Odi Productions
In this article, I’m going to share my HONEST Huawei FreeBuds Pro 5 review for those who are wondering whether they are WORTH IT. I’ll also be comparing the Huawei FreeBuds Pro 5 vs AirPods Pro 3, Sony WF-1000XM6, Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Pro, Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds 2nd Gen, and more!
I’m going to do my best to share whether these wireless earbuds are worth it, and ideally who these are perfect for. I’ve owned these for a while now and have quite a few thoughts.
I’ll be sharing my critical opinion with 10 years of experience as a professional music producer, audio engineer, and tech journalist.
Let’s dive right in!
Huawei FreeBuds Pro 5 Review in Short
The Huawei FreeBuds Pro 5 is arguably the best overall value for wireless noise cancelling earbuds currently. It has elite comfort, noise cancelling performance, mic quality, and some pretty impressive sound quality, all for $50 to $100 cheaper than most of its competitors. Competes in the wireless noise cancelling earbuds class with the likes of Apple AirPods Pro 3rd Generation, Sony WF-1000XM6, Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Pro, and Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds 2nd Gen.
Watch this Full Review on YouTube!
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Pros and Cons
- Best-in-class comfort
- Incredible value for money
- Elite noise cancelling
- Near audiophile-level sound quality
- Not “officially” sold in U.S.
- There is slightly better noise cancelling
- There is slightly better sound quality
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Comfort + Features
Comfort
The Huawei FreeBuds Pro 5 comes with 4 pairs of soft liquid-silicone eartips to find the perfect fit for you.
The design of the earbud and the use of soft silicone eartips reminds me most of the Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Pro, which is to say this is one of the most comfortable earbuds we’ve tested as well.
For me, I find that the FreeBuds Pro 5 slips easily into the ear and is rather secure, creating its physical seal with minimal insertion into the ear canal.
Another earbud design this reminds me of is the AirPods Pro 3, but the AirPods uses a slightly harder memory foam hybrid material that is not as soft.
Features
The Huawei FreeBuds Pro 5 was originally released globally in February 2026, so it has many modern wireless earbud features:
- IP57 water resistance rating (dust and submersion in water)
- NearLink 2.0 Lossless Audio (up to 4.6 Mbps)
- L2HC 4.0 Lossless Audio (up to 2.3 Mbps)
- LDAC high-res codec support
- Built-in microphones for taking calls
- USB-C and Qi wireless charging case
- Spatial Audio
- Bluetooth 6.0
- Multi-point connection
- Adaptive Noise Cancelling
- Transparency Mode
One important note for users in the US: Currently, the Huawei FreeBuds Pro 5’s app is only officially supported on iOS, Samsung Galaxy store, OR sideloaded onto Android phones. The official Huawei app is not currently available on Google Play store due to restrictions. The earbuds still work perfectly fine on Android without use of an app, but is limited in customization and features like Spatial Audio.
Microphone Quality
The Huawei FreeBuds Pro 5 utilizes bone conduction sensors and multiple microphones, a setup similar to the Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Pro and Sony WF-1000XM6.
Thanks to this and some nifty AI filtering, it has one of the best microphone quality for the class alongside the Samsung, Sony, and AirPods Pro 3.
Where the FreeBuds Pro 5 excels most is in negating wind noise.
Battery Life
- With ANC on: 6 hours of battery life on a single charge / 25 hours total with charging case
- With ANC off: 9 hours on a single charge / 38 hours total with charging case
This battery life is firmly average for the class, with some recent competitors having 8-9 hours on a single charge with ANC on. This battery life actually drops when using the high-res codecs like LDAC and higher.
Comfort + Features Score: 9.5 out of 10
Huawei FreeBuds Pro 5 Noise Cancelling Performance
So one of the most innovative features of the Huawei FreeBuds Pro 5 is its “dual-engine noise cancellation” technology, that actually utilizes the dual-driver architecture for not just sound, but emitting “anti-noise”.
In my testing, the FreeBuds Pro 5 has some seriously impressive noise cancelling right out of the box using this technology, but I actually preferred to keep this “dual-engine” or “Ultra” mode OFF. My reasoning is that this mode creates more artifacts and side effects than keeping it in the “General” mode, which I found plenty sufficient with much less side effects.
So while I appreciate the innovation here, I think it’s a little too complicated and finicky compared to more straightforward noise cancelling from competitors like AirPods Pro 3 and Sony WF-1000XM6.
That said, I do put the FreeBuds Pro 5 in that “elite” tier alongside the AirPods Pro 3, Sony XM6, and Bose QC Ultra 2 Earbuds, but at the bottom of this quartet.
The soft silicone eartips don’t have as strong of a passive noise isolation.
I have the Huawei slightly above the Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Pro for noise cancelling.
The Transparency mode also works great as well, like the other flagships.
Noise Cancelling Score: 9.0 out of 10
Sound Quality
Going into this, I didn’t really know what to expect, as I hadn’t previously tested any Huawei earbuds in the past.
I just knew that the FreeBuds Pro 5 came highly recommended by our YouTube comments, and the comments typically never let us down when it comes to recommendations.
I also knew that with the AirPods Pro 3, Sony WF-1000XM6, and Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Pro all sounding quite good, that Huawei had its work cut out for them.
Lossless Audio and Codec Support
So let’s start with the technicals, which I appreciate that they have this audiophile emphasis on Lossless Audio via their NearLink 2.0 protocol and L2HC 4.0 codec support, developed by Huawei exclusively.
In addition, it also supports the more-accessible high-res LDAC codec.
Now, I didn’t have the proper Huawei device to test the Lossless Audio for now, but unfortunately, I also wasn’t able to test LDAC due to US restrictions of the Huawei app not being available on the Google Play store.
The Huawei app is however available on the Apple App Store for iOS, but for some reason, I couldn’t unlock LDAC using my typical Questyle QCC Dongle Pro.
Regardless, the earbuds still sounded great even in AAC with high-res lossless source files, which was used for this test.
Full Sound Test
My first impression was that these reminded me of the Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Pro, and it’s likely due to sharing a nearly-identical dual-driver, dual-amp architecture with an 11mm woofer and planar tweeter.
It’s actually a “micro” planar tweeter for the Huawei.
What jumped out to me was the bass response, with good detail in the high-end.
But what was different from the Galaxy Buds 4 Pro is the sound profile.
I would best describe the FreeBuds Pro 5 as “neutral bright” with a slight V-shaped frequency response, pushing forward the bass and treble slightly. Unlike the Galaxy Buds 4 Pro, the Huawei has fuller mids that results in a more realistic timbre for vocals and certain instruments. It’s a surprisingly balanced tonality that is like a “fun” version of the darker, warmer, and more “accurate” Sony WF-1000XM6.
Immediately, even without a high-res codec like LDAC, the FreeBuds Pro 5 reminded me of the Sony XM6 earbuds in terms of technical sound quality and fidelity.
Yes, they’re a little hyped, but they aren’t lacking in the mids like most consumer-friendly earbuds that are quite recessed in the mids.
Instead, I’m getting plenty of detail in the bass, mids, and treble.
There is not too much to critique here, but I will say that they sound “weakest” with Rock and Metal tracks, as there is a peaky treble in the 7kHz region that creates some sibilance.
I do want to reiterate that I didn’t get to test these with at least LDAC, which I think may help tighten up the sound ever so slightly to put it on par with the Sony XM6.
But for now, I put the Huawei FreeBuds Pro 5 just below the “high-end audiophile” options like Sony WF-1000XM6, Technics AZ100, Noble FoKus Rex5, Denon PerL Pro, Status Pro X, Bowers & Wilkins Pi8, and SoundPEATS H3 – all of which are some of the best wireless earbud listening experiences available.
I find the FreeBuds Pro 5 to be superior in sound quality to the previous Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Pro, Airpods Pro 3, Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 4, Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds 2nd Gen, and Google Pixel Buds Pro 2.
Sound Quality Score: 8.5 out of 10
Value
The Huawei FreeBuds Pro 5 is around $220 USD currently.
It’s firmly in competition with the AirPods Pro 3, Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Pro, Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds 2nd Gen that are typically between $199 to $249 on sale, although the Bose retails at $299.
The Sony WF-1000XM6 is quite a bit more expensive at $329 retail.
At over $100 cheaper than the Sony XM6, while being superior to the AirPods Pro 3, Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Pro, and Bose QC Ultra 2 in sound quality, I find the FreeBuds Pro 5 to be arguably the best value in wireless earbuds currently.
It also has superior noise cancelling to the Samsungs, while costing less.
And the comfort is elite, noticeably better than the Sony XM6.
Value Score: 10 out of 10
Overall Scoring Breakdown
Comfort + Features (15% of score): 9.5 / 10
Noise Cancelling (25% of score): 9.0 / 10
Sound Quality (50% of score): 8.5 / 10
Value (10% of score): 10 / 10
Total: 8.85 out of 10
Is the Huawei FreeBuds Pro 5 Worth it?
Wow. Or shall I say, h-WOW-wei?
I had virtually no expectations for the Huawei FreeBuds Pro 5, but if I did have them, they would’ve surely been blown away.
Here we have an earbud that is arguably superior to the Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Pro in every way, over $100 cheaper than the Sony WF-1000XM6, with better sound quality than the AirPods Pro 3, Samsung, and Bose QC Ultra 2 Earbuds. Not to mention a very competitive noise cancelling performance that is enough to be considered in the “elite” tier.
Now let me be clear that there is better noise cancelling and sound quality, but to have both be this competitive and for this price, the Huawei FreeBuds Pro 5 has instantly become a serious contender in the class with this one.
If nothing else, it makes a case for the best value alongside when the AirPods Pro 3 is on sale for $199 USD.
The ONE big caveat is that for U.S. customers, it’s not “officially” sold directly by Huawei, although there are third-party sellers that can be found even on Amazon.
Also, only iOS customers in the U.S. can seemingly take full advantage of the official Huawei app, while Android users will have to jump through some hoops, since the app is not on the Play Store.
Lastly, if you’d like to save some money and keep supporting RecordingNOW.com’s 100% independent, unbiased reviews, do consider using some of our affiliate links below to shop and even just compare prices. We purchase all products we review with our own money to maintain the highest level of integrity, and your support goes into that plus a continuously improving site experience.
Order HERE for the LOWEST PRICE AVAILABLE (Do NOT pay retail):
Disclosure: These affiliate links may provide a discount and in return, give us a commission in order to keep this website 100% independent to ensure honest unfiltered reviews 🙂
How We Tested and Our Methodology
RecordingNOW.com is a 100% independent publisher with over 10 years of experience testing and reviewing consumer electronics and headphones.
We currently purchase the products we test with our own money, and are not paid by any company or manufacturer to influence our opinions or decisions.
After purchasing the product, we conduct up to hundreds of hours of detailed hands-on testing in a controlled, acoustically-treated environment.
ODi Productions is our resident expert and author of this article, with 10 years of experience as a professional music producer, tech journalist, and audiophile.
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