Huawei FreeClip 2 review

When open earbuds first started emerging onto the scene, Huawei threw a wild curveball with its 2023 FreeClip design that clips around the ear. The bulbous, shiny, Jeff Koons-esque design may not have been to everyone’s tastes, but they were surprisingly light and comfortable – it’s just a shame their sound quality wasn’t up to scratch.

Two years later, Huawei has launched a sequel in the FreeClip 2, and aims to address those sound quality issues by wholly updating the acoustic technology. Along the way, the brand has also refined the design, added new features and kept the price the same as before at £180 in the UK (these aren't officially for sale in the US).

But does it all add up to an overall improved experience? We are pleased to say it does.

Build, design & comfort

The FreeClip 2’s design consists of three elements: the round ‘acoustic ball’ that holds the driver technology and rests in your ear’s concha; the larger ‘comfort bean’ that houses the touch controls and sits behind your ear to support the design; and the bendy connective wire (called a ‘C-bridge’) between the two sections that hold them in place.

Compared with the first-gen model, the new FreeClip 2 is smaller (by 11%) and lighter (5.1g compared with 5.6g), the comfort bean’s design is refined to suit more ear shapes, and Huawei claims the buds are more comfortable overall thanks to reduced pressure on the ear. The charging case is considerably more compact, too.

We slip the earbuds on like a pair of ear cuffs, and all it needs is a little bit of adjusting to ensure that the acoustic ball is pointed towards your ear canal. The truly open design means there is no need to worry about ear tip sizes, nor does the design ever intrude into your ear canal. The flexible C-bridge is made of a nickel-titanium memory shape alloy that keeps the earbuds clamped in place securely but without much undue pressure.

The aesthetic still divides opinion on our review team. The FreeClip 2 remain a bold design that will find a more natural fit with braver, more fashion-conscious souls, but we can’t complain about the buds’ comfort and feel when they’re in our ears.

These are surprisingly lightweight and comfortable earbuds, and we sometimes even forget we are wearing them when going about our day. The tip-less design means there is less fatigue on your ears compared with standard true wireless earbuds. For those that don’t like the feel of eartips burrowing into their ear canals, these open buds are a good alternative.

We do find ourselves adjusting the buds at times to ensure the ball is facing our ear canal for the most direct, substantial sound. Any movement, such as wearing a hat or taking off glasses, can dislodge the buds, but they are easy enough to nudge into the right position. While we wouldn’t call the FreeClip 2 secure enough for intense workout sessions, the buds do have improved IP57 protection from water, so wearing them out in the rain should cause no issues.

There are some clever design touches: the buds are identical and the left/right orientation isn’t fixed, so it doesn’t matter which bud you put into which ear, and the way they fit snugly into the redesigned, super-compact USB-C charging case is very clever. Both the earbuds and case are well built and finished to a high quality. The textured finish on our ‘denim blue’ review sample feels particularly nice in hand, and that texture is subtly mirrored in the outer material of the C-bridge, too.

Acoustically, Huawei has completely overhauled the driver technology inside the earbuds to improve sound quality. Each bud features a 10.8mm “turbo” drive unit, which consists of a dual diaphragm that is designed to deliver twice the amount of bass compared with the older model. The space inside the acoustic ball is also optimised, with a double-vented design that aims to push more air volume than before, helping achieve a better soundstage.

Since these earbuds are a fully open design, be prepared for a little bit of sound leakage. This means that those around you (for example, in a quiet office) will be able to hear some of what you’re listening to, especially at higher volumes. Huawei aims to reduce this leakage by employing a reverse soundfield technology that eliminates sound waves. This should also ensure voice calls are kept private, too.

Features

For controlling the earbuds, you can double-tap (or triple-tap) the areas around the ball and C-bridge to play, pause, and skip tracks. The responsiveness of this action is much better than before, although we still find we have to be quite deliberate and sometimes repeat the action to make it stick.

You can now change the volume on the earbuds by swiping up and down on the comfort bean’s surface. This works well in action and is responsive – it’s not far off the swiping action on the Apple AirPods Pro 3’s stem. We wish the volume steps were just a little subtler. New gesture controls in the form of nodding or shaking your head for accepting or rejecting a call, respectively, are also available.

You can customise these controls and other features in the Huawei Audio Connect app, which is available to download on Apple's App Store but not on Google Play Store – Android users will have to download it from the separate Huawei AppGallery application.

With no noise-cancelling modes in play, battery life is a massive 37 hours in total with the charging case, with 9 hours in the earbuds on a single charge – an hour's increase from the previous generation. And it lasts for ages. We used the buds continuously over two weeks, and the charging case just dropped to under 50 per cent.

It’s worth noting that there is no USB-C charging cable included in the box, but any USB-C cable you have around will do the job.

Pairing the FreeClip 2 to our smartphone (Apple iPhone 16 and Samsung Galaxy S22+) and laptop is straightforward and takes a matter of seconds, and they support multipoint connection, too. We do experience a couple of instances of connection dropout when wearing the buds outside, especially in high-traffic areas. But otherwise the FreeClip 2 are smooth in use, with standard AAC and SBC Bluetooth codecs ensuring compatibility with all devices.

In the app, you’ll find four preset EQs, but we prefer to stick with the ‘default effect’ as it offers the most balanced sound. The other modes add more heft to the lower end, boost the high frequencies or push voices more forward, but we find these modes upset the Huawei’s balance too much for our liking. You can now also customise your own EQ settings using the 10-band equaliser – a feature missing from the original FreeClip.

We also try the AI-powered adaptive volume feature that adjusts the volume according to your surrounding noise. This technology works to a degree, with the music automatically enhanced as we walk through particularly heavy traffic. However, we’re not too fond of the processed edge that creeps into the sound when in this mode.

Call quality

Call quality has also been improved in this model, with less of the coarse, hard edges we heard on the original earbuds. On the FreeClip 2, our voices (on either end of the call) still sounded more electronic and mechanical rather than natural, with rivals such as the AirPods 4 and even using our smartphone directly offering a fuller, more detailed and natural-sounding call quality.

We’re able to hear each other better with fewer break-ups than the older model, while background noise was quiet even on a rainy, windy road, which is on par with rivals.

Sound

In our experience, open earbud designs are inherently compromised when it comes to outright sound quality, as the point here is to let the outside world in without any isolating seal of any kind.

Huawei’s FreeClip 2 keep you fully aware of your surroundings at all times, with the bark of a dog, the rush of traffic, people talking around you, train announcements and more all heard clearly while wearing the buds.

The good news is that this time we can hear the music more clearly, too. And there is considerably more substance, more solidity and more bass weight throughout the sound.

Huawei’s extensive tinkering with the acoustics has paid off, and we get far more body and punch throughout the frequencies so you can better hear – and even enjoy – what you’re listening to. It’s a world away from the unpleasant, tinny, one-dimensional sound of the original FreeClip.

The overall sound here is nicely balanced, with enough agility and energy as we play a variety of tracks from Apple Music. The top end is rounded out with any thinness a distant memory, while basslines aren’t flabby or overcooked. The slam of heavy guitars and drums to Def Leppard’s Rock Of Ages offers enough impact to satisfy, while the melodic guitars in Alt-J’s Breezeblocks flow well enough.

Voices in particular are better projected from the buds, with enough detail and richness in the midrange that, be it Waxahatchee’s lush vocals, Billie Eilish’s whispered ones, or Dr Dre’s more aggressive tones, we are able to follow along with the lyrics and find them more satisfying to listen to than before.

When listening to podcasts, voices are clearer and have more natural warmth, with enough personality coming through to keep your attention. Yes, the rumble of traffic will overshadow any music or podcast you’re listening to, but that is the consequence of this kind of open ear design that prioritises comfort and awareness over pure sound quality.

In absolute sonic terms, we find that the FreeClip 2’s dynamics are a little squashed, that the rhythmic ability could be better, and detail levels could be higher. More complex arrangements can sound muddled, too, but they are good enough for the kind of gentle background listening these earbuds will likely be used for. We tend to pinpoint these same issues in any open wireless earbuds design, due to the lack of an acoustic seal, but we think Huawei has achieved a nice balance of music and awareness with the second-gen FreeClip.

At this price range, rival open buds include the Sony LinkBuds Open (£129) and Apple AirPods 4 with ANC (£169), both of which offer more in the way of dynamic subtlety, rhythmic precision and detail than the Huawei – while also balancing environmental awareness. We find these rivals offer a more entertaining performance, but their open designs do differ wildly from each other and the FreeClip 2, so it is a matter of finding which design works best for you.

Verdict

Huawei’s leap in performance between the two generations of FreeClip open earbuds is commendable. While the very nature of this open design means that sound quality won’t be the absolute priority, the FreeClip 2 offer a far more satisfying, listenable experience when you want to dip in and out of your music while remaining aware of your surroundings at all times.

Regardless of how you feel about the design, the FreeClip 2 are easy to wear for long hours and, bar a few niggles, are a decent alternative for those who simply don’t like the feel of traditional earbuds with tips. They won’t be for everyone, but these earbuds fulfil their niche brief better than before and, as long as you are happy to live with the compromises to sound in favour of greater comfort, the FreeClip 2 are worth checking out.

Review published: 21st January 2026

SCORES

• Sound 3
• Comfort 5
• Features 4

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