Huawei FreeBuds Pro review

Released in September last year, the Huawei FreeBuds Pro are one of the brand's latest mid-range offerings. For just £129.99, the true wireless earbuds feature Active Noise Cancellation, intuitive touch controls and up to 30 hours battery life.

So, we put the earbuds to the test. Here is our Huawei FreeBuds Pro review, as we try out the earbuds' sound quality, design, battery life and useful tools like in-ear detection. These categories are all assessed against the earbuds' price point, to decide if the Huawei FreeBuds Pro offer brilliant value or if you're better spending your money elsewhere.

Find out how the Huawei FreeBuds Pro perform below.

To see how other earbuds compare, read our Cambridge Audio Melomania 1+ review and Jabra Elite 75t review. Or find out about Huawei's other products with our best Huawei phones guide and Huawei FreeBuds 4i review. You can also look at our expert pick of the best budget wireless earbuds.

Jump to:

• Huawei FreeBuds Pro review: summary
• What are Huawei FreeBuds Pro?
• How much are Huawei FreeBuds Pro?
• Design
• Features
• Sound quality
• Huawei FreeBuds Pro set-up
• Difference between Huawei FreeBuds Pro and Huawei FreeBuds 4i
• Our verdict
• Where to buy

Huawei FreeBuds Pro review: summary

For less than £130, the Huawei FreeBuds Pro deliver brilliant Active Noise Cancellation, intuitive touch controls and a comfortable fit. The battery life without ANC on is decent at just under seven hours and voice calls sound great. However, there are a few areas where the earbuds under-deliver. The sound quality for music is a little less spectacular but not bad, and neither the earbuds nor the case feel very luxe.

What's missing from the Huawei FreeBuds Pro is any sort of IP-rated water resistance. The earbuds have no protection against water or dust. Most models in a similar price bracket tend to offer at least IPX4-rated water resistance in case you get caught out in bad weather, so it's a shame not to see it with the FreeBuds Pro. The Huawei FreeBuds Pro are still a good option if your primary want is Active Noise Cancellation at a good price, but the earbuds are let down by a couple of missing or poorly-executed features.

Price: The Huawei FreeBuds Pro cost £129.99 and are available at Amazon, AO and Currys.

Key features:

• Active Noise Cancellation
• Touch controls to play/pause music and change ANC mode
• In-ear detection automatically stops music playing when earbuds are removed
• Seven hour battery life (up to 30 hours with charging case)
• Specialist Voice and Awareness modes

Pros:

• Comfortable fit
• Active Noise Cancellation
• Good voice call quality

Cons:

• No IP-rated water resistance
• Design doesn't feel very luxe
• App not supported for iOS

What are Huawei FreeBuds Pro?

The Huawei FreeBuds Pro are among the brand's latest true wireless earbuds. Offering Active Noise Cancellation and a three-mic system, the earbuds should reduce background noise to allow you to take calls on the move. At £129.99, these earbuds from Huawei are a more affordable alternative to the likes of Apple AirPods Pro, if you're after Active Noise Cancellation.

What do Huawei FreeBuds Pro do?

The Huawei FreeBuds Pro are missing a couple of features you'd typically find in more premium earbuds like the Grado GT220, but all the basics are covered. For £129.99, the features available include:

• Active Noise Cancellation
• Touch controls to play/pause music and change ANC mode
• In-ear detection automatically stops music playing when earbuds are removed
• Seven hour battery life (up to 30 hours with charging case)
• Specialist Voice and Awareness modes

How much are Huawei FreeBuds Pro?

Released in September last year, the Huawei FreeBuds Pro can now be found for £129.99. They are some of Huawei's more expensive wireless earbuds, but still look affordable when compared to other brands.

Are Huawei FreeBuds Pro good value for money?

Despite a couple of missing features, the Huawei FreeBuds Pro are still good value for money. This is especially true if you're after Active Noise Cancellation. ANC on the Huawei FreeBuds Pro is pretty impressive and there's an Awareness mode for when hearing background noise is essential. It is a feature that typically boosts the price and most good quality ANC earbuds cost upwards of £200. This, combined with a comfortable fit and user-friendly touch controls, means the Huawei FreeBuds are well-priced for what they offer.

Huawei FreeBuds Pro design

The Huawei FreeBuds Pro are available in three colours; white, black and silver frost. The squared stems make it easy to find the right touch point for the controls where you can turn up the volume, answer calls or pause music. The controls are very user-friendly too, as a single pinch on the stem will play or pause music, while swiping up will turn up the volume. This is much easier than the volume controls on some earbuds, which require you to hold down on the earbud.

Both the earbuds and case have a glossy finish, but we did find that they attracted a lot of dust and fluff over the day. Not a major problem, but it might be a little irritating to some.

• Style: While the earbuds are lightweight, the finish does feel a little cheap. However, the earbuds are more than £100 cheaper than some of the premium models.
• Robustness: Despite the finish, the earbuds do feel sturdy and firmly click back into place in the charging case.
• Size: The charging case is similar in size to that of the Apple AirPods Pro but the earbuds are compact with short stems.

Huawei FreeBuds Pro features

The in-ear detection of the Huawei FreeBuds Pro is super responsive and will automatically stop music when you remove an earbud, and start playing again when it is put back in. This is a handy function for the forgetful among us that don't always remember to turn off our music and there's no leaking sound.

On a single charge you can get up to seven hours of battery life when ANC is switched off. Using Active Noise Cancellation will bring that down to about five hours. However, the charging case does give you an additional 23 hours, which you can use to top up. When that's used up, the earbuds take less than two hours to go from zero to fully charged.

The earbuds don't have an IP-rated water resistance so we would avoid getting water on them. If you would prefer to have some protection against water, the Huawei FreeBuds 4i have an IP54-rating for water resistance. It's not the same as being waterproof, but they shouldn't be damaged if you get caught in the rain.

For easier management of settings, you can also download the Huawei AI Life app. Unfortunately it only works with Android and not iOS at time of writing.

Huawei FreeBuds Pro sound quality

The sound quality of the Huawei FreeBuds Pro is well-balanced and crisp, but does lack the richness found with premium models like the Grado GT220. However, voice calls are extremely clear helped by the FreeBuds Pro's three-mic system. This works with a bone voice sensor to reduce background noise, enhance the voice you're listening to and make sure your voice is picked up clearly.

The Active Noise Cancellation works well, too. There is a noticeable change in background noise between it being switched on and off, and there's an Awareness mode that allows you to hear traffic or surrounding noises when needed. You can easily switch between ANC, Awareness and Off by holding down the touch controls on the earbud stem.

Huawei FreeBuds Pro set-up: are they easy to use?

Alongside the earbuds and charging case, you're supplied with three sizes of silicone tips and a USB-C charging cable. Finding the right size silicone tip will help the Huawei FreeBuds Pro feel secure and aid the Active Noise Cancellation.

The process for setting up the FreeBuds Pro is extremely similar to most wireless earbuds. When pairing with a Huawei smartphone, a pop-up notification will appear on the screen. Click the notification to connect the devices. With an Android smartphone or iPhone, you will need to go into your Bluetooth settings to initiate the pairing. With the charging case open, press and hold the 'Function' button on the side of the case. This should allow you to connect the two devices.

For better control of sound settings, you may also want to download the Huawei AI Life app. It doesn't require an account to use the app, although it does suggest you create one. The app will then scan for devices to connect to. Unfortunately, the app struggled to identify the Huawei FreeBuds Pro. Not a dealbreaker as you can still enjoy the majority of the Huawei FreeBuds Pro's features without it, but an annoying blip that did require some patience to resolve.

What is the difference between Huawei FreeBuds Pro and Huawei FreeBuds 4i?

The Huawei FreeBuds Pro are not the only true wireless earbuds the brand makes. The Huawei FreeBuds 4i are the brand's latest true wireless earbuds and also feature Active Noise Cancellation and an equally comfortable fit. So, what are the key differences?

The first is the price. The Huawei FreeBuds 4i are cheaper at £79.99, compared to the FreeBuds Pro price of £129.99. The FreeBuds 4i also have decent water and dust resistance (IP54 rated). As we mentioned above, the FreeBuds Pro don't have any IP-rated protection.

There is a small variation in the design, too. While the FreeBuds 4i have long, rounded stems, the stems on the Huawei FreeBuds Pro are shorter and much more square. This square design actually makes for a more pleasant experience when it comes to using the touch controls. We found the touch controls on the FreeBuds 4i a little clunky, while the 'pinch-style' touch controls on the FreeBuds Pro are very intuitive to use.

Because the ANC and sound quality are similar across the two models, choosing between them will likely come down to your budget, preferences in design and whether you'd prefer to have the reassurance of water protection.

Our verdict: should you buy Huawei FreeBuds Pro?

There are plenty of things to like about the Huawei FreeBuds Pro. They're comfortable, lightweight and the touch controls make them extremely easy to use. We were pleasantly surprised about the quality of the Active Noise Cancellation, especially when you consider the £129.99 price tag. Voice calls sound brilliant, too. However, there were a couple of disappointments. The sound quality for music isn't spectacular, but it's not bad, and neither the earbuds nor the case feel premium.

The feature we missed the most was some form of IP-rated water resistance. The Huawei FreeBuds Pro don't offer any official protection against water or dust. A lot of earbuds in a similar price bracket are now providing basic IP-rated water resistance, so it's a shame to see it missing here. That being said, the Huawei FreeBuds Pro still offer great value and are still a good option if you're looking for Active Noise Cancellation at a good price.

Rating:

Some categories (sound quality and features) are weighted more heavily.

Design: 3/5

Features: 3/5

Sound quality: 4/5

Ease of set-up: 3/5

Value for money: 4/5

Overall: 3.5/5

Where to buy Huawei FreeBuds Pro

The Huawei FreeBuds Pro are available from a number of retailers.

• Amazon
• AO
• Currys

For more reviews and product guides on everything from the best budget smartphone to the best printer, head to the Technology section.