Huawei

The Huawei FreeBuds 3 left us with mixed feelings about battery life, sound quality and noise reduction. Phone calls and lip-synced movies are really good with the FreeBuds 3, but the fact that there are only two control commands directly on the ear and that the active noise reduction is less effective than it could be – combined with noise – means that the FreeBuds 3 are not the leader in the True-Wireless category, but rather, somewhere in the middle of the field. They do however stand out due to their good workmanship, the pleasant feel and other qualities such as picture/sound synchronicity and the suppression of wind noise.

The Huawei FreeBuds 3i left me with mixed feelings. Sound quality and workmanship are good, but battery life and ANC are less convincing. The technology sometimes doesn’t seem up to date, an IP certification is missing and the functions of both the remote and the app are meagre. For the 100 Euro price, the 3i has to stand up to strong competition, which in some respects is rather less successful. But all in all, the FreeBuds 3i fit well into the Huawei portfolio.

The Huawei FreeBuds Lite True Wireless In-Ears might initially seem stylish, sophisticated and something more akin to high-value headphone models, but there’s a lot of disappointment to brace for in the sound department. Not that’s even mentioning a rather lacklustre set of controls that work against user intuition. Sound is too unbalanced for my liking, with an image that doesn’t have anywhere near enough substance. This can is nullified to a minor extent when audio is equalized, but it’s too little to distract away from the ultimate experience that never really was. An overly sensitive control interface and too few functions make these a foe to user-friendliness. Ultimately, I’m left with a mixed bag of feelings after taking the time to test these FreeBuds Lite in-ears. If that attractively low RRP has caught your attention and refuses to let you shake it off, it’s definitely worth taking some time to trial these in-ears before you delve in at the full asking price.