REVIEW – I’ve reviewed quite a few wireless earbuds here at The Gadgeteer, and my quest to find the “perfect” earbuds for me continues onward. I’m looking for a pair of true wireless earbuds that are small, water-resistant, and stay put in my ears while working out. The ENACFIRE E90 Wireless Earbuds appear to check those boxes, but of course, I needed to try them out to be sure. Let’s take a look and a listen.
What is it?
The ENACFIRE E90 are a set of small, true wireless earbuds with their own charging case.
What’s in the box?
Inside the box were the following items:
- ENACFIRE E90 True Wireless Stereo Earbuds
- Three pairs of silicone ear times in sizes Small, Medium, and Large
- USB-C charging cable
- Instruction manual
- Warranty card
Hardware specs
Per the ENACFIRE E90 product page:
- Sound hardware: Qualcomm chipset and latest aptX decode technology, 10mm driver
- Noise cancellation: CVC 8.0 (for phone calls)
- Bluetooth: V5.0
- Play time: 8 hours for the earbuds alone, 48 hours with the charging case
- Water resistance: IPX8
- Charging: USB-C
- Warranty: 2 years
- Location of manufacture: China
Options
The ENACFIRE E90 earbuds (and case) are available in white only.
Design and features
My first impression of the ENACFIRE E90 earbuds was that the whole set of both the earbuds and their charging case were extremely compact and with their white color and glossy finish (and the earbuds’ silver accents), both present a sleek, high-quality, premium look and feel. While there is an obvious similarity, at least in outward appearance, to the Apple Airpods Pro, I saw some differences in features that made me want to review the ENACFIRE E90 on its own merits, rather than by comparison to another product.
The earbuds have a contoured shape that helps them fit into your ear canal more effectively. Most earbuds on the market are either a “stem” design or a “dot” design, but ENACFIRE E90 earbuds are somewhat of a hybrid between these two, and as I’ll describe further below, I think this aided in these earbuds fitting my ears quite well.
Also included are three sizes of silicone ear tips to help the wearer best fit the earbuds to their ear canals. I immediately replaced the middle size with the largest size due to my apparently large ear canals.
The ENACFIRE E90 earbuds are impressively small, which I like. They almost look like a couple of pieces of popcorn at first glance. They are also very lightweight, which is another factor that I think contributes to these earbuds being very stable in my ears.
Setup and pairing
Pairing the ENACFIRE E90 earbuds with my iPhone XR was very quick and simple. The first time I remove the earbuds from their case, I checked the Bluetooth list in my iPhone’s settings, and “ENACFIRE E90” had already appeared in the “Other Devices” heading at the bottom of the list. I tapped this, and the earbuds were connected a few seconds later. The earbuds can also be paired independently. The right earbud is the “master,” and I found the pulling it out of the case first followed by the left earbud, almost always successfully re-paired both of them with my iPhone XR immediately. Removing the right earbud from the case, that earbud reports, “Power on,” then shortly after that, “Pairing,” followed by, “Connected.” I should mention that I did have some issues with the Bluetooth connection remaining paired to my iPhone XR, but I was able to remedy this by disconnecting the earbuds from my iPhone XR, placing the earbuds back in their charging case, closing the lid, opening the lid, then going through the pairing process again. This is a bit frustrating, but it has only happened a few times in the time that I’ve been reviewing the ENACFIRE E90, which is actually a bit less frequently than many of the other true wireless earbuds that I’ve reviewed.
Each earbud has a tiny LED on the outside, as well as a long, narrow, microphone slot. These slots are also the locations of the “Multifunction Button” touch points that are used to control various functions of the earbuds, which are listed below. The touch controls took me a bit to learn how hard to press, how long to press, and so forth, but they were a bit easier to learn compared to some of the other true wireless earbuds I’ve reviewed.
- Next song = Double-tap right earbud
- Previous song = Double-tap left earbud
- Pause/play music = Single-tap either earbud
- Volume up = Touch and hold right earbud
- Volume down = Touch and hold left earbud
- Activate voice assistant = Triple-tap either earbud
- Receive incoming call/end call = Single-tap either earbud
- Reject call = Touch and hold either earbud for 2 seconds
The underside of each earbud has a tiny microphone hole, as well as a pair of magnetic charging pins that automatically charge the earbuds when they are placed in their charging case.
The ENACFIRE E90’s charging case is compact and sleek. There are four tiny LEDs on the front of the case that are used to indicate various charging modes.
I like that the case has a wide, thin aspect ratio, which helped it fit in my pants pocket more comfortably than some of the wider, bulkier charging cases that I’ve previously tried.
The charging case is also quite small overall, and its white, glossy surface finish gives it a very sleek, high-quality look and feel. The curved bottom of the case makes it difficult but not impossible to stand the case upright, which is a bit annoying, but not a deal-breaker for me.
The case has a set of magnets that aid in aligning and holding the earbuds in the case. This makes it quick and easy to drop the earbuds into the case and ensure they are properly charging. The outside LEDs illuminate when the earbuds are charging in the case.
Each earbud has its own contoured cavity in the charging case that perfectly holds the earbud. Each cavity has a pair of small copper contacts that mate with the charging contacts on each earbud.
Thus far, I’ve not had an issue with the earbuds not charging in the case due to improper alignment of the buds in the case. However, I did often have trouble placing the earbuds in the case and removing them. It was almost as if my natural instinct was to place them in their cavities backward every time.
Charging the case
The ENACFIRE E90’s charging case is itself charged with the includes USB-C charging cable. The USB-C charging port is located at the bottom of the case.
The four LEDs on the front of the charging chase illuminate left to right to indicate the charge level of the case. In the image above, the charging case is about 3/4 full, or about 1/4 from a full charge.
Once the charging case is at full charge, all four LEDs from left to right are illuminated.
Performance: fit
The earbuds fit very well in even my wide ear canals. The contoured shape of the buds fit into my ear canals, plus the protruding microphone booms “hook” into the bottom of my ear, providing a surprisingly stable fit. I was able to perform all of my standard types of exercise, which includes running and some other fairly dynamic movements, and the ENACFIRE E90 earbuds stayed put quite well. Only when I became extremely sweaty while also performing intense movements did the earbuds tend to slide out of place, but even then, I just wiped off the ear tips a bit, popped them back in my ears, and kept going.
Performance: sound
With a pair of tiny earbuds, one should not expect the quality of sound that would be produced with a pair of over-the-ear earphones, but for the exceptionally tiny size of the ENACFIRE E90 earbuds, I was happy with the sound. The sound is good overall, but perhaps just a bit more softened or muffled than I’d like. With this in mind, the highs are fairly sharp, solid mid-range, and surprisingly decent bass. I think the good fit of the silicone tips helps to create a bit of a seal in the ear canal, which helps prevent ambient noise from interfering with the ENACFIRE E90’s sound. I tend to listen to a lot of music as well as podcasts and audiobooks, and all of these media sounded crisp and clear.
Also of note is the CVC 8.0 Noise Cancellation feature, which is active for phone calls, but not for music, podcasts, and so forth. I made multiple phone calls with the ENACFIRE E90 earbuds, and the sound quality from my end was great. I also asked the person on the other end of the call how I sounded, and every time they responded, “Just fine.”
Performance: range
I found the ENACFIRE E90’s effective range from my iPhone XR to be about 30 or 40 feet with directly line-of-sight before the signal began to break up, which I tested outside. I was quite pleased with the signal inside my house; I don’t think I ever lost signal there. I tested it by placing my iPhone XR upstairs, then wearing my earbuds downstairs in my kitchen, which is the farthest point in my house from where my phone was located. Even with several walls and a floor in between, the ENACFIRE E90 never lost signal.
Performance: battery life
I was very impressed with the battery life of the ENACFIRE E90 earbuds. The earbuds alone are specified to have 8 hours of play time, and 48 hours with the charging case. In practice, the longest continuous duration of time that I used the earbuds without putting them back into their charging case was over 4 hours, and they could have lasted longer. Placing the earbuds back into their charging case, the battery life grew to something along the lines of 8 or 10 hours.
What I like
- Earbuds are very small and lightweight
- Earbuds stayed stable in my ears, even during exercise
- Charging case is slim and compact
What I’d change
- Nothing
Final thoughts
I was impressed with the ENACFIRE E90. The entire product has a very premium look and feel. The earbuds have good sound and excellent battery life. They are small and lightweight, yet remained stable in my ears even during vigorous exercise, and the water-resistance protected them from heavy sweat. The Bluetooth pairing remained stable as well, and their range was very good. They fit well in the magnetic charging case and the case is slim with a small profile and form-factor. While the ENACFIRE E90 does bear some similarities to a very popular, similarly-designed set of earbuds, for the features, quality, performance, and price, I’d consider the ENACFIRE E90 worth a serious look if you are in the market for a set of wireless earbuds.
Price: $49.99 – $59.99
Where to buy: enacfire.com for the current price of $59.99 or from Amazon.com for $49.99
Source: The sample of this product was provided by enacfire.com.
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I checked out a couple of reviews before I purchased mine. I really wish I hadn’t bought these since both my initial set and my replacement set are faulty. The buds became unpaired with each other in both cases, leaving me with 4 individual earbuds that don’t work in pairs. I guess for 30 bucks I have some interesting paper weights now.
My daughter bought the ear buds for me for Father’s Day. They were easy to pair and seem like a good value for basic ear buds. I an still getting accustomed to tapping the ear piece to adjust volume or other options. Overall I believ a good value for the cost.
Your review is much more useful than the limited instructions that came with these earbuds – thank you! Having received them yesterday, I’m still getting to grips with their workings, but the sound & fit are good & your review is definitely helping me out.
Thanks for the review!
Critical info for all ipx7+ earbuds = do they float? I use mine for canoeing, windsurfing and sailing so if they do fall off, it’s good to know you can find them if they don’t sink.
Any idea of these sink or swim?
Sucks, mine music connects and disconnects, sound also by itself plays fast forwards at times. Dislike it so much.