Not surprisingly, as seems to be the case with nearly every Huawei product we review, the latest FreeBuds 4i delivers best of class quality, design and performance for the price ($139 CAD)
We remain impressed by Huawei’s ability to continually overdeliver with each generation of its consumer electronic product lines, from laptops to phones to its growing family of wearable tech. Regardless of the price point, Huawei always seems to get it right, packing in improvements that leapfrog other competing brands, and their own previous generation of devices.
With the 2021 version of their mid-range earbud, the Huawei FreeBuds 4i, they have managed to do it again. Guaranteeing that consumers will be getting a best-in-category product for the price range. Here’s what we love about the FreeBuds 4i.
The design: comfortable and stylish
We’ll start with the most important bits first. As with a classy new pair of designer shoes, in the end it’s the fit and comfort that truly matter. The Freebuds 4i are beautifully made, with comfort and wear-ability driving the design. The buds have a sleek edgeless design that gives a very premium, silky feel when in your hand, or in your ear. In-ear the FreeBuds are extremely comfortable, and remain perfectly in place when moving around during a normal day, or during long active workouts where you take it up a few notches. They stay in your ears, and do not cause any discomfort even when in use for marathon sessions.
The FreeBuds 4i come with three sizes of soft silicone ear tips, so you can fine tune your fit. While the earbuds are still light enough to be comfy in your ears, they have a nice weight to them if you hold one in your hand, hinting at the serious tech that’s been packed into each earbud.
The clean, smooth lines give these earbuds a high quality, stylish look and we get to admire them in three distinct colours for the Canadian market – Ceramic White, Carbon Black and Silver Frost. The colour schemes carry over to the charging case, which is also sleek and edgeless and accepts the individual earbuds with a nice magnetic click. The case is the perfect size for picking up and slipping into a purse or pocket.
Sound quality
Huawei doesn’t forget that earbuds are listening devices and a great deal of effort has gone into the sound quality on the FreeBuds 4i. A 10mm large dynamic driver (for fuller bass sounds) to high quality polymer diaphragms combine to deliver rich, responsive, and consistent sound to your ears. Huawei’s audio team specifically engineered the FreeBuds 4i for exceptional listening to the specific frequencies of pop music. We enjoyed a pristine listening experience with every genre of music we tested out, as well as for audio books, podcasts and phone calls.
Active noise cancellation
While not very common for earbuds at this price point, Huawei has managed to build their excellent Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) into the FreeBuds 4i, utilizing dual microphones to pick up background noise and then using “inverted soundwave”, AI tech, and a few more tricks to filter out that noise so you can better enjoy crystal-clear music and phone calls (for both parties). We tested the noise cancellation and it worked beautifully in many different scenarios. There is also an “awareness mode’ that allows you to hear and carry on conversations around you without ever taking out your buds.
Simply amazing battery life (10 hours!) and fast charging
We’ve seen it in their phones, smartwatches, and now even in these mid-range earbuds – nobody does long-lasting battery life in devices and wearable as well as Huawei. Increasing the battery life was a major upgrade for this year’s FreeBuds 4i over last year’s 3i models, not to mention blowing away their competition in the under $150 price category. Fully charged, the FreeBuds 4i will last up 10 hours, and amazingly with just a 10 minute fast charge you gain 4 hours of battery life if you’re in a rush and need a quick boost! Keep in mind if you have the case with you to boost your earbuds’ charge you can get up to 22 hours of life without plugging into a wall.
Perfect for your modern lifestyle
Whether you’re a student, a music lover, a podcast addict, or working all day long on Zoom calls – the FreeBuds 4i are a great choice for all your listening (and talking) needs. We’ve had an easy time pairing up our FreeBuds with our phone, and the AI life app which allows you to customize your earbuds, and the touch gestures you use to control your buds (e.g. play/pause music, answer/end call, switching between ANC modes). The FreeBuds 4i use 5.2 Bluetooth, which means more stable connections and higher transmission speed. Lastly, while they pair up automatically with Huawei phones, the FreeBuds 4i are a perfect compliment to any phone, whether you are an Android user or on an iPhone.
The verdict: The best earbuds on the market for the price
Huawei has again managed to pack far more quality tech and premium design/build into one of their mainstream product offerings than the price reflects. For only $139 CAD (and you may even find them on sale for less ) there is no other brand we could reasonably recommend more than the Huawei FreeBuds 4i – the only decision will likely be which colour you’ll go with as you head back to school, campus or work.
For all the details and specs visit the in-depth Canadian Huawei FreeBuds 4i website.
Current retail price: $139 CAD
Available at some of our favourite retailers, in-store and online: Amazon, Costco, Staples, Newegg & more…
This post was created with support and creative elements courtesy of Huawei Canada
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