Content
- Positioning
- Contents of delivery
- FreeBuds Pro Headphones
- FreeLace Pro
- Impressions
Positioning
Everything here is very simple and straightforward. FreeBuds Pro headphones offer the most advanced hardware among all the company’s TWS devices: an 11 mm emitter, a bone conduction sensor, a three-microphone system, active noise cancellation, a choice of voice amplification and sound transmission mode, support for Bluetooth version 5.2.
Huawei FreeLace is a wireless device, but the emitters themselves are connected by a cable, or rather, they are connected to the control system. This type of headphone is commonly referred to as a “neckband” headphone. The advantages of this model are obvious: just a huge operating time, the presence of active noise cancellation, a large 14.2 mm radiator and protection according to the IP55 standard. FreeLace has another trump card: connecting headphones via USB-C directly to the phone for recharging. We have already reviewed the first generation of “ears”. Extremely convenient design: removed the cap from the control unit and connected it to the power source. It couldn’t be easier!
Professional headphones Huawei FreeBuds Pro cost 15 rubles, and you can get Huawei Band 000 as a gift. The cost of FreeLace is a little more democratic: 4 rubles, and the same Band 8 bracelet as a gift. By the way, by itself it costs 000 rubles. It has an SpO4 measurement function.
Contents of delivery
| FreeBuds Pro | FreeLace Pro |
| – USB-C-USB-A cable – Ear pads in three sizes – Instruction – Warranty card |
– USB-A to USB-C adapter (input) – Ear pads in three sizes – Instruction – Warranty card |
FreeBuds Pro Headphones
About the case
It is very different from what we saw in FreeBuds 3. If the previous one looked like a small puck, then the new one increased in size and flattened a little. The body has become more massive, heavier.
I have not seen the version in gray, it is probably matte, but the white and black cases are glossy. By the way, I don’t quite understand why cases with such a coating should be made: scratches are visible, fingerprints too. In addition, there is a metal insert on the back of the case. It is part of the fastening of the opening mechanism and, as it were, a decorative detail. So, it is most susceptible to abrasion and other traces. This happened in FreeBuds, the same thing happens in FreeBuds Pro.
Feels like in the hands and purely outwardly, the device gives the impression of an expensive thing: powerful, solid, weighty and, in general, attractive.
Case dimensions: 80x51x24 mm. Weight – about 60 grams.
Below you will find USB-C for charging the case and a small indicator.
This is what the case looks like in real life.
About headphones
The case is closed so tightly that moving your hand forward with the case will not help open the lid. She has two clear positions: closed and fully open.
However, the headphones are also packed tightly in the grooves – there is nothing to cling to with your fingers for removal. At first glance, I really couldn’t take the FreeBuds Pro out of the case. The magnets are brutal there: they cannot be shaken out.
In short, the design of the case and headphones is such that you will have to adapt to remove the latter. On the smartphone in the instructions, this is demonstrated by animation. But the problem was that Ai Life did not see FreeBuds Pro, and on iOS the program did not work and does not work at all. I had to install a certain apk-file (most likely a new version of Ai Life) on Android, which was given to me by a company representative.
The “stem” shape is rectangular. Moreover, it is quite short. Somewhat unusual. Made of glossy black plastic. At the end of the “stalk” two contacts are visible for charging the battery using the case. From the outside it doesn’t look very neat. They are not visible in advertising pictures, but in real life they are noticeable: the structure is miniature, and the platforms are high and wide, and even the color of metal.
There are four holes on the body of the “stem”: two at the top and two at the bottom on each side. Microphones are located there. And here again the strangeness of engineering: was it really not clear from the very beginning that dust and dirt would be crammed there, because the user usually actively grabs these places? In a couple of weeks, these holes were practically clogged.
And on one of the edges there was a translucent light insert. It is large relative to the earpiece. What is its purpose, I did not understand. But this insert looked foreign. The piece of plastic held as if it had been glued tightly. The funny thing is that in the end I somehow faked it and knocked it off. Maybe that’s how the sensory area was designated to us, they say, to squeeze here.
The FreeBuds Pro hold up well in the auricle, but you still have to choose ear pads. Passive sound insulation is excellent. You don’t even have to include ANC.
About the “shumodav” chips
I will not retell what is written on the site. If you wish, you yourself can go and read all the real and marketing features of the device. Here – clearly and to the point.
From the technical specifications, we learn that the FreeBuds Pro uses an 11mm dynamic driver. This is the usual size for these “ears”. For example, FreeLace is already 14mm. It is believed that the larger the speaker size, the greater the dynamic range. But that’s in theory. And in practice, it has recently become more important that everything is decided by software with the work of AI and other technologies.
I’ll start simple. In Ai Life (Google Android OS only), an in-ear test. It serves to determine how tightly the headphones fit in the auricle. Probably an important thing ?
The next feature is sound permeability. In this way FreeBuds Pro allow you to hear ambient sounds. The impression that the headphones were removed.
This technology has an add-on – voice amplification. An unusual effect: the maximum active noise cancellation is turned on, but speech clipping is triggered: in complete silence (ANC is active), you hear what you say and what you are saying. It differs from sound permeability in that you perceive only the voice, the rest of the sounds are “choked with numbers.”
Active noise canceling has several modes of operation:
- Auto. The software itself decides what level of “noise reduction” to include. I would not use it, as this very level often floats a lot.
- Comfort. For home and quiet office.
- Usual. Suitable for a street or a place where cars are not too loud and people make noise.
- Ultra. Everything is clear here.
I could not grasp the difference between the last three modes. It seems that noise removal works a little differently only in “comfort”. But not for the better or for the worse. It’s just that the sound of noise is perceived differently.
About sound
Well, there is nothing to criticize Huawei FreeBuds Pro for – the kings of TWS headphones, from my point of view! Even streaming music services sound very good. For example, I listen to Yandex.Music and think that the sound there is, to put it mildly, ordinary. But FreeBuds Pro pump even this kind of music.
The first thing I notice is the attack (again, my probably incorrect definitions): the instantaneous transmission of sound with great energy.
The second is powerful, punchy, but relatively soft low bass. Lovers of this sound will be delighted.
The third is the wide stage. You pinpoint instruments and sounds at different locations in the composition.
There is enough high frequencies in FreeBuds Pro. But, probably, I would add them a little.
The voice is transmitted quite clearly and legibly.
FreeBuds Pro is suitable as a headset. The sound is clear and loud. Maybe a little bit lacking in high frequencies. But the impression that you are communicating on a speakerphone is not. And this is good. Below is an example of a conversation recording.
Sample audio recording >>>
Total: great sound for TWS headphones!
Working hours
Each earbud uses a 55mm battery. This is slightly more than typical TWS. Without shumodav, they hold about 6 hours, with it – about 4 hours.
The only trouble with almost all TWS headphones is the discharge of the case over time. That is, in a week and a half without recharging, the case can be discharged by itself. It was the same with FreeBuds 3, FreeBuds 3i.
FreeBuds Pro and FreeBuds 3
FreeBuds Pro and FreeBuds 3i
FreeLace Pro
Appearance, control keys
What do you need to know about these headphones?
- The headset is placed around the neck.
- There are two blocks: the battery compartment and the control system.
- The earbuds can be secured together with the backs thanks to the built-in magnets.
Available in three colors: black, white, green.
Silicone cable, covered with a soft-touch layer. Bends perfectly. Metal blocks, glossy. The buttons are embossed, made of plastic of the same color as the cable. The whole structure weighs about 35 grams. A bit, but it is worth understanding that this is a certain type of headphones that you will have to get used to. Any cables seem foreign to me, so I prefer TWS.
On the right block: volume up / down, play / pause, microphone, power button and device operation indicator.
This is where the cap comes off and you get access to the USB-C connector for charging the battery. In my opinion, it is very convenient.
The headphones themselves are unremarkable. However, their faceplates are equipped with magnets: if you touch the headphones, they become magnetized. There is one more feature in this: when “closure”, data transfer stops: the headphones are disconnected from the smartphone. Yes, the sound is not paused, the “ears” are disconnected. A strange decision, because there is a power button. By the way, the device does not have a proximity sensor: when you take the headphones out of your ears, the music is not paused.
About “shumodav”
It is the same here, if not better, than in FreeBuds Pro. Only in FreeLace there are no modes of its operation, which, in general, is correct, since there is no big sense from them.
By the way, I did not write how well the noise reduction in FreeBuds does. Slightly better than FreeBuds 3i. Plus or minus the Bose QC35 level. I did not listen to the Apple Pro headphones, I can’t say anything.
But here they left sound permeability without highlighting the voice.
About sound
It is very similar to FreeBuds Pro, but without the attack. Music sounds usually, soft, smooth. When I compared it for the first time, it seemed that FreeLace sounded completely primitive compared to FreeBuds Pro. But later I realized that it was just the attack: deep low, pleasant high and accurate mids were preserved.
If FreeBuds Pro wants to attract you with a bright sign – and they succeed – then FreeLaces stand somewhere on the sidelines and just do their job.
Working hours
The built-in 150 mAh battery makes it possible to “play” music for 16 hours (with ANC about 10 hours) at a volume of about 50%. That says it all. Charged in an hour.
Impressions
You have already read the title of the review: “Huawei FreeLace Pro and FreeBuds Pro are the best headphones of the brand!” Everything is so without exaggeration. Of course, I found certain flaws in the devices, without them nowhere. Pay attention to them. But in general, you have good things in front of you!
Competitors:
- Huawei Freebuds 3i… They cost about 9000 rubles. For those who do not need “whistles”: cool sound and active “noise reduction”. I myself went with them for several months. Happy as an elephant!
- Honor magic earbuds… They cost 8 rubles. Complete analogue of 000i.
- Huawei FreeBuds 3 (Huawei Freebuds 3i)… They cost 11 rubles. These are headphones rather to show that you are in style. Small and convenient case, nice headphones, good sound, but a very strange “noise reduction”. By the way, they are not in-ear!
- Samsung Galaxy Buds Live… Price – 14 rubles. I can’t say anything here – I didn’t listen. Therefore, I refer you to the review of Eldar Murtazin.
There are tons of similar devices, but I gave an example of those gadgets that people hear.
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