Verdict
The Huawei FreeClip offers a fresh take on open capitulum headphones but ultimately does n’t entirely nail things on the design and sound front for the money they be .
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
The Huawei FreeClip construe Huawei offer an open auricle true wireless earbud all while turn its experimental figure muscular tissue to boost its air conduction earphone above the competition .
Huawei is n’t a party that ’s afraid to try out . Case in point theHuawei Watch Budsand theFreeBuds Lipstick . Sometimes it mold , sometimes it ’s more gimmicky than innovative .
The intent with the FreeClip is to fork out speech sound safely to ear without blocking them up , and it permit you tinker with the sound profile too . They also offer up smart gesture controls and battery living that wo n’t pull up stakes you short if you ’re using them on a long commute or out for a foot race near meddlesome route .
Has Huawei come up with something truly ground - break ? Here are my idea about Huawei ’s intriguing true wireless buds .
Availability
The Huawei FreeClip is going on sale in the UK and Europe from late December and will be priced at £ 179.99 / € 199 .
To put that into context with other air conductivity - style truly wireless earbuds , the Shokz OpenFit cost £ 180 / $ 180 and is its clear-cut rival . The JBL Soundgear Sense cost £ 129.99 , while theSivga S01is cheaper at £ 69.90 / $ 69.90 .
Design
I ’ve tested my share of open - ear melodic phrase conductivity headphone and the FreeClip looks like nothing I ’ve ever put in my ear before . They ’re a mash - up of Samsung’sGalaxy Buds Liveand those fiddling alloy jump jack toys .
Huawei calls them time - on earbuds , and they come in either black or empurpled ceramic - dash shades , sitting inside a charging case with a design inspired by seashell , though I ’d describe it as more of a little pebble .
There are no annex bakshis or ear tips for the FreeClip , which rather feature three key components to keep them in place . There ’s the Acoustic Ball , where the main audio architecture is housed and sits in front of the concha part of your ear . That ’s sequester to a flexible ‘ C Bridge Design ’ , which connects the ball to the quilt bean , which sit clipped onto the outside of your ear .
Huawei has kept these buds super light at about 5.7 gramme each , light than candid pinna earbuds such as the Shokz OpenFit . Like theOpenFit , the mannequin component slightly works against the intended nature of how the FreeClip sit down in the ear . I ’d say these bud cling as opposed to clamp , and always felt a touch fiddly to wear .
I ’ve used them while sit down at my desk , travelling on trains , walk to the workshop , make for out ( indoors and outdoors ) and have completed a speedy 5 special K subspecies with them . For most of these scenario , they were comfortable and did n’t budge . Though Huawei has track them with anIP54 H2O rating , I found that on sweatier indoor workout , one of the bud would slide about . It did n’t fall out , but it understandably did n’t care the extra sweat .
They stayed put on outdoor streak , but on a few occasions when I ’ve attempt to use the onboard gesture mastery , I find it generally impossible to do so and actually knocked the buds out of my pinna . It ’s another problem if you ’re wearing them with glasses or lid because these bud rest , as oppose to slotting in securely to your ears , and compete for distance is a problem .
The gesture controls are discreetly built into the middle section of the bud where you’re able to double and triplex tap to skip tracks , play and pause audio and result or cease calls . Those controls can be assigned to sour otherwise from the AI Life fellow smartphone app .
I found the gesture controls challenging to expend even when sitting down . find the gratifying bit was frustrating and they plainly did n’t work well enough on most occasions .
Features
There are dual mike carry in alongside Huawei ’s hint stochasticity cancellation blueprint to deliver clear calls , even when worn for exercise . I ’d say the most redeeming timber is that the buds are tawdry – not of necessity crystal clear – but usable for hands - loose calls .
Huawei does include some skillful extra here . you may portion out audio frequency with another dyad of Huawei earbuds , as long as you ’re doing that from a Huawei smartphone or tablet . There ’s a ‘ Find My ’ headphone modality inside of the Huawei AI Life app and there ’s Bluetooth multi - point sharing if you need to have them match to two devices to apace switch between the two if needed .
In term of battery life-time , Huawei claims you should get up to 8 hours of listening sentence or 5.5 hour of call prison term off a single charge . That increase to 36 hours of listening prison term or 22 hours of representative calls . For comparison , the Huawei FreeBuds Pro 3 offers from 4.5 - 6.5 hours reckon on whether you use ANC or not .
You do n’t get ANC here of course and I found that after listening for over an time of day ’s listen the battery dropped by 10 % . That was while using the default effect EQ fashion .
With other mode I regain battery drop was around 15 % , so the stamp battery life overall feels solid . There is a fast - lodge mode here that provides three hours of play time from a 10 - minute charge , and they ’ll full charge in just 40 minutes . you’re able to also drop that charging pillow slip onto QI - certify wireless charger for a more commodious way to power them up .
Sound Quality
The FreeClip ’s open - pinna advance lets you heed to your sounds without completely blocking your ears , so you could still be in line with your environment .
Huawei does that by dropping the speakers in front of your ears and uses a duple magnetised dynamical driver to fork up the sort of punchy bass most bone conductivity earphone run to lack . They ’re build to leak out less sound than other opened auricle headphones as well , so your sound bide private .
They can be copulate them to devices over Bluetooth , and place up with Huawei ’s comrade AI Life app ( iOS and Android ) allows you to tweak gesture controls and accession the four EQ modes to customise sound . Those are Standard , Bass Boost , Voices , and Treble boost . What I ’d say though is despite those added EQ modes the inherent strait you get from the FreeClip is n’t particularly stellar , even for an open ear .
I apply the Songs To Test Headphones playlist on Spotify to put the FreeClip to the test across a range of genres . In Standard mode , in track like Kate Bush ’s run Up That Hill the bass part felt muddy , the midrange has a boxlike calibre to it and trebles are little on the harsh side .
I interchange to the Bass Boost EQ mode to take heed to bass - heavy tracks like Bonobo ’s Rosewood and again the basso response does n’t palpate especially memorable . In the soprano rise mode caterpillar tread like Wasting My Young Years by London Grammar and Traci Chapman ’s Talkin Bout a Revolution , the FreeClip does elevate the powerful lead story vocal and lend them to the cutting edge , but everything outside of that just sounds hunky-dory .
The overt ear experience itself is good overall , both indoors and outdoors and certainly isolates sound recording well than ivory conduction earphone , but if you ’ve got them up loud , they tend to fight more against ambient sound compared to bone conduction headphones . They ’re not tremendously unfit at leak sound either , so that ’s in force news for masses sitting around you .
Huawei forebode windproof voice technology to verify those gust of wind do n’t interfere with your audio . I ’ve used them in gently tedious conditions , and they ’ve performed well , but I ’d be pertain with stronger winds that light phase broker may become an emergence in terms of offer a secure burst .
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Should you buy it?
You wo n’t find another set of open capitulum earbuds that expect like the Huawei FreeClip , so if you care something different , these fit the bill .
The Huawei FreeClip just does n’t shine in all the fundamental departments to make them stand out as the best overt ear true wireless available .
Final Thoughts
I applaud Huawei for doing something unlike with the FreeClip . They ’re a typical set of buds that are comfortable to wear , with customisable sound and strong battery life story too .
There are parts I care . They ’re nice and light , they finger comfortable to wear and look great ( though I ’d like some more adventuresome colours ) . I ’m not feel entirely win over by the intention from a fit stage of view and the sound and controls just do n’t feel up to grave .
I put the Shokz OpenFit back on , which are clearly the buds the FreeClip are draw a bead on at . They ’re by no mean value perfect in terms of design and I ’ve had connectivity issues since I first tested them , but they pitch better sound quality . TheJBL Soundgear Senseand the Sivga SO1 also sound more realised and are both less expensive .
There ’s the crux of an beguiling set of loose earbuds here , but there are too many aspects I ’m not convinced by , which make them true wireless I ca n’t wholeheartedly recommend .
Trusted Score
How we test
We test every lot of headphone we review thoroughly over an extended period of clip . We use diligence received tests to liken features right . We ’ll always narrate you what we happen . We never , ever , bear money to look back a Cartesian product .
come up out more about how we test in ourethics policy .
FAQs
According Huawei , each FreeClip weigh about 5.7 g for a lightweight feel when curtail to the head .
