The Huawei freebuds 4i follows in the footsteps of the Freebuds 3i, which debuted last year and featured a semi-in-ear design, active noise cancellation (ANC), and long battery life of less than €100. Have the Chinese company’s entry-level true wireless earbuds managed to impress us once more?
A brief look at the Huawei Freebuds 4i
When the Freebuds 3 was released at the end of 2019, it failed to create an impression because it attempted but failed to integrate ANC with an open-fit design. With the superb Huawei Freebuds 3i, Huawei learned its lesson and switched to a semi-fit form factor. The Huawei Freebuds Pro, which proved to become the earbuds that arrived at Huawei’s peak and have been sitting pretty there ever since, improved on that design.
I haven’t evaluated a wearable device in a long time, which is absurd when you think about it. But when it comes to genuine wireless earphones with ANC, I typically think of high-end devices. The Jabra Elite 85t, which I use daily, the Beretta Momentum TW 2, which I adored, or the Sony WF-1000XM3 and Apple Airpods Pro, which are both old but still reliable devices.
Classic yet premium design
With a long, flattened stem and a partial in-ear design that doesn’t impede the ear canal, the Huawei Freebuds 4i has a very classic aesthetic. Everything needed to deliver its remarkable audio performance has been packed away in an oval-shaped container with a gleaming, deep crimson exterior. When it comes to the aesthetic of your everyday true wireless earbuds, there isn’t much to write about, unlike smartphone reviews. The Huawei Freebuds 4i has a very traditional design that we’ve seen a million times before.
A sound that does not make its price
The cosmetic style is appealing, but since they are truly wireless earbuds, we’re more concerned about the audio quality. Each of the two earbuds of the Huawei Freebuds 4i has a 10mm transducer and is compatible with Bluetooth SBC & AAC codecs. It’s a shame that aptX, LDAC, and even Huawei’s proprietary codec, L2AC, aren’t supported.
As you may know, I despise audiophiles’ perplexing jargon when describing sound. Despite my love for language, words like “sibilance,” “brilliance,” and “boomy” give me the creeps. It’s a disgrace to use such terms to describe a mass-market product’s acoustic performance.
Let’s keep things basic for now. From one end of a frequency range to the other, the Huawei Freebuds 4i delivers a wonderfully balanced sound. Bass, mids, & highs are all suitably emphasized. The W signature refers to this balanced frequency response.
Conclusion
The Huawei Freebuds 4i is an amazing value-for-money pair of truly wireless earbuds with ANC functionality for just under €100.
The Freebuds 4i’s twin pillars are a very balanced sound profile that is far more accurate than most budget wireless earbuds that overwhelm your eardrums with bass, and a great battery life of 5 – 10 hours depending on whether or not you have engaged ANC.