Huawei FreeBuds Pro 2 succeeds the very well-received headphones of 2020. What are the results of two years of development?
The Chinese company’s problems from the US blockade do not appear outside the smartphone market. Huawei has perfected the recipe when it comes to smartwatches, laptops, and even headphones. We’ve seen this for ourselves. The Huawei Matebook 14s is a great 14-inch laptop, the Huawei Watch GT Runner is a comfortable and smart sports watch, and the Huawei Watch GT 3 Pro is a watch that feels right at home in both formal and sporting environments. For the fair sex, they have prepared the unique Huawei FreeBuds Lipstick headphones, which, in addition to the design, also impress with sound.
It seems that the pattern, at least on paper, continues with the new wireless headphones Huawei FreeBuds Pro 2. In the two years since the release of the original FreeBuds Pro, the design has not changed significantly, but the technical side has completely undergone minor changes in cooperation with the French audio company Devialet. Dual Hi-Res Audio System, Adjustable Triple Equalizer, and Triple ANC Microphone, “Ultra-Hearing True Sound Dual Driver…Let’s see how all of these technical terms turn out in practice.
| Advantages | Weak points |
| 🔊 Great sound | 🔇 Excellent price |
| 🔊 Comfortable even during prolonged use | 🔇 Average battery life |
| 🔊 Intelligent noise cancellation | |
| 🔊 Lots of options to change settings | |
| 🔊 USB-C and Qi . charging |
Huawei FreeBuds Pro 2 price Slovenia and versions
- Huawei FreeBuds Pro 2: 199.99 euros
Huawei has been very bold in its choice of color for the wireless headphone market. Classic white (ceramic white) is available and two bold colors are available: silver (frost silver) and blue (frost blue). Huawei FreeBuds Pro 2 wireless headphones are compatible with Android and iOS devices.
Huawei FreeBuds Pro 2: Premium design based on comfort
The completely wireless (TWS) headphones Huawei FreeBuds Pro 2, it has been said, has not radically changed visually from its predecessor. Just like two years ago, they decided to design the TWS – the elongated stem and earpiece – and modified it a bit. Personally, sound quality and ergonomic design are my priorities when choosing headphones. Maybe I focus more on comfort, because I always use headphones for longer and not for short sessions. So the Huawei design fits my taste perfectly.
The stems are angled, making it easier to manage gestures with fewer accidental triggers, and on top of that, they offer a recognizable Huawei design. The earplugs with a soft silicone tip have a good ergonomic design, which makes them very comfortable to wear (even for a long time). For smaller and larger ear canals, S and L plugs are also included in the box (M size installed by default).
The new Huawei wireless headphones are now lighter and smaller in size compared to their predecessors, despite having a greater range of functions and high-end hardware. Each earbud weighs 5.9 grams, which contributes greatly to long-term comfortable wearing. The headphones “hold” the ears well. Not so much that wearing it quickly becomes unbearable and not so little of the headphones fall from your ears with every movement and spin. During running and similar sports activities, the headphones stay in place most of the time, but you will need to adjust their position every now and then. I often sleep with headphones on (knowingly and unknowingly) and I can tell that Huawei FreeBuds Pro 2 is almost imperceptible even while sleeping. The lightweight and compact design contributes a lot to this. If, like me, you like to sleep with your headphones on, get ready to frantically search for a plug in the morning (the search function is available in the app), moreover, it will be drained, since there is no automatic timer among the features. This isn’t a big deal, as the headphones charge pretty quickly, if desired, even seamlessly with a Qi charger.
The shipping box is also so compact and flat that you can throw “frogs” with it. The design is neutral, and the only motif is the Huawei and Devialet logos on the back. On the right side there is a button for pairing, and inside we find an LED and two headphones, each in its own “well”. The magnet is strong enough to always keep the earphones secure and not too strong to prevent the user from holding the earphones. The LED indicator will warn you of the battery status in three colors (green, orange and red).
You will control the headphones by pressing and sliding the stem. Their angular shape makes this very easy and intuitive, except for sliding up and down to adjust the volume, where you might end up pushing the headphones out of your ears. I would probably like the stems to be a little longer to make it easier to handle. In general, however, the management is very good. Gestures can be changed within the Huawei AI Life app (more on that later).
Huawei FreeBuds Pro 2 also have splash resistance (IP54), which means that rain and drops of sweat will not affect their health.
Excellent sound quality
If headphones don’t sound good, or at least decent, even the most comfortable headphones in the world are out of the question for me. Fortunately, Huawei has thought of more than just convenience. The first impression is excellent, but with use you’ll find that all the technical terms (Tri-mic EQ and ANC, LDAC…), which are often used only as a media attraction, in this case come to the fore while listening.
Huawei has chosen a set that the company calls the “Ultra-hear True Sound Dual Driver”. The name isn’t exactly lucky, but we can’t argue with the results. Simply put, it is an 11mm dynamic drive and a flat diaphragm. The four-magnet driver takes care of the mid and low frequencies, while the diaphragm is responsible for the high notes. In the end, we get a wide frequency range from the low of 14Hz bass to the incredibly high notes of 48kHz. It also features a noise-cancellation depth of 47dB, which is more than similar competition promises.
What about the sound itself? The default equalizer (EQ) setting, created jointly by Huawei with Devialet, will be perfectly fine for most listeners. The treble is clear, the sounds are distinct, and the bass is very powerful and punchy. If you don’t like the default sound, if the bass is too strong or not noticeable, you can choose from four preset sound effects in the Huawei AI Life app: Default, Bass Booster, Treble Booster and Voices. For more experienced audiophiles who know their ear canal in detail, manual tuning of the 10-band equalizer is also available.
Huawei FreeBuds Pro 2 also supports LDAC audio coding technology, which enables high-resolution audio streams: 24-bit, 96 kHz and 990 kbit / s. This technique only works if you have a device that supports LDAC and HD tracks.
Even ambient noise elimination or control (ANC) works very effectively. You can change the level in the settings and with a short press on the headset stem. You can choose between a transparent mode that will let in ambient sounds, and an acoustic damping mode, where you can choose from four additional modes: Ultra Loud, General, Comfortable and Dynamic, in which the AI headphones adjust the attenuation according to the environment you’re listening in. find it. I have this feature turned on most of the time because it works fine. For example, when you step out of your apartment into a noisy street, you feel a shift in the level of noise cancellation. How noticeable this shift is depends on the situation. You will feel the most noticeable shift when you move out of a very noisy environment to a quieter one.
Features and settings change in the app
It will work on all audio settings in the AI Life app which is available in the Google Store, but the last update was two years ago. To access all the features and the latest updates, you have to download the app from Huawei’s website or their AppGallery.
What settings and features are available to you?
- Check battery condition.
- Choose between stored devices: Huawei wireless headphones can connect to two devices at the same time. You can store up to 10 devices in memory.
- Noise Control: As mentioned, you can choose between different levels of noise cancellation.
- The possibility of different sound effects and manual adjustment of the equalizer (EQ).
- Change movements or gestures
- Headphone search: Loud volume is played to facilitate searching.
- Earloop Fit Test: This is a test that is supposed to determine the optimal position of the headphones. I tried the feature and followed the fixes but I didn’t feel any difference in the sound.
- Others: wear detection (automatic shutdown when headphones are not in ears), dynamic delay (easy to use for gaming), HD calls (enhanced conversation clarity) and LDAC coding.
The battery is only average
I’m not happy with the battery, but on the other hand, I’m not a fan either. Huawei advertises six hours of normal use without noise canceling on, and about four hours with noise canceling on. I myself managed to run a good three hours during testing, but with full volume, ANC on (dynamic) calls and high definition. If it is used less, you can get an extra 30 minutes, and without noise cancellation you will definitely earn more than an hour.
Although I would point out the average battery life as a drawback, it didn’t cause much dissatisfaction, which can be thanked for the charging. Charging is available via the USB-C interface – in 15 minutes the headphones charge for an hour or two of listening – or via the Qi wireless standard, where charging is slower. Combined with the charging box, they have up to 18 hours (no ANC) or 30 hours (no ANC) of playback.
Final opinion
Huawei FreeBuds Pro 2 are among the best wireless headphones on the market. Its price is high, but not higher than the competition. Moreover, they justify the premium price. It is very convenient for prolonged use, the application allows a lot of customization of audio settings, the control is easy and quick (the exception is changing the volume), noise cancellation works perfectly and phone conversations are clear. And most importantly, the sound is amazing.