Co-engineered with Devialet, the Huawei FreeBuds Pro 2 pack pretty solid audio with great active noise cancelling. And no, your eyes aren't deceiving you, these Chinese-made earphones have a familiar design you may have seen before.
Quick specs
- Wireless charging or Type-C
- 6.5 hours playback (no ANC), 4 hours playback (ANC), case adds 30 hours (no ANC), or 18 hours (ANC)
- 11mm dynamic driver and planar diaphragm driver
The FreeBuds Pro 2 offer a snug fit right out of the box. It also comes with extra ear tips if you need to adjust. The Huawei AI Life app lets you test if you have it fitted right. The FreeBuds do an adequate job of passively isolating outside noise. I do note that my ear tips tended to flip inside out when I took them out of my ear. In terms of design, the FreeBuds looks remarkably similar to the Apple AirPods Pro, but with flatter stems. You can slide your finger up or down the stem for volume control, tap it to play or pause, and pinch to switch between ANC and ambient modes.
Credit: Aloysius Low/Can Buy or Not
With Devialet branding on the FreeBuds Pro 2, you'd expect the sound to be great. And the good news is that it does. I loved the clarity, the separate elements of the mids and highs, and the strong bass. Jessi's bass-heavy What Kind of X showcased its quality, while IU's vocals in Lilac are super clear. And while strong, the bass doesn't drown out the mids, too. I do think that if you want the best sound, there's always the AK UW100, but the FreeBuds do a good job of matching the Sony WF-1000XM4. You can also adjust the EQ via the Huawei AI Life app.
Active noise cancellation was strong enough to mute most of the road traffic. You can adjust the strength via the Huawei app. The ANC also doesn't have a strong pressure on your ears. As for battery life, the earbuds are rated for four hours with ANC, and six hours without. Our testing at full volume gave us a result of 4hr 33m with ANC on. The case adds another 18 hours of usage, or 30 hours more without ANC.
The Huawei FreeBuds Pro 2 are a great pair of earphones that offer great sound and strong ANC. At its usual S$298 price, it's priced competitively against its lookalike, the Apple AirPods Pro. You can likely get it at S$268 when it goes on sale. Check it out on Shopee or Lazada.
Note: Review unit provided by Huawei.
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