EarFun Free 2S Wireless Earbuds, Qualcomm® CVC™ 8.0 ENC, Bluetooth 5.2 Wireless Earbuds, Sweatshield™ IPX7 Waterproof Bluetooth Headphone, aptX™ Deep Bass, APP, Game Mode

First off, these are the first wireless earbuds i've owned. i read many earbud reviews and chose these bc they were well considered and topped a couple of lists. and second, i've been listening to music for over 50 years, since i was a teenager, the point being my hearing isn't what it used to be, and wasn't much even then.After a week them, i think t9he Earfun Free 2 earbuds are outstanding. the sound is great, both for music and phone use, they connect quickly, and they have good Bluetooth range.People i've spoken with on the phone didn't know i was using earbuds, and i could hear them perfectly. It may take awhile to get used to hearing myself as i speak (kind of like talking when you have your fingers in your ears), but i can probably resolve that by taking one bud out, which, btw, you can do at any time, either one, without disrupting the call/music. but the hearing myself also speaks to the great seal these earbuds make when inserted. pretty quiet with them in. and i am still checking out the ear tips, specifically the large and medium; small made the buds sound tinny.as for music, i did some experimenting. i have tidal and Amazon music, which i can play thru my original Pixel (doesn't say, but probably some 4.x version of Bluetooth), and thru a newly purchased Bluesound Node (Bluetooth 5.1 with AptX), which i may review later, but, briefly, love it! The Earfun Free 2 buds have Bluetooth 5.2 with AptX, so i was anxious to check out any differences in sound quality and in the distance the buds stayed linked to the player. The easier determination was how much farther i can wander from the Node (Bt 5.1) than the Pixel (Bt not 5). Surprisingly, i could walk around much of my house (2 stories) when connected to the Pixel, and could walk out onto my deck and over most of it (it's pretty big), without losing the signal; that includes having walls b/t me and the Pixel. if i had to estimate, i'd say i could put 20-25 feet b/t the Pixel and the earbuds, including a wall or two, without losing the connection. You can double that for the Node connection. Bt 5 made a big difference. i could further walk down into my basement and out into the connected garage, and could leave my deck and walk into my yard and even around to the side of my house. i would estimate the connection was maintained for at least 40 feet, maybe up to 50, with the Node, including with one to several walls between.As for sound quality, it was very good. i don't have audiophile quality ears, though that doesn't stop me from preferring high resolution music (placebo effect?). i listened to Dave's True Story and the band sounded great, like Kelly Flint was in my head. what a great voice. Also listened to Dion, Blues with Friends, and, again, the sound was outstanding. For both of these, i won't say it was like being in the room with the bands bc the music really was more between my ears than projected as a soundstage, but the vocals were particularly clear and the instruments were well separated. Finally, i listed to Keb'mo in 4 different ways: 1) playing directly from my phone (Bt 4.x) to the Free 2 buds; 2) playing thru Tidal Connect from my phone, thru the Node, to the buds (MQA - note: the Node is connected via Ethernet, approx. 300 Mbps); 3) thru Tidal on the Node using the BluOS app; and 4) on Amazon Music (ultra HD) thru the Node using BluOS. Sorry to say, i really couldn't tell much difference in sound quality between any of the different streaming methods. in this respect, i've taken "tests" in which you're presented with 2 samples, one in low resolution and one in high res, and tasked to choose the hi res sample. i scored around 50%, meaning i couldn't tell a difference and was basically guessing. if i were forced to make a choice, i would say the Amazon ultra HD cuts sounded a little better than the Tidal MQA cuts (via BluOS), and Tidal connect sounded a bit better than Tidal via BluOS. but could have been small differences in volume, hard to tell.The bottom line is they all sounded good, and for my first wireless earbud purchase, and for $45, i am very pleased with the Earfun Free 2 earbuds. so much so, in fact, that i've taken advantage of a special pre-order offer Earfun has on their website for their new Air Pro 2 buds and a wireless charger for $63. btw, the Free 2 take wireless charging. and i am getting nothing from Earbud for this review. just a very satisfied (and hard to please) customer.

REVIEW UPDATE: I have updated this review and changed the rating from 2 stars to 4. After reading my original review, the company promptly reached out to me to offer me a replacement set of earbuds. I accepted and received in short order a new pair of EarFun Free Pro 2 earbuds. These are an improvement over the earbuds I purchased, but they are a different model. So I am leaving my original review below because it still applies to the earbuds I purchased, but I have improved my star rating because of EarFun’s top notch customer service and the improved quality of the earbuds they sent me as a replacement vs the ones I purchased. In fact, on customer service alone I would give them 5 stars. It really was excellent. Once I have spent more time with the replacement earbuds, I might write a review specific to that model.ORIGINAL REVIEW BELOW:I have owned the original EarFun earbuds for at least a couple of years. They still sound great, but after years of intensive use, they don't hold a charge as long as they once did. So I decided to replace them. When I learned there was an upgraded version, I opted for those instead of the original. I regret that decision.I do at times sleep with earbuds. The upgraded version make my ears sore whereas the original, despite being larger and less compact, aren't noticeable during a night's sleep. Despite both versions' claims of "Deep Bass", the upgraded version sounds tinny and less full than the original version. Is "Deep Bass" a setting that can be turned on and off? If so, perhaps "Deep Bass" is turned off on the upgraded version and I just need to learn how to turn it on.Which leads me to the next issue. Whereas the original version has a membrane covering over the outside that has to be depressed like a button in order to control the earbud settings, the upgraded version does not. It responds with merely a touch. Unfortunately, the earbuds are very sensitive to touch. So it is very easy to accidentally change a setting, pause your music, change the volume, etc. when adjusting the earbuds in your ears. The slightest touch can disrupt the listening experience, especially for those who sleep with earbuds and sleep laying on their side.Finally, while the listening duration on a full charge is comparable between the two versions, the charging case that comes with the upgraded version is a step backward. The original version has four lights on the charging case that show how much charge remains. Four lights lit = full charge. Two or Three lights lit = some level of charge remaining. One or no lights lit = time to charge. The charging case for the upgraded version has a single light that supposedly changes color depending on the level of charge present in the case. So far the only two colors I have seen are green and red, and the change is pretty abrupt. During frequent use with long listening sessions, each time I return the earbuds to the case, it displays green, green, green, and all of the sudden RED, giving me little warning that the case needs charged. The progression of the four lights on the original version is much better at letting the user know how much charge is remaining in the charging case.I love the original version of these earbuds. The upgraded version, not so much. As of this writing, the upgraded version is $10 more than the original. Do yourself a favor and save $10 bucks AND get a better product by purchasing the original version while they are still available.