Huawei Freebuds 5 Review: Ear Fashion
Throughout Huawei's Audio Journey, the Company Has More or Less Stuck to the Same Design Formula, Keeping the Stems of Its Buds Similar Across Models and...
Throughout Huawei's audio journey, the company has more or less stuck to the same design formula, keeping the stems of its buds similar across models and generations. The FreeBuds 5 model is a radical departure from that philosophy, and I dare say it's for the best.
There's no analogue to how these buds look, not only breaking any parallels with “you-know-what-company-I'm-talking-about,” but also offering something fresh, stylish, and comfortable*. The upper part of the buds is shaped like the hollow next to the ear canal (called the concha), while the stems have a teardrop shape.
The resulting design is quite pleasing, it resembles a pair of classy earrings. And while this analogy might not be the most sought after when you don't usually wear earrings, it looks stylish nonetheless. The Huawei FreeBuds 5 come in frost silver, ceramic white, and coral orange color options, with the silver ones being our favorites.
Fit and feel
This is when it gets interesting, and the asterisk from the section above comes into play. Huawei went through a lot of testing, including ear fittings to try out different molds and shapes. The anatomy of the human ear can vary wildly, and there's no guarantee that the FreeBuds 5 will work for you and your specific ear shape.
That being said, the buds feel almost weightless, and that was one of the goals when designing the strange shape of the FreeBuds 5. Well, the company has succeeded! A couple of minutes after you put them in, you stop feeling them.
On the other hand, these are open-ear headphones, which means they can fall out if your ear is bigger or if you do something active like headbanging, running, or firmly refusing a door-to-door salesperson's offer. To offer better grip and improved contact with your ear, Huawei has included eartips (which I'd call sleeves, as they wrap around the upper part of the earbuds).
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Pairing and supported devices
Pairing is pretty straightforward, you just hold the button on the side of the case for a few seconds to put the buds in pairing mode, and then you can see them pop up in the Bluetooth menu of your phone, tablet, or computer.What's not straightforward is getting the companion app, Huawei AI Life. I had to go through installing AppGallery first, and for some people, that might be a nuisance. You can use the buds without the app, but I would certainly advise otherwise, as all the cool features are inside the app.
Elena Rostova holds a Master's degree in Public Health Journalism. She covers groundbreaking medical research, holistic wellness trends, mental health awareness, and nutritional science.
