One of the best pair of earbuds with high-quality sound I've tested are just $70

ZDNET’s key takeaways

• The EarFun Air 2 NC earbuds are available on the EarFun site for $70.
• These inexpensive earbuds deliver a surprisingly rich, emotional sound that is customizable via the EarFun app.
• The only knock against these earbuds is that they are a bit challenging to get out of the case.

In the world of earbuds, sound should always reign supreme. Sure, you might tend to drift towards brands that are more popular or a look that is more common (such as the Apple AirPods), but for me, what matters is the quality of sound and fit. If earbuds don’t fit properly, they can’t make a tight seal. Without a tight seal, the sound suffers. If the earbuds’ sound isn’t up to par with modern devices, it doesn’t matter how good the seal is, the sound isn’t going to get much better.

Fortunately, EarFun has done a great job of delivering high-quality sound at budget-friendly prices. Take, for instance, the Air 2 NC earbuds, which sell for $70 on the EarFun site (they’re currently sold out on Amazon). These earbuds deliver solid sound and a fit that not only gets a good seal but also produces sound quality on par with costlier earbuds.

Also: The best budget earbuds I’ve listened to are not made by OnePlus or Soundcore

Good-sounding inexpensive earbuds are getting far more prevalent, so is there something that sets these earbuds apart?

There is.

Before I get to that, let’s talk specs.

View at Myearfun

The specs

• 11mm Wool Composite Dynamic Drivers
• Adaptive Hybrid Active Noise Cancelling up to 43dB
• Hi-Res audio certificated
• LDAC decoding for hi-definition audio and resolution up to 24bit/96kHz and a high bit rate of up to 990 Kbps
• Bluetooth 5.3
• 3D Surround Sound Technology
• Six-microphone AI-algorithm noise cancellation technology that can also activate voice assistant
• Multi-device Connectivity with Auto-Pairing
• Battery – 40 Hours playtime: 9 Hours + 31 hours with charging case, fast charging, 10 minute charging = 2 hours playtime
• IPX5 sweat- and Water-resistant
• Games Mode with <55ms low latency
• Wireless charging compatible
• Google Fast Pair supported

The only bit of information I cannot confirm is the frequency response range, but if I were to guess it would be somewhere in the range of 50Hz to 20KHz.

My experience

One of the reasons that I’ve stuck with Pixel phones is that they make it so easy to connect devices, such as earbuds. After unboxing the Air 2 NC earbuds, I pulled them out of their case, stripped them of the plastic film that covers the charging points, and let my phone automatically discover and connect to them.

As soon as they were connected, I discovered the battery was completely dead in the right earbud, so I had to give them a quick charge. Fortunately, these earbuds can get up to two hours of playtime on a 10-minute charge.

Once they were charged, I popped them in (doing so in my usual fashion of pulling up on my ear, inserting the bud, twisting it to seal, and releasing my ear) and put them through my usual tests.

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I’ve reached the point where I can judge a pair of earbuds on about eight bars of music, especially when the song being played is my go-to “Analog Kid” by Rush. After those opening bars, I could tell that EarFun had another winner on their hands.

I will admit, however, that I immediately jumped into the EarFun app and created a custom EQ curve that best suits my taste. I didn’t bother running through the sound test to create a custom sound profile at first. After I went through the test (which is one of the easiest I’ve used), I found the sound to be a bit more accurate for my hearing, which meant I could hear individual voicing and instrument separation a bit better. More importantly, the custom profile seemed to help the earbuds produce a sound that was less likely to cause discomfort after lengthy listening sessions (especially with heavier music).

Also: The best earbuds you can buy: Expert tested

Overall, the Air 2 NC earbuds produce a well-blended sound that transitions from frequency to frequency without jarring the senses — even with the strange EQ curve I tend to use. That’s important because the blending offers a more cohesive sound quality, while not muddying individual instruments or voices.

After Rush, I decided to depart from my usual and listen to the Ender Lillies score. I’m currently playing that delightful game and find the score to be some of the best music I’ve heard in any game. The Air 2 NC earbuds really brought music to life in a way my Nintendo Switch cannot match.

I think what surprises me the most about the Air 2 NC earbuds is the soundstage. For those who don’t know what this is, imagine closing your eyes while listening to a song and being able to place exactly where the instruments would be. You might find drums to be in the distance, a guitar on the left, bass on the right, and the singer in the middle. A wide soundstage makes this possible, whereas a narrow soundstage blends all the instruments together.

The Air 2 NC earbuds have a soundstage that’s slightly wider than any earbud I’ve tested at this price. That’s not to say that these earbuds are in line with the best devices I’ve tried (the Denon PerL Pro still holds that coveted spot), but at $70, these babies seriously impress.

ZDNET’s buying advice

If you’re on a budget and don’t want to compromise on sound quality, the EarFun Air 2 NC earbuds for $70 are some of the best earbuds I’ve tested in this price range. They deliver rich, active bass, smooth mids, and crisp highs that are usually associated with a higher price point.

Of all the budget-friendly earbuds I’ve tested, the Air 2 NC delivers in ways other inexpensive earbuds cannot. I’m not in the least bit surprised, because EarFun has been creating outstanding earbuds and headphones (at low-budget prices) for a while.