Huawei FreeBuds Pro 4

The design

Available in black, white and green, the Huawei FreeBuds Pro 4 have a luxurious look and feel. The black and gold version is particularly sophisticated. The laser-engraved stems are meant to pay homage to the elegance of stringed instruments. Whether or not they succeed is up to you.

The earphones (approx. 29.1 mm x 21.8 mm x 23.7 mm) weigh 5.8 grams each. The charging case is also handy, measuring 46.9 mm x 65.9 mm x 24.5 mm and weighing approximately 47 g. It opens and closes with a pleasant click and has a high-quality feel thanks to its solid workmanship.

The Huawei FreeBuds Pro 4 are protected against dust and water to IP54, although the manufacturer has not provided any IP certification for the case.

Package contents

The Huawei FreeBuds Pro 4 comes with two earphones, a charging case and silicone ear tips in four different sizes. There are also three sizes of memory foam ear tips included to further enhance comfort – very commendable!

A short USB-A to C charging cable provides power, while a quick start guide, safety information and warranty card round off the documentation.

Battery life

Each earbud is equipped with a lithium-ion polymer battery with a capacity of 55 mAh. The charging case has a capacity of 510 mAh. Together, these provide up to 7 hours of audio playback with ANC off and 5 hours with ANC on. This puts the FreeBuds Pro 4 in the middle of the pack.

The charging case extends the total battery life to 33 hours without ANC and 23 hours with it. For voice calls, the earbuds offer up to 4.5 hours without ANC and up to 3.5 hours with ANC.

The Huawei FreeBuds Pro 4 can be charged either wired via USB-C or wirelessly on a compatible charging pad. The charging case takes about an hour to fully charge when wired. The earphones themselves are fully charged in around 40 minutes, while the wireless charging option for the charging case takes around 150 minutes.

Thanks to the automatic overcharge protection, the batteries should also last 38% longer, according to the manufacturer.

Bluetooth and other specifications

The Huawei FreeBuds Pro 4 supports Bluetooth version 5.2 and the SBC, AAC and LDAC codecs. If you want to use the L2HC codec, you need a recent Huawei smartphone. This HD audio codec format developed by Huawei offers higher bandwidth and adaptive bit rate (320 kbps to 960 kbps). It also features low latency, high noise immunity, high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and wide dynamic range. Unfortunately, due to a lack of compatible smartphones, we cannot take this into account in this review.

Thanks to Multipoint, you can connect to two players at the same time and automatically switch the sound between them. If the headphones are connected to EMUI devices, you can even switch between more than two devices (EMUI 13 or higher).

Handling

Like Apple, Huawei uses pressure-sensitive controls. The front of the bar has a noticeable indentation that can be pressed, stroked and swiped. This minimises the number of incorrect inputs that can occur with overly sensitive touch surfaces. The control system leaves nothing to be desired, as the manufacturer has thought of everything from media control to volume adjustment. The fact that the stalk also responds to touch commands is a nice touch and adds to the ease of use.

And now Huawei can do what Apple can do: you can accept or reject calls using head gestures (nod or shake your head). Unfortunately, this doesn’t work reliably at the moment, but fortunately you can turn it off if you want.

Huawei AI Life

Thanks to apps for iOS and Android, you can customise the Huawei FreeBuds Pro 4 to suit your needs. Although the design of the app is a little old-fashioned, it still presents all the relevant customisation options in a clear way.

As with its predecessor (Huawei FreeBuds Pro 3), the in-ear controls can be changed here, but the level of customisation is not as detailed. If you are specifically looking for configuration wizardry, you should take a closer look at the LG and Edifier headphone ranges on our site.

There is also no manual on/off switch for the handset, which means you always need the case.

The ‘Connection Center’ allows you to manage your players, including prioritisation. In the ‘Huawei Sound’ tab, you can choose between six basic EQ presets (‘Default’, ‘Bass boost’, ‘Treble boost’, ‘Voices’, ‘Symphony’ and ‘Hi-Fi Live’) and two professional EQ presets (‘Balanced’ and ‘Classical’). Unfortunately, it is not possible to tell the difference between, say, the Symphony and Classical presets.

If you want to get your hands dirty, you can use the 10-band EQ and create up to three custom presets.

This covers the main features, although there is also a fit test for the earphones, the ability to install firmware updates, a search function for (lost) in-ears and cases, a low-latency mode for games and movies, and a switchable auto-pause function. The only things we miss are the option to turn off the status beeps and the boring female voice.

ANC and transparency mode

The FreeBuds Pro 4’s adaptive noise cancellation automatically adjusts to ambient noise – if you want it to. Huawei has given its top model no less than four modes:

When ‘Dynamic’ is selected, the ANC works adaptively. In other words, depending on the noise, the suppression is moderate. ‘Comfortable’ is supposed to be ideal for quiet environments and generally allows more frequency components to pass through, resulting in more noticeable bass and slightly clearer voices. ‘Balanced’ is better for noisy environments and cuts more of the broadband, while ‘Ultra’ is for very loud external noise. The latter works effectively and is particularly good at handling low frequencies. For us, it’s the best of the four modes.

Huawei has done a good job of keeping background noise under control. It is noticeable, but depending on which ANC mode you choose, you only hear significant differences in silence. Here too, the ‘Ultra’ setting is the best.

If you’re an AirPods Pro 2 or Bose user, for example, you won’t have to be jealous of the ANC. In a head-to-head comparison, the True Wireless In-Ears from Apple and Bose performed better in our test scenarios. Background noise is lower on the Apple, especially in transparent mode. The Huawei does have good passive noise cancellation, provided you use the (included) memory foam ear tips.

However, we don’t like the transparency mode quite as much here. Compared to the best in class, the Apple AirPods Pro 2, the amplification seems rather minimal. Background noise is clearly audible in silence and quiet passages, but it depends on the level of ambient noise. Thanks to a voice-enhancing mode, the FreeBuds Pro 4 can easily stay in your ears during train announcements. Important to know: When transparent mode is activated, the music continues to play and is not paused.

Huawei’s Ambient Aware mode is perhaps most comparable to that of Anker’s new Soundcore Liberty 4 Pro (see review), although the latter has a slightly louder background noise.

When only one earbud is worn, the FreeBuds Pro 4 automatically switch to transparency mode, which is particularly useful when walking. ANC is only activated when both earbuds are worn.

Voice quality during calls

The manufacturer is particularly focused on voice quality during calls. The FreeBuds Pro 4’s quad-microphone system with bone conduction sensor and AI-assisted algorithms is designed to ensure clear voice quality – even in noisy environments. We can confirm this in our tests so far. Clear and crisp – with no noticeable background noise. Wind is also effectively suppressed up to a certain level, as are footsteps.

The sound

The Huawei FreeBuds Pro 4 are equipped with 11mm drivers, a hybrid construction consisting of a dynamic quad-magnet driver and a flat membrane driver (microplanar) that covers a frequency range from 14Hz to 48kHz. According to the manufacturer, this should provide a lifelike, bass-rich and detailed listening experience.

However, it is important to make a distinction here, as the sound varies depending on which mode is active. When the transparency mode is active, the bass is full and dynamic, but tends to thud at high volumes and with the EQ preset set to ‘standard’.

On the other hand, when ANC is on, the bass pressure and attention to detail are slightly reduced, while when it is off, the sound is more balanced and clearer, but the stereo width and depth collapse to a certain extent.

The following sound assessment is therefore also made with noise reduction on and the standard EQ preset: the bass is powerful and full without spilling over into the higher frequency range.

The mids convey voices, vocals and lead instruments clearly and distinctly, without sounding ‘boxy’. Like the treble, this area is slightly subdued, which helps to prevent premature ear fatigue. Nevertheless, the Huawei FreeBuds Pro 4 are able to present details cleanly: not too sharp, not too flat – we have no reason to complain.

The headphones also illuminate the virtual stage beautifully: live recordings appear vivid and spacious, while artificial reverb tails and other effects are clearly audible.

All in all, Huawei delivers a really good sound performance to our ears!

Huawei FreeBuds Pro 4: cheaper at launch

To celebrate the launch of the Huawei FreeBuds Pro 4, Huawei is offering a special deal: anyone who purchases the in-ear headphones from the Huawei Online Store* or the Flagship Store Berlin between 17 January 2025 and 31 January 2025 will receive two attractive bonuses: a €30 membership voucher that can be used for future purchases and free loss insurance. If you lose a pair of headphones, you only pay 50% of the unit price for a replacement.

The bottom line

With the FreeBuds Pro 4, Huawei has once again hit the bull’s eye: these truly wireless in-ear headphones are particularly impressive when it comes to voice quality during calls, and the noise cancelling is also very effective. In terms of sound, they are even more detailed and balanced than their predecessors, although there are slight differences depending on whether ANC is on or off. Despite all the improvements, there are some minor weaknesses: the battery life is only in the lower midfield, but thanks to the fast charging technology, reserves can be built up quickly. We would also have liked to see a more natural transparency mode and the option to turn off voice prompts.

Nevertheless, if you’re looking for ANC earbuds that work effectively and also look good, Huawei’s FreeBuds Pro 4 are hard to beat – especially if you use your phone a lot.