Huawei has finally released a true wireless earbuds with ANC capabilities, and it’s called the Huawei FreeBuds Pro. The Huawei FreeBuds Pro retails at S$238.
Unboxing
Inside the box, you will find the following items:
- Huawei FreeBuds Pro ANC earbuds
- Charging case
- Ear tips x3 (S to L)
- USB-C to USB-A cable
- User manual
Tech specs
| Driver | 11.0 mm dynamic |
| Battery Life | 4 hours per full charge (with ANC on) 7 hours per full charge (with ANC off) |
| Weight | Earbuds: 6.2g each Charging case: 59.2g |
| Bluetooth Version | 5.2 |
| Supported Codecs | AAC, SBC |
Design, build quality and features
Huawei FreeBuds Pro comes in three colours – (1) Silver Frost, (2) Ceramic White, and (3) Carbon Black. The unit I have with me is the Silver Frost model. The charging case has a shape very similar to the Apple AirPods Pro, which means it is slim and compact – making it really convenient to carry around. The design of the case is simple yet premium looking due to the metallic case. The Huawei logo is embossed on a reflective patch on the hinge at the back.
Build quality is very good. There is no signs of rattling when the case is shaken and the earbuds inside do not fall out as the magnets in the case is strong. The earbuds, unlike the case, features a polished finish and has a pretty unique design due to its rectangular stem. The earbuds does not seem to have an official water-resistance rating. One complain I have with the Huawei FreeBuds Pro is that it can be a little hard to remove the earbuds from the case.
Controls
Like Apple AirPods Pro, Huawei FreeBuds Pro uses a pinch system for controls. You cannot just tap, you have to apply a tiny pinch to the control surface on the stem of the earbuds. It’s good that you can control of all media playback and call controls.
Pinching once or twice is okay, but pinching three times is a little more tricky. Swiping up and down on the short ear stem is also something I found cumbersome. The earbuds have an auto play/pause feature as well.
Awareness mode
The awareness mode is pretty good. It is not as over amplified as the Technics EAH-AZ70W. High pitches sounds and wind tend to still be taken up a notch, but it they don’t overpower the whole audio. The awareness mode doesn’t automatically kick in on a phone call. but you easily switch to awareness mode by pinching and holding the stem for 2 seconds.
AI Life App
There is a companion app for Huawei FreeBuds Pro called the AI Life app, but it is only available Huawei and Android users. For Android users, the AI Life app may not be updated to the latest version at this time of writing. So if you’re unable to get the earbuds to connect to the AI Life app, you may want to consider the following workaround:
- Go to the AI Life app page on AppGallery
- After tapping on ‘Install’, you will be prompted to download the AppGallery apk file to your phone. Install AppGallery on your phone.
- Launch AppGallery and install AI Life app.
The AI Life app installed from the AppGallery should be the most updated. I did the workaround and managed to get the Huawei FreeBuds Pro to connect to the app. In the app, you can adjust how strong you want the ANC or enhance voices in Awareness mode. You can also turn off auto play/pause if that’s not something you prefer. If you find cycling through ANC and Awareness too much of a hassle, you can switch it to cycling through just one mode.
The settings you apply on the Huawei FreeBuds Pro will be stored on the earbuds itself, so if you’re using the earbuds on another phone or device, the settings will remain.
Battery life
You can expect 4 hours of play time with ANC turned on, and 7 hours with ANC turned off. Given its small size, 4 hours with ANC was kind of expected. Charging the Huawei FreeBuds Pro is done via USB-C. Alternatively, you can also charge it wirelessly as it supports wireless charging.
Fit
The Huawei FreeBuds Pro has a very comfortable fit. The oval shape style makes it really easy to fit in your ears, much like the Urbanista London, so big or small ears, it’ll fit your ears. As the oval bud shape does not have a deep nozzle, it doesn’t create a snug and hugging fit like the Creative Outlier Air V2 for example, so those who prefer a less intrusive fit will appreciate this. The lightweight nature of the earbuds also helps to make it feel like you’re not wearing them at all.
Sound quality
To start, the volume is a little on the softer side. 65% of volume on the Huawei FreeBuds Pro gis around 50% of the volume of most earbuds. As for sound, the Huawei FreeBuds Pro offers pretty weighty bass that delivers thumping reverb and rumble. Midrange has good emphasis which helps to bring out vocals with a soothing warm touch to it. As for treble, it is comfortably bright and is clear without harshness. Overall, the tuning is a comfortable warm audio experience with vocals being in the forefront, with tracks such Just a Little Lovin’ by Shelby Lynne being a great listen on this pair of earbuds.
When ANC is turned on, the bass becomes less boomy and sounds more tight and compact. Treble gets a little bump up and sounds a little more transparent. Soundstage also starts to feel more narrow.
ANC performance
The ANC performance is amazing, and probably the best ANC I have tested to date. Considering the size of the Huawei FreeBuds Pro it’s impressive. In MRT train tunnels where there are high pitched whooshes, the Huawei FreeBuds Pro is able to remove a large extent of the noise. You still can hear them when the whooshes get really loud, but comparing to the other ANC earbuds I have tested, the Huawei FreeBuds Pro wins in the MRT train test.
Update: I previously complained about the ANC suffering from hiccups and glitches on buses. This is due to the ANC being set to the default Dynamic mode. When set to General mode, the ANC hiccups are no longer present.
However, like the Huawei FreeBuds Studio, the FreeBuds Pro also suffers from some ANC hiccups. I only experienced the hiccups on the bus where the noise is caused by going over bumpy roads. The ANC will fade in and out ANC and Awareness mode, and at times let out a loud glitching sound. This seems to be happening only on buses. When I’m testing it in shopping malls or coffee shops, the ANC works well. This occurrence to be due to the ANC being set to ‘Dynamic’. If you’re suffering from the same issue, simply use the ‘General’ or ‘Extreme’ mode.
Thankfully, the ANC hiccups can be resolved by disabling the use of the default Dynamic ANC adjustment. This makes the Huawei FreeBuds Pro one of the best ANC performers to date.
Microphone quality
Microphone on the Huawei FreeBuds Pro is very good in a quiet room, possibly the best I’ve tested so far. My voice is clear and forward with good amount of detail, almost akin to speaking directly on the phone. But in noisy environment, the microphone struggles a little in isolating my voice against the background noise. What happens is both the volume of voice and the background noise is reduced, causing my voice to sound slightly distant than before. The microphone experience is very similar to the Huawei FreeBuds Studio – excellent quality in a room-like environment.
Pairing, connectivity, and latency
Huawei FreeBuds Pro comes with the latest and greatest Bluetooth 5.2 and the connection during my time of testing is stable. You can either side of the earbud if you like to wear them on just one ear. As for latency, there was no audio-video lag when watching YouTube videos from the YouTube app on my iPhone 11.
Conclusion
Huawei FreeBuds Pro is very impressive for a S$238 pair of true wireless earbuds with ANC. The ANC is very effective and the audio is an enjoyable listen. It can also charge wirelessly and fits comfortably in the ears. They do lack an official IP rating, but if you do not plan on exercising in this pair of earbuds, this shouldn’t be an issue. The only pity is that the ANC suffers from annoying glitches in the bus. The Huawei FreeBuds Pro offers a really competitive alternative to the any ANC earbuds like the AirPods Pro.