The HUAWEI FreeBuds Pro 5 take on Apple and Sony's finest

Just over a year after the FreeBuds Pro 4, HUAWEI has unveiled its latest flagship earbuds, the FreeBuds Pro 5 ($239.99 at Amazon). As the name suggests, these offer a wide range of flagship features to keep you from twiddling your thumbs. I’ve had the pleasure of reviewing HUAWEI buds before, but the FreeBuds Pro 5 stand out due to their superior battery life, active noise cancelation, and sound quality. Unlike similar installments from Apple and Sony, HUAWEI’s latest buds don’t cost an arm and a leg. Still, that reduced price comes with some quirks.

AirPods styling without the price tag

If you’re acquainted with earbuds (or modern audio technology in general), the FreeBuds Pro 5 will look familiar. Their lollipop-style stem design is an almost-exact replica of the industry-leading Apple AirPods Pro 3. However, this isn’t a bad thing, as it’s a popular shape that fits most people’s ears well. Indeed, HUAWEI claims to have analyzed over 10,000 ear samples to establish the ideal fit, which makes sense — the earbuds are undoubtedly comfortable, even over long periods. They’re IP57-rated for peace of mind during workouts, and the case is IP54 water- and dust-resistant.

To add a touch of chic, the HUAWEI FreeBuds Pro 5 feature diamond-cut metallic detailing on the exterior housing. They also ship in four attractive colorways: Sand (our review unit), White, Gray, and Blue. The charging cases for the first three are dressed with a smooth ecimer film coating, while the Blue variant features a fine-grain vegan leather surface. Overall, it feels nice in the hand, although it does attract fingerprints. HUAWEI claims its latest case design is 5.5% smaller than the FreeBuds Pro 4’s, which is ideal for smaller pockets. However, the case’s four-color indicator ring is most enticing. This displays the earbuds’ battery and pairing status in real-time, so you don’t need to pull out your smartphone.

Commuters need battery life they can rely on, and the HUAWEI FreeBuds Pro 5 deliver in spades. Our sister site, SoundGuys, measured nine hours and eight minutes of continuous listening time with ANC enabled. This aligns closely with my experience during the review period, and is several hours longer than the industry average. With the charging case, you can expect up to 38 hours of playtime. Once depleted, you can recharge the buds atop a Qi wireless charging mat or via USB-C.

Under the hood is a Dual-Drive Acoustic System that combines a low-frequency dynamic driver and a high-frequency micro planar diaphragm unit. HUAWEI claims this provides a 45% reduction in low-frequency distortion and a 100% improvement in high-frequency performance compared to the FreeBuds Pro 4. In my testing, the buds sound very good, with clear-sounding vocals, guitars, and drums. The tuning is slightly darker than I would usually like, largely due to the strong bass output, but I rarely struggled to hear finer auditory details. Similarly, I didn’t notice any distortion during the review period.

All the bells and whistles

True as it always is, you’ll need to download the HUAWEI Audio Connect companion app to get the most out of these buds. This unlocks a wide range of flagship features, including equalization, spatial audio, and head gestures. The former features four presets: Balanced, Voice, Bass, and Classical. However, there are also scenario-specific modes with tunings designed to replicate films, podcasts, games, and “impact”, as well as Adaptive EQ for automatic on-the-go adjustments. If none of these options suit you, you can refine your listening using the integrated 10-band custom EQ. This features +/-6dB per band, ranging from 60Hz to 16kHz, although profiles cannot be manually renamed.

Connectivity-wise, the earbuds support Bluetooth 6.0 with Multipoint and the SBC, AAC, LDAC, and L2HC 4.0 codecs. The last is HUAWEI’s pride and joy, reportedly offering up to 2.3Mbps and 48kHz/24-bit wireless audio streaming. However, this feature requires a recent HUAWEI smartphone, such as the Pura 80 or Mate X6/X7 series running EMUI 15.0 or later. Similarly, most people won’t notice the difference in audio quality without lossless file formats and a suitably quiet listening environment. Nevertheless, you can tell the earbuds to prioritize connection or sound quality, depending on your surroundings. Likewise, the buds support dynamic latency for seamless gaming experiences.

Provided you don’t suffer whiplash, you can answer or decline incoming calls by nodding or shaking your head. Otherwise, the earbuds support assignable single, double, and triple-pinch gestures on the earbud stems, and you can press and hold the top of the stem to wake the voice assistant. Smart wear detection pauses and resumes audio playback when the buds are removed and replaced, and adaptive volume automatically adjusts the listening volume based on your surroundings. Handily, the earbuds support conversation awareness, so they’ll automatically pause your music when you start speaking to the shop assistant. You can even enable noise canceling with one earbud, if that’s your thing.

Perhaps most importantly, the HUAWEI FreeBuds Pro 5 feature smart charging. This reduces premature battery degradation by learning your usage routine and adjusting the charging limit accordingly. Other nice-to-haves include an ear tip fit test, Find Device, Ear Tip audio settings, and charging case tones. The last is a nice perk, with 18 unique sounds to choose from for when you open the case. Among other things, the HUAWEI Audio Connect companion app (Android/iOS) is required to install the most up-to-date firmware updates.

HUAWEI noise?

The HUAWEI FreeBuds Pro 5 employ powerful noise cancelation to quieten your commute to work. SoundGuys found that, set to Ultra, the earbuds block out most environmental sounds by an average of 82%. That’s comparable with some of the best noise canceling earbuds on the market and a significant improvement over their predecessor. However, even without it, the buds alone make most sounds 57% quieter with passive isolation, which is pretty decent. During the review, I could boil a nearby kettle and enable ANC to all but eradicate it from my hearing — it’s that good.

Bear in mind, though, that the FreeBuds Pro 5’s Ultra option has a louder noise floor than less aggressive settings. Likewise, it demonstrates a listening experience more akin to sitting inside a vacuum. If you find either of these settings uncomfortable, you can choose from the General, Cosy, or Smart dual-core options. The last automatically adjusts noise cancellation based on your surroundings. Each of these uses HUAWEI’s Dual-Engine AI Noise Cancellation technology, which it claims is the world’s first dual-drive ANC system that uses a dynamic driver and a microplanar diaphragm to cancel sound. Jargon aside, there are plenty of options to listen to music comfortably, regardless of your surroundings.

One of the most talked-about features of the HUAWEI FreeBuds Pro 4 was their in-call microphone quality. My colleague Bogdan Petrovan recorded himself speaking while vacuuming, and the earbuds successfully cancelled the noise while retaining his voice. I tried to replicate this experiment using the FreeBuds Pro 5, but I didn’t quite achieve the same results. While the AI noise processing and dual-driver architecture handle drones reasonably well, the microphones pick up popping sounds and passing conversations. Otherwise, my voice sounded clear enough during calls, and the earbuds support wideband 16kHz for improved quality.

One final notable feature is that you can use the earbuds to record audio outside of phone calls. For example, you can enable Bluetooth audio recording for voice notes and videos. This is useful if you have a smartphone with a low-quality microphone or want to record audio from a wearer’s perspective. I didn’t get much use out of it, but I can see the appeal if you are a busy content creator needing higher-quality audio on the fly.

Two steps forward, one step back

It should come as no surprise that HUAWEI has earned its place among the best earbud manufacturers. After all, the FreeBuds Pro lineup has remained consistent since 2020. Nevertheless, the FreeBuds Pro 5 are not without fault. For starters, they no longer include memory-foam ear tips out of the box. This was a major upgrade that the FreeBuds Pro 4 enjoyed over the Pro 3. Now, HUAWEI only bundles the four silicone variants (XS-L). This feels like a huge misstep, particularly for those allergic to silicone or wanting superior isolation.

While HUAWEI is keen to advertise its superior L2HC 4.0 codec, it has made no mention of integrating Bluetooth Low Energy (LE). Provided the earbuds house the correct chip, this could be launched via a future firmware update. However, without it, the FreeBuds Pro 5 cannot support the LC3 codec. This offers far greater benefits for users’ listening habits, providing high-quality audio with minimal latency and battery usage. It also enables Auracast connectivity, which unlocks audio streaming with virtually unlimited third-party devices. At present, the earbuds risk becoming outdated before their prime.

Transparency mode has become an essential tool for TWS earbuds and over-ear headphones. After all, how else are you supposed to cross a busy road safely or hear the checkout clerk if ANC is cutting the noise? The HUAWEI FreeBuds Pro 5 support transparency mode, but it just isn’t as clear-sounding as I’d have hoped. In particular, I find it is less capable of picking up faraway sounds. When it redirects sound to the ear, high-frequency artifacts can sound piercing. For example, rubbing my fingers together created a sensory reaction similar to scratching a chalkboard. I also found it made my tinnitus sound momentarily worse, which was unexpected. If you’re sensitive to high-frequency sounds, I would recommend skipping this feature.

Finally, the earbud stems are shorter than those of other models I’m used to. Whether this is a me-problem or not, I find it difficult to locate the pinch sensor, often fingering around too far north of where I’m supposed to. Once found, it takes a significant amount of force to activate the intended touch gesture, which can dislodge the buds and compromise the seal. I suspect this is to mitigate accidental button prompts. However, I feel HUAWEI may have gone a little overboard this time around, as the controls feel clunkier than they should.

HUAWEI FreeBuds Pro 5 review verdict: Should you buy them?

If you want the best Bluetooth features for less than rival brands, the HUAWEI FreeBuds Pro 5 are an excellent option. They’re comfortable for long periods, have above-average battery life, and feature a default sound quality most listeners will enjoy. The design doesn’t reinvent the wheel; instead, it builds upon previous successes and a broader understanding that the AirPods-style build just works. They weigh less than their predecessor and should be comfortable for those with smaller ear canals.

Active noise cancelation is the FreeBuds Pro 5’s bread and butter, so they’re a compelling choice for city dwellers. Just be mindful of that pesky transparency mode and ensure you conduct a tip fit test for the best results. Athletes can use the earbuds too, but they’ll be less secure in-ear than dedicated workout buds that use stabilizing ear fins, hooks, or wings. Still, they’re robust, feature-packed, and at €199 in Europe and $239 in the US (with regular sales hitting closer to $220), less expensive than Apple, Sony, and Bose alternatives.