1 month ago
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The HUAWEI FreeBuds Pro 4 was launched last month globally as the latest addition to their premium earbud offerings. They bring a great mix of design, upgraded technology, and a refined listening experience.
Having just launched in the Philippines, we were quite excited to get into what else they bring to the table.
If you’re looking to see if this could be your next pair of noise-canceling earbuds, then let’s dive right in.
Box Content, Build, and Design
After unboxing, users are greeted by the charging case with buds inside and a handful of ear tips. Underneath, we have a bit of paperwork. This includes a warranty card, a USB Type-C to Type-A cable, and a quick start guide.
By default, the buds are fitted with medium-sized silicone tips. However, we do advise viewers to try out the shape-memory foam tips instead.
Putting the ear tips on and off can be done with ease as well. Should you take them off, you’ll find hooks where users can easily slide/drag an ear tip onto the bud.
Finding the right size makes for a better fit and improves the already superb passive noise isolation from the buds. Of course, we’ll get to more of that later on.
The case has a great feel, being round and snug enough to easily slide into pockets. They don’t take up too much room and look clean in this White colorway.
It has a satin-like finish and features a hinge with a tension that feels satisfying to fidget with.
On the side, we have a button users can hold for pairing. At the bottom is a USB Type-C port for charging and a small speaker for prompts and such.
Popping it open can feel a little bit weird at first when we realized that it doesn’t open towards the side of the HUAWEI logo.
It’s a small nitpick, but the case pops open where the LED light is situated. Inside the buds magnetize to the case and sit snug, with no rattling even when shaking the case while closed.
Now, for the buds themselves. The stems have rounded edges and are made mostly out of glossy polycarbonate material, making them easy to clean.
There’s also the charging contact area at the bottom as well as microphones.
Found at the side of the stem is the touch surface. Pressing this makes a nice clicking sound, letting users know if their touches register.
Notably, pressing the surface isn’t hit or miss. Some buds with capacitive controls don’t really register every action, so that was much appreciated.
Overall, the build quality for the case is excellent. As for the buds, the ergonomic fit and ear tips selection should be highly appreciated by most users.
It blends form with function through its shape-memory foam tips for better noise isolation along with comfiness.
Sound, ANC, and Mic Quality
The HUAWEI FreeBuds Pro 4 has a dual-driver system. This includes an 11mm dynamic driver and a planar diaphragm driver.
Generally, it provides an exceptional listening experience. We have used this for commuting, during work, and YouTube binges.
It delivers high quality audio across all frequencies, netting it points for its punchy bass, clear mids, and crisp highs.
A key highlight for the buds is the addition of HUAWEI’s L2HC 4.0 audio codec. This supports up to 2.3 megabits per second (Mbps) of lossless audio transmission.
This allows it to deliver 48kHz or 24-bit high resolution audio promising a dynamic and immersive listening experience.
Moving on, the buds feature active noise cancellation (ANC) as well. Running the numbers, the buds are capable of reducing ambient noise by up to a hundred decibels.
Four modes are offered to deal with different situations and environments, which include Dynamic, Cozy, General, and Ultra.
The ANC works as advertised. Personally, people would have to tap me on the shoulder to get my attention when I have them on.
Even with ANC off though, the passive seal is a snug enough fit to block off general noise.
One thing’s for sure, it’s not a bad idea to use Awareness mode for these buds.
As for microphone input, the buds have a quad-microphone system with AI-enhanced noise reduction.
There’s also a reverse bone conduction mic to help with picking up your voice clearly, which is quite nice.
It works well, even in noisy environments. Suffice it to say, overall call quality should be great for those on-the-go.
Find our microphone sample recordings in the video below:
Connectivity, Features, and App
The buds support Bluetooth 5.2 for connectivity and offer a range of features via the HUAWEI AI life app.
It also has this feature called pop-up pair, which is pretty much instant pairing for users on a HUAWEI device (EMUI 10 and up).
Other intuitive features include EQ profiles, a tip fit test, a find my tool, and customizable gestures. Anyone can get access to this through the app.
Default controls consist of pinching and holding once for answering/ending calls and resuming/pausing playback.
Users can pinch twice to reject calls or to skip to a new song, or pinch three times to go to a previous song.
Users may also opt to use tapping on the side of the buds’ stems. Tapping on either bud answers or ends calls.
Tapping the left or right bud once plays or pauses a song. Triple-tapping either bud skips to the next song.
Users can pinch and hold the touch surface to switch between ANC modes too. The cycled modes include enabling ANC, Awareness mode, and disabling ANC.
Users can customize this by removing modes to cycle through by unchecking boxes within the app.
Lastly, users may also swipe up or down the side of the buds’ stems to increase or decrease volume.
Battery Life
The buds pack 55mah batteries each, and the charging case has 510mAh available. Battery life for the FreeBuds Pro 4 varies on usage and active modes.
With ANC toggled on, it’s rated to last around 4 hours and 30 minutes. If ANC is off, the buds should last 6 hours and 30 minutes.
With the case included, the buds can last for up to 33 hours without ANC active and 23 hours with ANC running.
The buds charge to full in about 40-45 minutes, while the case needs about an hour to fully charge.
Of course, results tend to vary based on user behavior. All things considered, how it fared under this segment was acceptable.
Final Thoughts
It’s safe to say that the HUAWEI FreeBuds Pro 4 lives up to the hype set by its predecessors. Priced at PHP 10,999, we could tell that a lot of thought was put into making them from build quality alone.
Aside from nice design, the buds offer excellent audio quality with intuitive features that cater to the user experience. These include ANC, customizable gestures, and an in-app seal test.
Frankly, the battery life may not be the best in its class. However, everything else makes the buds a strong contender in the premium wearable market.
In other words, the HUAWEI FreeBuds Pro 4 is certainly worth your time to check out.
What we liked:
- Build quality
- Great fit
- Ear tip selection
- Great audio across all frequencies
- ANC and customizable gestures (features)
What we didn’t like:
- Battery life
- Case opening from the LED side, not the HUAWEI logo
HUAWEI FreeBuds Pro 4 specs:
11m dynamic driver
Planar diaphragm driver
14Hz to 48kHz frequency response
Bluetooth 5.2
Pop-Up Pair support (EMUI 10 and up)
IR sensor
Hall sensor
Touch sensor
Press sensor
Bone acoustic sensor
Gyroscope
Accelerometer
55mAh battery (per earbud)
510mah battery (charging case)
USB Type-C
IP54 rating for dust and splash resistance (earbuds)
29.1 x 21.8 x 23.7 mm (earbud dimensions)
5.8 grams (earbud weight)
46.9 x 65.9 x 24.5 mm (charging case dimensions)
47 grams (charging case weight)
Black, White (colors)
