Huawei went over a yr with out introducing an replace to its flagship earphones, however the Freebuds Professional 4 arrived in 2024’s closing weeks. The announcement first passed off in China, adopted by a global launch only a fortnight later.
They had been overshadowed by the Mate X6’s world reveal (overview right here) and the nova 13 sequence debut, however we consider they deserve consideration so we took a pair for a check. So here is what we came upon.
Desk of Contents:
Design and construct high quality
The buds and case of Freebuds Professional 4 carefully resemble these of Freebuds Professional 3 externally. Our mannequin is Black, that includes golden trim across the stem and case, together with a graphic component on the stem that says the Histen expertise.
Inexperienced and White variants are additionally obtainable, each adorned with golden accents. These are sure to be effectively obtained in Asian markets, although we’ve our doubts if Westerners will agree.
The contact sensor is positioned on the interior aspect of the stem and turns into straightforward to make use of when you turn into accustomed to the pinching and swiping gestures. All gestures may be personalized via the AI Life app, which we advocate downloading and putting in from Huawei AppGallery because it has the newest model.
Consumer interface
The buds had been promoted in China as the primary audio wearables that includes HarmonyOS 5.0; nonetheless, that declare is lacking from the worldwide model. One purpose for this alteration is that Huawei prefers to not promote the Concord OS too closely at the moment, and one other is that this characteristic holds little significance within the earphone market.
The app gives numerous noise management choices. Consciousness mode options two settings: Voice Mode, which may be switched on or off; activating this selection enhances the earbuds’ skill to select up voices. Moreover, there’s Off Mode and Noise Cancelling, which incorporates 4 distinct settings: Dynamic, Cozy, Normal, and Extremely, every tailor-made for particular environments.
Detailed management of Consciousness and Noise Cancelling is obtainable solely within the app, that means it takes a while to decide on your most popular possibility. There’s additionally an Equalizer with some presets, however you may create certainly one of your individual as effectively.
FreeBuds Professional 4 can prioritize sound high quality or connection. The upper bitrate sound comes with a shorter battery life too. There’s an possibility that makes use of sound to map your ear and decide whether or not the rubber suggestions are the correct dimension. Nevertheless, the characteristic indicated that every one three sizes (Small, Medium, Massive) are ok, so aren’t actually satisfied of its usefulness.
Consolation is a key issue with such compact buds. Prolonged use didn’t result in any discomfort – you hardly really feel the Freebuds in your ears. We examined them within the health club and through prolonged runs. The result is that the buds stay in place so long as there’s no abrupt motion.
There was the occasional difficulty with one bud barely slipping out, however this was primarily resulting from our resident earbuds reviewer having subpar working kind, which brought on extreme head motion.
Sound high quality
The standout characteristic of the Freebuds Professional 4 is, for sure, the audio efficiency. Huawei has included a dual-driver configuration together with an 11 mm quad-magnet dynamic driver that delivers bass all the way down to 14 Hz and treble ranges reaching 48 kHz, because of the planar diaphragm tweeter.
The sound high quality and notably wealthy bass are instantly evident when carrying the earbuds. Having examined quite a few earbuds from numerous smartphone producers, we discover Huawei’s providing to be distinctive; the corporate actually excelled on this occasion.
We paired the earbuds with an Android telephone, a Huawei system, a desktop utilizing a Bluetooth dongle, and a laptop computer that has built-in Bluetooth.
The connectivity was seamless and worthy of high-end earbuds. We particularly mentioned this matter with a Huawei VP, who confirmed that the builders in Shenzhen put vital effort into optimizing connectivity and sound high quality for speedy toggling.
On the launch occasion, Huawei offered a video that includes a consumer carrying the earbuds within the midst of a live performance, but because of the cutting-edge noise cancellation, they might additionally be part of a gathering.
We gave this a attempt, however the final result was much less spectacular than anticipated. Our assigned reviewer attended a big techno get together with 1000’s of attendees and tried to make a telephone name. The particular person on the opposite finish may nonetheless hear the music, however was in a position to catch the voice; nonetheless, the reviewer had problem listening to the quieter sounds.
Definitely, that is an anecdotal instance, and with the ambient noise exceeding 110 dB you may’t actually count on miracles. In additional average settings, the buds carry out very effectively.
Charging
Throughout our first impressions, we seen that the Freebuds Professional 4 felt bulkier in comparison with the Professional 3. Nevertheless, it seems that each fashions have an identical battery capacities. Every bud is supplied with a 55 mAh cell, whereas the case gives a further 510 mAh.
Under is a abstract of the charging instances as acknowledged by Huawei and the precise instances we recorded after a number of charging periods. To calculate the case and the earbuds, merely add the earbuds time to the case.
Marketed time
Actual-life time
Earbuds within the case
40 minutes
45 minutes
Case solely (wired)
1 hour
65 minutes
Case solely (wi-fi)
1.5 hours/150 minutes
160 minutes
We should acknowledge that we had vital problem decreasing the earbuds’ battery to zero, because it requires hours of steady use to totally deplete the battery. When you place the buds again into the case, it resets the whole course of, and the reality is, only a few individuals really handle to empty their earbuds to 0.
Utilizing a wi-fi charger for the case is what we discovered to be essentially the most handy possibility. It labored seamlessly and did not take too lengthy to recharge.
Battery life
We extensively examined the Freebuds Professional 4 to find out a median charging worth, and we additionally gathered insights on battery efficiency throughout almost all situations, notably noting the 2 modes that prioritize both sound high quality or connectivity.
Under are our findings from 30 days of steady use.
Marketed Playtime
Actual-life Playtime
Prioritize Sound High quality (ANC on)
6.5 hours
360 minutes/6 hours
Prioritize Sound High quality (ANC off)
4.5 hours
220 minutes/3 hours 40 minutes
Prioritize Connection High quality (ANC on)
7 hours
380 minutes/6 hours 20 minutes
Prioritize Connection High quality (ANC off)
5 hours
240 minutes/4 hours
All checks had been performed utilizing Freebuds related to an Android smartphone, somewhat than a Huawei system with EMUI. The producer famous that their outcomes had been primarily based on checks with a Huawei Mate X6, with audio set to 50%.
Whereas decreasing the amount and utilizing a Huawei telephone may barely enhance battery life, we decided that conducting checks on a non-Huawei smartphone is extra logical, given the corporate’s small world market share.
Conclusion
Huawei has delivered a strong improve with the Freebuds Professional 4. They output glorious sound with lossless transmission, supply glorious battery life, and nice noise cancellation for this class.
Through the announcement, Huawei set a value of €199, however not one of the Euro-using nations is presently supply these audio units. The one European nations promoting the Freebuds Professional 4 are Turkey and Russia, and we are able to solely hope that the buds will turn into obtainable quickly within the EU.
Huawei Freebuds Professional 4 (left) and Freebuds Professional 3 (proper)
Huawei has launched the Freebuds to key Pacific markets, together with Indonesia, the Philippines, components of the Center East, and Northern Africa. If you happen to’re exterior these areas, you may nonetheless buy the 15-month-old Freebuds Professional 3. Nevertheless, for those who reside in these areas, we strongly counsel choosing the Freebuds Professional 4.
Execs
The perfect sound for Huawei Freebuds.
Battery life is dependable.
Fast connectivity.
Engaging value.
Loads of noise cancellation choices.
Cons
Golden trim won’t be for everybody.
Restricted availability in key markets.
Not that massive of an enchancment over its predecessor.
Pinching gestures want consumer’s adaptation.
