At the moment, the premium segment of TWS headsets has reached the ceiling of its technical capabilities, and now manufacturers are either trying to surprise the buyer with the unusual appearance of the device, or rely on its reliability and work on the friendliness of the interface. There is no need to prove the importance of the first component, because the more beautiful the product, the more chances it has to attract attention among the mass of competitors. But the user-friendly interface, trouble-free and uninterrupted operation of the device are those ephemeral parameters that one gets the impression of only after some time of operation. They are much more important than a pretty wrapper, but they are often neglected in quick reviews. After using HUAWEI FreeBuds Pro 2 for two weeks, I’m ready to talk about how the company managed to combine both an elegant appearance and a well-thought-out interface with cool technical characteristics, achieving an almost ultimate solution in the wireless headphone market.
Equipment
When buying a premium gadget, it is always interesting how the manufacturer beat the package and tried to attract the buyer to his brand. FreeBuds Pro 2 has a standard set, but the language will definitely not turn out to be poor. Inside the box, the user will be able to find 3 sets of ear pads (one medium-sized pair is already put on the headset emitters) and a full-size USB charging cable.
Appearance
- Format: fully wireless headphones (TWS), earplugs.
- Headphone dimensions: 29.1 x 21.8 x 23.7mm, 6.1g
- Case dimensions: 67.9×24.5×47.5 mm, 52 g.
- Protection: IP54.
Those familiar with HUAWEI FreeBuds Pro will say that there are no changes in the appearance of the case, and this is true. Why change something that works perfectly? Matte, slightly flattened compact tablet easily fits into the fifth pocket of jeans, feels good in the hands and does not collect fingerprints. The hinge does not sin with backlashes and has a powerful closer in extreme positions, being held open and not closing under the weight of the lid. On the bottom end there is a Type-C connector with a charge indicator, on the right side there is a pairing button, and on the back there is a glossy metal plate with the name of the brand and company Devialet, whose driver settings are designed to give the headset their signature clear sound.
The headset itself has undergone minor changes compared to the previous model. The FreeBuds Pro 2 has a solid leg, and the microphone holes have moved to the lowest end. In all other respects, it is quite difficult to find differences with an inexperienced eye. For the most part, they touched on the distribution of the center of gravity and transferring it to the teardrop-shaped part of the earpiece in order to improve ergonomics while wearing. Those to whom the previous model might have seemed voluminous in the ear will face the same in the second generation. For myself, I noted that I can spend hours with them, while not experiencing the slightest discomfort.
My earplugs didn’t fly out of my phone when I was on the phone and playing sports, so claims of redesigned weight distribution aren’t just marketing.
Control
- Compressions: single, double, triple, long.
- Touch control: up / down.
Almost all the manipulations are carried out on the headset itself, due to which the need to access the smartphone completely disappears. Squeezing the leg once stops or restarts the active track, and during an incoming call, accepts or ends the conversation. Double compression switches to the next track, triple to the previous one. A long squeeze around three seconds switches the noise reduction mode or activates the system’s voice assistant. Unlike the previous two manipulations, this gesture can be reassigned to another earpiece. Swiping the front of the earpiece up or down will raise or lower the volume accordingly. When connected to a smartphone, the volume is changed independently of the system volume.
Manipulating sound without having to access your smartphone makes life much easier, especially when the latter is not at hand. But it took some time to get used to the compression of the legs. The working area is not tactilely marked in any way, and blindly groping for the middle of the leg was not always as fast as we would like. During operation, a rather quiet, uninformative click occurs, which you do not immediately pay attention to, and, often, you try to carry out the previous action again. And although it takes only a couple of hours of practice to get used to, personally, in future moderations of the device, I would like the place for compression to be somehow designated.
Sound and microphone
- Codecs: LDAC, AAC, SBC.
- Driver: 11mm dynamic + flat diaphragm driver.
- Frequency range: 14Hz ~ 48KHz.
- Sensors: bone, accelerometer, gyroscope, infrared.
- Bluetooth: 5.2.
Featuring large 11mm dual-magnet drivers, HUAWEI FreeBuds Pro 2 delivers deep sound across the entire frequency range from 14Hz to 48kHz and high volume (30% more than the previous generation). And the collaboration with Devialet and the integrated proprietary SAM technology have had a significant impact on bass control, so that the mids and high frequencies are cleared of intermodulation impurities. Moreover, in the proprietary application, it is possible to customize the sound using the equalizer, or choose one of several already prepared presets for different musical genres.
In practice, the model really has a huge sound potential, which can be revealed to the fullest when used with brand devices that support the LDAC codec. But even when using AAC in my favorite compositions, I was able to feel the rich bass, and taste the middle, and enjoy the highs.
Four digital microphones made it possible to pick up speech quite clearly even near a noisy city road, but the overall volume seemed a bit insufficient to me. You can see an example of a voice recording in the video below.
autonomy
- Headphones: 55 mAh.
- Charging case: 580 mAh.
- Playtime (per charge): 6.5 hours (without noise reduction), 4 hours (with noise reduction).
- Playtime (with charging case): 30 hours (without noise reduction), 18 hours (with noise reduction).
- Wireless charging: Qi standard (2W).
The 55 mAh battery in the headset is capable of providing them with 4 hours of music listening with active noise cancellation (ANC) and 6.5 hours without it. In practice, I got even more – about five and a half hours with ANC. In total, together with the case, the headset can work up to 30 hours, and the case is charged in 2 hours from the wire.
Branded application
The proprietary AI Life application, which acts as a hub for all HUAWEI smart home devices, updates the firmware and fine-tunes the FreeBuds Pro 2 headset. The main and only page displays detailed information about the charge level of the headphones and the case. Below is a choice of noise reduction mode and its type (dynamic, comfort, normal or ultra). At the end of the page, additional settings are presented in the form of an equalizer, checking the fit of the headphones to your ear, customizing controls and searching for headphones using the built-in GPS.
The noise reduction modes are noticeably different from each other, and, for example, the “Ultra” mode cuts off offloading noise much more aggressively than the others. Dynamic mode analyzes the surrounding space and adapts to the situation. His work in windy weather is especially noticeable. Two transparency modes: normal and speech enhancement work flawlessly.
Review after two weeks of use
So what’s the bottom line? For 14 days, the headset acted as my inseparable companion everywhere and there were no situations when it failed or behaved unreliably. And taking into account the fact that I use two devices at the same time (a tablet and a smartphone), it was doubly interesting to test the quality of the implementation of the connection to two devices that do not belong to the brand family. HUAWEI FreeBuds Pro 2 did not disappoint here either.
And although the appearance of the headphones has not changed globally, it still looks both recognizable and unique, concise and stylish. Ergonomics for my ear came just right, and for many hours of work there was no discomfort. The company did not forget about the sound with microphones – rich sound throughout the entire frequency range and clear voice transmission with good noise reduction available. In the end, we get, in my opinion, an uncontested option in terms of ease of use and sound quality for 13,000 rubles.
pros
- Compact case with a matte finish.
- Refined ergonomics of earphones.
- Bass-rich, clear sound.
- The microphones work well in a quiet room and on a noisy street.
- Simultaneous connection to two devices.
- Long autonomy for 6 hours of work.
- Cross platform application.
Minuses
- Hardly perceptible tactile compression of the earpiece legs.
controversial points
- Marked glossy coating of headphones.
Final grade: 9 out of 10.
Source: Trash Box
Donald-43Westbrook, a distinguished contributor at worldstockmarket, is celebrated for his exceptional prowess in article writing. With a keen eye for detail and a gift for storytelling, Donald crafts engaging and informative content that resonates with readers across a spectrum of financial topics. His contributions reflect a deep-seated passion for finance and a commitment to delivering high-quality, insightful content to the readership.
