Huawei FreeBuds Pro 4 Review: Premium Design and Sound

FreeBuds Pro 4 is Huawei’s latest high-end TWS headset model, which it has just launched in the UK market. With this launch, it has many advanced features that promise to bring a significant breakthrough in the sound field’s performance, clarity, and liveliness. Do all these promises come true? So check out the Huawei FreeBuds Pro 4 review below.

Huawei FreeBuds Pro 4 Review

Huawei FreeBuds Pro 4 Review

Design

The Huawei FreeBuds Pro 4 inherits the design of previous generations of FreeBuds Pro, both in terms of the charging case and the headphones. However, Huawei has tweaked its appearance to make this headset look premium and luxurious. The most noticeable tweak is the string-like motifs on the headset’s body, which help create a more prominent highlight, along with the gold Huawei Sound logo on the top, symbolizing the notes emitted from the strings. This is also Huawei’s first earbuds under the Huawei Sound brand, which the company researched and developed.

Huawei said the earphones are also coated with 6 layers of lacquer for a shiny appearance and better protection. The strings’ design and the earphones’ characteristic square body help Huawei differentiate itself from competitors in the market. The earphones are also IP54 dust and water-resistant, so you can rest assured when using them when sweating a lot during exercise or when walking in light rain.

Huawei FreeBuds Pro 4 Review

Huawei has also upgraded the charging box by using DECO ceramic material. According to Huawei, the company had to go through a rigorous production process lasting 72 hours at a temperature of 1480°C to create the Huawei FreeBuds Pro 4 charging box thanks to its better durability and impact resistance. The high-quality DECO ceramic material combined with the laser-engraved silver string pattern on the back of the charging box creates a unique look for the FreeBuds Pro 4.

Huawei FreeBuds Pro 4 Review

The FreeBuds Pro 4 charging case is smooth, preventing dirt and fingerprints. It supports Qi-standard wireless charging, so you can charge it with wireless charging pads or compatible smartphones that support reverse wireless charging.

Huawei FreeBuds Pro 4 Review

Huawei has also placed the coil on the back so that when charging wirelessly, the product will no longer have to rotate the hinge upwards like previous generations. This slight but functional improvement lets users quickly retrieve the headset while charging.

Comfort

The earbuds feel comfortable and snug when worn for long periods without causing pain or fatigue to the ears. A big plus is that Huawei generously includes six sets of ear tips in different sizes, including three sets of foam ear tips that the company calls three-layer memory foam. This type of ear tip provides better passive noise isolation and a higher ear grip, contributing to significantly improved noise cancellation.

Huawei FreeBuds Pro 4 review test

Sound

Equipped with a dual driver system and Digital Cross-Over Technology, Huawei FreeBuds Pro 4 aims to deliver a more realistic and immersive premium audio experience by dividing sound into separate frequency bands.

Huawei FreeBuds Pro 4 Review

In addition, Huawei shared that the 11mm quad-magnet dynamic driver will deliver powerful 14Hz bass and accurate real-time sound reproduction without distortion. At the same time, with a high-frequency flat membrane, FreeBuds Pro 4 also produces clearer treble up to 48kHz. Therefore, users will be more immersed in a vivid, high-fidelity sound experience, helping them enjoy their favorite tunes in more detail.

Huawei FreeBuds Pro 4 has a 3-mode EQ sound correction algorithm to help reproduce a more vivid stereo sound effect with a more precise, detailed sound field in Classic sound mode. In Balanced sound mode, the treble will be more melodious, and the bass will be stronger. According to Huawei, other sound ranges are also transmitted more smoothly and clearly by FreeBuds Pro 4 in every intricate detail of each sound layer.

Practical experience shows that FreeBuds Pro 4 still maintains a harmonious sound quality, responding well to many music genres. The bass continues to express more profoundly and powerfully than the previous generation. The bass range of this headset is abundant and powerful but does not overwhelm all other sound ranges. FreeBuds Pro 4 handles popular, vibrant young music such as APT, Levitating, and Rebirth. The bass notes go deep, creating a feeling of fullness, not out of breath like conventional headphones. The bass range also does not encroach on the mid-range, allowing the singing or guitar notes to create the desired highlight between the intense rhythm of drums and bass.

Huawei FreeBuds Pro 4 Review

The treble range also produces bright, elegant, rich detail. The mid-range is warm and thick, reproducing emotional, natural vocals. When testing with piano or acoustic pieces from Ha Anh Tuan, Boyce Avenue, the weight of each note and sound of the instrument is well expressed, blending with the warm vocals, making the songs more emotional.

Active Noise Cancellation Sound

In addition to active noise cancellation from AI features and DNN algorithms, Huawei FreeBuds Pro 4 enhances ANC noise cancellation efficiency with all-new three-layer memory foam ear tips. Thanks to that, Huawei shares that FreeBuds Pro 4 can improve ambient noise cancellation efficiency by up to 30%—higher than previous generations of FreeBuds Pro. With memory foam material, the ear tips can automatically expand to fit the user’s ear canal, providing a more comfortable fit.

By default, the headset is set to Dynamic noise cancellation mode, which automatically adjusts the noise cancellation based on the environment. Users can freely choose to switch to Low Noise Cancellation mode for use in moderate noise environments such as offices, Normal for use in noisier places such as cafes, or the highest level, Super Noise Cancellation, for use when traveling by train or plane.

When using the new memory foam earplugs, I usually leave them in the default Dynamic mode. The FreeBuds Pro 4 can automatically recognize and select the appropriate level of noise cancellation. When noise cancellation is turned on, keeping the music volume at around 30% is enough to “isolate” me from colleagues and the world around me.

Huawei enhances the Awareness mode with voice recognition. When this mode is enabled, you can clearly hear other people’s and your voices while eliminating unnecessary noise.

Active Noise Cancellation for Calls

Continuing our Freebuds Pro 4 review, it comes with AI noise cancellation and a multi-channel deep neural network (DNN) algorithm; Huawei said it can eliminate up to 100 dB of external noise during calls. At the same time, Huawei FreeBuds Pro 4 also helps elevate the user’s voice from the ambient sound, providing a more transparent and private voice call experience even in noisy environments.

With a total of 4 microphones, including 3 dedicated microphones for capturing the user’s voice and 1 bone conduction VPU microphone located near the inner ear, the Huawei FreeBuds Pro 4 is capable of recording voices more accurately, ensuring a more stable and precise voice call experience even in harsh weather conditions, such as wind speeds of up to 10m/s.

In addition, with the AI ​​Sensing feature, the Huawei FreeBuds Pro 4 will automatically switch to the microphone with the strongest signal and amplify the voice sound to ensure clear calls even when the signal is poor, or there is network interference.

Huawei FreeBuds Pro 4 Review

With dual device connection, users can connect to the FreeBuds Pro 4 with two devices simultaneously and switch audio even between iOS and Android devices without pairing and disconnecting repeatedly.

Smart Features

Huawei FreeBuds Pro 4 offers users a hands-free experience. It recognizes head movements such as nodding to answer a call or shaking your head to reject it. The headset’s touch capability allows users to easily adjust the volume and switch between songs by simply swiping or gently squeezing the headset’s body.

The Huawei AI Life app enables the Huawei FreeBuds Pro 4’s smart wearing detection feature. This feature pauses audio automatically when you remove the headphones and resumes playback when you wear them again.

Battery life

Regarding battery life, according to Huawei’s announcement, the FreeBuds Pro 4w has a charging case with a capacity of 510 mAh, and each earbud has a 55 mAh capacity. Thus, the battery capacity of the earphones remains the same as that of the previous generation. The company announced that the FreeBuds Pro 4 has a music playback time (noise cancellation function turned off) of up to 7 hours after a full charge and 33 hours when used with the charging case.

When you turn on ANC noise cancellation, the earbuds provide 5 hours of music playback after a full charge and 23 hours when paired with the charging case.

Huawei FreeBuds Pro 4 Review

When I turned on ANC at the default Dynamic level, 30% volume, FreeBuds Pro 4 lasted about 4.5 hours of continuous music listening. The charging case will fully charge the headphones about 4 times, equivalent to about 16 more hours, a total of about 20 hours. Turning off ANC allows the battery to last about 7 continuous hours. This battery life is quite good, equivalent to the previous generation, and not too impressive. I still hope that Huawei will improve the battery of FreeBuds Pro 4 because current competitors have also significantly improved this aspect.

To compensate, Huawei equips the FreeBuds Pro 4 with AI-powered smart charging technology; the headset can adjust the charging limit based on usage, helping to extend battery life by 38%. The Smart Charging feature comes pre-installed and allows customization in the Settings section.

It takes about 40 minutes to charge the headset fully with the charging case when the battery is low. Meanwhile, it takes about 1 hour to fully charge the charging case alone (without the headset inside) via the USB-C port. Users can also charge wirelessly with Qi-standard charging pads, but it will take about 2 hours to charge the battery fully.

Final line

Huawei FreeBuds Pro 4 is a good noise-canceling wireless headset in the price segment under £200. The product has a high-end design, detailed sound quality (especially in the high range), effective noise cancellation (especially when using the included three-layer memory foam earplugs), and many convenient features. However, the sound quality needs to be adjusted with EQ to optimize, the battery life is not excellent, and many features are currently only available on Huawei phones.

Also see: Huawei FreeBuds 6i Review

If you want a premium headset with a beautiful design, good sound quality, and effective noise cancellation at under £200, Huawei FreeBuds Pro 4 is a worthy choice. However, if you expect a leap in technology, sound quality, or features compared to FreeBuds Pro 3, this product may not fully satisfy you.

Our Freebuds Pro 4 review unit is Black but also available in White. It is available for pre-order on Amazon.co.uk for £179.99 and will be on sale from January 15, 2025.

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