Huawei is attacking Bose, Sony or Sennheiser and wants to make a name for itself in the FreeBuds Studio mobile phone market. But what is a new hat worth 300 euros worth of everyday life? We tested you for Huawei FreeBuds Studio.
Huawei FreeBuds Studio – Release date and price
Huawei FreeBuds Studio is currently available for € 299. This puts the ANC’s first Bluetooth headset at the highest price in the consumer audio market.
The price is as high as references like the Sony WH-1000XM3, Bose 700 or Sennheiser Momentum III, which cost around 400 euros when it was launched. You will be able to purchase Huawei FreeBuds Studio gold or black from November 9th.
I found Huawei FreeBuds Studio in …
… Accurate and well-placed sound
On the right, the deep bus illuminates my thoughts. Above is an electric guitar with a high magic. A little deeper in my head, I heard a violin playing. I found goosebumps, and then the drums shouted at the beginning: “Life is a fall. We are one in the river. One again after the fall.”
Huawei FreeBuds Studio directly illuminates my heart with the sound of “Aerials” Down. Any instrument in this artist can be clearly heard, even at the beginning of the “steps” under the violin, which can only be heard with good loudspeakers.
Huawei uses 40mm dynamic drivers which do their job well and provide a balanced and very clean sound experience. At the same time, the bus does not go too hard, does not aggressively, or hides the beautiful composition of studio footprints, as is the case with many other existing phones.
… Her strict independence
It is the fourth day I have used the new Huawei mobile phones (from November 6, 2020), I do not even need to charge the battery, and my iPhone shows that it still has a quarter of battery life. At that point, headphones, which are still on the ANC, were used for group meetings, a crazy CNN election night, and at least five hours of music.
I am proud of my independence and look forward to my loyal friend, Sony WH-1000XM3, who can no longer compete with that performance a year later. Huawei itself is talking about up to 20 hours of independence and I hope to be able to confirm this value in the coming days.
Huawei FreeBuds Studio comes with touch control on your right ear / © kwgeek
… She wore comfort
The wearable comfort of Huawei FreeBuds Studio is the best balanced non-bass sound. The earphones are attached to the top of the head, and have very soft and delicate ear cups, which are well protected and very pliable.
Excitedly after a few seconds, I forgot that I was wearing headphones and only the beautiful sound was left. If I make a direct comparison with Sony’s cell phones, I find that even after wearing them for a long time, the speaker did not hurt me.
But I read other online tests, where a male tester pointed out the exact opposite: painful hearing and direct contact in the ear case. Personally, Huawei FreeBuds Studio is one of the most comfortable mobile phones I have enjoyed experimenting with for a long time.
… The effective voice of the ANC
Let’s come to a very important point that Huawei has to satisfy the price: to reduce active noise. Huawei has incorporated Intelligent Dynamic Active Noise Cancellation technology into FreeBuds Pro and I have also tested it on its speakers.
This means that mobile phones automatically control the ANC force depending on the environment. Modern Huawei users or app users can set the ANC format manually. However, the direct order is automatically set.
I do not see any problem, but it is effective. When working from home, in particular, noise reduction should not be triggered as strongly as when traveling on public transport or office with noisy friends.
In addition to the black type, you can also buy gold and white type. / © Huawei
Reducing active noise filters out loud sounds, such as typing on a computer, and does not put pressure on the ear canal. When I listen to music in the workplace, it is central to my head above all noise, which is a great feeling.
However, the sounds are not completely filtered, which makes the process of integrated efficiency, which is to say the amplification of loudspeakers to feel the noise of the atmosphere, almost loud. But as I said, I only tested the speakers in a quiet place and not in a public place. Here, the efficient model can be very effective. During the days of testing, I did not feel the train passing by my window.
… detection of the port
What also worked well in my experiment was the direct detection of the port. Headphones stop playing when I unplug and continue playing as soon as I delay. After about ten minutes, the speakers also turn off automatically, so there will be no surprise in the morning if you do not turn off Freebuds Studio after work.
I found Huawei FreeBuds Studio less …
… Absence of codec aptX
FreeBuds Studio comes with Bluetooth 5.2 and provides AAC, SBC and L2HC audio codecs. Unfortunately, the aptX level is missing.
But Huawei’s L2HC codec transfer rate is higher than Qualcomm’s aptX. On the other hand, you can only benefit if you use a Huawei smartphone with EMUI 11, such as the current Huawei P40, P40 Pro and Mate 40 Pro.
… Lack of companion app for iOS
In addition to the lack of Hauwei codec support, as an Apple user I also miss the Huawei AI Life App for iPhone, which I can use with the Mate 40 Pro, for example, to update my mobile phone software ‘strengthen the ANC. I said earlier when testing FreeBuds Pro that there must be an iOS app. But I still can’t find it in the app store.
I was particularly attracted to the soft cotton of Huawei FreeBuds Studio / © kwgeek
Conclusion
With Huawei FreeBuds Studio, the Chinese company has successfully entered the market for its high-end Bluetooth headphones with the ANC. The independence is bigger than the previous Sony WH-1000XM3. And if the battery runs out, cell phones can be charged faster.
My ears did not touch the inside of the covered ear; At the same time, the cotton is very soft after a few minutes and I only feel the best sound in my head.
Activating noise reduction works reliably. Android smartphone users will be able to update the speaker and manually adjust the ANC. IPhone users will not be able to, which is a shame. But Huawei had a good idea of putting the ANC button directly on the left ear.
In addition, touch control works in the same sense as Sony’s cell phones. All in all, you will find excellent speakers worth the great battery life. Well done, Huawei! It is the first major attempt.
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