terms of their look.

This means that they don’t attract too much attention – not even from potential thieves. Even if you tend to wear dark clothing or have dark hair, these in-ear headphones are not too noticeable. However, if they fall off, the dark gray and black design of the EarFun Air 2 NC may not be as immediately visible as white headphones, depending on the surroundings. You have to see for yourself which type you are: I know a lot of people whose things are always safe and still others who are constantly dropping things.

There is a button on the underside of the charging box for pairing with two devices or resetting the connections, which I have to admit I only noticed after looking at the operating instructions, as it is very inconspicuous.

Back to the actual topic: The EarFun Air 2 NC are inconspicuous, but overall I like them quite a bit. In contrast to the previously tested Air Pro 3, however, the outside is completely smooth and does not offer a dedicated raised surface for operation. Instead, you simply touch the upper surface on the outside. However, since you usually have the in-ears in your ear anyway when controlling them, I don’t think this is a real drawback: even with the “Pro” models, you can only feel the surface, not see it when you’re wearing them.

Build quality

• Lightweight but robust plastic housing
• Charging case only has one LED
• Inductive charging possible

In the EarFun Air 2 NC test, the workmanship of the in-ear headphones was impeccable. Of course, for reasons of price and weight, the housing is made of plastic, as with almost all other in-ear headphones. This is not unexpected. The charging case is relatively slim and opens upwards. This is comparable to many other competitor models, including Apple’s Airpods. However, the EarFun Air Pro 3 version is easier to clean, but this is negligible in terms of practical use. The charging case also makes a good impression. In contrast to the higher-class models, however, there is only a small LED – the charging status can therefore be seen via the Bluetooth connection rather than via the case.

Each of the in-ears also has a small LED on the top that signals the start of charging when inserted into the case. There are two contacts for charging on the underside, which are exposed as soon as the protective film is removed. The EarFun Air 2 NC fall firmly into the charging case and start charging immediately. They are held in place magnetically to prevent them from accidentally falling out or slipping.

Another cool feature is wireless charging, which is possible with the EarFun Air 2 NC. However, the earphones can get quite warm in the process.

Wearing comfort

• Interchangeable earmolds for different ear sizes
• Comfortable to wear

I have to admit that I have problems with many earphones, especially models with a fixed shape. But the EarFun Air 2 NC are not one of them. The interchangeable earpieces in particular allow them to be adjusted comfortably. Then you can use them wonderfully and even wearing them for several hours was no problem. It was actually more the case that I forgot that I was wearing the EarFun Air 2 NC and then accidentally adjusted the volume or didn’t realize that I was being spoken to.

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Where I usually prefer large, circumaural headphones, the EarFun Air 2 NC, like the Air Pro 3, are among the earphones that I have found to be particularly comfortable.

Especially in summer, it was pleasant not to get as sweaty as I often do with large headphones. But what about the sound?

Sound quality

• Good sound quality
• Can be further customized using the EQ in the app

Describing sound is of course always a very difficult thing. But in a nutshell, I have to say that I didn’t miss anything. The bass was powerful in the EarFun Air 2 NC test, so that music and games sounded really big. The mids were present and therefore speech was clearly understandable and there was enough treble in the sound to make the sound clear without sounding too sharp. In short: the sound is good and balanced. It doesn’t sound tinny or thin and doesn’t show any other weaknesses. And for everything else, there’s the EarFun app, where you can adjust the equalizer to suit your personal taste.

However, 3D surround sound is now being advertised. I couldn’t find anything about this either in the operating instructions or in the app. What was displayed there was a theater mode, which is supposed to give you the feeling of being in the middle of the music. Is this the mode? If you activate it, everything gets louder in any case – and significantly so! If you now adjust the volume again to be at the same level… well – for me, I don’t notice any difference to normal mode.

There is also a gaming mode that is supposed to reduce latency. However, I have to say that even in regular mode, which is also supposed to be more reliable, I didn’t notice any particular latency. This is a good sign for the EarFun Air 2 NC as such, but I think you have to be very sensitive to notice a difference here. I prefer to stay in regular mode.

Active noise canceling

• Active reduction of ambient noise possible (e.g. for public transportation)
• Amplification of ambient noise (e.g. for road traffic)
• Can be switched off for the longest battery life

The EarFun Air 2 NC offer ANC, i.e. active noise canceling. This means that external noise is balanced out in real time by a “counter-sound”. This makes the environment significantly quieter than simply by using simple earphones.

Why do you need ANC? If you want to enjoy your music or an audio book or podcast undisturbed, you can use it to block out outside noise. At home, this is usually not so relevant. It is particularly interesting in the back seat of the car, on bus and train journeys or other travel options when you want to block out engine noise and other people.

When should you not use ANC? If you are traveling in traffic – on foot, on a bike or on a scooter – then ANC should not be activated, as otherwise you will not hear enough of your surroundings. On the contrary, the EarFun Air 2 NC offer a different mode for this: Ambient. This does not reduce outside noise, but actually amplifies it so that you can hear more, even if you have music playing.

Does ANC have disadvantages? Active Noise Cancelling is, as the name suggests, active. Accordingly, you need power to use it, just like for “Ambient”. This reduces the battery life of the EarFun Air 2 NC. However, even when using ANC, the batteries lasted a few hours in the EarFun Air 2 NC test. If you switch to “Normal” mode, which neither amplifies nor reduces external noise, the EarFun Air 2 NC behave like normal in-ear headphones and the battery life is longer.

The modes are changed in the standard control by pressing and holding the left earbud. Incidentally, low sounds are better balanced than highs. Bass, humming etc. are therefore better balanced than children’s voices or smoke alarms. You can also hear people talking – as long as you don’t have music playing – but then it is quieter and much thinner.

EarFun app

• No account requirement
• Ratings were much better compared to the last review
• Equalizer can be adjusted

The “EarFun Audio” app is available for both Android and Apple. In both cases, you can see that the app’s ratings are rather mixed. The main point of criticism seems to be that older models are not recognized. Also, most of the bad reviews are from the early days. When I tested the EarFun Air Pro 3 in 2023, the app even only had 1.4 stars (Android) – the progress to 3.2 stars at the current time of testing is remarkable, as the bad ratings from the early days are still there and pull the average down significantly further than if you only looked at the ratings from last year.

Installation is simple and once you have connected the headphones with Bluetooth, you can connect them.

In addition to displaying the different batteries, you can also control the headphones more precisely. You can select the exact noise-canceling modes. And even more, such as dedicated wind noise suppression. The equalizer gives you access to various options. The simplest are pre-set settings for different scenarios, which you can simply click through until you find something you like.

Apart from that, there is the more flexible graphic equalizer, in which you can adjust each frequency individually to your personal taste. Last but not least, you can also create your own individual sound profile. This works in such a way that you can hear a sound from bass tones to high frequencies. This is then turned down so far that it is almost imperceptible. The sound profile is now perfect for your own hearing. I actually found this setting very good in terms of sound. You can also do this as a kind of personal hearing test.

Setting the controls

• The controls can be adjusted as required
• You can also check the current assignment

In the “Customize controls” menu item, you can not only actually make adjustments, but also go back and check what you have set. The first two images show the standard control settings, the third image shows which settings can be distributed, for example.

For example, “Noise control” allows you to switch between noise canceling, ambient sound and normal mode. This is on the long press on the left-hand side as standard. A single tap changes the volume ex works – quieter on the left, louder on the right. A double tap pauses and continues playing. A triple tap starts the next – or previous – track on the playlist.

Incidentally, the Bluetooth control doesn’t just work for music – you can also pause YouTube on your laptop, for example.

You can also connect multiple devices via the app. For example, you can use a computer to play games or watch films, but use the app on your cell phone to activate game mode, adjust the equalizer or avoid missing calls.

Speech intelligibility

• Microphone is sufficient for communication
• Not suitable if good sound quality is required

As is typical for in-ear headphones, the EarFun Air 2 NC also have built-in microphones. These are not the top feature of the earphones, but are useful from a purely technical point of view, for example for making phone calls. The quality is not really that great. You can certainly be understood, but there is no real advantage over the cell phone microphone – except that you don’t have to hold it in your hand. This recording was made using Audacity on a laptop and the sound was not altered afterwards:

The microphone quality is therefore easily sufficient for making phone calls and when I tested the EarFun Air 2 NC on the phone, my conversation partners praised the communication quality when asked. However, I wouldn’t use the in-ear headphones for recordings, podcasts or most web conferences.

Conclusion

The EarFun Air 2 NC offer a solid performance. The sound is good, the noise canceling is effective, the workmanship leaves nothing to be desired and I found the handling and wearing comfort very good and reliable in the EarFun Air 2 NC test. In addition, the associated app expands the control options, allows multiple devices to be paired simultaneously and lets you define your own tap commands. In practical use, these in-ears therefore offer everything I expect – and even more.

When you look at how much you pay for comparable features from the competition, it’s really good – and if you do lose them, it’s much less painful than if you had paid three-figure sums for in-ears. Of course, you can find better in-ear headphones on the market. The recording quality of the microphone on the EarFun Air 2 NC is only convincing to a limited extent. But as always, the same applies here: You often pay a huge premium for the last 10% extra performance, which is usually irrelevant in everyday life.