TechAudioHeadphonesEarbudsI think these AirPods Pro rival earbuds sound better – and not from a brand you’d expectHuawei’s FreeBuds Pro 2 are super impressive true wireless earbuds. Here’s why I’m impressed – and one reason I’m notWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
TechAudioHeadphonesEarbudsI think these AirPods Pro rival earbuds sound better – and not from a brand you’d expectHuawei’s FreeBuds Pro 2 are super impressive true wireless earbuds. Here’s why I’m impressed – and one reason I’m notWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
Huawei’s FreeBuds Pro 2 are super impressive true wireless earbuds. Here’s why I’m impressed – and one reason I’m not
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
At a launch event in Berlin earlier this week I was somewhat taken aback after tryingAirPodsPro-rivalling earbuds and pondering to myself: “are these actually better?”.
Don’t get me wrong,Apple’s AirPods Prohave carved out an allegiance of followers and for good reason: the quality is decent and the ecosystem with the mass ofiPhoneand Mac users just makes good sense for super-simple connectivity reasons.
But I don’t use aniPhonemost of the time, I jostle between Mac and Windows for my job too, so the ecosystem stuff wasn’t at the forefront of my mind. And when I slottedHuawei’s FreeBuds Pro 2 into my ears – which had been shipped to me ahead of the event – assuming I’d shrug them off as yet-another-pair-of-TWS-buds, I was beyond pleasantly surprised.
Didn’t expect that, did you? Neither did I, in truth. But as we’ve seen from some other competitors over recent years and months – our colleagues at TechRadar have raved about theHonor Earbuds 3 Pro, as one example – there are brands making serious inroads when it comes to audio technologies and prowess.
Are the Huawei FreeBuds Pro 2 any good?
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
The story behind the Huawei FreeBuds Pro 2 is interesting too. The brand has been working with Devialet for a number of years, since 2019, in co-engineering some of its audio products. I know that name might be meaningless to some, but when I reviewed the Devialet Phantom some years ago it genuinely blew my mind. Huawei and Devialet collaborations haven’t been quite so brain-exploding in my view, but the FreeBuds Pro 2 do a grand job.
That’s down to a number of factors: Huawei claims these are the first earbuds with a dual driver, i.e. one to handle bass (a dynamic driver, no less), the other to tackle treble (here a planar diaphragm – also the first time such a type has appeared in true wireless earbuds). What that means is a wide frequency range is feasible, from a super-low 14Hz through to a massive 48kHz. That’s much higher and wider than most consumer earbuds can muster.
There’s alsoSony’s LDAC transmission on board, meaning high-resolution files can be handled at proper quality, presumably because Qualcomm isn’t permitted to deliver its products in Huawei kit (hence no aptX Adaptive here).
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(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
What I can promise, however, is all that translates into truly superb audio quality. The active noise-cancelling (ANC) is also strong in delivery, hence the AirPods comparison.
Still, based on the sheer audio quality impressiveness, if you shut your eyes anyway, I think the Huawei FreeBuds 2 Pro offer a great AirPods Pro alternative that could appeal toAndroidusers who aren’t locked intoApple’s ecosystem. Not bad for their £169.99 asking price.
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