Now admittedly there is a lot of earbuds out there, or some called it TWS, and all comes in different shapes or sizes. This year around Huawei has been experimenting with different, odd types of earbuds, this is not their first rodeo either, such as the FreeBuds Lipstick, which is quite appealing for the ladies.
This time around lets just explore and look at the HUAWEI FreeClip in this review and an experience with it for almost two week, and this is what we have to say on this new unique earbuds.
Who is this For ?
Mainly the target audience is segmented for those who loves to try something new, with the intention together that constant communications are essential online, while this is also highly suitable for those who are casually outdoors or even loves to workout with music, while keeping the external surroundings aware.
Design & Asthethics
At first glance, this looks like a cutesy shaped earbuds, looks more like an ear ring and a mini dumb bell combined together that you can fit into the ear, but not entirely towards the ear canal. Let me explain how things work on this earbuds.
Huawei uses the open wear design, which Huawei coined it as the C Bridge design, resembling the letter does fittingly sounds right for the most part. Speaking of parts, there is three parts that makes this earbuds design innovative. The Comfort Bean, C-Bridge Design and the Acoustic Ball which makes it comfortable to your ears, just clip on your side of your ears gently and there you go. All the three parts keep things together and some might take time to get used to it, and in my personal experience, you will get used to it somehow. And the whole earbuds are touch sensitive, most of the brands may only implement the touch over one part of the earbuds only, but Huawei change things again by making the whole earbuds touch sensitive over the outer layer, this gave advantage to the user over responses like pause or switch to the next music track fast and can be quickly done without failures.
According to Huawei, the durability of the C Bridge Design has been tested thousands of times including wearing, removing from the ears and touching multiple instances to ensure longevity and quality of both connection and sound is still within the standards Huawei have set upon the FreeClip.
It comes it two colors, black and purple, I find both of the color are appealing and perhaps it matches your wear too, making it as one of your ear fashion accessory. Overall the Huawei FreeClip is weighted at 5.6 grams, including the case it is weighted around 46 grams, making it a great lightweight companion in your pocket.
Performance, Interface, Software
The Huawei FreeClip is compatible with both iOS and Android, and for better connectivity, compatibility, functionality, Ai Life App is required and you can get it from Google Play or Apple AppStore. If you are an existing Huawei Smartphone/tablet user, chances are the app is in your device and you can launch it straight away. Once all of the connection is established, all you need to do is wear your FreeClip to your ears.
Now the FreeClip supports multiple connections, up to two connections can be established at the same time. This enables flexibility of switching over with ease, whether by manual or by automatic detection.
Lets go further down on the features with Huawei’s AI LIFE. Its a must app anyway if you further wanna customise things forward such as tapping instances or pre-set equalizer, manage multiple connections, all can be found via the app. However that’s pretty much the app can provide and that is pretty much one should take note on, it is suppose to be that simple and not complicated afterall.
Experience
Well, at first it was a little bit not used to it, but after a few minutes, it slowly gets natural with your ear. This is because the material used is soft, yet clip to your ears just fittingly nice, but at the same time you will still feel it as in you do wear an actual earbuds around your ears. The advantage is you still can hear the surroundings while be able to enjoy your favorite tunes, this is especially good if you are in the office or outdoors where actual attention is needed in real life. There is some very minor audio leakage but that is only if you blast it to the maximum hence this is also very common with all open type earbuds and certain clip on buds. Communications are as crystal clear as it is, thanks to the VPU, microphones and driver module combined that really gave me the satisfaction. Also take note that lack of bass does exist, again related to the open earbuds style as it is not directly firing towards the ear canal so if you are a bass head, you may want to look at those earbuds that really plugs in to your ears. Overall again it is so comfortable and may just be my next favorite style of earbuds. All actions can be done by double tapping or triple tapping anywhere within the earbuds.
Technical Specifications
| Bluetooth Version | Bluetooth 5.2 |
| Bluetooth Range | 10m |
| Play Time | 8 hours per charge, with case up to 36 hours |
| Battery capacity | Per earbud: 55 mAh Charging case: 510 mAh |
| Splash, Water, and Dust Resistant | IP54 |
| Charging Port | USB C |
| Bluetooth Protocol | HFP, AVRCP, A2DP (SBC, AAC, SSC) HiRes Audio Support, L2HC |
| Sensor | Hall sensor/Cap sensor, VPU |
| Compatibility | Devices running Android 12/EMUI13 or higher, IOS 15 or higher |
Verdict & Conclusion
Huawei FreeClip is one of the daring move, yet something that is logical and makes sense as an all rounder casual earbuds. For one thing it can be quite a fashion statement yet bringing the audio near to you while still aware of the surroundings while communicating or listening. While it looks unusual, Huawei has some of the innovation set right and high again on a new way of accessorize audio with quality. With a price of RM899 a pop, some may turn away, but to some, especially those wanted to have something cool, fashionable on a high level, yet functional, this is something worth considering.
For more information on the Huawei FreeClip, CLICK HERE to find out