Huawei is adding noise cancellation to the third-generation of the FreeBuds, its true wireless earbuds that look almost identical to Apple’s AirPods. The FreeBuds 3, which the company announced onstage at IFA 2019, include four hours of battery life in the earbuds themselves, and come with a circular puck-shaped charging case that expands their total listening time to 20 hours. The earbuds are available in either black or white.
Check out the Dolphin Bionic design of the new HUAWEI Freebuds 3 open-fit earbuds.
They fit perfectly in your ears for more comfort and stability, while delivering a high quality sonic experience.#HUAWEIFreebuds #HuaweiIFA2019 #IFA19 pic.twitter.com/DRhv3Otd7k
— Huawei Mobile (@HuaweiMobile) September 6, 2019
The FreeBuds 3 are the marquee product for this new chip, and instead of going for the in-ear bud design of most true wireless headphones, it’s keeping the stemmed earbud design that sits just inside your ear, like Apple AirPods. They will come in a circular carry case, in black or white gloss color options, and this will top-up the headphones up to 20 hours. The FreeBuds themselves will run for four hours in your ears.
One of the best feature is active noise cancellation (ANC), a rarity for this kind of wireless headphone design Huawei says they’re the world’s first open-fit ANC headphones. You can tell that the company has gone to efforts to ensure the FreeBuds 3 are comfortable for open-fit buds they’re far more polished than the predecessors. I think the biggest deal-breaker is whether you can tolerate the open-fit.
Ambient noise cancellation here should help alleviate that though. Not only can the ANC handle up to 15dB ambient noise reduction for each ear canal, but Huawei says the tips of each headphone can capture vocal vibrations through a “bone sensor.” This detects when you’re speaking and helps clarify and amplify when you’re talking on calls.
It’s another Huawei claim at this stage, but the sensor paired with a specially designed mic duct apparently can work their magic so well you could conduct a “crystal clear” conversation while cycling at speed. Other specs worth noting is a 190ms latency, which trumps latency figures for Sony’s incredible WF-1000XM3 buds and both iterations of Apple’s AirPods it’s an important thing for anyone using their headphones for gaming or watching videos.
Huawei’s newest buds are wirelessly chargeable, too, and the company is quick to make comparisons with the AirPod charge speeds. Its version will apparently charge 100 percent faster wired, and 50 percent faster wirelessly.
Huawei’s Alex Wang said that the FreeBuds 3 would be cheaper than the $199 AirPods but didn’t state a specific price. And, perhaps unsurprisingly, no comment on the chances of US availability. In Europe and other territories, however, the headphones will launch next month.
