Huawei FreeBuds Pro 4 in test

The new Huawei Freebuds Pro 4 deliver powerful sound and improved ANC for use in noisy environments. Our testing shows how good these in-ear headphones really are.

True wireless headphones are compact and fit comfortably in your pocket. In terms of preservation and good sound, they are hardly inferior to their big-headed counterparts. The Huawei FreeBuds Pro 4 are an impressive example of this. The previous model was already impressive in testing and one of the best in-ears with ANC. In the fourth generation, Huawei has once again worked on Active Noise Canceling (ANC) and sound. In this test we show whether the effort was successful or not.

Visually, very little has changed with the earphones and case. Huawei’s FreeBuds Pro 4 once again come in a compact and oval charging case with rounded edges. There’s a button on the side to start pairing the headphones. Both inner ears are slightly larger due to their rod shape. The case has a satin finish with a shiny logo area.

The closed design of the earbuds also features a glossy surface, which makes fingerprints easily visible. Practical: A touch surface and buttons are integrated into the rod of each earphone. The FreeBuds Pro 4 looks beautiful and attractive with its high-quality workmanship. They are also protected against splashes of water as per IP54 standard.

A new addition to the color selection is black in the piano look. The golden embellishments on the charging case and earphones also give the FreeBuds Pro 4 an elegant look. There are thin line patterns on the headphones, which, according to Huawei, are reminiscent of the strings of a violin or harp. The second color is white with gold elements and then mint green.

The FreeBuds Pro 4 sit securely and comfortably in your ear. Even after wearing them for a long time, they hardly bother the wearer. What’s new is that in addition to the silicone attachments in four sizes, three foam attachments are now also included.

The FreeBuds Pro 4 impresses with its sound. They deliver a crystal-clear and full sound with highs, mids and lows perfectly coordinated. The bass is present without being overly dominant. The wide sound spectrum ensures a great listening experience, be it pop, rock or classical. There’s also plenty available for fans of bass-heavy genres like hip-hop, trap, dubstep or techno. People who like to listen to acoustic or classical music will enjoy the great and warm sound. Instruments, but also voices and vocals sound accurate and clear, making the FreeBuds a good choice for podcasts, movies and series.

Provided you have good reception, the FreeBuds Pro 4 are also good for making calls. Your own voice can be heard clearly – but sometimes sounds a little shrill. The integrated microphone also uses a bone sound sensor to enhance speech intelligibility.

Adaptive active noise cancellation (ANC) is enabled by default and can be switched to transparency mode if needed or turned off completely using gestures or in the app. ANC filters out external noise very effectively, so that engine noise on a plane or the hum of an extractor hood while cooking is hardly noticeable. This also applies to high wind noise.

But you are not completely isolated; Particularly high frequencies find their way into the wearer’s ears. This applies, for example, to voice announcements and to people in the immediate vicinity on the phone. For example, if you listen to a podcast on an airplane, the announcements made by the stewardess can be quite annoying. This has the advantage that you always pay attention when an announcement is made. The FreeBuds might have benefited from a little more separation.

The noise cancellation on the microphone is impressive. In testing, we made a phone call in a closed room with Led Zeppelin music over 100 dB louder. The person we were talking to didn’t hear anything about the music, only that our voices sounded a little muffled. Wind noise is also effectively filtered.

Like its predecessor, the FreeBuds Pro 4 offer both a planar magnetic and a dynamic 11mm driver for good sound. With a frequency of 14 Hz to 48 kHz, the drivers cover a wide sound spectrum. A position sensor is also included to detect when you take the headphones out of your ears. In this situation, playback stops automatically. This feature can also be disabled through the app.

The FreeBuds support Bluetooth 5.2 and let you connect to two devices at the same time. Like their predecessor, they also support SBC and AAC as well as LDAC codecs, which enables high quality music transmission via Bluetooth. Anyone who uses a new Huawei smartphone like the Mate X6 can use the new in-house standard L2HC 4.0. With 24 bits at 48 kHz, it provides nearly loss-free transmission at 2.3 MB/s. However, they at least have some of this high-end feature. But we didn’t want to leave it undiscovered.

The FreeBuds are easy to use and require no additional apps. We still recommend it because of its advanced features and setting options, including software updates. Due to the sanctions against Huawei, as an Android user you will be at a disadvantage in not being able to use the app huawei oh life Must be installed from some other source. Because you can’t find it in the Play Store – but you can in the Apple App Store.

To pair, simply open the lid of the charging case and press and hold the side button until the LED flashes. There is a contact surface on both earphones that you can squeeze. Pressing it once starts or pauses playback, pressing it twice skips to the next track, pressing it three times plays the current song from the beginning. If you press and hold the touch surfaces longer, you activate transparency mode or turn off active noise cancellation (ANC). However, the areas are quite small, which is why Huawei now also offers a tap function on the earbuds. However, this is different: double tapping pauses playback, triple tapping skips to the next song. You can adjust the occupancy in the app.

By gently wiping the contact surface in the bridge up or down with your finger the volume increases or decreases. The app also offers many customization options. Different sound profiles can be selected, for example for live music, vocals, strong bass or clear highs. Another useful function is the “key finder” for headphones: when pressing a button, a loud sound reveals the location of the earphones. The app also allows you to update the firmware so that the FreeBuds are always up to date.

Huawei has refined battery life: the FreeBuds Pro 4 now last up to 7 hours – an hour more than its predecessor. It’s a good value, but not too long either. The charging case provides enough power for approximately 30 hours of playback time on four charges. Charging is only possible via USB-C cable.

RRP is 199 eurosAt the time of launch in the market, Huawei is offering a 30 euro voucherThis is the top in-year price only 169 eurosTo do this, you need to log in with your Huawei ID, add the voucher and then redeem it in the shopping cart.

The Huawei FreeBuds Pro 4 deliver excellent sound, a wide acoustic stage and strong active noise cancellation (ANC) that works reliably in most environments. What should be highlighted are the practical controls directly on the earphones, which allow you to adjust the title and volume. Telephone calls are efficient and work reliably in extremely fast environments. The design also impresses with high-quality workmanship and new foam attachments for greater comfort.

Despite the many strengths, there are also minor weaknesses: battery life of up to 7 hours is solid, but could be more. Glossy surfaces are susceptible to fingerprints. Android users will also have to install the app manually. In terms of price, the FreeBuds Pro 4 are at a comparable level to models from Apple, Google or Bose, but it also offers excellent sound quality and features. In our opinion, they are one of the best in-ear headphones with ANC on the market.

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