EarFun Wave Pro X Headphones Review: Light But Mighty

Big, comfy over-ear headphones have always come with a price you pay on your head: the weight. Somehow, EarFun has made a pair you can barely feel.

The EarFun Wave Pro X are the company’s new flagship over-ear headphones, with an official price of £119.99 (and often lower than that with discounts). Inside, there are two drivers stacked on the same axis, eight microphones and a battery rated for up to 90 hours.

After a few weeks of testing, plenty of that firepower lands. They’re astonishingly light, they’re superb on video calls, and the battery simply refused to die.

But it’s not all perfect. The bass never quite rocked my world, the “AI” noise-cancelling modes are more buzzword than breakthrough, and the carrying case will need a big bag of its own.

So can a £119.99 pair really stand in for headphones costing more than three times as much? Let’s find out…

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Who Are The EarFun Wave Pro X For?

I’ve been reviewing EarFun’s earphones since 2021, and they’ve become my go-to recommendation for anyone who wants great sound without spending a fortune. The EarFun Air Pro 4+ are still the pair I point many people towards.

The Wave Pro X are something new for me, though: they’re the first EarFun over-ear headphones I’ve tested.

They’re the company’s new flagship pair and the follow-up to the original Wave Pro, which is still on sale for less than half the price. Most of the changes are under the hood: two drivers sharing the same axis instead of one, eight microphones instead of five, and battery life stretched from 80 to 90 hours.

The official price is £119.99, though they’re often cheaper than that thanks to various discounts. That’s less than a third of what Sony and Bose charge for their flagship headphones, which EarFun is clearly aiming at.

The first thing you notice is the weight. These are very lightweight. When I first took them out of their carrying case, I thought it was empty, and you almost don’t feel their weight on your head.

Personally, I still mostly stick to the old split: in-ear earphones for outside, big headphones inside. But I know plenty of people have no problem commuting and walking around with big headphones on. If anything, the Wave Pro X make an excellent case for that, precisely because they’re so light.

They also block out more of the world than earbuds can. The noise cancellation itself isn’t the best out there. Even with all the fancy new AI modes, it’s much the same as what EarFun offers on its other models. But over-ear headphones physically cover your ears, and that passive blocking combined with the ANC works better than tiny earbuds, which don’t always get the best seal.

Still, call me old-fashioned, but for me these are the pair you put on indoors, whether you’re working from home, listening to music or jumping on a video call. The in-ear ones wait in my bag for the moment I step outside.

The catch? The bass. I was a bit worried about it with these being so light, and for good reason. The app’s Boost preset setting at level 3 improved things, but it still didn’t rock my body as much as I’d have liked. It wasn’t a dealbreaker for me, but it certainly took some points off.

Yet overall – especially if you start counting features – you get a lot for your money here.

Using The EarFun Wave Pro X

Size And Comfort

The design is actually quite nice. The black earcups with their silver, metallic-looking discs make the Wave Pro X look more expensive and premium than they are.

As with many other headphones (even some that cost way more), I would have liked thicker cushioning on the headband. Please remember, some of us don’t have a young, lush head of hair!

In this case, though, it’s not as bad as it could be. The headphones are so light that the headband doesn’t press down on your head, and even after more than an hour of use, I didn’t feel any pain.

That being said, you will feel them after a while. Not the weight as such, but they do squish your head and ears a bit. They also get a bit hot. Mind you, it was already autumn when I was testing them, so I have a feeling they may be a bit of a challenge in the heat of summer.

In the box, you get a hard protective case (with a loop for carrying it), a USB-C charging cable, a 3.5mm audio cable and the user manual.

The headphones fold inwards to fit in the case, but folding isn’t the issue. The case is huge, so if you plan to carry them around town, you’ll need a big bag.

And then there’s the charging cable, which is comically short. I know these supplied cables are always tiny, and that kind of makes sense with tiny earbuds that come in small boxes. Here, though, it’s a bit silly. What are you going to do, tape the headphones to the wall next to the plug socket? It’s petty, I know, but it just looked funny.

Pairing And Controlling The EarFun Wave Pro X

Pairing the Wave Pro X is straightforward, and Android users also get Google Fast Pair for a quicker setup. But there’s one tip worth knowing before you start: make your phone the first device you pair them with.

That way, you can connect them to the EarFun Audio app, run the firmware update and turn on dual-device pairing (connecting to two devices at the same time), which isn’t on by default.

I connected them to my phone on its own (using LDAC, the higher-quality Bluetooth codec many Android phones support), to my PC on its own, and then to both in dual-device mode. I didn’t notice any dropouts. As usual, though, if you want dual-device, you have to turn off LDAC.

Switching between the two devices was quite smooth, but not always perfect. Some sounds “stayed” on the phone. Short notifications, for example, never reached me while I was listening to music on my PC.

Phone calls, on the other hand, did grab the spotlight. I heard them, and once the call was over, the spotlight went back to the PC and the music came back.

Also, remember that this is a switch. You won’t hear your phone and your PC at the same time: one of them always has to pull the audio away from the other.

The Wave Pro X use physical buttons rather than touch controls. They’re easy to find once you get used to where they are, and physical buttons are convenient. Better still, the ANC button announces which mode you’ve switched to, something I sorely missed on a few other headphones.

The app itself offers endless EQ tweaking options. But the feature I was most curious about was the sound test: you listen to music, choose the options you prefer, and the app sets up a personalised sound profile.

For me – surprise! – I got “Dual Boost”, for “powerful and impactful sound”, ideal for “bass-heavy” and “detail rich” music. Yes, a bass fan indeed. However, that overbearing bass boost did come at a price, as it muddled the rest of the sound a bit.

The AI translation feature from the EarFun Clip 2 is here too. It lives in the app and works in two modes: Face to Face, where you and the other person take turns speaking and each hears the translation, and Real Time, which translates one language continuously, which is handy for following a foreign-language video.

You’ll need an internet connection, and you have to pick both languages yourself. When I tested it, it was fast enough to follow a conversation and accurate enough to get the gist, but not something I’d rely on when precision matters.

As with the Clip 2, a banner in the app says the feature is free for a limited time, which suggests it could become a paid add-on down the line.

EarFun Wave Pro X Audio Quality

EarFun is making big claims about the sound here. The Wave Pro X use what the company calls DCAA (Dual-Coaxial Acoustic Architecture): a 40mm dynamic driver and a smaller 10mm driver stacked on the same axis, so both fire from the same point instead of competing from separate positions. The promise is deep, controlled bass, a natural midrange and clear highs.

On the codec front, you get aptX Lossless, aptX Adaptive and LDAC for compatible Android phones, along with AAC (which is what iPhone users will be limited to) and SBC. The headphones are Hi-Res Audio certified too.

The result is a sound that’s balanced and very detailed, with clear, smooth mids and good separation between instruments.

I put them through their paces with a couple of tracks.

Feel Alive by Beetrooz came through clean and well-defined, with good separation between the different elements of the mix. The midrange stays clear without becoming harsh, although the bass could use a little more precision.

With Stayin’ Alive by the Bee Gees, the vocals came through clearly and naturally, with good separation between the harmonies and the instruments. The song keeps all its energy and rhythm, though there’s room for a slightly tighter bass response.

And that’s the recurring theme. The bass is there, but it’s not as strong or as precise as I’d like. The app’s EQ presets include several Bass Boost levels, and Bass Boost 3 does improve things. In the end, though, I stuck with the Dual Boost preset the sound test set up for me, a bit of muddiness and all.

It’s hard to compare these directly with the Air Pro 4+, since one pair sits in your ear and the other covers it. But to be frank, I like the Air Pro 4+’s sound slightly better. The bass is stronger, and the sound somehow pierces your soul better. The Wave Pro X sound clean and accurate, but they lack some of that extra oomph.

Where they do shine is speech. I watched films and YouTube videos with them, and voices sounded excellent: warm and clear. The same goes for podcasts. I didn’t have any lip-sync issues at all, either.

Volume is excellent too. I never needed to crank them up, and I didn’t hear any distortion.

Active Noise Cancellation

I tested the Wave Pro X mostly around the house, plus a bit of walking outside.

As I mentioned earlier, the noise cancellation itself is much the same as on EarFun’s other models, but the over-ear design adds to the overall effect.

What it masks well is the steady background stuff: the hum of the engine on a train or a plane, the computers around you, and people breathing and talking quietly in the cubicles around you. It lets you focus on what you’re doing and step into your own world with your music.

As with EarFun’s other models, though, there are limits. If you’re listening to quiet music, you’ll still hear keyboard typing, people with loud voices, a baby screaming, and so on.

The good news is that the sound doesn’t suffer for it. I didn’t notice the sound change when I switched ANC on or off, which isn’t always the case with some headphones, where turning ANC on noticeably flattens the bass.

The app’s ANC modes, on the other hand, are the same strange bunch I found on the Air Pro 4+, only now with the must-have buzzword added: AI. You can choose between AI Ear Adaptive, AI Environment Adaptive and Manual Adjustment. EarFun says the system adjusts itself 800 times per second, but I still can’t say I heard any difference between them.

Where the Wave Pro X really excel is video calls (or any type of voice calls). I used them for several Zoom meetings, and they were excellent. The other side sounded clear and loud, and they heard me very well.

Importantly, the ANC didn’t make me shout. That sometimes happens with other headphones: I can’t hear myself, so I raise my voice, which then sounds strange to the person on the other end.

Combine that with how comfortable they are to wear, and they’re just the perfect Zoom accessory.

EarFun Wave Pro X Battery Times

Battery life is where the Wave Pro X really flex their muscles.

EarFun claims up to 90 hours of listening with ANC off, and up to 50 hours with it on. That’s up from the original Wave Pro’s 80 hours.

Apart from some testing here and there, I had ANC switched on most of the time. Even so, I charged them just once during my few weeks of testing, and that was only to be on the safe side ahead of an important video call. Really, these never run out.

When you do need to charge them, a full charge takes around 2 hours, and EarFun says a 15-minute top-up gives you up to 10 hours of listening.

As always, your actual battery life will vary depending on the volume, which codec you’re using and whether ANC is on. But even with ANC running most of the time, I never came close to running out.

Bottom Line: Are The EarFun Wave Pro X Worth It?

The EarFun Wave Pro X are an excellent all-rounder, especially at this price.

Will they give audiophiles the best sound around? No, and at this price level, you shouldn’t expect them to.

But they get a lot right, all at once. Put the features, the battery life, the way they handle video calls and dual-device switching, the decent ANC and the lightweight, comfortable design together with a clean, enjoyable sound that might not sling you to the moon but certainly lets you enjoy your music, and you get a pair that’s very hard to argue with.

That makes them an especially easy recommendation if you spend your days at a desk, switching between music, podcasts and video calls.

And if you’re happy to carry big headphones out of the house, they’ll serve you well there too.

At £119.99, and often less with discounts, these are an excellent bargain for what they cost.

Note: The earphones were supplied by the manufacturer for this review. As always, this did not influence my unbiased opinion of the product.