Much like flagship smartphones, flagship wireless earbuds have reached a plateau. Refinement is the name of the game in the premium TWS market, with new models focusing on improved audio tuning, better noise cancellation and squeezing an additional hour or two of battery life.

That’s the short story of the Huawei FreeBuds Pro 5, which recently made their global debut. We’ve been using them for over a week ahead of their launch and found them to be a great option with superb sound, potent ANC and top-notch build quality. Read on for our detailed assessment.

Table of Contents:

Design

The last few generations of FreeBuds Pro earbuds have shared similar looks, and the FreeBuds Pro 5 are the logical evolution in the series. They still sport an in-ear design with silicone ear tips and short stems. The buds feature an all-glossy finish, with the outward part of the stems getting a mirror-like finish.

While they look similar to their predecessors, FreeBuds Pro 5 are ever so slightly more compact. The sides of the stems are narrower, and the buds are also lighter at 5.5 grams per earbud.

The FreeBuds Pro 5’s case is the same size as the one from the FreeBuds Pro 4, but slightly narrower and a bit lighter at 43 grams. The nice curvature and compact design help the case effortlessly slip into smaller pockets, and the satin texture prevents any unwanted fingerprints and smudges. The lid on the case closes with a firm snap, and the hinge mechanism feels rigid just like you’d expect from a flagship pair of earbuds.

The new bit with the case this year is the circular LED status bar, which has three modes. It shines a blinking white hue when set to pairing mode, and then switches to green when connected. As the battery wears down, the light goes to yellow, which indicates low battery, and red when completely discharged.

Our review unit comes in the Sand colorway with the buds sporting a light grey hue, while the case gets a light gold/champagne look.

In terms of fit, the FreeBuds Pro 5 are some of the easiest earbuds to recommend. I usually have a tough time with the in-ear fit on most earbuds, but the FreeBuds Pro 5 are among the easiest buds to wear for hours on end. The provided silicone ear tips are soft and conform nicely to your ear canal.

Huawei says it analyzed over 10,000 human ears and went through over 1,000 earbud designs and 60+ ear tip iterations to reach the FreeBuds Pro 5’s final form.

Interestingly enough, Huawei is not providing additional foam ear tips with the FreeBuds Pro 5 as it did with their predecessor. In my experience, silicone ear tips are more comfortable than their foam counterparts, but the latter offer better passive sound isolation, which certainly helps with noise cancellation.

The FreeBuds Pro 5 are IP57 rated against water and dust, which is an upgrade over the IP54-rated Buds Pro 4. The case also gets bumped up ingress protection and is now IP54-rated. This doesn’t mean you can go swimming with them, but you can feel confident against water splashes, sweat and rain.

Features

FreeBuds Pro 5 retain most of the key features from the FreeBuds Pro 4, but they do come with some improvements. The new model gets Bluetooth 6.0 with dual-device connection and is equipped with Huawei’s latest Kirin A3 chipset.

The upgraded SoC on the FreeBuds Pro 5 offers improved ANC and lossless audio streaming at up to 4.6Mbps, but there’s a catch. The high bandwidth streaming is only achievable if you pair the buds via Huawei’s proprietary NearLink 2.0 wireless transmission protocol to a compatible Pura 80 series or a Mate XTs tri-fold smartphone running Harmony OS 6. We did not have a compatible device, so we could not test this out.

The ANC system on the FreeBuds Pro 5 is now rated to drown out even more noise compared to its predecessor. Huawei is touting an all-new counter-noise system that beams inverted-phase sounds from both drivers in each earbud to counteract external noise. The system works in tandem alongside a dedicated AI sensing model, which adjusts noise cancellation in real-time for a combined external noise reduction of 220% compared to the FreeBuds Pro 4.

There are a total of 8 microphones spread across the two earbuds, with 3 silicon mics per earbud and an additional bone conduction mic for optimal voice pickup. During calls, Huawei claims the FreeBuds Pro 5 can reduce 100dB of surrounding noise while still being able to pick up your voice even with wind speeds of up to 10m/s.

There are four ANC modes with adaptive mode (smart dual-core), cozy, general and ultra. The adaptive version now adjusts noise cancellation not only based on your surroundings but also according to your ear canal shape and wearing posture.

Huawei AI Life app, ANC and awareness mode controls

The buds also feature awareness mode and come with a conversation awareness feature that automatically enables awareness mode as soon as it detects speech. There’s an adaptive volume mode that adjusts volume based on the ambient noise level.

You control all key functions of the FreeBuds Pro 5 via the Huawei AI Life app, which is available for Android, iOS and Huawei’s EMUI/HarmonyOS.

One unusual feature on the FreeBuds Pro 5 is that they support pinch, tap and swipe gesture controls. Virtually all competing earbuds opt for only one of the three, but having them all on board is pretty nice.

FreeBuds Pro 5 support both pinch and tap controls

They also worked flawlessly in our testing, registering taps and pinches equally well and swiping up and down did indeed adjust playback volume. You are also free to reassign the controls inside the Huawei AI Life app.

Head tracking, sound modes and custom EQ

Like their predecessors, FreeBuds Pro 5 also support spatial audio with head tracking and also come with wear detection sensors, which automatically pause and resume playback when you remove and re-insert the buds in your ears. You also get head gestures, which allow you to accept incoming calls via a nod or decline them with a shaking motion.

Performance

From a hardware perspective, the FreeBuds Pro 5 are equipped with a dual driver setup featuring an 11 mm main dynamic driver paired with a micro-planar tweeter. Huawei is bringing redesigned magnets as well as upgraded dual digital signal processors (DSPs), which handle bass and highs independently and reduce distortion.

There are new dual air vents for improved sound reproduction in the low and high frequencies. The updated design helps prevent interference between the lows and highs. Speaking of lows, Huawei claims the new pair of buds can reproduce bass down to 10Hz frequency compared to 14Hz on the FreeBuds Pro 4. Highs are capped at 48KHz, and the buds can intelligently process different frequencies via the two independent drivers inside each earbud.

FreeBuds Pro 5 support the AAC, SBC, and LDAC codecs as well as Huawei’s own L2HC 5.0 protocol. We managed to reach transmission speeds up to 2.3 Mbps, at 48 kHz/24-bit rate when paired to a Mate X7.

Audio quality

The default audio profile on the FreeBuds Pro 5 is pleasantly tuned and offers a wide soundstage with bouncy bass, great instrumentation and vocal separation, as well as a well-defined, natural-sounding treble.

Compared to the FreeBuds Pro 4, the new model offers richer bass with less noticeable distortion. FreeBuds Pro 5 also bring more emphasis on the upper mids and clearer highs, which are both welcome additions.

In general, the leap in sound quality between the FreeBuds Pro 4 and FreeBuds Pro 5 is not as stark as we’ve seen in previous generations, which has been a common theme in the flagship earbud market for the last few generations of flagship earbuds.

The Pro 5’s soundstage feels familiar and a tad heavier than the Pro 4, though the difference is negligible. I still prefer the Sony WF-1000XM6’s wider soundstage and overall sharper audio reproduction but the FreeBuds Pro 5 are right up there with the best of the best wireless earbuds.

Huawei provides eight custom sound profiles and you are also free to mingle with the frequency sliders thanks to the 10-band custom EQ.

Noise canceling

FreeBuds Pro 5 offer noticeable improvement in drowning out unwanted noises in the lower frequency range (50 – 300Hz) compared to their predecessors. As soon as you insert them in your ears, noises associated with HVAC systems, washing machines and fans are put at bay.

FreeBuds Pro 5 are more consistent in blocking noise across the frequency range, where previous generations tended to be harsher in the low ends and less so higher up the range. The new model also tones down the white hissing noise you normally hear when the buds are inserted.

With stronger noise pollutants like car traffic and speech, the FreeBuds Pro 5 deliver subtler muffling than flagship competitors from Sony and Apple. While FreeBuds Pro 5 are better at noise cancelling than the FreeBuds 4 Pro, I’d still take the ANC on the Sony WF-1000XM6 which come as a clear step above just about any pair of recent earbuds.

Call quality and connectivity

When it comes to voice calls, the FreeBuds Pro 5 once again offer tangible improvements over the FreeBuds Pro 4. You get better voice pickup with people on the other end of calls reporting clear and natural reception of my voice, even with mild winds and busy street traffic.

Huawei still claims it can deliver clear calls in extremely noisy environments with up to 100dB noise, and while we couldn’t find a testing ground with these specific values, we did get to try it out at a crowded mall food court with plenty of commotion from noisy teens.

Sure enough, the FreeBuds Pro 5 managed to isolate my voice, though the person on the other end did report some additional choppiness. Still, call quality on the FreeBuds Pro 5 is noticeably better than what we achieved on more affordable alternatives like the FreeBuds 7i.

During our testing period, we used the FreeBuds Pro 5 with an iPhone 17 Pro, Huawei Mate X7 and MacBook Pro 14. Connection remained stable even when paired to two devices at a time, and we never experienced any unwanted interruptions or stutters.

Battery life

FreeBuds Pro 5 are equipped with 60 mAh batteries inside each earbud alongside a 537 mAh power pack inside their charging case. Both values are minor improvements compared to the FreeBuds Pro 4, but Huawei claims the FreeBuds Pro 5 are good for up to 9 hours on a single charge with ANC off and playback on the AAC codec, with the charging case extending the combined battery endurance to 38 hours. With ANC enabled and L2HC/LDAC playback, Huawei claims up to 5 hours from the buds and 22 hours with the charging case.

During our testing, we achieved a respectable 8 hours and 25 minutes in AAC mode and with ANC off while testing on our iPhone 17 Pro and MacBook Pro 14. The values dropped to 4 hours and 20 minutes when paired with Huawei’s Mate X7 with ANC on and playback set to prioritize sound quality over the L2HC codec.

The FreeBuds Pro 5 support both wired and wireless charging, with the former being noticeably faster at around 1 hour for the buds and case to replenish back to 100%. The wireless route should take just under 2 hours.

Verdict

We’ve been fans of the previous generation FreeBuds Pro models, and the Pro 5 are once again a worthy contender in the upper echelon of wireless earbuds. They offer a well-balanced approach across sound quality, noise cancellation, and battery endurance while also delivering all-day comfort and all the smart features you’d expect from a flagship pair of buds.

As an added bonus, the FreeBuds Pro 5 offer some of the best call quality we’ve seen from wireless earbuds to date, even in the noisiest of environments.

The jump from the FreeBuds Pro 4 is not as drastic as the one between older generations, but that’s the case for almost all premium TWS earbuds today. With a €199/£179 regular asking price, which at the time of writing is down to €169/£149, the FreeBuds Pro 5 are an easy recommendation regardless of your ecosystem of choice.

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