No, these are not new AirPods Pro, but wireless earphones from Huawei. The headset is packed with technology and you notice that in several ways. You can read more about it in this Huawei Freebuds Pro 2 review.
Huawei Freebuds Pro 2
Recommended retail price € 199,-
Colour black, white, blue
Link bluetooth 5.2
Battery 55 mAh (earpiece), 580 mAh (charging case)
Weight 6 grams (earpiece), 52 grams (charging case)
Features microphone, IP54
To upload USB-C, wireless
Website https://consumer.huawei.com/nl
8 Score 80 
- Pros
- Sound quality
- wearing comfort
- Negatives
- App installation
- squeeze control
As befits a Chinese tech manufacturer, this product has not been subtly copied from the competitor. The Huawei FreeBuds Pro 2 should be an alternative to the Apple AirPods Pro and you can see that: a white oval charging box and white ears with ditto rubber tips where black surfaces are placed over the microphones and other external sensors. A distinction can be made: the stem is finished flat and houses the Huawei logo.
Fortunately, the ears are also available in gray and blue, colors that take away the imitation feeling.
devialet
As befits Chinese tech manufacturers, Huawei has sought cooperation with a reputable company whose company name also flaunts on the product: devialet. This French audio company was founded in 2007 and markets high-quality speakers and amplifiers. The collaboration is mainly in the area of audio tuning. Huawei designs and produces the earphones all by itself. Often these kinds of collaborations are more for marketing, but a brand like Devialet will not just throw the good name up. Incidentally, we also saw this collaboration in the Huawei Sound Joy bluetooth speaker.
And that can be heard too! The sound quality and adjustment of the Huawei Freebuds Pro 2 is excellent. Sound details that other wireless in-ears often miss are suddenly audible with these earphones. For wireless in-ears, they therefore have a relatively wide sound range of 14 to 48,000 hertz. In addition, the sound tuning is balanced, so that the sound is remarkably clear. Especially in the midrange.
The low bass tones have been tuned somewhat mildly, in order to preserve the clear detailed sound without being drowned out. Personally, I like the sound quality of the Freebuds Pro 2 better than that of the AirPods Pro.
The sound quality of the Freebuds Pro 2 is impressively good, provided LDAC is turned on.
Listening and speaking
The Freebuds Pro 2 also have different listening modes: noise cancellation (ANC), ambient noise mode and of course a regular listening mode. Although the microphones ensure that you are perfectly understood during telephone conversations and (video) conferences, you notice that they do not process everything well for the listening modes. The noise reduction filters out a lot, but not everything. The ambient aware mode allows ambient noise to pass through, but it does sound a bit mechanical. Sounds from the environment are difficult to distinguish from each other.
The listening modes are not bad, but are you looking for in-ears with which you really shut off from the outside world or follow entire conversations while listening to music… Then there are better alternatives.
LDAC posturing
However, there is an annoying snake in the grass if you connect the earphones to an Android device. To take advantage of the excellent sound quality, the LDAC Bluetooth codec is used. However, this is off by default and you can only enable it in the app. This is annoying because the app (with the confusing name AI Life) is not in the Play Store, but has to be downloaded manually outside the Play Store as an APK file. This installation method is not recommended as it poses a security risk. Nevertheless, Huawei is pushing the app by offering these kinds of functions.
Due to the trade embargo, Huawei is not allowed to offer the app in the Play Store. Strangely enough, Huawei still has access to the App store. If you use an iPhone or iPad, you can simply pair the earphones and use the app. Only Apple does not support LDAC and a different codec is used anyway.
You can also simply use the app to choose a sound profile or to sit on the equalizer with sliders, set the controls, configure playback modes or update the earphones. The ears are operated by squeezing the stem, not by tapping the ear. In practice not exactly a better control option.
Fit
There is a lot of technology in the Freebuds Pro 2. And you notice that in the weight, which is relatively high and is reasonably centered in the ears. Despite that, the fit is fine, partly thanks to the interchangeable tips so that you can adjust them to size. You can therefore safely wear the earphones for a longer period of time, but they are not very stable when you move due to the weight distribution. That makes the Freebuds Pro 2 suitable for work, on the road or on the bike… But unsuitable for sporting activities or other situations where you move a lot. By the way, you don’t have to worry about a rain shower or another splash of water, thanks to the IP54 rating.
You can wear the earbuds for a long time because of the fit, just not because of the battery life. A full battery means that you can listen for about six hours without noise reduction. More than two hours less if you have the noise reduction or ambient sound on.
The charging case can fully charge the earphones about five times. You can charge the box itself via the USB-C port or by charging it wirelessly.
Alternatives to the Huawei Freebuds Pro 2
The Huawei Freebuds Pro 2 excel in sound quality, which is certainly not an unimportant feature. You can’t get better-sounding earphones in this price range right now. However, if the battery life and noise reduction are important features for you, you can also look at Galaxy Buds 2, the Jabra Elite 85t. The Sony Linkbuds S and Apple AirPods Pro also offer better noise reduction and have an equivalent battery life.
Conclusion: Buy Huawei Freebuds Pro 2?
Where many Huawei earphones fell into the gray middle bracket, the Freebuds Pro 2 managed to stand out in terms of sound quality. In all other areas, such as noise reduction and fit, everything is as expected. The big downside is the app and the way it is forced on Android users.
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