As Huawei’s new generation of the ultimate acoustic flagship product, Huawei FreeBuds Pro 2 is definitely an impressive TWS earbuds. In terms of product design, noise cancellation performance, and sound quality performance, especially the joint tuning of Devialet brings more professional music enjoyment, Huawei has achieved the best solution for consumers.

• $145 – Check latest price on AliExpress or Amazon Germany

Appearance Design & Comfort Fit & Battery Life

The Huawei FreeBuds Pro 2 charging case adopts the design language of square + rounded corners. The Type-C charging interface and indicator light are designed at the bottom of the charging case. The volume of the charging case is 11% smaller than that of the Huawei FreeBuds Pro, making it more compact and lightweight in the hand, and very convenient for daily carrying.

The Huawei FreeBuds Pro 2 earbuds are very compact as a whole, and the headset stem continues the classic “piano key” shape of the series, with a very recognizable appearance. The earbud has no prominent edges and corners, and it is very comfortable to wear.

In terms of wearing stability, FreeBuds Pro 2 has also done a good job. Based on a large number of big data surveys and modeling results, the earbud’s center of gravity is placed closer to the ear canal, which greatly improves the fit of the headset. The earbuds sound duct part adopts an aerodynamic design, which closely fits the ear canal structure through a smooth curve. After the actual experience, I am very satisfied with the wearing comfort of this earbuds. Not only does it have a sense of fit and stability, but the foreign body sensation brought by the in-ear type is not obvious, even users who are not used to wearing in-ear earbuds can wear it for a long time.

Huawei FreeBuds Pro 2 also provides soft silicone eartips in three different sizes: large, medium and small. You can use the Smart Life APP to conduct the eartips fit test to consider whether you need to replace the eartips of other sizes. It is worth noting that the eartips are made of medical-grade safe materials, comply with FDA and LFGB testing standards, and are antibacterial and skin-friendly.

In terms of battery life, the earbud can play music for 4 hours continuously when the noise cancellation mode is turned on, and can reach 18 hours of battery life with the charging case. After noise cancellation is turned off, the battery life can be up to 6.5 hours in a single time, and the longest battery life can be up to 30 hours. At the same time, Huawei FreeBuds Pro 2 also supports fast charging, charging for 10 minutes and listening to songs for 2.5 hours. In addition, earbuds also support IP54 waterproof level, so you don’t need to worry about the risk of water ingress when exercising.

Calls & Noise Cancellation: Intelligent Dynamic ANC 2.0

In the subway, when I wear Huawei FreeBuds Pro 2, the earbuds can filter out most of the noise, and the other party can hear my voice clearly. There is no need to shout during the call, and it also avoids the embarrassing situation of shouting in public.

Huawei FreeBuds Pro 2 uses four microphones to pick up sound, combined with Huawei’s self-developed deep neural network call noise cancellation algorithm, it can accurately identify human voices and reduce environmental noise. There are three microphones and a bone conduction pickup microphone built into the earbud. The dual microphones outside the ear fully capture the ambient sound, the high signal-to-noise ratio microphone in the ear enhances the pickup of vocal signals, and the bone conduction microphone is responsible for sensing the vibration of the soft tissue near the ear canal to distinguish the ambient sound from the human voice. Each microphone is integrated together to achieve a quiet call. Even in windy weather, there is no need to worry about the sound quality of the call being reduced.

The Huawei FreeBuds Pro 2 also performs well in terms of the noise cancellation experience of daily listening to music and watching movies and TV dramas. It supports 3 modes: mild noise cancellation, balanced noise cancellation, and deep noise cancellation, which everyone should be familiar with. But this time FreeBuds Pro 2 also added intelligent dynamic ANC 2.0. Simply put, if you are not sure which noise cancellation mode is needed in the current environment, choose intelligent dynamic noise cancellation. At the same time, intelligent dynamic ANC 2.0 also supports intelligent adaptation to the wearing state and ear canal differences, which is exclusive to your noise cancellation experience.

According to the actual measurement, in a relatively quiet indoor scene, the Huawei FreeBuds Pro 2 defaults to a mild noise cancellation mode, and the sound of the air conditioner and the keyboard cannot be heard at all. In outdoor streets and shopping malls, earbuds will automatically adjust to the balanced noise cancellation mode. The music in the mall is filtered out, but the voices of the people around you can still be heard clearly. When you come to the subway or bus, the earbuds automatically switch to the deep noise cancellation mode, and you can only hear the sound of the station announcement and the vibration of the track. In addition, there is no ear pressure for deep noise cancellation, and the deepest noise cancellation depth can reach 47dB, which is both quiet and comfortable. When the noise cancellation mode is turned on, there may be some slight effects on the sound quality, including some hissing and friction sounds, which is normal.

In addition to the ultimate noise cancellation effect, Huawei FreeBuds Pro 2 also has a dual transparency mode. For example, when we enter the park for a run, we can switch from noise cancellation mode to transparent mode by long pressing the headset stem. In this mode, we can listen to music without missing the surrounding sounds, taking into account the sense of hearing and safety. Turning on the vocal transparency mode can appropriately reduce the ambient sound and obtain a clearer and more transparent human voice. Even with ANC turned on, clear vocals can be captured.

Full Scene Experience: HarmonyOS 3 blessing, more intelligent connection

Another focus of Huawei’s full-scene new product launch is HarmonyOS 3. Fortunately, Huawei FreeBuds Pro 2 is blessed with HarmonyOS 3.

First of all, Huawei FreeBuds Pro 2 supports personalized pop-up windows, which everyone is familiar with. Secondly, FreeBuds Pro 2 can stream audio, pair and connect with mobile phones and tablets in HyperTerminal, the operation is easy and free, and the audio can also be automatically streamed to other devices. To experience this function, you need to combine the HarmonyOS 3 version of the mobile phone and upgrade the earbuds to the public beta version before you can experience it. Follow-up to pay attention to the official announcement.

HarmonyOS 3 supports a new audio service card, which can visually manage the connected devices and status of earbuds. Two headsets can be connected to one terminal device at the same time.

Sound Description: Ultra-perceptual acoustic dual-unit system + Dual HD audio certification

Regarding the experience of sound quality, FreeBuds Pro 2 can be said to surprise me enough. Huawei FreeBuds Pro 2 has undergone a full-link upgrade from the underlying hardware to the upper-level algorithm. In terms of hardware, super-perceptual acoustic dual units are added, which are a 11mm mid-bass quadruple magnet dynamic driver and a micro-planar treble unit, which realize the downward extension of 14Hz bass and the upward extension of 48kHz treble, and the sound details are clearer and fuller.

In addition to the powerful hardware configuration, Huawei FreeBuds Pro 2 also optimizes algorithms for different unit designs. Different from the common analog crossover technology in the industry, FreeBuds Pro 2 adopts digital double crossover technology. Through the built-in dual-channel DAC, the high-frequency and mid-low frequency sound signals are processed independently, which effectively avoids the phenomenon of sound distortion, thereby bringing a more balanced tri-frequency performance. At the same time, the sound field is wide enough, and the sound reproduction is more accurate. Turn on the Devialet sound effect, and the bass vibration will be stronger.

In addition, Huawei FreeBuds Pro 2 also brings three real-time listening optimizations, namely ear canal adaptation, wearing state adaptation, and volume adaptation. In this way, you only need to wear earbuds to start playing music, and the parameters such as volume and timbre you hear are the current optimal solution. At the same time, FreeBuds Pro 2 also obtained HWA and Hi-Res Audio Wireless dual HD audio certification, becoming the world’s first true wireless earphones to obtain dual HD audio certification, which is also an important factor for its excellent sound quality.

What’s more worth mentioning is that Huawei FreeBuds Pro 2 has added spatial audio technology. With its six-axis gyro sensor, it accurately captures the movement trajectory of the head, and realizes head tracking and fixed dual spatial audio mode. Turn on head tracking mode, shake your head left and right, and the sound will always remain at the center point. Select the fixed mode, the sound will be fixed around the ears, and the immersion will be stronger. In the smart life app or control center, you can also tap to switch the spatial audio mode. There are four modes to choose from: theater, cinema, concert hall and default, which are enough to meet different needs.

It should be noted that this function needs to be combined with a HarmonyOS 3 mobile phone, and the earbuds can only be experienced after upgrading to the public beta version. The first batch of users who can experience the high-definition spatial audio function are users of P50 and Mate40 series mobile phones, and other models of mobile phones will gradually increase support.

When listening to Tsai Chin’s “渡口”, the separation of various instruments can be presented. In the audition of Jessica Simpson’s “When you told me you lovedme”, Huawei FreeBuds Pro 2 has excellent sound reproduction. Whether it’s pop, rock, large-scale repertoire, or female alto-treble performance, Huawei FreeBuds Pro 2 excels in TWS earbuds at the same price.

At the same time, in order to adapt to more types of music, Huawei FreeBuds Pro 2 supports personalized EQ adjustment for the first time. Users can adjust the music effect according to the type of music, whether it is adding “bass boost” to the drum sound, “treble boost” for the violin, or enjoying the clear vocals on the scene, they can always find the most suitable music effect. At the same time, the custom equalizer tool also supports the free adjustment of 10 frequency points, and tailor-made exclusive sound effects.

• $145 – Check latest price on AliExpress or Amazon Germany