Huawei FreeBuds 4 with an open-fit design offers something a little different
Huawei FreeBuds 4.
Huawei has established a loyal following in their now extensive range of audio products including true wireless stereo earphones. The FreeBuds 4 are their latest offering and I’ve been putting them through their paces since their announcement a couple of weeks ago.
I was impressed by the original FreeBuds 3 back in 2019, which featured a comfy open-fit form factor and excellent sound quality. The FreeBuds 4 are equipped with newly upgraded open-fit ANC 2.0 technology, which Huawei says improves noise cancellation at a hardware and software level.
The FreeBuds 4 look almost identical to the FreeBuds 3 with a similar, round pebble-like case. They have a long stem design just like their predecessor and come in ceramic white and silver frost. The glossy case is small enough to slip with ease into any pocket. The white version I received from Huawei for this review is ceramic white including the case and earbuds. The end of each earbud has a chrome finish which adds to the premium design and overall look.
The buds are light at only 4.1g and Huawei has enhanced the overall curvature for an improved fit over the originals. The buds are hard moulded plastic and don’t require any silicone ear tips which means one size has to fit all. This is great if they fit your ears and most people will know at this stage if this type of earbud will work for them.
The charging case is just 21.2mm while weighing only 38g, which is 6.3% smaller and 20.8% lighter than its predecessor.
Battery life is 4 hours with active noise cancellation turned off, and only 2.5 hours when the feature is turned on. When used with the charging case, the earphones offer a total battery life of up to 20 hours or 14 hours with ANC on. This isn’t class-leading and 2.5 hours is far from ideal if you use ANC. The FreeBuds 4i provide up to 10 hours of battery with ANC off which is over double. That being said, a quick 15-minute charge in the case will provide up to 2.5 hours of playback.
There’s no wireless charging option but the wired USB-C port charges the case and buds rapidly in less than an hour.
The FreeBuds 4 are light and comfortable in my ears but do feel like they might fall out. However, despite my best headbanging attempts to shake them loose, they never fell out. Again, the one size fits all means they won’t suit everybody but I have a feeling they’ll fit more people with small ears than say the AirPods do.
The Huawei FreeBuds 4 use the Huawei Kirin A1 chip, which was also used in the FreeBuds 3. They now have Bluetooth 5.2 instead of 5.1, which allows them to connect to two devices at once. Additionally, pairing mode is activated by opening the charging cover with Huawei phones. Using the AI Life app you can manually switch between linked devices. This allows users to listen to their favourite music or watch their favourite show without missing any calls. The music or show will be paused and seamlessly switched to the phone when a call comes in.
Finally, the earbuds come with IPX4 water resistance which means a sweaty workout or light rain won’t cause any issues.
Touch controls are configurable via the AI Life app and in particular, I’m a big fan of the volume control which is a swipe up or down to change the volume. This works well as do the other gestures to control playback and ANC modes.
The FreeBuds 4 come with 14.3mm moving coil drivers that have a frequency range of up to 40KHz. The sound signature is uniquely Huawei’s and I did like the more open sound stage. The bass is also impressive for this style of open-fit earphone but not as powerful as the FreeBuds Pro.
ANC performance is greatly improved over the FreeBuds 3. There’s a distinct difference when you turn ANC on. I managed to reduce the noise of the fans in my office but not nearly as well as the FreeBuds Pro or the less expensive FreeBuds 4i. This is primarily down to the open-fit design so if good ANC is top on your list of priorities I’d look at either of the other two options if you’re keen to stick with Huawei.
Call quality is excellent which I’m sure is in part thanks to the longer stems and dual-microphones with noise cancellation technology. The latter ensures that the microphones pick up ambient noise with far greater accuracy.
The open-fit form-factor and one size fits all shape will not be to everyone’s liking, but for those who like a more open sound stage and impressive audio clarity the FreeBuds 4 offer something a little different.
Priced from €139, Huawei FreeBuds 4 will be available from June 24. See Huawei for more.
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