Enacfire A9 review: these cheap wireless earbuds offer noise cancellation for an unbelievable price
The Enacfire A9 are great value for money
The Enacfire A9 true wireless earbuds might be cheap but that doesn't mean they sound bad. In fact, they actually have pretty good immersive audio which is helped by the noise cancellation. They aren't perfect because they don't always work quite as you want them to, but you do get a lot for your money.
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Simple, stylish design
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Active Noise Cancellation
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Charging case has decent battery
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Touch controls are too sensitive
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Don't fit very securely
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Transparency mode was pointless
Why you can trust T3
To sum up this Enacfire A9 review: these true wireless earbuds will be good for anyone who wants decent sound and noise cancellation without spending much money at all.
Although these are far from the best true wireless earbuds you can buy, they are actually some of the best budget wireless earbuds because they offer value for money and could make a great gift. Naturally, being so cheap, you will have to make some sacrifices. But when it comes down to it, what really matters is the sound quality and these definitely deliver in that sense.
If you need wireless earbuds for your workouts then you should look elsewhere, these didn’t stay securely in my ears. Instead, I would recommend the JAM Audio TWS Athlete. They have ear hooks that stop them from moving about even when you’re running.
Enacfire A9 review: price and availability
A cheap pair of wireless earbuds, the Enacfire A9 are available to buy now direct from the Enacfire website for $66.66 in the US and £51.99 in the UK.
Enacfire A9 review: design and fit
Tiny matte black plastic earbuds with a danging stem, the Enacfire A9s are simple, stylish and light, weighing just 5.67g per bud. The design makes the buds look more premium than they actually are. They come with a matching charging case which is just as minuscule, you’ll easily be able to keep them in your pocket.
In the box, they come with three sizes of silicone ear tips so you should be able to find the right fit, unless like me you have quite small ears, in which case even the small size might still be too big. I found it was hard to get them to stay put, especially during workouts they fell out or got dislodged a fair amount. If you have larger ears and these do fit you well then they could actually be pretty good for workouts given the fact that they are IPX7 waterproof. They’ll easily cope with everything from sweat to heavy rain.
To control your music, the Enacfire A9 have touch controls on each bud. It’s pretty easy to remember each action like tap once on the right bud to pause or play, tap twice to skip through songs and hold down to change the volume. You can also answer or reject calls as well as summon your smartphone’s voice assistant and switch on the noise-cancelling. They worked well most of the time, but I did find them to be too sensitive. I kept switching between the ANC modes when I brushed my hands past my ears which interrupted my music with the tiny voice telling me which mode I just changed it to.
While Enacfire doesn’t specify how long the battery lasts from a single charge, we do know that the charging case will give you 32 hours of total playtime which means you won’t have to charge that very often at all. In use, they seemed to last at least 4 hours from a single charge although it could vary a lot more than that with ANC switched on, or with the volume up higher.
Enacfire A9 review: performance and features
These wireless earbuds might be cheap, but that's not to say they sound bad. The sound quality from the Enacfire A9 is actually quite good - voices in podcasts came across very clearly and you could hear all of the detail in classic rock tracks. There’s a wide soundstage here, with a deep low end and crisp highs. It’d be great to have more emphasis on the bass but overall music comes across accurate and energetic. These will be a good choice no matter what type of audio you want to listen to.
The Active Noise Cancellation was surprisingly effective as well. There's a microphone on each bud that detects outside noise and blocks it out before it gets to your ear.
In practice, it does actually cut out a lot of noise, whether that's road traffic or office chatter. It even dulled my own keyboard taps. They’re not the best noise-cancelling buds I’ve ever used, largely down to the poor fit, but considering how cheap they are I was quite impressed. The Enacfire A9 buds also have a Transparency Mode which is meant to let in more noise than with ANC, although to be honest there wasn't much difference between using that and having no ANC at all.
Connecting the earbuds was simple - they immediately discovered my phone and hooked themselves up automatically on taking them out of the case. I did find that the connection sometimes dropped though when I walked away. It wasn’t a dramatic problem but is still something worth noting.
Enacfire A9 review: verdict
A great choice for anyone on a tight budget, the Enacfire A9 are some of the cheapest true wireless earbuds with Active Noise Cancellation.
The ANC works well to block out distracting noise, the only problem I had with it was that I kept turning it on and off accidentally because the touch controls were a little too sensitive.
You can’t expect cheap buds to be perfect, and these certainly do have their flaws but if it’s good sound you’re after then you’ll definitely get that here. Don’t buy these for exercise but do buy these if you want to immerse yourself in music without spending too much of your hard-earned cash.
Enacfire A9 review: also consider
Although these do deliver on sound, you won’t get tonnes of battery life. If that’s a deal-breaker for you then perhaps consider the Creative Outlier Air V2 instead. They give you 12 hours of music from a single charge and an extra 34 hours with the case - they’re sure to get you through long journeys and full workdays.
If you want true wireless earbuds that don’t sit inside your ear canal, then the Urbanears Luma are the same style as the original AirPods and have a universal fit. Although they won’t be completely secure, they are cheap, they sound alright and they come in lots of different colours.
- These are the best cheap headphones you can buy
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Yasmine is the former Reviews Writer for T3, so she's been knee-deep in the latest tech products for reviewing and curating into the best buying guides since she started in 2019. She keeps a finger on the pulse when it comes to the most exciting and innovative tech – and since departing has also held a role as Digital Spy's Tech Editor. In her free time, you'll catch her travelling the globe – the perks of being a freelance tech expert – tending to her plants when at home and, but of course, planning her next big trip.
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