Richer, more detailed sound than their predecessor for just $20 more
In the ongoing democratization of high-fidelity audio, Earfun's Air Pro 4 Plus arrives as a quiet but meaningful milestone — a pair of $80 earbuds that borrows engineering choices once reserved for products costing two or three times as much. Released in 2025, they ask whether premium sound must carry a premium price, and largely answer in the negative, even if a few rough edges remind us that tradeoffs remain part of the bargain at every tier.
- A dual-driver architecture — pairing a dynamic driver with a balanced-armature unit — brings a level of sonic detail to the sub-$100 market that previously required spending $200 or more.
- The earbuds' voice-calling performance fractures under real-world pressure: on a windy city street, callers struggled to hear through glitching and cutouts, a regression from the previous model.
- A companion app showing occasional disconnects and confusing EQ navigation introduces friction into an otherwise polished experience, particularly on iOS.
- With eight hours of playback, 54 total hours of charge, IP55 dust resistance, and Bluetooth 6.0, the feature-to-price ratio actively challenges flagship competitors like AirPods Pro 3 and Galaxy Buds 3 Pro.
- Firmware updates are identified as the most plausible path to resolving both call quality and app stability — meaning the product's ceiling may not yet have been reached.
Earfun's Air Pro 4 Plus arrived in 2025 at around $80 — twenty dollars more than the standard Air Pro 4 — and the price difference is justified by what's changed inside. The original relied on a single driver; the Plus pairs a 10mm dynamic driver with a balanced-armature unit, a combination typically found in earbuds costing $200 or more. The result is richer, more detailed sound with defined bass and treble that rewards well-mastered recordings, even if it exposes flaws in poorly produced ones. Bluetooth was upgraded from 5.4 to 6.0, and Earfun added its own acoustic architecture aimed at enhanced clarity — the marketing is dense, but the listening improvement is real.
Physically, the buds weigh the same 5.2 grams as their predecessors, though the case has been redesigned: where the original opened flat like a clamshell, the Plus case flips open vertically with buds standing upright. It's a larger footprint but easier to handle. Both support wireless charging, and the Plus adds an IP55 dust-resistance rating the original lacked.
The feature set punches well above its price: adaptive ANC rated to 50 decibels, aptX Lossless and LDAC codec support, customizable touch controls, ear-detection sensors, a gaming mode, and multipoint connectivity that handled simultaneous iPhone and Android pairing without issue. Battery life reaches eight hours with ANC on and 54 hours total — nearly double the AirPods Pro 3's capacity.
Noise cancellation is solid but not class-leading, and transparency mode sounds less natural than Apple's. The more significant weakness is voice calling: quiet environments are fine, but on a noisy, windy street, callers reported the reviewer's voice glitching and cutting out — a step back from the original Air Pro 4. The companion app also showed occasional instability on iPhone. Both issues are the kind firmware updates could plausibly address. As they stand, the Air Pro 4 Plus offer a compelling case that excellent sound and a full feature set no longer require spending beyond $80.
Earfun released its Air Pro 4 Plus earbuds in 2025 at around $80, a twenty-dollar jump from the standard Air Pro 4 that came out the year before. Both models earned CNET Editors' Choice recognition, but the Plus version represents a meaningful leap in sound quality that makes the extra cost worth considering for anyone shopping in the sub-hundred-dollar range.
The most significant change is internal. Where the original Air Pro 4 relied on a single driver, the Plus model pairs a 10-millimeter dynamic driver with a balanced-armature driver—a combination rarely seen at this price point. Samsung's Galaxy Buds 3 Pro offer dual drivers too, but they cost $200. The Status Pro X, with its triple-driver setup, runs $300. Earfun's engineering choice pays off. The Plus buds deliver richer, more detailed sound with better bass definition and treble that has genuine sparkle without sounding harsh. The original Air Pro 4 leaned slightly warmer; the Plus are more revealing, which means they'll expose flaws in poorly recorded tracks but reward you with clarity on well-mastered music. The buds also upgraded to Bluetooth 6.0 from 5.4, and Earfun added what it calls a Nano Side-Fitted Acoustic Architecture with a micro side-mounted design for enhanced clarity—the marketing language is dense, but the listening experience is tangible.
Physically, the Plus buds weigh the same as their predecessors at 5.2 grams each and maintain a similar aesthetic, though they're slightly larger. The real design shift is the charging case. The original Air Pro 4 used a traditional clamshell design where buds lay flat; the Plus case flips open vertically, with buds standing upright inside. It's a bigger footprint than Apple's AirPods Pro 3 case and feels more generic, but it's easier to manage once you get used to it. Both cases support wireless charging. The Plus buds also gained an IP55 dust-resistance rating, a feature the Air Pro 4 lacked, and they fit securely enough for running.
The feature set is robust for the price. There's adaptive hybrid active noise cancellation rated up to 50 decibels, customizable touch controls through the companion app, ear-detection sensors that pause music when you remove a bud, and support for higher-quality audio codecs like aptX Lossless and LDAC on Android devices. You can create custom EQ profiles or run an AI hearing test to generate a personalized audio profile. A low-latency gaming mode is available, and multipoint connectivity works smoothly—the reviewer paired an iPhone and Android phone simultaneously without issue.
Battery life improved slightly. The Plus buds deliver eight hours of playback at moderate volume with noise canceling enabled, matching the AirPods Pro 3, and offer up to 54 hours of total charge time with ANC off. That's nearly double the AirPods Pro 3's total capacity. The reviewer used the buds for four days straight without recharging.
Noise canceling itself rates as decent but not exceptional—a seven out of ten. The AirPods Pro 3 and Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds handle ambient sound suppression more effectively. The transparency mode, which lets outside noise in, works adequately but sounds less natural than Apple's implementation, even with the app's "natural" setting enabled. Voice calling is where the Plus stumbles most noticeably. In quiet environments, calls sound good, and the buds reduce background noise reasonably well. But on a noisy New York street on a windy day, callers reported difficulty hearing the reviewer's voice as it glitched and cut out. The original Air Pro 4 handled this scenario slightly better. This is the one area where a firmware update could meaningfully improve the experience.
The companion app itself showed some instability during testing, occasionally disconnecting from an iPhone 16 Pro, though the Android pairing remained solid. Switching between custom EQ settings and presets can feel confusing. These are minor friction points in an otherwise compelling package. For under eighty dollars, the Air Pro 4 Plus deliver sound quality that competes with earbuds costing significantly more, solid build quality, a comprehensive feature set, and battery life that outlasts pricier competitors. The voice-calling weakness and app quirks prevent them from being perfect, but firmware refinements could address both. As they stand, they represent excellent value.
Citações Notáveis
They simply offer richer, more detailed sound than their predecessor.— CNET reviewer
If Earfun could figure out a way to raise the level of the voice-calling performance...they'd be the almost perfect sub $100 true-wireless earbuds.— CNET reviewer
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
Why does the dual-driver setup matter so much at this price point? Isn't that usually a premium feature?
It absolutely is. You're right to notice that. Most earbuds under a hundred dollars use a single driver and call it a day. The fact that Earfun squeezed two drivers into the Plus without inflating the price dramatically is the real story here. It lets them separate the work—one driver handles the bass and midrange, the other handles the treble—so each part of the sound gets more attention.
But if the sound is so much better, why does voice calling fall apart in noisy places?
That's the frustrating part. Better drivers don't automatically fix microphone performance or the algorithms that process your voice. Those are separate problems. The buds can hear music beautifully but struggle to isolate your voice from wind noise on a street. It suggests Earfun optimized for music listening and left voice calling as an afterthought.
The case design change—was that necessary, or just different for the sake of being different?
It's genuinely different in function, not just form. The vertical design makes the buds easier to grab, but it's also bulkier. Some people will prefer the old clamshell. It's a trade-off, not an upgrade. The fact that the reviewer found it slightly harder to insert and remove the buds suggests Earfun prioritized aesthetics over pure usability.
You mentioned the app had stability issues. How serious is that?
Serious enough to notice, not serious enough to return them. The reviewer experienced occasional disconnects on iPhone but not Android. That suggests it might be fixable with a software update. But it's the kind of thing that shouldn't happen at launch—it erodes confidence in the product.
So who should actually buy these?
Someone who listens to music more than they make calls, who values sound quality over premium build materials, and who doesn't need the absolute best noise canceling. They're excellent for commuting, working out, or just living with music. They're not the right choice if you're on calls all day in loud environments.