Huawei FreeBuds Lite Review – The Huawei P30 series launched in the country a few months ago, and along with it are two accessories, the Huawei Watch GT and the FreeBuds Lite.

On looks alone, the Freebuds Lite are identical to the Huawei Freebuds as I can’t see any physical difference between them. Both the case, that looks like the Samsung Galaxy Buds, and the earphones themselves, which almost has the same appearance as the Apple AirPods, are made up of glossy polycarbonate material. However, it has an IPX4 splash resistance which is great for outdoor use.

The back part of the case houses the micro USB port and a button which serves as the Bluetooth pairing mechanism for mobile devices.

Since the Freebuds Lite case also serves as a power bank for the earphones, a notification light sits in front which tells the user if the battery percentage is still high enough (green) or if it is running low (red). It can also determine if the accessory is ready for Bluetooth pairing (blue) or not.

Opening the case will reveal two magnetic holes with the shape of the earbuds where you can store the earpieces after use.

The earpiece themselves comes with a 55mAh battery capacity on each side and infrared sensors that can detect when it removed from the person’s ear. It also pauses the music player automatically, which is pretty handy and saves you having to try and pause your music every time you want to hear something other than your music. Speaking of which, it adopts an AAC technology that improves transmission efficiency for a high resolution and more realistic sound.

At the back of the Freebuds Lite are built-in G-Sensors where users can tap to execute specific actions on their smartphones. Double-tapping the left earpiece will activate the voice assistant while doing it on the right piece will play or pause the music when you are wearing it. Note that you can also play music with the left bud removed from your ear. Finally, answering or ending calls can be done by double-tapping either of the buds.

The Freebuds Lite uses an ENC technology with four microphones which provides clear and crisp voice quality over calls. I used this on a good number of calls with people with very little issues in terms of call quality on either end and it can even detect my voice even if I’m almost whispering which is excellent.

The battery life for these earbuds is also respectful with them easily hitting Huawei’s quoted 3 hours of playtime on a single charge. Popping them into the charging case will add an additional 10 hours of battery life so tripling the amount of time you can use these buds.

Note: Putting the earbuds inside the case will immediately initiate the charging feature.

When it comes to audio quality, the Freebuds Lite has a decent audio quality with clear highs, mids, and even lows. Even at max volume, the sound is crisp and does not get blown out. It’s not a perfect set of earphones though as I find the bass lacking but these earbuds are a good start if you’re looking for a quality Bluetooth headset.

Overall, I like how portable the Huawei Freebuds Lite is where you can store them inside your pockets or in small pouches. These new earbuds from Huawei are said to rival the Samsung Galaxy Buds and the Apple AirPods and, with their impressive battery life, audio quality and usability features, the FreeBuds Lite are right up there with Samsung and Apple’s offerings.

The Free Buds Lite are free until the end of July with the purchase of the P30 Lite. The P30 Lite is available free on bill pay in Three, Vodafone and Eir or starts on prepay in Vodafone from €269.99.