The best outdoor projectors are one thing, but how about one built into your car's headlights?

That's the promise of Huawei's XPixel tech, which it showed off at the recent Beijing Auto Show.

The tech underpinning it has been around for a few years already, but the newest version can display a full range of colours. Hence, it can render proper videos like movies and football matches. It can even project games like hopscotch for kids.

Its 'open-air cinema' mode can project whatever's playing on your in-car entertainment system onto a wall in front of the parked car.

The tech is set to debut in the Aito M9 SUV, and will come to other models like the Qijing GT7 and Luxeed V9.

While it may seem a little pointless, especially to anyone without a driveway and suitable projection surface, it could come in useful when recharging your electric car's battery during a long drive. Especially if you brought popcorn.

As for the picture quality, we're guessing it probably comes under "not fantastic". But it could well be preferable to watching on an in-car entertainment system. Just make sure you clean your windscreen first.

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Huawei has a new flagship pair of wireless earbuds that promises significant enhancements to their audio performance, as well as an improved acoustic seal and increased comfort.

The FreeBuds Pro 5 take over from the outgoing FreeBuds Pro 4, whose design and comfort we praised, even if their dynamics, rhythmic precision and bass control trailed behind (cheaper) rivals.

The new Pro 5 flagships feature a traditional sealed eartip design (as opposed to the open configuration of Huawei's recent FreeClip 2), with the buds being 10 per cent smaller and 6 per cent lighter than before, according to Huawei.

The brand has analysed over 10,000 ear profiles to reshape the contours of the earbuds in a bid to provide greater comfort and offer a better seal, especially for wearers with smaller ears.

Inside, there is an all-new dual driver acoustic system, which combines a micro planar diaphragm tweeter with a dual magnet woofer driver. The ultra-thin 6mm planar tweeter has been designed to produce a brighter and clearer treble, while the woofer aims to deliver a cleaner and more precise bass performance, along with a claimed 45 per cent less distortion compared with the previous Pro 4 model.

Each driver is housed in its own acoustic chamber, with each unit featuring two DACs and two DSPs alongside rear air vents – all in a bid to improve sound and reduce interference.

Standard Bluetooth codecs are on board, while Huawei smartphone owners can take advantage of the brand's own L2HC hi-res codec that allows for 24-bit/48kHz lossless transmission between the Huawei models.

The Pro 5 have a "Dual-Engine ANC architecture", whereby the two drivers work independently together to more effectively target specific frequencies to diminish. With three HD mics on each bud combined with AI powers, Huawei claims that its noise-cancelling powers are "220 per cent" more effective than the previous model.

Call quality is similarly purported to be clearer thanks to a combination of the new mics, a bone-conduction mic and an AI noise-cancelling algorithm. An 'anti-wind' design further ensures all spoken words are heard clearly even with background noise present.

There are new tap controls on the stems, while the antennae are situated in a way to offer better Bluetooth range and coverage, as well as to increase resistance to interference.

Another new feature is conversation awareness, which, similar to the tech found on Sony and Apple earbuds, detects when you're speaking and lowers the volume of what you're listening to so you can have a quick chat. Other features such as adaptive volume (which adjusts the sound according to your surrounding noise levels) and spatial audio (which works regardless of device or streaming source) are also available.

The Pro 5 have nine hours of battery life on a single charge with ANC turned off, going down to six hours with ANC turned on. You get a total of 38 hours with the charging case in play (ANC off).

Elsewhere, the charging case features an updated hinge and an LED indicator, and the earbuds feature an IP57 dust and water-resistance rating.

The Huawei FreeBuds Pro 5 are available in four finishes – white, grey, blue and sand – priced at £180 in the UK, the same as their FreeBuds Pro 4 predecessors we reviewed last year. Australian pricing is TBC.

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We’ve already covered new open earbud launches from the likes of JBL, Huawei, and Shockz in the last couple of months, and now it’s time for Sony to throw its hat into the ring with the launch of the LinkBuds Clip.

As you can probably tell from the model name, these wireless earbuds use a clip or ‘cuff’ design to secure themselves to your ear, with the main tip resting just outside your earhole and firing sound into it.

This open design allows outside noise in, so you’re less isolated compared to when using a conventional, burrowing in-ear design.

Sony has already had a couple of stabs at open earbuds before, first with the original LinkBuds, the WF-L900 and then the LinkBuds Open (WF-L910) in 2024. But this is the first time we've seen a clip design from the brand.

Interestingly, the LinkBuds Clip also come with what Sony calls ‘fitting cushions’, which claim to give the buds a more secure fit around the ear. The cushions attach to the connector band, which runs between the two parts of the earbud. It's an interesting design detail which we haven't come across before.

Inside each earbud, you’ll find two mics for taking calls, and the Sonys also use bone conduction tech to help isolate your voice on a call. They work with dedicated AI Noise Reduction processing, and the result should be that you come through loud and clear to the person on the other end of the line.

To help cope with the demands of different outdoor environments, Sony has included three sound modes to choose from: Standard, Voice Boost and Sound Leakage Reduction.

Standard does what it says on the tin, while Voice Boost claims to raise vocal clarity and volume for busier environments. Sound Leakage Reduction reduces the amount of audio that leaks out of the earbuds – think listening in quiet spaces such as an elevator.

According to Sony, this mode “removes some high frequencies”, so it wouldn’t be the recommended mode for normal listening. For that, you’d stick to the standard sound mode.

The headphones also feature Sony’s DSEE sound enhancement engine to boost low-quality music files, a ten-band EQ, and a more user-friendly ‘Find your equaliser’ setting, which you’ll find in the Sony Connect app.

Battery life is claimed to be nine hours per charge, with total battery life, including the case, topping out at 37 hours. The LinkBuds Clip also include touch controls for playback and switching sound modes, and they are also IPX4 splash-resistatnt, so they could be an option for the gym or running outdoors.

Sony’s claiming a “natural, expansive sound” from its new buds, and, given its recent form in the wireless earbuds market, we're hoping for big things. Could they be the first pair of open earbuds we've found worthy of five stars? You'll be the first to know.

The Sony LinkBuds Clip go on sale this month for £180/€200 and are available in four finishes: 'greige', black, lavender and green.

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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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Huawei's new FreeClip 2 aim to refine the unique open earbud design it unleashed upon the world two years ago, while hoping to fix a few problems we had on the all-important sound quality front.

Open earbuds have exploded into the market, with the ear tip-less design allowing you to hear everything around you while also pumping out tunes. The focus here is more about environmental awareness than pure sound quality (the lack of a proper seal means that sound quality will inherently suffer), but it is a category that has blossomed since we first tested Huawei's first-gen FreeClip in 2023.

The FreeClip 2 sport an unusual design, even in the open earbud world, with an 'acoustic ball' (where the driver is housed) connected to the 'comfort bean' (which supports the ear placement and has touch controls) by way of a 'C-bridge' – the bendy connecting wire between the two sections.

Compared to the previous generation, the new earbuds are 11% smaller and lighter (5.1g to the first gen's 5.6g) and claim 25% reduced ear pressure for a more comfortable fit. The charging case is now more compact, too.

The 'comfort bean' has been refined to be more compatible with different ear shapes, and offers updated playback touch controls that should be more responsive. New is the ability to adjust volume on the go with a sliding motion on the surface, while head gestures (like those on the AirPods Pro) allow you to answer or reject a phone call.

Our big criticism of the original FreeClip was about sound quality, with the buds offering a poor, tinny sound that lacked warmth, dynamism or solidity. Huawei hopes to rectify that by re-engineering the FreeClip 2's acoustics to "optimise" the open-ear performance.

Inside the acoustic ball is a 10.8mm "turbo" driver unit, which has a dual diaphragm that promises twice the amount of bass compared with the older model.

The way the space is used inside the acoustic ball has also adjusted, with a double-vented design that aims to push 53% more air volume than before.

There's no noise-cancelling here of any kind of course, but the FreeClip 2 does incorporate an AI-powered volume adaptation technology, which aims to dynamically enhance the sound according to the noise levels around you.

Due to the open, leaky nature of the earbuds, Huawei employs a reverse sound field technology that promises to eliminate sound waves to reduce sonic leakage.

Voice calls have also been improved for clarity, with 85dBA call noise reduction and voice enhancement technology used alongside two mics and a new voice pick up unit so you can "hear and be heard clearly".

The FreeClip had a pretty long battery life and this has been improved further in the second-generation model, which now offers nine hours on a single charge and 38 hours in total with the charging case. A 10-minute charge via USB-C offers three hours of juice.

The earbuds have an IP57 water-resistance rating (the charging case is rated at IP54) and support the standard AAC and SBC Bluetooth codecs.

The Huawei FreeClip 2 will cost £179 when they are available to buy in UK/Europe from 21st January 2026. Considering the original model launched at £180 two years ago, zero change in price is a strong stance from Huawei.

There are four new finishes: blue, white, black and rose gold. Other territory prices and availability are TBC.

We have a sample of the new FreeClip 2 and are taking them for a spin, so stay tuned for a full review in due course.

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Samsung has announced the newest addition to its smartphone range - the Galaxy Z TriFold. You might already have guessed from the name, though, that this is not your ordinary phone.

That’s right, the Galaxy Z is a tri-foldable phone-cum-tablet, which Samsung claims is employing “its most advanced foldable technologies optimised for the unique demands of a multi-folding design.”

This design features a 10-inch screen that folds twice into a pocketable phone measuring 6.5 inches.

It’s made up of three sections held together by two titanium hinges, and is set into a frame made of an Advanced Armor Aluminum alloy. And, while it might seem like a lot of screen to carry around, the use of ceramic-glass and a fibre-reinforced polymer on the back panel of the phone appears to have kept the weight relatively low at 309g.

Samsung says there is an “auto-alarm” to alert the user of incorrect folding “through a series of on-screen alerts and vibrations.”

In its unfolded state, the Z Trifold is super thin, measuring just 3.9mm, making it the slimmest Samsung phone to date.

It boasts a brightness of up to 2600 nits on the cover display and 1600 nits on the main screen. Both of the displays use Samsung’s AMOLED panels, each with a refresh rate of up to 120Hz. Samsung claims that this results in "a perfect canvas for high-quality viewing of photo and video content."

On the left side of the phone, there's a tri-camera bump featuring a 200MP wide-angle, 12MP ultra-wide, and a 10MP 3X optical zoom. There's also a 10MP selfie camera on the cover screen and on the 10-inch display.

There's plenty of Galaxy AI smarts built into Samsung's latest release, too. That includes the use of Gemini, Google's AI assistant, so you can get information without switching between apps.

The company is also promising “the biggest battery Samsung has ever had in a foldable phone” at 5,600mAh. That's quite a jump from the Galaxy Z Fold 7's 4,272 mAh and the Galaxy Z Flip 7's 4300 mAh battery capability.

The Galaxy Z TriFold will first be available in Korea on 12 December, with prices starting from 3,594,000 Won (around £1855 / $2450 / AU$3730).

Samsung says it will be available in the US in early 2026, but has not yet announced whether it will be sold in the UK or Australia.

While this is certainly looks like an impressive piece of kit, Samsung is not the first brand to produce a tri-fold model; Huawei took the first plunge with its Mate XT Ultimate.

And, while we have not had the chance to get this model in for testing, we did manage to get up close and personal with the brand's latest foldable phone – the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7.

In our hands-on session, we were impressed by its contrast and detail levels. We noted that it "appears to deliver a crisp, rich image with impressively balanced yet eye-catching colours." That was all from one brief session with the phone; however, we can't give a comprehensive review just yet.

If the Galaxy Z TriFold offers picture quality similar to the Fold 7, then this bodes well for the performance of Samsung's latest offering. And with its nifty foldable design with plenty of AI smarts, this could be one to watch.

We'll be keeping our eyes peeled to see if it will be available to a global audience, so stay tuned.

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You no longer need to spend big money to get a great pair of wireless earbuds – and that's especially true if there's a deal at hand.

And in this case, there is. Huawei is offering £10 off the FreeBuds 7i, using the code AFB7I10OFF at checkout. Given that the earbuds are already discounted by £20, from £99 to £79, that's a total of £30 off.

Today's best Huawei FreeBuds 7i deal

You get free delivery into the bargain. And you also get free 12-month Loss Care, which gives you a 50 per cent discount on the price of a single replacement earbud, should one go walkabouts.

The Huawei FreeBuds 7i have an impressive feature set, with active noise cancellation (ANC), spatial audio and the promise of immersive calls.

Their Intelligent Dynamic ANC 4.0 supports second-level adaptive noise cancellation, with an extra-large air vent to absorb and cancel the sound waves generated by outside noise. Getting a secure fit is also a big part of silencing the outside world, as if your earbuds fit loosely they'll leave space for outside sounds to penetrate your ear. But with four sizes of eartip to choose from, that shouldn't be an issue.

Spatial audio with dynamic head tracking is enabled via the Inertial Measurement Unit, which detects the wearer's head units and adjusts the audio in real time so the sound is anchored to its source. Turn away from a screen while watching a film, say, and the sound will adjust accordingly so you hear it louder from your ear closest to the screen, and slightly quieter from the one facing away from it. Clever.

You also get unlimited spatial audio, which can 'upscale' other audio formats into spatial audio. So you're not limited to only enjoying specific spatial audio content in the more immersive format.

On sound duties are an 11mm quad-magnet dynamic driver, and the earbuds have received Hi-Res certification, confirming that they meet the standards of the Japan Audio Society (JAS) and Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) for exceeding CD quality.

A bone conduction microphone works hand-in-hand with three other high-performance mics and an AI call noise reduction algorithm to keep calls clear, even in noisy environments. And you can control the earbuds just by moving your head, so you can nod to accept an incoming call or shake your head to reject it.

We haven't tested these particular earbuds, but they do seem to offer a lot for the money. Of course, at this level, they are up against some stiff competition from the likes of the Sony WF-C710N and JBL Live Pro 2 TWS. To see more great pairs, check out the best budget wireless earbuds.

Huawei has revealed its most ambitious automotive audio project yet with the Huawei Sound Ultimate series – a luxury in-car system featuring 43 speakers and what the company describes as seat-specific 4D surround-sound.

The system debuts in the Maextro S800 ultra-luxury sedan, and is the company’s most ambitious audio system to date.

The industry-leading configuration of 43 speakers aims to create an ultra-surround acoustic design.

It supports 2920W dual amplifiers for stronger power and more impactful sound, and introduces rear 4D exciters that synchronise with music and video content to create a fully immersive experience.

We’ve yet to try it ourselves, mind, but given our previous Huawei car audio experience (that involved impressive speaker set-ups and a drop-down projector screen), we know that it’s taking things seriously.

The comprehensive set-up also includes several novel technologies, including a Crystal Star-Ring Diffuser that automatically rises when passengers enter the vehicle, accompanied by ambient lighting that synchronises with music playback.

Huawei claims this central unit delivers 30 per cent greater sound uniformity compared to previous generations, though we haven't heard it with our own ears to verify these claims..

The dual 2920W amplifiers drive the extensive speaker array, which incorporates what Huawei calls a Tangential Force Woofer – essentially a conventional door woofer rotated 90 degrees to allegedly reduce panel resonance.

The company has also developed a Dual-Diaphragm Subwoofer that it claims breaks free from traditional cavity constraints by utilising the entire cabin space for bass extension.

Perhaps the most intriguing feature, though, is the independent sound zone technology, which Huawei says can create 30dB isolation between front and rear listening areas with 99 per cent energy separation.

This would theoretically allow passengers in different rows to listen to separate audio content without interference – a compelling proposition for family journeys, assuming it delivers.

The system also incorporates 10 overhead channels for spatial audio reproduction, powered by Huawei's proprietary algorithms and spatial audio track model.

Beyond pure audio performance, the Huawei Sound Ultimate series also includes AI-powered "sound-to-light" technology that adjusts cabin lighting in response to musical content.

Overall, it’s hard not to be impressed based on the specs and claims. Whether Huawei's bold claims about 4D immersion and sound zone separation translate into genuinely superior listening experiences, though, remains to be heard. But we’re certainly looking forward to testing it out.

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It seems as though everybody makes wireless earbuds these days. It’s not just dedicated audio manufacturers that send their wire-free hopefuls out to bat, but an absolute swathe of brands which, whether best known for their swanky smartphones or even their stylish sportswear (we’re looking at you, Adidas), want a slice of that tasty wireless pie.

Apple remains the dominant force, but the likes of Samsung and Google are built to fit with their respective tech giants’ given range of branded smartphones, be it the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro 3 with Samsung’s flagship Galaxy range or Google’s series of in-house Pixel buds.

Then there’s Huawei. The Chinese juggernaut has been making dedicated earbuds since 2018, and while the results have been mixed, you could never accuse them of playing it safe – just look at the sonically flawed but innovative open design of the Huawei FreeClip for proof.

What we have here are some of Huawei’s costliest and most highly specified earbuds to date. If any pair is going to convince us that this is a company capable of producing great wireless earbuds, it’s going to be the FreeBuds Pro 4, but do they have the sonic talents to compete?

Price

The Huawei FreeBuds Pro 4 sit in an interesting tranche within the wireless earbuds market.

Officially priced at £180 / $200 / AU$350 and now available for around £130 in the UK, they’re below the premium territory occupied by the Sony WF-1000XM5 (now around £219 / $299 / AU$350) and the Apple AirPods Pro 2 (tested at £249 / $249 / AU$399).

However, they sit above the likes of the Cambridge Audio Melomania M100 (currently £119 / $200) and the five-star affordable Sony WF-C710N (£100 / $120 / AU$189). So there’s a real opportunity to make an impact in this mid-range bracket.

Build & comfort

Style and build quality have rarely been areas in which we’ve considered Huawei needs to dramatically improve in order to rub shoulders with the best in the business.

We were impressed with the design and quality of the FreeClip open earbuds, and it’s a similar story with the more traditional FreeBuds Pro 4.

Care and attention have been taken to ensure they look and feel the part, from the pebble-like charging case (weird that it opens up back to front, though) to the stem-sporting buds themselves.

Our black and gold pair oozes class, and we particularly like those subtle vertical lines which mimic the musical stave of sheet music while bringing to mind the elegance of a classical stringed instrument. Classy.

What we like even more is that Huawei has supplied a decent number of ear tip options for its flagship buds, and we’re delighted that three pairs of memory foam tips are provided alongside three extra silicone options, with both sets featuring small, medium and large sizes.

Once you’ve selected your preferred material, the FreeBuds Pro 4 nestle in rather well, with their general structure, configuration and balance being conducive to achieving a stable fit.

They won’t irk you over longer listening sessions, and in our experience, won’t make a bid for freedom if you do a big yawn or move your head from side to side.

Features

While designed primarily to work with Huawei-branded smartphones, the FreeBuds Pro 4 can be used with other devices, albeit with some caveats. One of those major provisos comes with regard to 24-bit/48kHz lossless audio via Huawei’s own L2HC codec, a handy boon which only works with recent Huawei smartphones such as the flagship Mate X6.

For non-Huawei devices, you get the aptX HD and LDAC codecs if you have a compatible source player, as well as the standard SBC and AAC codecs for all.

The dedicated Huawei app is equally available for all Huawei smartphone owners, and is also easily downloadable via the Apple Store for iOS devices. However, it’s not available (due to political reasons) from the Google Play Store.

If you do want to access the app on an Android device, it’s a tricky process of downloading the Huawei AppGallery platform first, then downloading the required app from there.

Unfortunately, we tried many times but couldn’t get this to work during our tests with Sony’s flagship Xperia 1 VII smartphone, with the app not recognising the earbuds at all.

We stick to using our iPhone 15 for the majority of our testing, with Sony’s more premium Xperia 1 VII model coming in handy for its LDAC codec compatibility when testing sound.

Battery life numbers are strong, though. With active noise cancelling (ANC) on, the FreeBuds Pro 4 will grant you up to 33 hours of playback in total with the case included, while the buds themselves tend to last around seven hours if you don’t push the volume too far.

That’s not quite as impressive as the long-lasting Cambridge Audio Melomania M100’s 52 hours of total life, but it does roughly keep up with the 8.5 hours (buds) and 30 hours (total) of the five-star Sony WF-C710N.

The FreeBuds Pro 4 offer an admirably in-depth touch control configuration from which you can use your chosen combination of taps, pinches and swipes to achieve your desired control preference. We find no issues with the pinches and swiping motions, but the earbuds often don’t respond when we give our test pair a gentle tap on their outer stems.

Elsewhere, the increasingly popular audio sharing protocol Auracast isn’t available, but Bluetooth Multipoint – which Huawei has branded ‘Seamless Switch’ – lets you flip between two connected devices more easily.

Noise cancelling & call quality

Superficially, the FreeBuds Pro 4 appear to offer two main noise-cancelling modes – a passthrough awareness mode and a standard setting – but it’s a little more complicated than that.

Within standard noise cancelling, you’ll discover four sub-settings – dynamic, cosy, general and ultra – with the former adjusting to your surroundings on the fly and the rest dialling up the strength of your experience depending on how much environmental noise is about.

For a busy (and decidedly hot) ride on the London Underground, we whacked things all the way up to ultra. The FreeBuds Pro 4 aren’t able to block out completely the usual screeches and clanks of the rickety old Central Line train. We find the Sony WF-C710N are better in this regard, but the Huawei buds do soften the impact enough for us to at least notice a difference and enjoy a more pleasant experience during our sweltering commute.

The summer sunshine also gives us the chance to test how well voice calls fare when we’re outside. The results are solid, with the FreeBuds Pro 4 managing to exclude the outside world enough so that we can conduct our conversations without too much impediment.

The resultant quality of human speech isn’t stunning, however, as voices lack the warmth and authenticity of more competent rivals.

Sound

From the off, the FreeBuds 4 are the kind of buds that sound likeable, even impressive, upon first listen. They’re clean, spacious and refined, especially through the more costly Xperia, characteristics which immediately make a listener well-disposed to their apparent sonic charms.

There are ample levels of textural detail to be discovered, too. The FreeBuds Pro 4 are talented enough to pick out sufficient instrumental detail to keep us involved in our tunes, especially when it comes to midrange timbres from guitars, piano keystrokes and sung vocal passages.

Radiohead’s Fake Plastic Trees plays to the FreeBuds Pro 4’s strengths as they nimbly reveal the textures of each guitar strum and the particulars of Thom Yorke’s anxiety-ridden vocals. The buds’ strong clarity levels only add to our initial affections, and there’s very little in terms of colour or muddiness acting as an impediment to our catalogue of test tunes.

There are flaws, however, and the more we listen, the more they become apparent. Yes, these are clear, spacious and detailed performers, but sometimes these characteristics can leave us feeling as though our music is being clinically analysed rather than gleefully performed.

Gojira’s anthemic Our Time Is Now is clear and clean, but there’s not quite enough energy or raucous abandon for us to feel truly adrenalised by our favourite Frankish heavy metallers. This isn’t aided by their slightly soft and sometimes confused-sounding nature, especially with regard to a rather ill-defined bass reproduction, which stops the goosebumps from appearing in full force.

Much of the issue lies in the FreeBuds 4’s handling of dynamics. The Sony WF-C710N buds are excellent at revealing dynamic shifts, contrasting with the Huawei buds’ tendency to leave everything sounding slightly one-dimensional. The C710N make a fine fist of John Williams’ intense, operatic Duel Of The Fates, whereas the FreeBuds Pro 4’s rendition isn’t quite as dramatic as we would have hoped.

Rhythms could be better, too. The Sony rivals are so skilled at unveiling rhythmic motifs that the Huawei contenders, by comparison, struggle to keep up. Their soft nature and inability to tease out those patterns leave them floundering, and when you couple those limitations with their poor dynamic reproduction, the flagship buds struggle to keep us engaged by the music we feed them.

Verdict

Even if you can get the best out of them, the Huawei FreeBuds Pro 4 don’t have the sonic chops to trouble the finest wireless earbuds on the block.

They’re comfortable and reasonably well-equipped for features, but when cheaper rivals offer greater musicality and emotional engagement, they’re something of a tough sell.

Review published: 14th August 2025

SCORES

• Sound 3
• Features 4
• Comfort 5

MORE:

Read our review of the Sony WF-C710N

Also consider the Cambridge Audio Melomania M100

Best wireless earbuds: top pairs tested by our reviewers

Open earbuds are gaining in popularity, so expect to see a lot more of these wireless earbuds coming your way this year. Huawei's FreeClip were one of the first and most unique-looking open-fit earbuds we tested last year, and the brand is back with a more fitness-focused version.

The Huawei FreeArc open earbuds have been made specifically for users who lead active lifestyles and want to be aware of their surroundings while still enjoying music and a secure, comfortable fit. Instead of the clip-on style of the FreeClip, the FreeArc loop around your ears and are designed to fit snugly so you don't need to re-adjust them even when you're in the middle of a marathon, an HIIT workout or a yoga session.

Huawei's engineers designed the FreeArc so that the buds rest around your ear, in a 140-degree optimal triangle design, where the three points of contact on your ear are in perfect balance. The weight distribution is such that the centre of gravity is in the middle (right behind the speaker), so the buds don't dislodge even when moving your head.

This "droplet-shaped" design also features the C-bridge connector seen in the FreeClip, which incorporates a metal alloy memory wire that offers a flexible but strong connection between the battery and speaker elements of the FreeArc. The shape of the buds also isn't flat; it's contoured to follow the natural curves of your head.

Another nod to its fitness credentials is the earbuds' IP57 rating for water resistance and dust ingress, so it will survive sweaty and dusty conditions. Recognising that many users might be wearing these earbuds while running on a track or when exercising in a space where their smartphone is far from reach, Huawei has included dual antennae to ensure that the connection between buds and phone has stable signals and a very long range of 400m outdoors and 100m² indoor space – which is by far longer than the usual 30m range we see in most Bluetooth earbuds.

Inside each bud is a rather large 17x12mm driver unit along with a 'dynamic bass' algorithm for delivering punchy low frequencies, which is always tricky to achieve in an open design. There's also an 'adaptive equal loudness' algorithm, while 'reverse elimination sound waves' technology is used to reduce sound leakage so the whole world can't listen in on your private calls.

The whole point of these open-fit earbuds is that you are constantly aware of your surroundings and never blocked from external noise, which means there's no noise-cancelling here. But Huawei has tried to ensure that call quality is clear thanks to dual mics, wind noise reduction and 'AI crystal clear call' technologies.

The FreeArc buds have decent battery life, with seven hours from the buds and 28 hours in total with the USB-C charging case. It features dual device connection, sliding touch controls (including for volume), and Bluetooth 5.2 with only the standard SBC/AAC codecs supported.

The Huawei FreeArc are coated in a soft liquid silicone rubber coating with metallic touches that look rather sleek and are available in green, black and grey finishes. We weren't keen on the FreeClip's rather poor sound quality, so we hope that Huawei has paid just as much attention to the musical experience as it has done to the design, comfort and fit of these buds.

Their price is a surprise: the Huawei FreeArc will cost you just £99 / €199 when they go on sale today. That's an aggressively competitive price that will likely tempt many who want the open-style earbuds' blend of comfort and awareness. Let's hope they sound good, too.

MORE:

What are open earbuds?

Read our Sony LinkBuds Open review

And our original Huawei FreeClip review

If you’ve been keeping an eye on headphone trends over the past year, you’ll have noticed something afoot in the world of in-ear headphones.

Everyone is familiar with the traditional in-ear design, right? Where a driver in each earbud fires music through a tube, directly into your ear canal and down to your eardrum.

Well, in recent months a handful of manufacturers have revisited the drawing board and launched a new style of earphone that’s being referred to as an ‘open earbud’. Like a lot of modern in-ears, they tend to be wireless, but with some key differences regarding design and fit. We’ll cover all of them in this article together with the pros and cons to help you decide if open earbuds are actually worth considering.

How do open earbuds work?

As previously mentioned, the in-ear headphones we’ve come to know and love tend to place a driver in an enclosure which fires sound through a funnel and into your ear canal. Normally, attached to the end of the funnel is a silicone or memory foam ‘tip’ designed to create a seal, thus isolating the wearer from outside noise and stopping sound from leaking out.

Open earbuds on the other hand don’t burrow into your ear canal. They have neither a funnel nor a surround – they’re not designed to create a seal. Instead, they sit in proximity of the opening to your ear canal.

We’ve tested three pairs of open earbuds in recent months, and the driver design has varied for each one. For example, Sony uses a ring driver for its WF-L900 Linkbuds that sits just behind your tragus. The Huawei FreeClip’s ‘acoustic ball’ sits in your concha, as does the tip of the Bose Ultra Open Earbuds.

The Sonys probably sit closest to your ear canal without diving inside and they’re wedged in place with the aid of a small wing tip attached to the main body of the earbud. Without any surrounds to create a seal or tips to help secure them in place, Bose and Huawei have both opted for a clip design where a band wraps around the back of your ear under tension to the other half of the clip and helps to clamp the earbuds in place.

The Huawei and Bose have deliberately been designed to look more like a fashion accessory than a standard pair of headphones. Bose, for example, has been quick to take advantage of this and partner with fashion brand Kith for a limited run of Ultra Open Earbuds.

What are the advantages of open earbuds?

The most obvious advantage of open earbuds is that they’re an alternative for those who don’t like the fit of normal in-ear headphones. Some might find the fact they don’t burrow in very appealing and there’s a good chance these users will find open earbuds more comfortable and relaxing, especially over long periods.

There are health benefits too – it’s a broadly held opinion that traditional earbuds aren’t particularly hygienic because they can push ear wax and other debris into your ear canal. Open earbuds don’t have this problem, and the lack of a seal can also reduce conditions that might promote bacterial growth and ear infections.

Health experts have linked listening to loud noise for long periods to hearing loss and in-ear headphones are generally believed to contribute to this more than over-ears. Because open earbuds don’t block the entrance to your ear canal and don’t fire music directly at your eardrum, this could help reduce the possibility of hearing damage.

Open earbuds also reduce what is often referred to as the ‘stethoscope’ effect. This is the amplified noise generated when you catch an earbud sitting in your ear canal - similar to the cable noise you hear transmitted through wired in-ear headphones.

If you want to hear more of your surroundings, e.g. if you’re out running and need to be aware of what’s happening around you, then open earbuds are likely to help. Of course, it’s all relative to the volume you’re listening at – the louder you play your music, the less of an advantage the design becomes.

What are the disadvantages of open earbuds?

Conversely, the fact open earbuds can let in more noise could also be seen as a disadvantage, e.g. if you’re using them in a noisy gym and want to cut out the grunting and other people's terrible Spotify playlists. In this case, you might prefer a pair of noise-cancelling earbuds. ANC earbuds are also likely to offer a transparency mode so you at least have the option of letting ambient noise through if required.

The design of open earbuds means that positioning matters more than with normal in-ears. Because they sit outside your ear canal, dispersion needs to be controlled so you don’t lose any sonic information on its way to your eardrum. If the buds use a clip design, for example, they need to sit securely and not move around when you do.

How do they sound? Open earbuds vs normal earbuds

In our experience, open earbuds generally tend to sound, erm, more open and airy than normal in-ears. Music boasts a greater sense of spaciousness because the seal has been removed. The fact they’re not wedged in your ears also allows them to sound a little less intense, which some users might prefer.

The flipside is that open earbuds struggle to match traditional in-ears for clarity, punch and dynamism. In-ears sit closer to your eardrum and can drive the space between the tip and eardrum harder, giving sound extra solidity and reinforcement, especially in the lower frequencies. Open designs have to work a lot harder because they are positioned further away from your ear canal. To their credit, though, the Bose Ultra Open Earbuds did manage to deliver surprisingly solid weighty bass during testing.

Are open earbuds worth it? If you don't get along with the fit of normal wireless earbuds, then we can see the appeal. At the time of writing, we've found they can't quite match the very best wireless earbuds sonically, but Bose and Sony do have models that sound good enough to warrant a closer look.

How do open earbuds differ from bone-conduction headphones?

Open earbuds are a very different proposition to bone-conduction headphones. While the former still channel audio in the direction of the opening of your ear canal and into your inner ear, the latter transmit audio signals as vibrations through your upper cheek or jaw bone. They are transmitted directly to your cochlea via your temporal bone, bypassing your eardrum completely.

The design allows you to be much more aware of your surroundings, as there’s nothing positioned near the entrance to your ear. But, because your eardrum doesn’t get involved in processing any audio signals, there are layers of information that will be missed and sound quality, in our experience at least, is extremely compromised.

Are open earbuds here to stay?

Rumour has it Sony is already working on a second-generation pair of LinkBuds which might even include noise-cancelling – which would be a first. And, we were mightily impressed by the Bose Ultra Open Earbuds, given they were a first attempt, and they show that there could be some real potential there to push on with improvements for a second-generation model if Bose carries on down this path.

As with all new product genres, it really depends on whether the design takes off and if there’s enough demand from the public. While the design going completely mainstream might seem a little way off at the moment, we wouldn’t be surprised to see a handful of other manufacturers launch products in this category.

MORE:

Our pick of the best wireless earbuds you can buy

What are IEM headphones? How they compare to regular earbuds

Are these the Sony LinkBuds 2 wireless earbuds?

Bone conduction headphones: everything you need to know

How active noise-cancelling headphones work: the technology behind ANC

Is it an earring? Is it a Jeff Koons modern art piece? No, it’s Huawei’s latest wireless earbuds, and we’ve never seen anything like them before. 

Called the Huawei FreeClip, this odd-looking pair takes advantage of an “open” fit design. This means that you can listen to music while being entirely aware of your surroundings at all times, and it offers an alternative, less intrusive design compared with conventional earbuds where an eartip burrows into your ear. 

Yes, these earbuds look incredibly odd and they have piqued our interest. But is the innovative design a success? Let’s find out.

Price

The Huawei FreeClip are available to buy for £180 directly from the brand’s UK store or on Amazon in both black and purple finishes. While not available to buy in the USA, this price tag translates to approximately $230 in today’s current conversion rate, while Australian customers can buy the distinctive buds for around AU$320. 

There isn’t any direct rival for the FreeClip’s specific design purpose, but at this price bracket, there are plenty of great five-star earbuds available, such as the Sony WF-C700N (£100), the JBL Live Pro 2 TWS (£130) and even the Apple AirPods Pro 2 (£229). 

The best “open” style earbuds we’ve tested so far are Sony’s Linkbuds (WF-900), whose compact, light design and balanced, natural sound impressed us for £150 / $180 / AU$300. Huawei’s FreeClip, however, is a wildly different design.

Design & comfort

Let’s talk about that design. Each earbud consists of two shapes – a round ‘acoustic ball’ that nestles in your ear’s concha and a larger ‘comfort bean’ that sits behind the ear to provide support – that are connected by what Huawei calls a ‘C-bridge’. This connector is flexible, made of a nickel-titanium memory shape alloy that flexes and settles to the ideal position as you put the earbuds on. Extensive tests were done to ensure this crucial connector has just the right clamping force for the buds to remain secure and comfortable. We tentatively twisted and extended the connector, too – it certainly feels strong and durable enough to withstand long-term wear.

Wearing the FreeClip buds is quite simple: you effectively slide them on around the edge of your ear like clip-on ear cuffs, placing them so that the round acoustic ball (the one with the driver) points towards your ear canal. It takes us a couple of tries to make sure we put them on the right way round, but once you slip them on, they do make sense. Here, the FreeClip’s main USP is that it leaves your ear canal free.

We’ll admit, we’re not overly fond of the bulbous, shiny design of the earbuds. It looks rather cartoonish, but we can imagine potential customers being either repulsed or attracted to this design that looks so ‘different’ to the norm. The large size does make us wonder how we’ll ever be comfortable wearing them – and we’re happy to be proven wrong. 

Despite our reservations about the earbuds’ aesthetics, we are surprised by just how incredibly light and comfortable they are when wearing them. The ‘clip on’ earbuds weigh only 5.6g overall and hang on gently to our ears, and the clamping pressure is judged perfectly. They stay in place securely, and the pressure is so light on our ears that we forget we’re even wearing them after the first few seconds. Even those of us on the review team who wear glasses or have multiple ear piercings found them comfortable, with no part of the buds’ design causing issues. 

With no need to find the right ear tip size or the perfect fit, all you have to do is make sure they’re sitting at the right angle for comfort and that the sound is directed to your ear.

Inside each bud is a “high-sensitivity” dual magnetic moving coil driver, which Huawei claims delivers a powerful, clear sound. To reduce any sound leakage because of this open audio technology, the brand uses a “reverse sound field acoustic system” that keeps your conversations private while retaining that “open” feel.

There are some caveats. They don’t clamp too tightly, thankfully, but that does mean that any vigorous head shaking or hair-flipping can dislodge them. The IP54 rating for dust and sweat resistance means they’re fine for a light run in drizzly conditions, but we’d avoid them if you’re into intense aerial acrobatics or are out in heavy rain. The keen runners on our review team said they were impressed with how the FreeClip stayed put, but would prefer the hook or wingtip designs of the Beats Fit Pro or Bose QC Ultra Earbuds for a firmer, more secure fit for sports and marathon training.

Features

One clever thing about the FreeClip’s design is that there’s no left or right bud. Both earbuds are identical so they can be worn interchangeably and placed in either compartment in the charging case.

General connectivity is seamless. They pause and resume music playback when the earbuds are taken out of our ears (and placed back in), the Bluetooth connection with our iPhone is swift and fuss-free, and they reconnect instantly every time we take them out of their charging case. The FreeClip support the standard SBC and AAC Bluetooth codecs alongside the newer LC3 codec, which requires a compatible source.

Battery life is respectable for the price point, too, with eight hours of music playback on a single charge and an impressive total of 36 hours with the charging case. We found these figures to run true in real-life use, with the buds lasting a long time without needing to reach for the USB-C cable or wireless charging pad. A quick ten-minute charge will give you three hours of extra juice.

One area in which we find the FreeClip frustrating is with the touch controls. You can tap the main parts of the earbud’s body to pause/play, answer a call or skip songs, but the operation is very hit-and-miss. Instead of a single tap, you have to double- or triple-tap for those actions, but they’re simply not responsive every time. We try multiple times to make them work consistently, but after a while, we give up. We think these basic controls should work instinctively and smoothly in all earbuds, regardless of the innovation of their design.

Another disappointment we have is with the EQ presets you get in the Huawei Life app. Aside from the Default setting, you can choose between Treble boost, Voices and Elevate presets to adjust the balance of the sound, but they, in order, tend to sharpen an already bright treble, narrow the dynamics further or recess the vocals in favour of fatter bass. We found the effects to be imbalanced and unsatisfying. We wish Huawei could have included a custom equaliser so we could manually fine-tune the earbud’s balance to our own sonic preferences. 

Call quality

The call quality in today’s wireless earbuds is, in general, competent, so it’s a surprise to hear such a drop in quality when using the FreeClip during work calls over the phone and video. The buds feature two microphones and a voice pick-up unit, with technology that aims to cancel out noise and wind interference. But even when indoors in a fairly quiet environment, it's not a smooth experience. 

The recipient on the other end noted that our voice sounded rather coarse and not clean, with a hard edge to the upper mids. We also experienced a few interruptions and glitches over the call, and found the caller to sound less full-bodied than we normally would. Overall, we didn’t find it a smooth or natural sounding quality, especially when compared with rival earbuds.

It’s worth noting that voice calling is stated as more draining on the FreeClip’s battery than playing music, reducing battery life to five hours (or 20 hours in total with the case) when using it for calls. If your priority for a pair of earbuds is the quality of voice and video calls, we’d look elsewhere. 

Sound

In terms of letting you hear the outside world entirely and at all times, the FreeClip certainly fits the brief. You can hear every bird song, office chatter, traffic and wind noise with clarity. The open ear audio technology essentially fires sound towards your ear canal, but the “open” aspect works both ways, as the earbuds leak sound, too. They’re nowhere near as leaky as a pair of Grado over-ears, but anyone sitting next to you will be able to hear the faint tinny beat of a song playing. 

The open design also means you don’t need any ‘speak to chat’ or ‘conversation mode’ feature as you'd find on Sony’s and Apple’s earbuds, and you don’t need to take them off to interact with the world around you. There’s no active noise-cancelling here of course, and you can’t dial back how much of the outside world you let in, either. The main point is to hear everything around you as clearly as if you weren’t wearing any earbuds at all. 

Which leaves little room for the music. We’re not expecting the solid, weighty sound or deep bass you get with a good seal on conventional earbuds, but we were hoping for far more detail and rhythmic prowess than we hear with the Huawei FreeClips.

Songs sound rather one-dimensional, with not enough detail, dynamics or drive to hold our interest. There’s little warmth or natural tone to voices or instruments, and while we’re not expecting much in the way of deep bass, the sound is thin and top-heavy. If you enjoy listening to podcasts while out and about, forget about it – the tinny edge and sound of traffic will drown out the voices. This is where we wish we could dial up the midrange EQ ourselves; simply cranking up the volume isn’t an adequate solution. 

We still think that the FreeClip earbuds should sound entertaining and capable while accompanying you on your day’s activities. The sound is clean and some songs have punch – we get hints of the funky beat in Players by Coi Leray – but if you were hoping for the meaty, driving rhythm of Saliva’s I Walk Alone to pump you through a workout, you’ll be disappointed. The complexities of a full John Williams orchestra or the gentle melody of an Elliott Smith song will be lost to the wind – sometimes literally. 

We miss the natural warmth, depth and solidity when listening to our favourite tunes and wish we could hear more detail and distinction between notes and instruments. Our closest rival to the FreeClip is the Sony Linkbuds; these also suffer from a lack of bass due to their open design, but they sound far more substantial, and musically they’re so much more engaging. There’s ample detail and rhythmic ability, with enough warmth and insight – you can hear more of the music, too. We can still appreciate the musical integrity of a song while being aware of our surroundings with the Sonys, and we wish the Huawei were better balanced in a similar way.

Verdict

We applaud Huawei for doing something different and pulling off a unique design that works, to a degree. If you find the usual eartip design uncomfortable or are worried about the long-term health issues of having sound fired directly into your ear canal, the FreeClip offer a convincing alternative. They do cater to a particular niche use-case, but even then we think those using these as background listening buds deserve a better quality of voice calls and music playback.

It’s a tale of two halves: the comfortable all-day, open wear of this unique design is spot-on, but the basics of reliable control and sound quality aren’t at an acceptable level for today’s standard for wireless earbuds. We think this is a decent first draft; here’s hoping Huawei’s second attempt can only improve upon this solid design base and focus a bit more on the music next time.

SCORES

• Sound 2
• Comfort 5
• Features 3

MORE:

Also consider the Sony Linkbuds WF-L900

Best in-ear headphones: budget to premium

Audio-Technica's latest true wireless earbuds could be a fascinating proposition. Positioned in a rather canny corner of the market, the new ATH-TWX7, unveiled at CES 2024, are set to retail at £190 – which places them smack in the valley between the affordable Sony WF-C700N (£100) and flagship Sony WF-1000XM5 (£259). There are models from JBL, Jabra, Huwaei and more in this space, but could Audio-Technica be the one to break the stronghold that Sony has in our 2023 Awards wireless earbuds category?

Great sound quality will help the new boys stand out, and the new Audio-Technica buds leverage the same 5.8mm drivers as found in the brand's flagship model, the ATH-TWX9. They also offer support for the Sony-made LDAC Bluetooth codec for playback of hi-res files, but none for aptX or aptX Adaptive codecs.

The ATH-TWX7 buds offer 6.5 hours of playback on a single charge and up to 20 hours with the charging case, as well as IPX4 water resistance for dealing with light water splashes, meaning you could use them as a workout pair without too much worry. 

What about noise cancelling? The TWX7 offer digital hybrid noise-cancelling tech which can be controlled both from the buds themselves and the company's proprietary app, with hear-through and talk-through functions also available. Calls, meanwhile, are taken care of courtesy of the buds' inbuilt microphones which offer two modes: "Natural" for quieter surroundings and "Noise-Reduction" for when you need a bit more sonic isolation.

The increasingly popular Bluetooth Multipoint – which lets you stay connected to two devices simultaneously – is also onboard, as is a rather niche feature called "Soundscape" which provides either a relaxing natural ambience, some general "masking" noises or even meditation sounds to help you stay in the zone.   

In the box, you're provided with sets of eartips (XS/S/M/L) in two materials: a soft set for greater comfort during long listening and a standard set for a more secure fit. Having a choice of bud materials is a welcome addition, as eartips can be quite the personal thing and don't always fit, or indeed feel, the same way depending on the wearer.

The Audio-Technica ATH-TWX7 will be available from January 9th in three colourways: Ash Black, Rich White and Stone Grey, with the latter only available exclusively at Audio-Technica.com. The new buds will retail at £190 (further prices pending) and we're keen to see how they perform against strong rivals.

MORE: 

Check out all the latest news from CES 2024

These are the best wireless earbuds on the market right now

Our main list of the best headphones – every type tried and tested

Huawei isn't afraid to stray from the norm. The Chinese brand has plenty of wireless earbuds in its arsenal, but for every standard-looking FreeBuds Pro 3 there is an odd-bean-shaped Freebuds 5. And then there's the brand new Huawei FreeClip.

The brand's latest innovation certainly stands out from even the wilder wireless earbud shapes we've seen. The FreeClip are an "open ear" design that looks very different and are designed more for awareness when used in sporty, outdoor or multi-tasking office settings. Huawei says that research has shown that a growing demographic of users wanted an "audio listening experience that had all the technological strengths of contemporary in-ear wireless headphones but allowed them to stay attuned to their surroundings." 

First, the design. The Huawei FreeClip look like an amalgamation of a barbell piercing and ear cuff earrings – essentially, two round shapes connected by a stem, that clip into your ears sideways. Huawei says it analysed thousands of ear shapes to collect over 10,000 data samples to find the best ergonomic fit for all types of ears. 

The connecting section (called the "C-bridge design") between the ball and the bean-shaped section is actually elastic, made of a high-performance nickel titanium shape memory steel wire and features "nine built-in core wires in its thin cantilever arm." The earbuds apparently clamp firmly on your ear but won't cause pain, with Huawei stating they also measured the threshold of pressure on human ears to reach just the right amount of pressure.

Why this design? It's meant to deliver a lighter, stable design with "all day" comfort compared to standard earbuds. Huawei also claims that this FreeClip structure counters the 'stethoscope' effect of the buds being stuck into ears, and should result mean less blocking of the ear canal and less hearing damage over time.

Next, we come to the "open acoustic design", which Huawei claims offers a more natural ambient sound without sacrificing audio quality or resulting in sound leakage. This open architecture prioritises being aware of your surroundings, while still ensuring you can hear your music clearly while out and about.

To that end, the FreeClip uses a high sensitivity dual magnet circuit driver with a reserve sound waves system that transmits sound into your ears in an optimum fashion while preventing sound leakage, claims Huawei. There are multiple EQ modes to further fine-tune the sound, while two mics and a voice pick-up unit handle wind noise-cancellation to deliver clearer voice calls.

We've encountered "open" designs before in the Sony Linkbuds, but they sport a vastly different design to the FreeClip. We're keen to see and hear how the FreeClip earbuds perform in comparison.

And finally, the new Huawei buds feature all the standard hallmarks you expect of a pair of competitive wireless earbuds. You get eight hours of battery on a single charge and a total of 36 hours with the charging case, a dust- and waterproof rating of IP54, and there's Bluetooth 5.3. Whether they come with multipoint capability (where you can be connected to and switch between two devices seamlessly) or not is to be confirmed, as is the full set of codecs supported.

The symmetrical design of the buds means the left and right buds are interchangeable and you can switch and configure any of the touch controls using the Huawei Life app. One thing to note is that there is no single tap control here – this is to stop any accidental taps, says Huawei. 

The new Huawei FreeClip are unique-looking buds that will be available in two colour options, black and purple. Price? They cost a fairly reasonable £179.99 / €199, and are available to order now, shipping in the UK and Europe from late December. We're certainly interested to find out how this new design of earbuds fares during testing, both in fit and sound quality, and if it's a design gamble that will prove successful in the long run.

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Obviously Marmite is at the very top, but not all that much further down that list of ‘love it or hate it’, you’ll find open-fit earbuds. You know which camp you’re in, but even if you’re convinced the open-fit design (i.e. earbuds without needing ear tips) isn’t for you, read on. Huawei is confident it can both convert the doubters and delight the already-convinced with its Freebuds 5 wireless earbuds.

Price

The Huawei Freebuds 5 are on sale in the United Kingdom for £139 per pair. In the United States they’re more like $179, while in Australia they go for AU$279 or thereabouts. At this sort of money, the ‘dangly stem’ AirPods-style design and the ‘lozenge’ twist-to-fit alternative are the predominant designs from which to choose – virtually every brand with a hint of credibility has a true wireless product that fits into one of those categories. Our favourite models at this price point include the JBL Reflect Flow Pro (£160 / $180) and the JBL Live Pro 2 TWS (£130 / $150 / AU$200), both five-star entertaining options with a good mix of fit and features.

But not for the first time, Huaewi is playing the iconoclast...   

Design & comfort

Are you familiar with the ‘Chicago Bean’? The sculpture in Chicago’s Millennium Park is officially named ‘Cloud Gate’, but no matter what you call it, there’s no denying that the Huawei Freebuds 5 look like tiny little scale models of Anish Kapoor’s celebrated artwork. Especially in their silver frost finish. 

But even if you decide to go for the ceramic white or coral orange versions instead, the Freebuds 5 are a globular, quite organic shape that’s distinct from pretty much any other true wireless earbud out there. The quality of construction is unarguable, and the finish is so smooth it’s almost slippery. The bulbous shape makes it very easy to get the earbuds out of their charging case though, which means they’re ahead of any number of nominal rivals on that score at least.

At 5.4g each the earbuds are of unremarkable weight and the open-fit design means that there’s no seal formed when the earbuds are in position, which helps them feel airily comfortable. That’s if you enjoy the sensation, of course – if you don’t, then the Freebuds 5 feel (like every other open-fit design, such as the AirPods 3) dangerously loose and unstable.

In actual fact, though, the Huawei buds prove perfectly stable in every real-world scenario. These aren’t sports earbuds, it should go without saying, but as long as you don’t intend to do anything more strenuous than walk around a bit while you’re wearing them, they’ll stay securely in position. Even if they look slightly like they’re leaking out of your ears.

Features

The Freebuds 5 use Bluetooth 5.2 for multi-point wireless connectivity, and they’re compatible with SBC, AAC and hi-res LDAC codecs. Once digital audio information is on board, it’s delivered by a pair of big (11mm) dual-magnet dynamic drivers – Huawei reckons this arrangement is good for a claimed frequency response of 16Hz to 40kHz. 

When it comes to controlling the earbuds, you have a number of quite comprehensive and well-implemented options. The Huawei AI Life control app (free for iOS and Android) is, in all honesty, suspiciously nosy – but if you fork over all the relevant details, it offers decent functionality, apart, for some reason, from actual playback control. In the app you can check on battery life (of the earbuds as well as the charging case), switch noise-cancelling ‘on’ or ‘off’ (and if you choose ‘on’ you can select between three levels of intensity), and check for firmware updates. You can ask each earbud to play a sound if you’ve temporarily misplaced them, you can switch wear-detection ‘on’ or ‘off’, and you can toggle between ‘on’ or ‘off’ for low latency performance too. And you can also define the functions of the capacitive touch control on each earbud too.

The capacitive area on each earbud is large enough to accept a swipe as well as a touch, and either way the Huawei are responsive and reliable. Controls available run to ‘answer/end/reject call’, ‘wake voice assistant’, ‘play/pause’, ‘skip backwards’, ‘skip forwards’, ‘ANC on/off’ and ‘volume up/down’ – the app gives you a lot flexibility as to the gesture required to access the desired control. 

The mic array on each earbud takes care of noise cancellation, telephony and interaction with your source player’s native voice assistant. Calls are clear and intelligible at either end, and voice assistants respond reliably. And the IP54 rating means the earbuds will be protected in pretty much any realistic environment, from the drizzly outdoors to sweaty humid conditions.

Battery life

The pebble-shaped, palm-sized charging case is compatible with QI-certified wireless chargers, and it has a USB socket at its base too. Charging up from flat to full takes about 40 minutes with a wired connection. 

Huawei isn’t the only company to make conditions as favourable as possible before deciding on the sort of battery life it’s going to publish – but in the case of the Freebuds 5, the numbers seem fairly easily achievable. Listen to some music using the AAC codec, at around 50 per cent volume, and you should be able to eke five hours or so out of the earbuds if ANC is switched off. Do the same thing with ANC on and you’re looking at more like 3.5 hours. Add in the charges held in the charging case and you should be good for 30 hours (ANC off) or 20 hours (ANC on) before you need to take on some mains power.

Sound

A quick straw poll around these parts reveals that more people in the office dislike the way the Huawei fit (or, more precisely, how they feel when they’re fitted) than like it – but obviously you’ll make your own mind up. If you do enjoy the ‘open-ear’ sensation, here’s what you need to know about the way the Freebuds 5 sound.

With a 16bit/44.1kHz file of the obligingly revealing Last Night by Arooj Aftab streaming via AAC, the open, spacious nature of the Huawei presentation is immediately apparent. The earbuds give just as much emphasis to the spaces and silences in the recording as they do the actual sounds – and they keep those silences dark, too. So there’s a solid sense of scale, as well as impressively organised soundstaging, to the recording.

The claims for the frequency response don’t seem as fanciful as they did at first, either. That the Freebuds 5 dig deep into the low end and extend a long way into the top end is not up for question – it’s what the earbuds do once they’re there that’s the issue.

Despite their presence and substance, the Huawei don’t extract all that much detail from the tune. Information regarding tone and texture that you know is there gets overlooked, especially if it’s in any way transient. They communicate more fully through the midrange, but even here detail levels are not all they might be. There’s plenty more character and technique in the vocal performance than the Huawei earbuds are letting on. And the lack of rigour where low-frequency information is concerned is compounded by less-than-complete control, meaning the Freebuds 5 don’t express rhythms with as much certainty as they might, either.

Switching up the quality (on a technology level, at least) to a high-resolution file of Last Nite by The Strokes via LDAC brings improvements, certainly where low-end authority is concerned. But it also highlights a slight, but definite, reticence with the dynamics of the recording. Little of its customary attack or verve is communicated by the earbuds – everything happens at a fairly fixed level of intensity, and there’s an overall sensation of ‘matter-of-fact’-ness to the way the earbuds hand over the music that compromises its energy. In comparison, we find JBL’s Reflect Flow Pro offering a considerably better balanced listen, and the fit is the opposite to that of the Huawei.

Verdict

The words ‘perfectly fine’ came up more than once in relation to the Huawei Freebuds 5 during our review, and yes, that is exactly the amount of faint praise it looks like. In some ways, these earbuds have plenty going for them, especially where specification is concerned. But a divisive fit and an indecisive attitude towards music undermines them quite a bit. 

SCORES

• Sound 3
• Features 4
• Comfort 3

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Best in-ear headphones: budget to premium

You can't accuse anyone at EarFun of being lazy. The wallet-friendly brand just keeps pumping out products, and it returns once again with its latest true wireless earbuds, the EarFun Free Pro 3. Not to be confused with Hauwei's new Freebuds Pro 3 (it's easily done), EarFun's own debutants see the company continue its key modus operandum of targeting the budget end of the market by offering earbuds with lots of features at a very reasonable price.

On paper, the Free Pro 3 look pretty smart. Teased as the first EarFun buds to feature a Snapdragon Sound Certification alongside Bluetooth 5.3, the new model will also feature headline-grabbing support for aptX Adaptive technology for what EarFun promises will provide "the highest level of wireless audio quality and connectivity".

Want noise cancelling? You've got it. Thanks to EarFun's own proprietary QuietSmart technology and a six-mic noise-reducing arrangement, the Pro 3 once again see the upstart manufacturer looking to pack in as many features as possible into an affordable, accessible package.

It won't surprise you to find out, then, that this isn't the end of the feature list. The Pro 3 offer a claimed battery life of up to 33 hours (7.5 hours + 25.5 hours with the case) and USB-C charging, while an IPX5 rating offers substantial waterproofing to protect your earbuds from splashes or jets of water. They've even got Bluetooth multipoint connectivity, a feature that's become increasingly common at this price level.

Technical support and customisation, meanwhile, come courtesy of the official EarFun Audio app, from which you can adjust things like button assignment, EQ, switching your connections and toggling between the buds' various noise cancelling modes. You can even access the low-latency aptX "Game Mode" protocol for responsive sound when gaming on a PC or console. 

The EarFun Free Pro 3 are available now for £79.99 /$79.99 in three distinct colourways: Brown Black, Silver White and Navy Blue. They're currently discounted by 15% off the standard retail price at Amazon when you use the code EFP3ANC1. 

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Hauwei's latest true wireless earbuds have arrived. The FreeBuds Pro 3 see the Chinese brand continuing its push to muscle in on the ever-competitive true wireless market, promising improved audio fidelity and enhanced features which could set them apart from the pack. 

The new Huawei FreeBuds Pro 3 are, according to the manufacturer, "fine-tuned down to the last detail to ensure an excellent listening experience". Much of that tuning involves the use of what it calls an "ultra-hearing" dual-driver arrangement that uses an 11mm bass driver. The Pro 3 also offer support for the high-quality LDAC Bluetooth codec, which should allow for data transmission speeds up to 990 kbps with compatible sources.

One of the Pro 3's real headline-grabbers is the inclusion of what Huawei refers to as "triple adaptive EQ", essentially an algorithm which continually detects volume, ear canal shape and wearing status in real time in order to optimise the given sound level and EQ settings for a more personal listening experience. 

Like most rivals at this level, Huawei's new buds are loaded with adaptive ANC so that you can enjoy your music without external intrusions. The Pro 3 feature an algorithm-boosted hybrid noise cancelling system which identifies and eliminates exterior sounds in real time. Wind noise reduction is also included, a feature that Huawei says has been improved by 80% over the previous iteration.

What about battery life? Huawei promises up to 6.5 hours of listening on a single charge from the buds with ANC disabled, dropping to 4.5 with noise cancelling turned on. Using the case, meanwhile, provides a total of 31 hours of juice before you run flat. 

The new buds also come with the increasingly popular Bluetooth multipoint feature that lets you flit between two connected devices more easily without having to disconnect and reconnect manually.

The FreeBuds Pro 3 arrive in a glass-like case with a concealed hinge design, which can apparently suffer being opened and closed more than 100,000 times, claims Huawei. Thanks to an IP54 dust and waterproof rating, the buds should be capable of dealing with a sweaty workout or the damp and drizzle of the outside world.

With three colourways to choose from – Green, Silver Frost or Ceramic Heart – the Huawei FreeBuds Pro 3 are available  now for £180 /$180 (further prices pending).  

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Huawei has a new pair of true wireless earbuds, and they're easy on the wallet. The FreeBuds 5i pack hi-res audio, active noise cancellation (ANC), equaliser presets and the ability to wirelessly switch between two devices seamlessly, yet they cost just £89.99 (about $109, AU$160).

They look a lot pricier. The case has a pebble stone design and textured surface, which is achieved using inkjet-coating techniques. They come in three finishes: Isle Blue, Nebula Black, and Ceramic White.

The stems on the earbuds are 7mm shorter than their predecessors', the FreeBuds 4i, making for a snugger fit. And they weigh 4.9g each, which is lighter than a lot of earbuds.

They're certified for Hi-Res Audio Wireless with Sony's LDAC codec onboard, which in the 5i buds, lets you stream high-resolution audio up to 24-bit/96kHz files over Bluetooth at up to 990kbps data speeds (the highest rate supported by an existing codec).

Why the inclusion of a hi-res codec at this ultra-budget price? Huawei told us it's done some research and has found that there's a lot of interest from consumers who want to buy a pair of earbuds for under €100 and also want good sound quality.

Alongside this are "algorithms" designed to render the sound as faithfully as possible. Inside each bud is a 10mm dynamic driver, and multi-EQ effects let you adjust the audio on the fly (for example, by choosing bass boost or treble boost) using the brand's AI Life app.

The FreeBuds 5i have hybrid noise-cancellation tech, which uses both inward and outward-facing microphones. Huawei claims this not only detects external noise to cancel, but picks up extra noise within the ear canal, cancelling sound level as high as 42dB. Three ANC modes (Ultra, General and Cozy) let you tweak the ANC settings depending on your situation.

The same tech promises to make calls nice and clear, using an AI neural network algorithm to distinguish your voice from other sounds.

The FreeBuds 5i have six hours of playtime on a single charge with ANC on. The total battery life of 28 hours with the charging case is impressive for the money (and is longer than the Award-winning Sony WF-1000XM4's total of 24 hours). A quick 15-minute charge will give you four hours of runtime.

Want to listen to audio from your laptop and then take a hands-free call from your phone? No problem. The Huawei buds support multipoint connectivity, letting you switch between two devices without you having to lift a finger.

The buds are rated IP54 dust- and water-proof, too, so will survive dusty, sandy and wet environments.

One neat feature lets you snap a photo with your smartphone by double tapping your earbud. However, you'll need a Huawei smartphone to use this feature.

The FreeBuds 5i go on sale on 16th January direct from Huawei, with stock arriving in Currys, Amazon and Argos from February in the UK.

Huawei's more premium FreeBuds Pro were a little disappointing, only scoring three stars in our review. Here's hoping this budget pair will fare a little better.

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