EarFun Air Pro 4 gives noise cancelling variety on a budget
I woke up to a thunderstorm today. But as I work on this review, I can't hear much of the storm outside because the EarFun Air Pro 4 ultra ANC earphones block out most of it.
What's EarFun, you might ask? Well, this is one of those new entrants in the market trying to offer affordable audio solutions for budget -conscious users. I reviewed the predecessor of this earphone almost two years back and found it a decent option at the price. So, will the EarFun Air Pro 4 be able to live up to my expectations?
The EarFun Air Pro 4 is a very regular-looking earphone with a charging case that breaks no molds. They are comfortable to wear and stay on even when you are out for a run or pumping weights in the gym.
The EarFun app lets you configure the noise cancellation levels and switch to an ambient or normal mode. It also offers five different types of noise cancellation, from strong to adaptive and wind noise canceling, which I have not seen before. These work well, with the AI adaptive noise canceling stepping up to mute the humm of the fan in my living room. There is also a game mode and preset and custom equaliser settings. All these are a plus, given the price point.
The EarFun app lets you configure the noise cancellation levels and switch to an ambient or normal mode. (Image: Nandagopal Rajan/The Indian Express)
Listening to Göç / Me by Kit Sebastian, I felt the EarFun Air Pro 4 offered a balanced playback with no extremes. It could handle the vocals and percussions well. There are three bass boost levels and this is where you realise the limitations of the earphones. The change is incremental but never at the level, you would get on a Sony or even a JBL. But I customised the equaliser to a sound profile that gelled well with my preferences.
A R Rahman's new Satyam Shivam Sundaram composition created for Waves of India also sounded impressive, a good mix of richness and clarity. The earphones handle the lows and highs well, while the mids found the spot.
There is a vocal heavy preset if you want to listen to something like Ed Sheeran's Old Phone. I loved Willie Nelson's version of Oh What A Beautiful World too, his baritone shining through at all times, even on my custom equaliser.
However, I felt the EarFun Air Pro 4 struggled while I used it for calls. The voice was jarring and irritating though the other side could hear me well. Maybe this needs a software update.
At Rs 6,374 on Amazon, the EarFun Air Pro 4 is a good option for those looking to get noise cancellation that works well in different situations. The earfuns have good playback capability too, while I would not recommend this for those who are stuck on calls all day long.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Indian Express
31 minutes ago
- Indian Express
Writer's Corner: Graphic novelist Appupen on how Bengaluru enabled him as an artist and allowed to develop his ideas
Being an artist is not an easy trade anywhere in the world, and this holds doubly true for comic authors in India. But for nearly two decades, the comic author and artist who prefers to be known as Appupen has stayed the course, his body of work placing him among the country's more prolific cartoonists. Among his more recent works is a graphic novel of C S Chellappa's classic Tamil novel Vaadivaasal, with the adaptation co-authored alongside Tamil writer Perumal Murugan released in English, Tamil, Marathi, and Bangla in January this year. This project was preceded by Dream Machine, a collaboration with French author Laurent Daudet that tackles the theme of the newfound prevalence of Artificial Intelligence or AI. Other works include Legends of Halahala, a comic universe created by Appupen that includes figures such as the politically satirical Rashtraman. While Appupen is based in Bengaluru, he finds the city more of an enabler than an inspiration. Speaking to The Indian Express, he says, 'Bangalore has allowed me the space to sit by myself and make my ideas, which Bombay did not. In Bombay, I was running to pay the rent or something, but when I came to Bangalore, I got the time to pull back and form stories, draw and write them.' Appupen's career in the field of art began when he was a student in Mumbai, making posters and murals for establishments including discos, with some early influence here being album art from the 1970s and 1980s. Early on, while he was a reader of comics, he never thought he would have the patience to create them. He recalls that later on, 'I was making storyboards for animation, and larger ideas which would be animated in my head. I worked in Bollywood also for some time as an assistant director and art director for a couple of movies.' As he puts it, he realised that his ideas would never be made into a movie with a budget, lacking elements such as song-and-dance numbers or action sequences. The storyboards could only come to life in the form of comics. On the topic of influence, he says, 'There are comic artists you like all the time, but influences can come from anywhere – it could be music or a book you read. I am more interested in the story or the theme rather than getting carried away with the style of art. That is just the icing on top… What is it that we have to say? Unless we have something solid to say, don't get into this business. Say something that has not been said like that before. What we are seeing is new ways of telling stories.' With AI being in the forefront of conversations in many fields today, Appupen notes that he had thought of it as a marketable topic for Dream Machine, adding, 'Nobody knew what it was at the time – and we still don't. People are scared or enamoured by it, but they do not really know – it is just this marketing that has been put out by the AI companies. Laurent Daudet had some very interesting perspectives on it.' He added, 'The space of AI is about monopoly – who is getting control. By playing with AI you think it is coming for free, but it has come to the point that it is being given for free because otherwise its learning is capped.' But even amid all this, comics are still not among the foremost media of consumption. Appupen says, 'I don't think I will ever stop telling people that it is not just for kids. Even educated people are thinking that it is just for children, they are not exposed to it.' Appupen also has some practical advice for those looking to start out in the field of comics. He says, 'Be realistic. Have a job or something on the side because it is not going to pay you if you do what you like. You might have to stay there a long time before you prove yourself.'
&w=3840&q=100)
First Post
38 minutes ago
- First Post
Vidya Balan on 20 years of 'Parineeta': 'Saif Ali Khan was going through a divorce, we hardly spoke to each other and...'
She added, 'I think maybe that also helped the chemistry in the film. I've said a million times, and I'll say it a million times again, when I say superstar, for me, it means Sanjay Dutt.' read more Vidya Balan has had a topsy turvy career in these nearly two decades. With Parineeta and Lage Raho Munna Bhai, she proved to be a solid and reliable performer that had the charm and the screen presence to pull the characters off. With Heyy Babyy and Kismat Konnection, she went off the rails, only resurrecting herself with the delicious Ishqiya, the rollicking The Dirty Picture, and the gripping Kahaani. In an interview with The Indian Express, as her debut film has completed 20 years, the actress revealed, 'Saif and I didn't have any conversations on that film. We hardly spoke with each other. Also, Saif was going through some personal stuff then (divorce with Amrita Singh) so he was preoccupied between takes. It's not like we struck a friendship.' STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD She added, 'I think maybe that also helped the chemistry in the film. I've said a million times, and I'll say it a million times again, when I say superstar, for me, it means Sanjay Dutt. He's just larger than life. He's just so wonderful, I absolutely love him.' On Ishqiya In an interview with Firstpost last year, Vidya Balan said, 'Ishqiya was the film that made me fall in love with what I was doing all over again. Until Ishqiya, I was playing a certain kind of heroine on screen and suddenly with this film, I got to play a femme fatale, something very different from what I had been doing.' She added, 'I had gone through a low before this because I had received a lot of brickbats for the way I looked in Heyy Babyy and Kismat Konnection and all that and I thought this is not my scene. When Ishqiya happened, I just savored that. I loved working with Abhishek Chaubey and Arshad Warsi and Naseeruddin Shah. It unleashed a new facet of me as an actor.'
Economic Times
9 hours ago
- Economic Times
Gauri Khan's restaurant chef breaks silence on viral 'fake paneer' controversy: 'It was a blessing in disguise'
After being accused of serving "fake paneer" by a content creator, Gauri Khan's restaurant Torii faced backlash—only to come out stronger. Head chef Stefan Gadit revealed the controversy actually boosted business. Clarifying the scientific misinterpretation behind the iodine test, the team turned a PR crisis into an unexpected opportunity, proving that confidence and clarity can flip the script. Torii, the Mumbai eatery co-owned by Gauri Khan, faced viral accusations of serving inauthentic paneer. But instead of damage, the controversy sparked curiosity. Chef Stefan Gadit revealed that business improved, calling it a "blessing in disguise." (Screenshots: Instagram/t oriimumbai ) Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Chef Stefan Gadit Speaks Out: 'We Had Nothing to Worry About' Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Negative Publicity, Positive Outcome When a social media influencer alleged that Gauri Khan's Mumbai restaurant Torii served 'fake paneer,' it triggered a food scandal none saw coming. The accusation, based on a self-conducted iodine test, claimed that the paneer had starch—a tell-tale sign, the influencer said, of it being inauthentic. The video gained traction fast, dragging Torii into a digital courtroom where culinary expertise was put on trial by trending in an unexpected twist, the fallout turned out to be more promotional than a candid interview with The Indian Express, Torii's head chef Stefan Gadit broke his silence and addressed the whirlwind. 'The quality, the ingredients, everything we provide is top-notch,' he said. 'It makes an impact when we point fingers at something baseless... there's a lot of food chemistry involved. Just pouring something on food doesn't always tell the full story.'The chef maintained that Torii had followed every protocol and standard when it came to food sourcing and preparation, especially for Asian-inspired dishes which often use soy-based ingredients that can react during such of retaliating, the restaurant decided to educate. Gadit revealed that the management reached out to the influencer for a discussion, explaining how food science works—an approach that paid off. 'He understood and took off the post,' said Gadit, emphasizing that the restaurant trusted its customers to see through the than hurting the restaurant's business, the viral moment surprisingly boosted it. 'It increased our business and I got more than 20-30 followers on Instagram,' Gadit added with a laugh. 'So that was a blessing in disguise.'This unusual outcome proves how the digital age has changed the rules of crisis management—where sometimes, even bad press can be a marketing the viral video, Torii had promptly issued a statement clarifying that the test conducted only indicated the presence of starch, not the authenticity of the paneer. The statement reaffirmed that soy-based elements in certain Asian dishes could trigger such results, but that didn't make the paneer 'fake.' They stood by their food, stating their 'commitment to excellence remains unwavered.'For Gauri Khan's Torii, a viral accusation became an unexpected campaign—one that not only proved their culinary integrity but also added curiosity and footfall.
