Ultra-compact earbuds are exactly what they sound like: wireless earbuds designed to be exceptionally small and lightweight. They’re typically smaller than the average earbuds, often with a minimalist design that prioritizes portability and comfort over extra features. Their small size makes them practically invisible in your ears, offering a sleek and subtle look. They’re also generally lightweight, which translates to a more comfortable wearing experience, especially for extended periods.
Some ultra-compact earbuds prioritize audio quality by packing high-performance drivers into their tiny design, delivering surprisingly good sound despite their size. However, smaller earbuds often have less space for batteries, which means they have shorter playtime compared to bulkier models.
We recently got a chance to evaluate the performance of EarFun Free Pro 3 ANC Earbuds. A few months back, we tested the EarFun Air Pro 3 Earbuds, which were a good pair of budget-friendly earbuds with ANC. The EarFun Free Pro 3 are also in the similar budget range and even feature ANC. But the main difference is the SoC and the size. In this EarFun Free Pro 3 review, we will look at different aspects of the earbuds such as its design, fit and finish, comfort, performance, audio quality, ANC, battery life, and many more. Continue reading the review if you are looking for a pair of light-weight and compact in-ear earbuds with great audio quality and ANC implementation.
Before we begin, let us quickly take a look at the contents of the package. Opening the box, we get a pouch with a bunch of paper work and the first one is the multi-lingual user manual. It has all the information about using the earbuds such as instructions on how to pair, touch controls, troubleshooting steps, and many more. Definitely go through this before using the buds. Other than the user manual, we have a couple of cards; one has instructions on cleaning the earbuds and other is a thankyou card. There is also a cleaning stick in the pouch with pointed cotton tips for easily cleaning the charging contacts and speaker grill.
Next, we have a small box with USB-C Charging Cable, Ear Tips, and Ear Hooks in them. Last but not least, we have the EarFun Free Pro 3 Earbuds in their charging case. It is a slim but long case but a lot compact than the EarFun Air Pro 3 Case. We will take a closer look at the case and buds in the next section.
As the EarFun Free Pro 3 are a pair of ultra-compact earbuds, we can see the design elements transform to the case as well. We have already mentioned in the previous section that the case is slim and long. Some might like the design, some might not. But all the edges are smooth so you can easily slip them in and out of your jeans without any struggle.
On the front, just below the lid latch, there is a multi-color LED that indicates the battery level of the case. We have the USB-C Port on the back for charging the case. Similar to the EarFun Air Pro 3, even the Free Pro 3’s Case supports wireless charging. Personally, I like this feature as my Samsung phone supports reverse wireless charging and I can use it to charge the case (and earbuds) in emergency.
Coming to the earbuds, they a pretty compact pair and weigh very less. There is a large touch sensitive section on both the earbuds. Due to the design, they sit snuggly in the ear and the removable ear hook helps in the fit as well. Both the buds are identical in every aspect, whether it is the indicator LED, 3 microphones, touch controls, etc. Both of them have same features. In fact, you can use the earbuds independently by pairing them with separate devices.
Pairing the EarFun Free Pro 3 is very simple. First of all, we have to take the buds out of the case and remove all the protective plastic films from the case and earbuds. Then place the buds in the case and close the lid. When you open the lid, they will enter pairing mode. Just look for “EarFun Free Pro 3” Bluetooth device on your smartphone, tablet, or laptop to pair them. That’s it.
You can pair the earbuds with two devices simultaneously. If you turn off the Bluetooth on the first device while it is still connected to the earbuds, the buds will automatically enter pairing mode once again. Now, you can pair the buds to a new device. Once the new device successfully connects to the earbuds, you can turn on Bluetooth on the first device to pair with the earbuds. This is a very useful and necessary feature as you can connect the earbuds to both your laptop and smartphone at the same time.
After pairing the earbuds with our smartphone, we started listening to some music. Don’t let the small 7mm driver of the EarFun Free Pro 3 Earbuds fool you. Despite the small driver, the audio quality from the wool composite drivers is excellent. We were surprised by the low frequency i.e., the bass production from these buds. They also produce good quality mids and highs. In the big picture, we felt that these tiny earbuds are a tad bit bass heavy (not too much but slightly).
Out of the box, the profile of the earbuds is “Normal”. We can change this by tapping and holding the left earbud for a couple of seconds to switch between “Noise Cancelling”, “Ambient Sound”, and “Normal”. The buds will give voice feedback for the mode that we selected.
Active Noise Cancellation or ANC is becoming a norm now-a-days and even budget-friendly earbuds from reputable manufacturers are coming with this feature. Using a total of 6 microphones (3 on each earbud), EarFun implemented a decent noise cancelling profile and as per the specs, it can reduce the noise by 43dB. We felt that the noise cancelling is good. In the Ambient Sound mode, the microphones once again come into action, but this time, they boost the surrounding audio so that the user can listen to surrounding noise. This is very useful for running, cycling, or hiking enthusiasts who like to listen to some beats while being on the outside and also be aware of the surroundings at the same time.
Controls wise, both the earbuds have touch control and here are the default touch functions of the EarFun Free Pro 3 Earbuds.
Touch Action | Left Earbud | Right Earbud |
Single Tap | Volume Down | Volume Up |
Double Tap | 1. Play / Pause 2. Answer / End Call | 1. Play / Pause 2. Answer / End Call |
Tripple Tap | 1. Previous Track 2. Answer and transfer two calls | 1. Next Track 2. Answer and transfer two calls |
Tap and hold for 2s | 1. Change Noise Cancelling Mode 2. Reject a Call | 1. Activate Voice Assistant 2. Reject a Call |
When the battery falls to 20% on the earbuds, we get a voice message warning about low battery. We get another warning when the battery level falls to 10%. To charge the earbuds, just place them in the case. Speaking of the case, we can charge it using the USB-C Port or if you have one of those fancy wireless charging pads, then just put the case on the pad and they start charging.
So, how was the performance of the EarFun Free Pro 3 ANC Earbuds? Let us start with fit and finish of the buds. Of a dozen or so earbuds that we tested in the recent past, we feel that the EarFun Free Pro 3 buds have the perfect fit in our ears. The package comes with extra sets of ear tips and ear hooks. You can try different options and pick the one that fits your ears properly. This is important not only to have a good listening experience but also for proper functioning of ANC feature.
Speaking of ANC, EarFun has clearly improved themselves in terms of implementing the noise cancellation algorithm. In a typical office environment, the ANC works really well. But in outdoors, especially in heavy traffic, it does a decent job but we can still hear some noise. On a whole, a very good ANC feature.
What surprised us the most was the audio quality. The EarFun Free Pro 3 features Qualcomm QCC3072 SoC and Bluetooth 5.3. If you have a compatible smartphone (any smartphone with decently high-end Snapdragon SoC), then you can make use of the aptX Codec for high-res audio over Bluetooth. After looking at the 7mm driver in the specs, we were a bit skeptical on the performance of the Free Pro 3. But we were completely wrong in assuming that only larger drivers produce good bass. While it is true, EarFun does some voodoo with their small drivers and SoC to produce very good bass. Vocals and instruments are also decent but the bass slightly dominates the overall audio profile.
We made a lot of calls using the EarFun Free Pro 3 Earbuds. While the voice of the other person is very good, the microphones on these earbuds are a tad bit struggling to capture our voice. We though this might be due to the design of the buds where they sit completely in the ear and there is no “stem” part coming from the buds that usually contains the main microphone. Don’t get us wrong. The microphone does a decent job of capturing our voice but we have to repeat a few words or sentences some times as the other person couldn’t hear it properly. We tested it with multiple smartphones and mobile networks but the issue was still present.
As we can pair two devices simultaneously to the earbuds, we can easily switch between a laptop and a smartphone to make calls or listen to music/lecture/meeting. There is a “Game Mode” option in the app (which we will talk in the next section) which helps in reducing the latency. This is very useful for gaming. As per the specs, with gaming mode on, the latency will be less than 55ms. The buds also have IPX5 rating so you don’t have to worry about using the buds while working out or in light drizzle.
Battery life is always an issue with earbuds. As the EarFun Free Pro 3 are ultra-compact earbuds, they have small room inside and this reflects in its small battery size. Each bud houses a tiny 40mAh battery and we got slightly above 7 hours in normal mode. But with noise cancellation on, the run time dropped to just under 6 hours. Using the case, we can charge the buds almost 3 time. So, you can extend the battery time between 25 to 30 hours depending on the mode you are using. The buds support quick charge where you can charge the buds for just 10 minutes and get almost 2 hours of battery life. But from complete shutdown to 100%, it took almost 1.5 hours.
We are glad that the case of the EarFun Free Pro 3 Buds supports wireless charging. Personally, my Samsung phone supports reverse wireless charging. So, in emergencies, I can place the case on the back of my phone and charge the buds.
The case takes just under 2 hours to charge from dead to 100%. With wireless charging, this take almost double this time but we understand that the wireless charging feature is just for emergencies (in my case) or is a matter of convenience.
A major part of using the EarFun Free Pro 3 Earbuds is its companion app. EarFun does a very good job of keeping the app clean. You don’t even have to register with EarFun to use and control the buds. Speaking of control, you can quickly toggle between different listening modes. Additionally, the Noise Cancellation mode comes with a wind noise cancellation feature that is suitable for high wind situations albeit with a decrease in overall ANC functionality.
The app also has additional customizations in terms of equalizer, touch controls for individual buds, upgrading firmware, and many more. There is a very useful “Find headphones” feature in the app that plays loud tone so that you can easily locate earbuds if you misplace them.
At the time of reviewing the earbuds, the selling price of the EarFun Air Pro 3 ANC Earbuds is $79.99 but with coupons and other discounts, you can get them for less than that. You also get an 18-month warranty from EarFun. Apart from the minor issue with voice clarity (microphone), the EarFun Free Pro 3 Earbuds are a decently priced buds with great audio quality.
Overall, we really liked the EarFun Free Pro 3 ANC Earbuds. They are really compact and lightweight and fit perfectly into ears. The combination of Qualcomm QCC3072 SoC and 7mm wool composite driver produces very good audio, especially the lows. Very good buds for listening to all kinds of music.
The ANC implementation is good but a minor hiccup is the quality of the voice from the microphone. Apart from this, the rest of the performance in terms of sound quality, touch controls, listening modes, etc., is really good. The battery life is also decent and as these are tiny buds, we expected less than average runtime. The companion app from EarFun is very useful in making additional customizations.
If you are looking for a good sounding earbuds with decent ANC implementation and importantly in the ultra-compact form factor, then the EarFun Free Pro 3 are definitely worth checking out.
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