Huawei’s FreeBuds Pro 5 Enter the Audio Arena: Revolutionary or Run-of-the-Mill?

Today, Huawei, among other announcements, unveiled its flagship true wireless earbuds, the FreeBuds Pro 5. These earbuds come packed with intriguing features and technologies, including lossless audio transmission.

As it is known, such a solution requires a sufficiently wide data channel, and Bluetooth alone is insufficient. Therefore, the new earbuds support Huawei’s developed StarFlash E2.0 technology, which utilizes 2.4 GHz and 5.8 GHz frequencies, achieving data transfer speeds of up to 16 Mbps. However, Huawei also mentions that the actual speed available for the earbuds will be only 4.6 Mbps. This lower speed maintains high-quality audio without the typical latency issues seen in Bluetooth connections, making the experience smoother and more immersive.

Huawei also states that thanks to this technology and the Kirin A3 processor, the earbuds provide lossless audio transmission at 96 kHz/24 bit quality. Good sound quality is further ensured by two drivers in each earbud. Additionally, these earbuds, for the first time in the world, according to the manufacturer, feature a dual-channel active noise cancellation system. This enhances the noise cancellation effect by up to 220%, whatever that might mean. This claim aligns with industry feedback praising the audio clarity and effective noise cancellation seen in user and expert reviews.

Of course, there’s also AI that helps with various functions. For example, the earbuds can assess a user’s hearing loss level and activate a hearing aid compensation mode if necessary. However, the battery life is average. They promise 5 hours with noise cancellation and 33 hours with the case. Also notable is their water and dust resistance (IP67) and the price of $205.