HUAWEI FreeBuds 5 features a breathable, open-fit design, for enhanced comfort and standout noise cancellation, an ultra-mag dynamic driver to boost the quality. These earbuds are meant to dazzle and bring melody brimming to the surface, with mesmerizing curves and mind-blowing capabilities.
Three color versions will be sold on the Polish market: white, silver and the most interesting – coral.
The new FreeBuds are the successors of the Model 4 . Fives have a completely different design of headphones and cases. In addition, they are Hi-Res Audio Wireless certified, which means that they support an audio stream of up to 990 kbps (LDAC codec).
Design
The design of the new FreeBuds may be very appealing, but it is undoubtedly a crazy and bold project. The designers reportedly took inspiration from the mathematical curvatures of Prince Rupert’s drop (you can find them on Wikipedia). The headphones flow smoothly from our ears and resemble large women’s earrings or clips. Congratulations are due for the fact that Huawei did not copy rivals when designing Fridays. The Samsung headphones (Buds Live) had a similar design, but they were placed in our ears completely differently. The disadvantage of such somewhat bizarre constructions is that they do not block the ear canal well. Thanks to this, they are more comfortable, you can use them longer, but this design supports the ANC function less. During training, such headphones simply start to fall out of our ears after some time.
Thanks to IPX4 we can use Friday on rainy days or during training. The headphones are also dust resistant. The FreeBuds come complete with special rubber bands that can be pulled over the headphones. They are very thin and unfortunately tear easily.
Very nice is the new case, which is shaped like an egg and is not like other TWS boxes. The case can be charged via USB-C or wirelessly.
Sound quality and ANC
FreeBuds 5 features Open-fit ANC 3.0 active noise cancellation. Each earphone has 3 microphones, two of which detect ambient noise and one that detects sounds entering the ear. Unfortunately, the design almost does not isolate us from the environment, so the ANC does not work as effectively as in the case of other models. Active noise reduction is available in three modes: dynamic, cozy and general.
Fridays serve a range of 16,000 to 20,000. hertz. The bass is nice, deep, but not as strong as with JBL or Jabra headphones . FreeBuds offer a lot of space and even more demanding music lovers should be satisfied.
On Fridays, there is no ambient sound amplification mode, which prevents us from listening to announcements at the airport or information announced on the subway. HearThrough has become standard at this price, so the lack of this mode is a surprise.
The latest Huawei headphones support the following codecs: LDAC HD, AAC, SBC, L2HC2.0, LC3.
App and gestures
When buying Fridays, it is recommended to install the HUAWEI AI Life application on our smartphone . Thanks to this, we will be able to update their software and configure gestures. Users of iPhones and Huawei smartphones will easily install this application. Unfortunately, the app is not available in the Google Play Store . The Huawei Health app for watches has also disappeared from this store. These programs must now be installed directly from Huawei servers .
In the app, you can also adjust the ANC, adjust the sound characteristics, search for headphones by beep, and check the battery level. The application is clear and convenient to use. Fives can be connected to two devices at the same time.
Battery
The FreeBuds 5 battery lasts for 5 hours without ANC or 3.5 hours with ANC on. These are not record results, but fortunately, 5 minutes of charging are enough to listen to music for the next two hours. It takes just over 20 minutes to fully charge the headphones in the case.
The case provides up to 30 hours of music and voice calls without ANC, or 20 hours with noise canceling on. It takes 40 minutes of cable charging to fully charge the case. There is also the option of wireless charging, but in this case the process takes 4 hours.
Summary
FreeBuds 5 are distinguished primarily by their bold design, which determines that they are very nice and comfortable headphones, but unfortunately they do not suppress ambient noise well. These are the type of “daily” headphones that provide users with the comfort of long-term use. The battery life could be slightly longer, although it is still better than in the fourth generation model. The headphones are primarily dedicated to iPhone and Huawei smartphone users , as other users will not have convenient access to the Huawei AI Life application in the Google Play store . These are not headphones designed for people who practice sports.
HUAWEI FreeBuds 5 Specifications:
| Headphones | |
|---|---|
| Bluetooth | Bluetooth 5.2Simultaneous Bluetooth connection to two devices: SupportedAuto Pairing: Supported*Wear detection: supported***Requires a smartphone or tablet running EMUI 10.1 or later.**Requires a smartphone or tablet running HarmonyOS 3.0 or later. |
| Supported protocols | A2DP 1.3, Hands-free profile (HFP) 1.7, AVRCP 1.6 |
| Time and method of charging | approx. 20 minutes for headphones (in charging case)approx. 40 minutes for charging case without headphones (wired)approx. 240 minutes for charging case without headphones (wireless) |
| Battery life | Playing music on a single charge:5 hours (noise reduction off)3.5 hours (noise canceling on)Playing music using the charging case:30 hours (noise reduction off)20 hours (noise reduction on)The case supports wireless and wired charging (USB-C). |
| frequency range | 16 Hz to 20000 Hz (for audio playback) |
| Kodek A2DP | LDAC HD, AAC, SBC, L2HC2.0, LC3 (do gier) |
| Loudspeaker | 11mm LCP dynamic magnetic pickup |
| Microphones | 3 (2x external + internal) |
| Charging case | |
|---|---|
| Indicator | The LED on the outside of the case indicates when the headphones and the case are charging, turning red, yellow, green or white depending on the status. |
| Charging time | Wired charging: 40 minutes (without headphones)Wireless charging: approx. 4 hours (with headphones) |
