HUAWEI FreeClip Open-Ear Earbuds
Here we have the FreeClip Openear Earbuds from HUAWEI, this is the perfect example of creating something unique and innovative, just to provide a new choice for customers who need a new pair of earbuds. We’ve reviewed quite a lot of wireless earbuds, but this is the first time I have taken a deep look at the C-bridge form. It was not mainstream until 2023, and now you can see the trend that a lot of manufacturers carried on the new-shape earbuds.
Design
The whole design of the earbuds is rather peculiar, especially when it comes to a brand like HUAWEI. I mean Huawei has its own design in both open-ear and in-ear designs, so I guess they might strike a better balance between wearing comfort and security. Anyway, it’s still worth a round of applause for such an act of pushing the innovation forward.
When I first got the earbuds, I was surprised actually. The earphone case is not much different, it is still a pebble style, one thing I have to mention right now is that the button is at the side, not in the center or anywhere that looks more thoughtful. When I opened the lid, those arches were the first thing that came to my eyes, they are genuinely unique. And then you see the buds on each side are not in the same shape, so you will have the will to take them out to find out why. Once you take them out, the real design reveals itself. On one side, there is a bean-shaped little piece that has a slight curve inside, and on the other side is a round little ball that has the driver built-in. Together with the arch, they are the whole profile of the product.
There isn’t any button or indicator anywhere, so it must be a touch control, which we will talk about later. So overall I would say it is a very chic design, the surface is shiny just like a piece of earring, although if there is some makeup on your face, it will get on them easily. After all, it can be a good choice for girls, and there is another purple color in the collection, that’s another option you have.
Wearing Comfort
We often praise open-ear earbuds as better wearing comfort over normal earbuds, and that largely depends on the ear tips not going into the ears. The HUAWEI FreeClip is also made the same way, but that’s just part of the story, the other half is about how it clings on your ears to solve the security issues.
Basically, the way it works is to clip the driver ball and the comfort bean to your ear, without pinching your ears of course. The “C-bridge” in between is made of nickel-titanium (Ni-Ti) memory alloy, it has high elasticity, and high durability, and can secure the fit really well.
Personally, it solves my biggest complaints on open-ear earbuds in two ways. First, it reduces a lot of weight compared to others. Normally open-earbuds would put a huge driver or battery into the product, to compensate for the sound loss and slightly short battery life, but it always causes a bit of trouble in weight distribution. When you go for a run, the whole unit shakes in all directions, so it would not fit on your ears that snugly. But these earbuds only weigh 5.6g each, that’s a significant weight reduction, therefore, you won’t be worn down after a long time wearing them. Second, the bridge does not conflict with the legs of my glasses, this is a huge release for people like me. One more thing here, the travel of the C-bridge is also shorter than others, so a simple clip just gets the job done.
The last thing the Freeclip did is the perfect long-time wearing comfort, at first I doubt it, but once I clip them on, there isn’t much feel of me wearing anything. The “magic bean” is wide and curved, so it stays on the ear very comfortably, and the pressure created by the whole unit is overwhelmingly the right amount, I mean it’s there to give you the secure-fit feel, but not too much to cause discomfort. So wherever you want to wear them, they are just perfect, and certainly you can recommend them to your sports lover friends or outdoor hikers.
Sound Quality
At the moment when we have these earbuds, there isn’t any info about the specs of the drivers, what we do know is that there are high-sensitivity dual magnetic circuit moving coil units and large amplitude drives, preserving the clarity of sound. The dual-magnet high-sensitivity driver increases the magnetic induction intensity, thus increasing the driving capability of the speakers.
The sound experience is pretty good, far better than what I expected from a pair of open earbuds. The low-frequency sounds are more powerful without too much dampening than most of its kind. But since it didn’t securely block the ear canal, it didn’t go as deep as the Freebuds Pro series.
The treble sounds are bright and not harsh, and I can clearly feel the resonance of the drums and cymbals in the background. In my favorite R&B tracks, The melody is in good dynamics, and the low-frequency drumbeats are surging in a light but more comfortable way. In some music with highlighted vocals, I can feel the enhancement of vocal parts in the mid-tones, making the singer’s voice sound more vivid than in most open earbuds. And there’s also good soundstage reproduction for live performances.
While it has an open-ear design for the experience we had with such earbuds this year, we noticed that the peak volume of open-ear earbuds is higher than the ones in previous years, so you might not be able to hear your surroundings as well than before. So keep in mind, if you want to be safe while running on the street, we recommend turning the volume down a bit.
Other features
The HUAWEI FreeClip has the ability of sound leakage reduction, wind protection, and call noise reduction. While testing them out, they do perform well. Thanks to its enhancement in sound volume, it can easily deliver clear calls in noisy environments; And we also tested it for privacy issues, too.
Even when putting the volume at 70%, people besides me can barely hear what I was listening to, so if you were to talk to people over the phone, your privacy is better protected for sure.
Surprisingly, it supports touch control in three areas, either on the driver part, the bean part, or even the C-bridge. Honestly, I can’t figure out how they make that happen on the bridge, but it’s very good to have such a feature. Also, since the shape of the left and right is identical, you don’t need to worry about wearing them right or wrong, it will adjust them automatically.
The FreeClip also supports 8 hours of use on a full charge, 36 hours with the case, type-C quick charging, wireless charging, and IP54 water resistance. So the bonus features here just make it versatile as well.
Verdict
As I mentioned initially, we weren’t expecting such a product from HUAWEI, and even some advanced features others don’t have. The clip-on way of wearing earbuds is the best so far, and it does not put any pressure on your ears. Upon these features, the sound quality is also amazingly good. If you want to have both open-ear experiences, while still with good sound quality, this HUAWEI FreeClip is the best one. If you are interested in trying the new form out, just check it on Huawei Official here.
