The HUAWEI FreeClip 2 match surprisingly great sound quality with an open design

Open earbuds have taken the audio world by storm in recent years. Many major brands are launching products that promise to let you listen to music anytime, anywhere, while also staying aware of your surroundings. HUAWEI is already onto the second generation of its open earbuds, the FreeClip, and this new version feels more refined than any other open earbuds I’ve tried.

While some issues with open earbuds are unavoidable (such as the lack of noise canceling), HUAWEI has taken major strides when it comes to comfort, sound quality, and features. Does that make the FreeClip 2 earbuds worth the high asking price? Well, that depends on a few things, starting with your sense of fashion.

The design of the HUAWEI FreeClip 2 is unique but functional

The HUAWEI FreeClip 2 have a very alien design compared to most wireless earbuds. While wearing these earbuds, I had more than a few people come up to me asking to try them on. The reflective metal buds combined with the fabric C-bridge hook that wraps around your ear give these earbuds a very unique look that is sure to catch the attention of a few eyes. Whether or not these earbuds could truly replace earrings as a fashion statement is up for debate, but the FreeClip 2 certainly deliver a bold look.

Looks aside, the design of the HUAWEI FreeClip 2 makes these earbuds surprisingly comfortable to wear for hours on end. The C-bridge provides enough pressure to hold the earbuds in place while I move around, without ever becoming painful. That’s a tricky line to walk for this type of earbud design, but HUAWEI nails it, at least with the shape of my ears. The FreeClip 2 are 9% lighter and 11% smaller than the previous generation FreeClip. At only 5.1g each, it’s easy to forget you are wearing them.

The small size of the earbuds also leads to a very portable charging case. As someone who often has their phone, keys, and wallet all in their pants pocket, adding in a large earbud charging case is out of the question, so thankfully, the FreeClip 2 case is barely noticeable in my pockets. The charging case also has a nice grippy texture to it. I’ve dropped other earbuds on the floor more than I care to admit, but thanks to this grippy coating, I have yet to drop the FreeClip 2.

I often take my earbuds to the gym, and I live in a rainforest, so water resistance is a must-have feature for my earbuds. The FreeClip 2 pull through in this regard with an IP57 water resistance rating for the earbuds and an IP54 water resistance rating for the case. These earbuds also have excellent battery life, with 9 hours of playback time from the earbuds and up to 38 hours of playback time with the case. With the impressive durability and battery life, the FreeClip 2 will outlast most other wireless earbuds with typical use.

My favorite thing about the HUAWEI FreeClip 2

If there’s one thing that stands out to me about the HUAWEI FreeClip 2, it’s just how intuitive the earbuds are to use.

For example, you can use either earbud in your left or right ear. Once you place them on, the earbuds will automatically detect which ear they are in. No more looking for a tiny “L” or “R” symbol to know which earbud is which. You can even place either earbud in either side of the charging case, which solves a huge pain point I’ve experienced with nearly all other wireless earbuds.

Another small improvement that goes a long way is the fact that you can tap anywhere on these earbuds to activate the touch controls. With other wireless earbuds, you have to tap or pinch a specific location on the earbud to activate the controls. With the HUAWEI FreeClip 2 you can tap on the front, the back, or even the C-bridge hook to control music playback. The only function limited to a specific location on the earbuds is volume control, which requires an intuitive swipe up or down on the back of either earbud. In addition to tap controls, the earbuds also support gesture controls, so you can reject a call simply by shaking your head.

Other quality of life features include Bluetooth Multipoint to connect to your phone and laptop at the same time, and smart wear detection to automatically pause audio or switch the playback device when the earbuds are removed from your ears. All together, these quality of life features make the FreeClip 2 easy to integrate into my life, even without being connected to a HUAWEI ecosystem of devices.

The sound quality of the HUAWEI FreeClip 2 surprised me for this one reason

While open earbuds have a lot of perks for those who don’t like inserting ear tips down their ear canal, they typically have to make some sacrifices in sound quality, especially when it comes to bass response. With this in mind, the FreeClip 2 really surprised me, as they have much more powerful bass than other open earbuds I’ve tried. To be clear, you still aren’t getting as much low-frequency extension and sub-bass rumble as you get from traditional earbuds – but these are a big step up from other open earbuds I’ve tried.

When listening to my reference track “Get Lucky” by Daft Punk, the bassline is very noticeable and doesn’t fade away into the background like with most other open earbuds. As well, the earbuds have impressive detail and clarity across the mids and treble, as I can easily make out each instrument, and even background effects such as the delay on the vocals. A benefit of this style of earbud is an improved sense of immersion compared to in-ear style earbuds. With the FreeClip 2, I hear a good sense of width and depth, which leads to a feeling of sounds coming from all around me, rather than just in my head.

If you don’t like the way the HUAWEI FreeClip 2 sound out of the box, you can adjust the sound of the earbuds within the HUAWEI Audio app. There are three different EQ presets that amplify either the bass, mids, or treble, or you can dive into the 10-band custom equalizer.

Since the FreeClip 2 sit outside of your ear canal, the sound quality varies depending on how you have them positioned on your ear. Without a good fit, you’ll experience noticeably less bass, so make sure you try shifting the earbuds around to find the best position for listening. When you don’t have a good fit, bass is the first element to fade away, but you can try compensating for this using the app equalizer. That said, if you have very large or very small ears, you may want to steer clear of clip-on earbuds like this, as without an optimal fit, you won’t get the best listening experience.

Since the sound quality is so dependent on how the earbuds fit around your ears, I expect people will have vastly different opinions here. I can only speak for my own ears, and since these earbuds fit my ear shape well, I experienced pretty solid all-around sound quality.

The tradeoff with this design

If you like to hear everything going on around you, you’ll appreciate the open design of the FreeClip 2. On the other hand, there are some clear tradeoffs here. For one, there is no active noise cancellation, which means you won’t want to bring these earbuds into a very loud environment, such as on an airplane or train. Even in moderate noise environments, such as at the office, you’ll hear the sound of chatter around you interrupting your music.

On the flip side, if you are looking to hear what’s going on around you, the FreeClip 2 are an excellent pick. This clip on design leaves the ear canal completely open, so I find it easy to have a conversation while wearing the earbuds even with music playing at a quiet level. If you are the type of person who likes to have a backing track to their life, with constant background music playing while going about your day, the FreeClip 2 deliver that experience. It’s sort of like having a speaker that only you can hear, that you can take with you anywhere.

Should you buy the HUAWEI FreeClip 2?

The HUAWEI FreeClip 2 are expensive earbuds, but they are in the same price range as other popular clip-on earbuds, such as the Bose Ultra Open. Considering the plethora of features you get with the FreeClip 2, as well as pretty impressive sound quality for this design, the FreeClip 2 are a worthy contender.

As someone who typically listens to music while commuting on a noisy train or working in a loud office, I won’t be reaching for open earbuds as my daily driver anytime soon. That said, if you value hearing what’s going on around you, and you like the bold design of the FreeClip 2, you likely won’t regret buying them.