Huawei Freebuds Pro 3 Review: You Won’t Miss Anything in Your Noise-Canceling TWS Earphones

The Huawei FreeBuds Pro 3 redefine ANC earphones hit the market as a solid bet, strengthened in key areas such as sound quality and user experience. All without sacrificing comfort. With these FreeBuds Pro 3, Huawei has managed to minimize differences between using the earphones with a Huawei device and using them with a non-Huawei one.

Seeing TWS earphones on the street is an everyday thing. They’re comfortable, easy to use, and offer a lot of versatility. But transitioning to mid-range models with active noise cancellation elevates the experience to another level.

Technical Specifications of Huawei Freebuds Pro 3

If It’s Pro, You Know Its Design

Whether we like it or not, certain brands set the design trends for specific products, arriving sooner or later than others. This is especially evident in wireless earphones, both basic and those with active noise cancellation.

A slim case and distinct earphones clearly signify an advanced model, even just on paper. Despite this, Huawei’s new FreeBuds Pro 3 introduces its own details to enhance the design of their ambitious earphones.

The case of the new Huawei FreeBuds Pro 3 is smaller, sturdier, and the placement of the earphones inside has been improved.

The design of the Huawei FreeBuds Pro 3 makes sense when viewed as a whole with the charging and storage case. The model optimizes the placement and size of the earphones in the case, making it quicker and more comfortable to take them out and put them back.

The new Huawei FreeBuds Pro 3 are very comfortable when in use. Applying just the right amount of pressure to keep them secure in your ears, though during sports, the fear of an accidental slip remains constant.

Weighing just 5.8 grams, these earphones boast a discreet but not invisible design—a good blend. They also have an IP54 resistance, allowing for exercise even in the rain.

The ear tips are made of silicone, offering a pleasant feel without causing discomfort. They come with four tip sizes from XS to L, making it highly likely to find the perfect fit, even for those with smaller ears. There’s actually a fitting test to help choose the optimal size.

Comfort and Functionality in Design

The well-sized stem design integrates control elements smoothly, primarily responding to gestures/touches on the side surface with excellent sensitivity to each command. There are no unresponsive gestures.

Depending on the action, you slide on the control area (volume control), press the area (switch noise cancellation mode), or gently pinch (play or pause music, answer or end calls…). Learning the gestures is quick and simple, and once you’ve mastered the pressure or pinching method on that control area, the functionality feels very suitable.

Huawei’s choice of colors for the Freebuds Pro 3 seems apt. There’s Ceramic White, Green, and Silver Frost. All are subtle yet distinct from the usual bland white. The glass detail on the charging case remains, now reportedly more durable according to the manufacturer. The case’s overall abrasion resistance has also been enhanced.

The case features a button on the side for forced pairing functions, factory reset options, or restarts if needed. There are status LEDs on the front (exterior) as well as the charging port at the bottom of the case.

The case opens and closes comfortably, thanks to the concealed hinge system, offering both durability and security in closure.

Huawei Freebuds Pro 3 Changes Inside to Make Better Earphones

This new generation of Huawei’s Freebuds Pro earphones brings significant internal innovations with a single goal: to enhance audio quality and active noise cancellation.

The new Huawei Freebuds Pro 3 come equipped with a dual driver system consisting of a dynamic coil unit with four magnets. An improved micro-planar tweeter unit with a new Halbach magnet array.

A significant part of the enhanced listening experience lies in the 11mm bass driver, elevating the overall sound quality of these earphones. Positioning them in the high-end category for such devices.

The dual driver system adds an extra dimension that our ears will greatly appreciate across various music genres.

We’re treated to rich sound details across different frequency ranges, excellent separation between elements like vocals and background music, along with well-defined and prominent bass.

In this price and feature range, HD sound comes into play early, represented in these Freebuds Pro 3 by codecs like L2HC 2.0 and LDAC, alongside high-resolution wireless audio certification. However, compatibility isn’t universal; for instance, the L2HC 2.0 function requires a Huawei terminal with EMUI 13 or later.

AI is also present in the software. The Huawei Freebuds Pro 3 apply it, for example, when adjusting sound equalization to adapt as best as possible to individual differences in ear canal structure, volume settings, or headphone usage conditions.

Great Active Noise Cancellation Experience of Huawei Freebuds Pro 3

Gone are the days of wireless earphones with static and singular noise cancellation. The new Huawei FreeBuds Pro 3 debuts Intelligent ANC 3.0 technology, an evolution of the previous generation, offering adaptive noise cancellation in real-time.

This technology combines real-time noise cancellation with the option to choose from three preset modes: comfortable, general, and ultra.

The active sound cancellation ranks among the best in this earphone category, delivering an outstanding experience in everyday environments.

We can adjust the external noise control according to our needs, activating it, deactivating it, or using the awareness mode, where the earphones amplify external sounds that might be relevant.

The isolation level is excellent for TWS models. Initially, they provide isolation just by placing them in the ears, but in particularly noisy environments, the active cancellation becomes beneficial; however, in quieter settings, it’s not really necessary.

It’s worth noting that such effective isolation occurs in typical usage scenarios; the Huawei FreeBuds Pro 3 fall short in situations like airports, trains, or busy areas.

Also for Calls

Noise cancellation algorithms are applied in voice calls when using the Huawei Freebuds Pro 3. One area where noise cancellation during calls has been significantly improved is in scenarios with winds of up to 9 m/s.

The technology applied here is also named—Pure Voice 2.0 in this case. It manages ambient noise reduction using the earphones’ three microphones and a deep neural network (DNN) algorithm, while enhancing sound with the help of, among other things, a voice pickup sensor by bone conduction.

The result is decent but not the earphones’ standout feature. Occasionally, our callers noticed a slightly different quality to our voice, subtly enough to prompt them to pay attention during our test calls.

Software Making Adequate Progress

Managing the Huawei Freebuds Pro 3 is done through Huawei’s AI Life software, available for both iOS and Android. No registration is necessary to start using it, and the earphones are instantly recognized upon opening the case.

The app provides access to various control options and earphone usage modes, along with battery information, updates, or applied sound effects at all times.

While the Huawei Freebuds Pro 3 naturally make more sense within the brand’s ecosystem, the difference in experience and options between the iOS and Android apps is minimal.

The Huawei FreeBuds Pro 3 can be connected to two devices simultaneously, even iOS and Android, and seamlessly switch between them.

But what gives a new dimension to these Huawei Freebuds Pro 3 is the dual connection mode. With it, we can have the earphones connected to two devices at the same time, seamlessly switching between them manually or automatically as needed.

This mode works flawlessly. We’ve tested it with combinations of Android and iOS devices, as well as MacOS and Windows.

The connection center is also appreciated, providing constant awareness of the connected device and the ability to manage multiple connections, and of course, a list of linked devices. Information is power.

Huawei Freebuds Pro 3 Good Battery Life for an ANC Model

In wireless earphones with active noise cancellation, achieving endless battery life isn’t feasible. But they come close, especially considering that keeping them stored in the charging case continually boosts the battery.

The Huawei FreeBuds Pro 3 have an internal battery in the earphones themselves, averaging nearly 4 hours of autonomy in our tests with the noise cancellation system active. It was during a long train journey, and they performed remarkably well.

In mixed usage, including periods with active noise cancellation and others without, along with occasional phone calls and music playback at around 50% volume. The Huawei FreeBuds Pro 3 decreased their autonomy by slightly under 20% each hour, almost reaching six hours of actual autonomy.

Considering the charging case battery, the Huawei Freebuds Pro 3 allow us to forget about the charger for almost 30 hours.

With this type of earphones, it makes more sense to talk about overall autonomy, considering the charging case’s contribution. In this case, with an average of 5-6 hours of mixed usage per day, we didn’t need to charge the case for about 5 days.

Charging the case is done directly via USB-C, and in less than an hour, they’re back to 100% charge. They also support wireless charging.

Pros and Cons of Huawei Freebuds Pro 3

Pros

• Appealing and highly ergonomic earphones
• Quality sound
• Decent autonomy

Cons

• Sound during calls
• Some functions reserved for Huawei devices

Conclusion

Huawei continues to expand its range of accessories that can be used with their mobile devices or not. The new Huawei FreeBuds Pro 3 is another clear indication that they’re heading in the right direction.

These TWS earphones offer a very satisfying user experience, better than in previous generations, both in software and sound quality. In both aspects, they’ve excelled, not just in noise cancellation but also in delivering excellent sound.