The Huawei FreeBuds 5which we tested for these revieware the new wireless earphones from the Chinese giant, which stand out for their their original open-fit teardrop design and for theexcellent audio quality. We have tried them and we really liked some of the features of this product. But they’re not for everyone: they’re designed for those who adore the curvy style of this product and he doesn’t want the “rubbers” in his ears. And they won’t all dress perfectly. In this review we tell you about the strengths and weaknesses of these headphones.
Our review of the Huawei FreeBuds 5
Drops of metal and music in your ears. This is the impression that the new Huawei FreeBuds 5 make once the package is opened, especially in color Silver Frost of the model subject of this review – even if there are also colors Ceramic White e Coral Orange.
Huawei explains to us that the inspiration of the designers comes from “Prince Rupert drops“, the effect created by dropping molten metal into cold water. And the impact is undoubtedly modern and elegant – the kind of earphones that turn heads.
The teardrop shape of the earphones follows the ergonomics of the ear and increases the contact area, allowing for better breathability. And also stretching far enough towards the center of your face to make phone calls significantly clearer than average, as we’ll explain. The sinusoidal stem makes it easier touch the earphones without applying too much pressure. And thanks to very responsive and well thought out touch controls, it becomes very easy to control your earphones even without them l’app AI Lifewhich however helps a lot in the initial settings.
Less inspired instead the charging case, which has a matte surface that reflects light and opens and closes easily. While it’s well built and mechanically excellent, the oval design isn’t quite as inspired. But leaves plenty of room for the battery.
Find out everything about the fantastic world of Xiaomi too
The earbuds are also water and dust resistant with a IP54 certification. And they are definitely solid. In the package you will find, in addition to the USB-C cable for charging, too two pairs of “ear pads” in silicone, which are mainly used to increase the volume and make the earphones fit better.
Fit: The open-fit design isn’t for everyone
Huawei has shown attention to include two earphone caps in the package, even if they spoil the sophisticated look of the earphones a bit. But it was necessary for us, because the open-fit design of the Huawei FreeBuds 5 didn’t quite fall right on our ears during this review.
“Open fit” basically means that there are no silicone eartips that go directly into the ear canal. Something that many find convenient – but which for us is quite problematic. There are few headphones with this design that fit us perfectly and the new FreeBuds are not among them. It depends from ear to ear, but we found them less stable than expected while walking without the ear tips. The situation improves with this new thickness.
With a weight of 5.4 grams (while the case weighs 43 grams), the FreeBuds 5 are light and designed to be worn for a long time. Those who love open designs should find them comfortable to wear – but we felt them less secure in our ears than we should. Though we have to admit we never dropped them nor did we have to place them in our ear too many times :sIt is above all a personal perception.
Huawei FreeBuds 5 review: excellent audio quality
The new Huawei earphones have an ultra-magnetic dynamic driver with 11mm Bass Turbo technologywhich allows you to hear the low frequencies up to 16Hz. They also have a triple adaptive equalizer that adjusts the sound in real time, at 100 Hz to 2000 Hzto avoid acoustic problems due to the shape
ear, the way you wear the headphones, or the volume level.
Also, the Huawei FreeBuds 5 support codecs L2HC e LDAC and they are certified HWA e Hi-Res Audio Wireless. For audiophiles, the audio bit rate reaches 990kbps and HD audio is supported up to 96kHz/24bit. But beyond all these numbers, how do they sound?
We must say we are particularly impressed by the result, especially after downloading the app Huawei AI Life. It immediately struck us as the FreeBuds 5 knew reproduce tons of detail even in tracks full of nuances, such as Somebody to Love by Queen or the In The Heights soundtrack. However, the bass lacked a little too much from Amy Winehouse and Mark Ronson’s Valerie and wasn’t bombastic when listening to Biggie Smalls. The profile Bass more intense, however, has given new life to all the hip hop tracks, also giving more tone to the rock of the Foo Fighters.
You can adjust the equalizer however you like, modifying the high-resolution audio to get the perfect sound for your ears. There aren’t many open fit headphones that they sound so good.
Calls and noise cancellation
The call audio is really good. Our interlocutor only heard our voice and heard it clear and strong, thanks also to the three microphones in each headset, which know what to cancel and what to transmit. If you frequently make calls, even while walking in traffic or on public transport, these earphones won’t let you down.
Instead, it turned out less effective during this review is active noise cancellation of the Huawei FreeBuds 5. The open-fit design unfortunately does not allow you to do too much: there are no algorithms that hold, however intelligent. The good audio and the constant and full volume help not to feel too much discomfort while on the move, but if ANC is essential for you, you should focus on an in-ear design.
Touch controls and smart functions
In the AI Life application you can adjust the controls of these earphones as you prefer, even if we found the initial preset quite fitting. There’s no single-tap linked action on the headset, so you don’t interrupt playback just because you brush your ear. But you can with a mix of taps, pressures and gestures (like the one to lower and raise the volume) manage your headphones without ever taking your smartphone out of your pocket.
The others too smart features work great. For example, they’re among the best headphones we’ve tested at recognizing when you’ve removed an earbud to stop the music.
The connection Bluetooth 5.2 works great – we could walk around our apartment listening to music, while leaving the smartphone at the desk in a corner of the house. And management too Multi-device we liked it, allowing us to switch between smartphones and PCs with great ease.
Battery and charging
The headphones arrive up to 5 hours of playback without ANC, 3.5 with ANC. These are not record numbers, but we must say that the experience has been very constant for us: Huawei delivers what it promises. With the case you get 30 hours without ANC and 20 with.
Fast charging allows you to get up to two hours of listening in five minutes. You can fully charge the headphones in 40 minutes, the case in 70 minutes. And it also supports the ricarica wireless.
Huawei FreeBuds 5 review: are they worth buying?
From today 17 April you can buy the Huawei FreeBuds 5 that we told you in this review al price of 159.90 euros. Until the April 27thyou can get a free protective case and 10% off by entering the code AFREEBUDS7 when you check out in the Huawei Store. But is it worth doing?
The price is important, although the 10% discount can be interesting. But on the other hand, the audio quality is high and we really liked the controls: you can feel all the attention that Huawei has put into this product. Earphones of this quality that have a open-fit designs are very few: if you don’t like having the “buds” of in-ear headphones in your ears, these are among the best products for Android users (they are also compatible with iOS, but we think most iPhone users will focus on AirPods).
If ANC doesn’t matter to you and you like the open-fit teardrop design, theand FreeBuds 5 are great products. Drops of music and metal in your ears.