Huawei Freebuds Professional 4 assessment

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 happened in China, adopted by a global launch only a fortnight later.

They have been overshadowed by the Mate X6‘s world reveal (assessment right here) and the nova 13 collection debut, however we consider they deserve consideration so we took a pair for a check. So here is what we discovered.

Desk of Contents:

Design and construct high quality

The buds and case of Freebuds Professional 4 intently resemble these of Freebuds Professional 3 externally. Our mannequin is Black, that includes golden trim across the stem and case, together with a graphic factor on the stem that asserts the Histen expertise.

Inexperienced and White variants are additionally obtainable, each adorned with golden accents. These are certain to be effectively obtained in Asian markets, although we’ve our doubts if Westerners will agree.

The contact sensor is positioned on the internal facet of the stem and turns into simple to make use of when you develop into accustomed to the pinching and swiping gestures. All gestures could be custom-made by the AI Life app, which we advocate downloading and putting in from Huawei AppGallery because it has the most recent model.

Consumer interface

The buds have been promoted in China as the primary audio wearables that includes HarmonyOS 5.0; nonetheless, that declare is lacking from the worldwide model. One motive for this variation is that Huawei prefers to not promote the Concord OS too closely presently, and one other is that this function holds little significance within the earphone market.

The app presents numerous noise management choices. Consciousness mode options two settings: Voice Mode, which could be switched on or off; activating this selection enhances the earbuds’ potential to choose 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 offered solely within the app, which means it takes a while to decide on your most popular choice. There’s additionally an Equalizer with some presets, however you’ll be able to create one in every 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 choice that makes use of sound to map your ear and decide whether or not the rubber ideas are the correct measurement. Nonetheless, the function 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 end 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 attributable to our resident earbuds reviewer having subpar operating kind, which triggered extreme head motion.

Sound high quality

The standout function of the Freebuds Professional 4 is, unquestionably, the audio efficiency. Huawei has included a dual-driver configuration together with an 11 mm quad-magnet dynamic driver that delivers bass right down to 14 Hz and treble ranges reaching 48 kHz, due to 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 really excelled on this occasion.

We paired the earbuds with an Android telephone, a Huawei gadget, 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 introduced a video that includes a person 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 strive, however the end result was much less spectacular than anticipated. Our assigned reviewer attended a big techno social gathering with 1000’s of attendees and tried to make a telephone name. The particular person on the opposite finish might nonetheless hear the music, however was in a position to catch the voice; nonetheless, the reviewer had issue listening to the quieter sounds.

Definitely, that is an anecdotal instance, and with the ambient noise exceeding 110 dB you’ll be able to’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. Nonetheless, it seems that each fashions have similar battery capacities. Every bud is supplied with a 55 mAh cell, whereas the case supplies an extra 510 mAh.

Under is a abstract of the charging instances as said by Huawei and the precise instances we recorded after a number of charging classes. To calculate the case and the earbuds, merely add the earbuds time to the case.

We should acknowledge that we had vital issue lowering the earbuds’ battery to zero, because it requires hours of steady use to completely 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 probably the most handy choice. 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 practically all eventualities, notably noting the 2 modes that prioritize both sound high quality or connectivity.

Under are our findings from 30 days of steady use.

All assessments have been performed utilizing Freebuds linked to an Android smartphone, relatively than a Huawei gadget with EMUI. The producer famous that their outcomes have been primarily based on assessments with a Huawei Mate X6, with audio set to 50%.

Whereas reducing the amount and utilizing a Huawei telephone might barely enhance battery life, we decided that conducting assessments 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, provide glorious battery life, and nice noise cancellation for this class.

In the course of the announcement, Huawei set a value of €199, however not one of the Euro-using international locations is at the moment provide 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 develop 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’ll be able to nonetheless buy the 15-month-old Freebuds Professional 3. Nonetheless, should you reside in these areas, we strongly recommend choosing the Freebuds Professional 4.

Execs

• One of the best sound for Huawei Freebuds.
• Battery life is dependable.
• Fast connectivity.
• Enticing value.
• Loads of noise cancellation choices.

Cons

• Golden trim may not be for everybody.
• Restricted availability in key markets.
• Not that huge of an enchancment over its predecessor.
• Pinching gestures want person’s adaptation.