FreeBuds 5
After one year, Huawei recently updated its flagship-level true wireless ANC earbuds with a new model, the FreeBuds 5, which is claimed to focus on better sound quality, noise cancellation, interaction, and brand-new open-ear design compared to its predecessor. It’s been a long time since Gizmochina Review has been excited about experiencing an earbud product. The FreeBuds 5 is certainly another of the most impressive earbuds of late.
The Huawei FreeBuds 5 is a truly new product if simply looking at the design. It’s widely concerning that launching open earbuds was bound to involve compromises such as degraded sound quality, weak ANC performance, etc. So it’s easy to see plenty of new releases of in-ear models on the market, but few attempts at open earbuds. Most brands ended up continuing to challenge the design dilemma after one or two attempts. From FreeBuds 3 to FreeBuds 4 & 4E and now this FreeBuds 5 with a teardrop faux-fluid design, Huawei seems to be increasingly becoming the preferred choice for comfortable wear.
New look & Design
Due to the new look, I have to say that the Huawei FreeBuds 5 is definitely a game-changer in terms of design compared to other TWS products on the market. In previous reviews of the FreeBuds lines, I’ve always been willing to give comment that ‘they are on the way moving towards the ultimate in ergonomic comfort with fresh designs.’ The Freebuds 5 is no exception.
The charging case of the FreeBuds is designed in a more elegant pebble shape. The eye-catching orange-red variant brings a stylish sense of fashion to the earbuds and the case. If you are not a fan of such a bold color, it is also available in other two widely popular options: white and silver.
Open the lid and you would see the earbuds ‘hanging’ on the gently sloping terrace and fitting the curve of the box seamlessly. The Emphasis throughout is on comfortably elegant curves with natural transitions without any sharp joints. Each bud looks like a futuristic water drop that we might have seen in some sci-fi movies. It obviously gives an upgrade to the look and feel, but more importantly, the comfort of hanging on the ears makes ‘burden-free wearing’ a reality. During the weeks of wearing the FreeBuds 5, it feels very different from the open earbuds I’ve tried in the past. It’s breathable and fits securely on the ear, as the smooth curved surface allows for a more relaxed fit to the ear’s contours. They are so comfortable that I have no complaints when I used them as sleep buds.
The earbuds’ operation is also more user-friendly. Thanks to the new design, the combination of the arch-shaped bar and the waterdrop stems provides a larger touch area for smoother interaction, such as a long press for ANC switch, a slide for volume adjustment, or a double tap to answer calls or hang up, and so on.
Huawei claims that it’s IP54 dust- and splash-resistance. So I didn’t take it off while I was doing sweaty workouts and even exposed it to a few light showers (not intentionally). But luckily it survived and has been working well.
Sound quality
At first, we didn’t expect much for the sound quality of these open earbuds. However, it turned out to be a surprise. Each earbud is equipped with an 11mm dual-magnetic dynamic driver unit. And driven by the latest Bass Turbo Technology, the magnetic circuits offer a wide frequency range of 16Hz to 40kHz and particularly sensitive response at low frequencies. On first listen, its punching bass made it hard to believe that it was produced by a pair of open earbuds. It’s also wonderful that the open design doesn’t particularly affect the spaciousness of its soundstage. On the contrary, the wide spatial soundstage is well set up for a great balance between bass, mids and treble, especially when the earbuds were used for Dolby Atmos contents. And this is something I can’t experience with other open earbuds.
In addition to these relatively subjective comments, its excellent sound quality is also guaranteed by Hi-Res and HWA Audio Wireless certifications. Thanks to LDAC high-res codec support, the FreeBuds 5 supports super-high transmissions of up to 990kbps. In addition, if you prefer earbuds for low-latency gaming, the FreeBuds 5 can also automatically limit the transmission by activating the dynamic latency. Under the dynamic latency mode, the earbuds will shift to an ultra-low latency mode when detecting games are launched.
If you are using a Huawei phone, you can go to the Bluetooth settings to decide LDAC playback quality between ‘Optimised for audio quality’ and ’Balanced audio and connection quality’. But please do not get carried away with the former’s excellent sound quality, because the latter actually has a much more stable connection when the phone connects with a Wireless network and other Bluetooth devices.
Companion Software – AI Life app
If you want to experience even more unique features such as customized EQs and shortcuts, you will need to download and install the Huawei AI Life app. It’s a versatile app that integrates all your Huawei devices on the same platform. The software for FreeBuds is especially impressive. It’s one of the very few companion apps that shows connecting devices for earbuds. As you can see in the snapshot down below, the FreeBuds 5 supports dual connection and you can easily switch different sources in the connection center by clicking the bubble, or just check out which device is playing sound.
Active noise canceling
The ANC performance of the FreeBuds 5 already copes with most life scenarios with mid-low noise, which is also the most acceptable for me among all the open earbuds. Users can enable ANC with different ANC profiles, including General (Maximum) to Cozy (minimum), and another my favorite mode, Dynamic (auto-switching based on ambient noise). The Dynamic mode can seamlessly switch noise-canceling strength to balance both worlds. But the FreeBuds 5 still do not match the performance of the flagship FreeBuds Pro series which offers an in-ear design. The roar of the engine, for example, can still not be eliminated entirely. But the comfortable fit and relaxed ear-canal pressure leaves me with no complaints about them.
Call quality
There’re 3 microphones on the FreeBuds 3 picking up both the ambient sound and the user’s voice. So after a deep neural network (DNN) algorithm processing, the call quality is clear and gets enhanced without much distraction in the background.
For battery life, the FreeBuds 5 is able to last 5-hour playback without ANC on, while it could drop to around 3.5 hours if you activate ANC. The charging case can offer an extra 25-hour playback time for the earbuds, which does sound better. Another benefit of the charging case is the fast charge available, which allows users to collect back 2 hours of use after just 5-minute charging in the case. Although the case supports wireless charging, I would still suggest the faster-wired charging for most of the time.
Verdict
I really like the design of the new earbuds, yet perhaps what really makes it stand out is the excellent wearing experience and the superb sound quality as a pair of open earbuds. It’s well-balanced between the audio experience and quite a lot of unique features. If you make the open design your priority, it’s likely to be the best option available.
