Micromax Airfunk 1 Pro: Great for calls, not for Music – The Unbiased Review

While the true wireless peripherals are capturing all the buzz now. Every smartphone maker is hopping into the audio lineup with their offerings. Meanwhile, Micromax a brand that is into making smartphones and consumer electronics has announced two new TWS into the Indian market alongside the Micromax In2B. They are aiming to capture the budget territory with its two new budget-centric TWS i.e, Airfunk 1 and Airfunk 1 Pro. The Airfunk 1 comes with 9mm drivers, support for USB Type-C along with features like stereo sound, touch gestures, and IP44 resistance at a steer price of Rs.1,200. With Airfunk 1 Pro, they’re packing features like 13mm audio drivers, ambient noise cancellation, the Qualcomm QCC3040 Chip with the support for AptX at an affordable price tag. After spending two weeks with these TWS, Here’s our review of the Micromax Airfunk 1 Pro. Before moving towards review, let’s have a look at the specifications of these TWS:-

BOX CONTENTS

• Micromax Airfunk 1 Pro TWS
• Type-C Charging Cable
• 2 Pair of Extra Eartips
• User Manual and Warranty Card

DESIGN 

Micromax Airfunk 1 Pro is a cheerful pair of TWS with a glossy finish along with a notification light on the bottom for indicating battery status. It’s easy to shove them in a pocket. They’ve stuck with a plastic construction for both the charging case and earbuds which results in a very lightweight product. With a weight of 32 grams, they are compact and lightweight but that compromises the build quality. This glossy back is prone to scratches and fingerprint smudges with ease. However, the compromised build quality is quite evident while opening the lid of the case which feels flimsy but magnets are strong enough to hold the earbuds inside the case and not let them fall.

It is available in 5 colours:- Black, Blue, White, Yellow and Red. For our review period, we’re using the Red colourway of this product. It also houses an ‘in’ branding which always reminds me of the ‘LinkedIn’ logo. You can recharge this case via USB Type-C which is situated at the bottom section of the shell. There’s no physical button present in the earbuds as the pairing process can be triggered easily by taking the earbuds out. However, there is no way to pair the charging case to the smartphone, the connection of earbuds is established independently without the case.

COMFORT & CONTROLS

You’ll find three sets of silicone ear tips that can be tucked into ears according to the prior fit you required. The earbuds are light as a feather with each earbud weighs 4 grams which fit snugly into the ears. However, Fit is a subjective topic and it totally depends on the shape of the ears. In our case, it doesn’t fall from our ears during workout sessions. There is a sensor placed on the earbuds mimicking the same position in the Airpods Pro which is just for aesthetics, It doesn’t work for Smart Play/Pause. Each earbud bundles two pogo pins for charging and a LED light on the stem of the earbud. Micromax even added an IP44 rating which makes it water and dust resistant which resists accidental water spills and sweats.

The gesture controls are responsive and work 8 out of 10 times in my usage. As there are plenty of gestures available in these TWS, it’s important to remember all of them for a sheer experience. To turn the earbuds on, press and hold the stem for 3 seconds and to turn them off, press and hold the stem for 5 seconds. The Double tap gesture helps in hanging the call and play/pause the music. The Single tap helps in answering the calls when you receive a call. The volume levels can be adjusted by a single tap; for raising the volume up tap on the right earbud and for lowering the volume down the tap on the left earbud respectively. The music can be skipped by a triple-tap gesture; for changing to the next track, press triple tap on the right earbud, and for switching back to the previous track, triple tap on the left pair of earbuds. The Google/Siri voice assistant can be launched by a long press on any earbud for 2 seconds.

SOUND AND CALL QUALITY 

The Micromax Airfunk 1 Pro is rocking a 13mm dynamic driver which delivers high mids and lows in a balanced and flat profile. The bass thumps feel distorted listening to it on an 80%-100% volume level. The music hits on a sweet spot at 70% volume level and if you’re someone who loves the bass, these will not gonna fulfill those needs for you. The vocals feel crystal clear and treble feels a little muffled during listening to songs like Fair Trade by Drake and I Love It by Kanye West. However, while watching Ted Lasso and Kota Factory, the vocals feel super clear and I won’t hesitate to recommend them for longer binge sessions. It also serves AptX and SBC codecs on board for a better music experience. But at this price point, expecting a lot from this would be an injustice.

It bundles 4 in-mics for Environmental Noise Cancellation which only works while making telephonic conversations. Hence, there is no way to turn it on while listening to music. With the Bluetooth 5.2 connectivity, we didn’t face any issues while using these with Android and iOS devices. There are two MEMC (Motion Estimation, Motion Compensation) microphones that cancel out the echo and suppress the noise during phone calls which work well. The other party doesn’t have any problem hearing my voice. There’s a small gap present in the earbud which can disappoint people who love passive noise isolation.

BATTERY

The major advantage of these earbuds is battery backup. With these earbuds, the brand promises a battery life of 7 hours of battery backup which is not false either. With the SBC codec, it lasts almost 7 hours and with the AptX codec, it lasts for 6 hours only. However, switching to lower codec results in more battery life. Along with the charging case, we pulled almost 24 hours of battery with SBC codec by charging them 3 times via charging case. It takes almost 1 hour to re-juice the earbuds with the case to re-use them again.  

THE UNBIASED VERDICT

The Micromax Airfunk 1 Pro is priced at Rs.2,500 which is available in 5 colours :- Black, Blue, White, Yellow, and Red. If you’re someone who is looking for a funky pair of TWS with an attractive colourway to kick-off, a decent audio quality experience with a comfortable fit to the ears and can deal with the complicated gestures, good battery life which can last for 7-8 hours with ease and can be charged by the case for 3 times and deliver a day of battery backup. However, it’s miserable to see that there is Environmental Noise Cancellation which only works for phone calls but not while listening to audio. If you’re not an audiophile and looking for a decent TWS at the strict budget which is capped at Rs 2,500. The Micromax Airfunk 1 Pro could be a great option for you.

However, there are some better TWS available by the rivalries if you can extend your budget by 500-700 INR. There is the OnePlus Buds Z which is priced at Rs.3,000 which has an environmental noise cancellation for music playback, battery life of around 27 hours (including with the case), a Type-C fast-charging with the support of smart play/pause which Micromax Airfunk 1 Pro lacks. After that, Realme Buds Air 2 which is priced at 3,200 boasting Active Noise Cancellation with a good audio signature with a little compromise of battery around 20 hours (including with the case). 

Disclaimer: We tested the Micromax Airfunk 1 Pro for two weeks before writing this review. All our reviews are unbiased and are published without the brand getting to read it before you guys. We don’t change our reviews on pressure from brands and that’s the reason we are not sent review units from companies like Samsung, OnePlus, and a few more.