At the beginning of the spring of 2022, Huawei’s 2022 new product spring launch conference was successfully held. At the press conference, Huawei Harmony family ushered in a new wireless noise cancelling earphones  – Huawei FreeBuds 4E. The earphone speaker adopts a 14.3mm wide range dynamic driver, the frequency range is as high as 40kHz, and the sound is transparent and full. The human ear adaptive noise cancelling technology and the blessing of AEM sound technology allow earphones to have a good noise cancelling experience even if they are designed as semi-in-ear.

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Appearance Design & Comfort Fit

The overall shape of the charging case adopts a design similar to that of a round cake. There are smooth curve transitions on the front and back sides, which not only brings a comfortable feel, but also allows users to feel the softness of the curve. There is an LED light under the charging case cover to indicate the working status of the earphones. The hinge on the back of the charging case is a black module with the “HUAWEI” brand logo printed on it.

In terms of craftsmanship, the appearance of the charging case is designed with a matte and fine frosted surface, which can present a high-level texture under the light, and is also more wear-resistant and drop-resistant.

There is a button for bluetooth connection and pairing on the side of the charging case, which uses the same material as the charging case to achieve a harmonious look and feel. The Type-C interface is designed at the bottom of the charging case, which is convenient for daily charging.

The earphones are designed in bright gray, which forms a sharp and harmonious contrast with the frosted gray of the charging case, and the overall look and feel is good. The earphones have a special coating on the surface, which can effectively prevent the glossy design from being easily stained with fingerprints.

The main sound mouth of the earphone is equipped with a fine dust-proof net to prevent foreign objects from entering the earbud sound cavity. The oval-shaped design of the sound mouth and the low-frequency enhancement engine composed of the “highly airtight independent sound cavity and air duct” inside the earphone can bring users a listening experience with higher density and greater information.

The black round hole above the headphone head is the opening for earphone’s in-ear monitoring sensor. Below the sensor opening is a circular sound vent with a fine dust filter to improve the acoustic performance of the earphone.

After actual measurement, the overall weight of earbuds and charging case is about 45.5g. The overall weight of the FreeBuds 4E earbuds is about 8.2g, and the weight of a single earbud is about 4.1g. This is one of the main reasons for being able to achieve “A sense of air” comfortable to wear.

After wearing earphones, thanks to the light weight of 4.1g and ergonomic design, the overall wearing fits the human ear. The “A sense of air” comfortable to wear brought by the semi-in-ear design avoids the problem of ear canal swelling and pain caused by in-ear earbuds.

Dual device connection, seamless transmission of devices

Seamless transmission between devices is also a feature that Huawei FreeBuds 4E performed extremely well in this use. For this reason, we specially used two mobile phones with different systems, the iPhone 13 Pro and the Huawei Mate 40 Pro, for related tests.

In the test of dual device connection and seamless transmission, we can see what the two connected devices are when we open the page of the Smart Life APP. There will also be a music rhythm icon below the device name to show the device that is using the earphones.

When using the device to listen to songs, when another device calls, the earphones will automatically pause the music and switch to the calling phone. When the call ends, the earphones switch back to the device that plays the music and continue to work. In this process, we can realize the operation of switching between connected devices without controlling the mobile phone.

Sound Quality of Huawei FreeBuds 4E

In terms of structure, the FreeBuds 4E earbuds are equipped with a highly airtight independent sound cavity and an air duct to form a low-frequency enhancement engine. The flow of air in the low-frequency engine produces resonance, bringing a waterfall bass. The sound unit adopts a 14.3mm wide-range dynamic unit, and the sound frequency range is as high as 40kHz, making the treble transparent and full.

In terms of software, earphones support AEM adaptive sound technology. After the test, earphones optimize the sound effect according to the detected ear canal information, so that users can get a better listening experience.

The human ear can hear the sound frequency range of 20~20kHz, while the Huawei FreeBuds 4E sound frequency range is as high as 40kHz. Some friends here may have questions, is it useful that the frequency that the human ear cannot hear is so high?

The answer is that the 40kHz frequency range is useful. The reason is that the frequency range of some instruments is beyond the range that the human ear can clearly perceive. But the earphone’s speakers can display these sounds if they can recognize them. If the frequency range of the earphone cannot restore these details, the connection of the whole song and the extension of various sounds will disappear, and there will be a sense of paragraph. In other words, an earphone with a frequency response range of 40kHz can clearly describe the sound of the earphone in this frequency range. If this range is not reached, earphones will not be able to restore the sound.

In the earphones audition session, we used Huawei’s classic song “Dream It Possible” for audition. When the singer starts singing, there is an obvious feeling that the breath is full, which is the benefit of the 14.3mm large diaphragm. The diaphragm area is large, which can display more music information. When the ending sound of the singer’s singing can be shown, we will feel that the emotion of the whole song is richer. Unlike some earphones, due to the small diaphragm, we feel that the sound is more urgent when listening to songs, and we enter the next sentence before we finish singing.

Huawei FreeBuds 4E tri-band tuning and equalization. As semi-in-ear earphones, the special acoustic structure design makes earphones as good as general in-ear earphones in terms of low frequency performance. The adoption of the 14.3mm large diaphragm allows the earphones to have a good extension of the high frequency and bring a near-natural listening experience. Dynamic’s own warm style is also well represented in the mid-range of earphones, with full vocals and a neutral mouth shape.

Game Latency & Noise Cancelling

In daily use, earphones also support game mode. After the game mode is turned on, earphones support the use of full-link 90ms latency, which is basically competent in the use of shooting games.

In terms of noise cancelling, although earphones are semi-in-ear design, earphones use self-developed adaptive noise cancelling technology. In each scene, it can have performance that does not belong to ordinary noise cancelling headphones, which can meet the noise cancelling needs in daily use.

Battery Life & Charging

In terms of battery life, earphones have a short battery life, with a single battery life of only 4 hours when fully charged. After noise cancelling is enabled, it is reduced to 2.5 hours. If the noise cancelling is turned off when using with the charging case, the comprehensive battery life of earphones can reach 22 hours.

In the case of short battery life, earphones support the fast charging function of “charging for 15 minutes and listening to music for 2 hours“, which can make up for the short battery life to a certain extent.

Wired charging test for Huawei FreeBuds 4E using a portable power tester. The charging voltage is about 4.96V, the charging current is about 0.54A, and the charging power is about 2.34W.

Summary

Huawei FreeBuds 4E adopts a handle-shaped semi-in-ear design in appearance. The weight of a single earphone of 4.1g and the ergonomic design can bring a comfortable and non-sensing wearing experience.

In daily use, the intelligent interaction between earphones and mobile phones is upgraded. Through the mobile phone, we can set up multiple application scenarios, and realize the functions of clicking earphone to identify and broadcast the daily itinerary when encountering a song whose title is unknown. Earphones and devices can also have a seamless transmission experience, even if the mobile phone systems are different, a seamless transmission experience can be achieved. In terms of connection, the limit connection distance of earphones can reach 14.5m, which has a good performance in the same type of earphones.

In terms of sound quality, earphones use a 14.3mm wide-range dynamic driver with three-frequency equalization. The sound information is rich, the high frequency has a good extension, and the low frequency also shows a delicate sense of hearing thanks to the special acoustic structure. The only disadvantage in use is that earphones have a short battery life and cannot meet the daily use of heavy users.

• $70 – Check latest price on: AliExpress or Banggood