Forget AirPods Pro: Huawei's new earbuds are cheap and offer noise cancellation

Forget AirPods Pro: Huawei's new earbuds are cheap and offer noise cancellation

Huawei has announced that its FreeBuds 4i true wireless earbuds will be available in the US and Europe

This is significantly cheaper than the $249 AirPods Pro, from which the FreeBuds 4i apparently got its design inspiration It is even cheaper than the standard Apple AirPods, which do not feature active noise cancellation (ANC) at all, and likely undercuts the often-leaked AirPods 3 However, it is unclear if the FreeBuds 4i will be available in the US, as Huawei has banned them in the US

Available in white, black, and red, the Huawei FreeBuds 4i will be easily distinguishable from the AirPods Pro from a distance

However, battery life could be even better than Apple's effort, as Huawei promises up to 75 hours of ANC playback on a single charge In addition, repeated use of the charging case is said to allow 4 hours of playback on a 10-minute charge

A 10mm dynamic driver provides the sound, which appears to include "powerful bass performance" Huawei has produced several excellent-sounding wireless earbuds in the past, such as the Huawei FreeBuds 3, so we expect the FreeBuds 4i to output even better audio

FreeBuds 4i also supports fast pairing with Huawei smartphones running EMUI 100 or later, similar to how the AirPods series can quickly pair with iOS devices

Still, the biggest draw here is definitely the price It is very difficult to get a true wireless ANC bud for such a small price, in contrast to another recent Huawei release, the Mate X2, a Huawei foldable smartphone in the $3,000 range

Speaking of cell phones, Huawei will find fewer buyers for its EMUI fast pairing than in China; Huawei devices are not banned in the UK as they are in the US, but they are still sold without Google apps, which does not help their appeal not help their appeal Perhaps FreeBuds 4i will have better luck, as it does not seem to lose functionality as a result of these legal issues

This set of ANC Buds will be available in the UK on March 26, including a £5 discount and a free gift of a Huawei Band 4 fitness tracker worth £40

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