Officially, Huawei’s FreeBuds 3i is coming to Europe. Announced at 90 pounds in the United Kingdom, they are minted at around 100 $ for services that are similar to those of Apple’s AirPods Pro and sell almost 2 times cheaper. Let’s know more about it!
Huawei FreeBuds 3i Active Noise Cancellation
Active noise cancellation seems set to take root on most true wireless headphones in 2020. This technology, as well present on Apple’s AirPods Pro as on Sony WF-1000XM3 – the two big current references in material – should make small. Qualcomm, in fact, left to offer it to the vast majority of wireless headphones on the market with its new turnkey chips, when other manufacturers are trying to improve their recipe by relying on their own solutions. This is the case of Huawei, with its new FreeBuds 3i, newly announced true wireless headphones equipped with active noise reduction, all for only 100 Dollars, and available from May 12.
Huawei FreeBuds 3i Appearance
Huawei definitely does not want to innovate in design. In a format that is still widely reminiscent of Apple’s AirPods, the FreeBuds 3i come in the form of very classic rods, which come with a compact charging case, which can be charged by the C port.
Its new wireless headphones have a little Airpods look like it was already the case for Freebuds 1. We can, however, note that, as the Honor Magic Earbuds, the stem is slightly beveled and not just round. Of the in-ear type, the Huawei Freebuds 3i uses a principle of an oriented cannula to better stay in the ear but well tested.
There are four pairs of silicone tips of different sizes to fit everyone. There is, therefore, active noise reduction (up to 32 dB), but also IPX4 certification against sweat and splashes. Finally, a three-mic system – like Samsung’s Galaxy Buds + – promises to dramatically improve voice quality during calls.
One of the advantages seems to be the fairly compact refill box, a little larger than that of the AirPods Pro but in the same waters (no problem to fit in your pockets, therefore). If there is no doubt that the product will have a USB-C port, Huawei does not specify whether an induction charging will be possible. It is also not known whether the commands will be done by touch.
Huawei FreeBuds 3i Performance
The manufacturer’s Kirin A1 chip – already present on FreeBuds 3 – is making a comeback here. The codecs supported have not been specified by Huawei, even if we imagine that the FreeBuds 3i will once again use the SBC, AAC, LHDC, and certainly, the BT-UHD put forward by Huawei during the presentation of the FreBuds 3.
The presence of three microphones per side seems to indicate the use of a “hybrid” technology: a microphone outside, a microphone inside to create feedback at the level of the ear. The third microphone is obviously dedicated to the hands-free kit.
For quick commands, like the assistant or answering a call, just tap one of the earphones. And they are also great devices in terms of audio quality. For this, they use dynamic 10 mm speakers.
They use a complex set of microphones to improve sound quality, voice pickup during calls, and noise cancellation. They also take advantage of the increased bandwidth of Bluetooth 5.0. Huawei announces an autonomy of three and a half hours. The box that recharges them can give them an additional two and a half hours.
Values to which we must, fortunately, add the 14:30 of autonomy of the box in audio broadcast (against only 10:30 in calls). Headphones are recharged in 1 hour… compared to the 115 minutes required to recharge.
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