Huawei FreeBuds 4i review: good earbuds for everyday use?
The Huawei FreeBuds 4i are true wireless in-ear earbuds with noise canceling, in-ear detection and much more. This is the first pair from Huawei we've tested, so we're eager to find out about the sound quality, fit and, of course, ANC! See how they perform in our test.
In this article
Pros and cons
Here are the pros and cons of the Huawei FreeBuds 4i, so you can quickly see whether these earbuds are right for you.
| Pros | Cons |
| ✔️ Great mic | ❌ Sound could be better |
Huawei FreeBuds 4i specifications
- Price: €65
- Model: T0001
- Charging case model: T0001C
- Chipset: unknown
- Codec: unknown
- Bluetooth: 5.0
- Range: 10m
- Case battery: 215 mAh
- Earbud battery: 55mAh
- Cable: usb type c
- In-ear detection: yes
- Waterproof: unknown
The FreeBuds 4i come in 3 colors: black, white and red.
Huawei FreeBuds 4i sound quality
The Freebuds 4i are in-ear earbuds (not semi-in-ear earbuds). That's promising, because in-ear earbuds let lower frequencies reach your ears more easily.
But once we put them in, the sound feels flat. Dull. It lacks the depth we're used to from the very best earbuds in this price range (€50-€75).
Sound quality score: 6
We're missing a little midrange, and the treble could be much better.
The bass has a nice presence. Not too much, not too little. Just right. Turn the volume up a bit and you'll really notice how good the bass sounds. Full and impressive. But that's purely the bass I'm talking about. There's more to the overall sound, as we'll explain below.
The mids don't support the bass enough, which always makes music sound a little odd. It takes away the sense of ensemble (to throw in a fancy French word). At first, you might think the earbuds lack bass. But listen closely and you'll hear that it's the mids letting the bass down by failing to support it.
The treble brings clarity and detail to your music. Here, too much of it is missing.
But perhaps sound quality wasn't Huawei's main focus. Maybe ANC, for example, is what sets these earbuds apart. That may be so, but we place a lot of value on how earbuds sound. And in our view, these only just pass for this price range.
Microphone: are the Huawei FreeBuds 4i good for calls?
The Huawei Freebuds 4i have an above-average microphone. Earbuds with stems often pick up your voice better because the microphone sits closer to your mouth. So we already had high hopes for the mic.
Microphone score: 8
Listen to the clip we recorded with the Huawei FreeBuds 4i:
You can hear it: the microphone is good. You can confidently use these earbuds for calls and online meetings. That may be down to the stems, which put the microphone a little closer to your mouth than on other earbuds.
Wondering which earbuds have the best microphone? We've put together a comparison with all the audio clips.
Fit: how do the Huawei FreeBuds 4i feel?
These Freebuds 4i wireless earbuds from Huawei have oval ear tips, much like the Jabra 85t wireless earbuds. We're sure plenty of research went into this. But oval earbuds have more room to move than round ones. Maybe our reviewers' ears aren't quite standard, but that's genuinely what we found. With Jabra, too, the 75t fit us better than the 85t.
The problem with these Huawei FreeBuds 4i is that the oval ear tips let them move and slide around a little, even with larger ear tips. That makes a little noise with every step. It's also hard to fit an oval ear tip onto the earbud correctly.
One upside is that the oval shape makes the opening larger. That gives high-quality sound more room to come through.
Fit score: 6
All in all, the fit of these ear tips only just passes. If the ear tips were round, fitting foam ear tips for the Huawei FreeBuds 4i could help. But that's not an option here.
ANC: how good is the noise canceling?
Active noise cancelling (ANC) is very popular. A microphone picks up ambient sound, and the earbuds' speakers neutralize it. In practice, though, ANC often doesn't work very well.
The Huawei FreeBuds 4i also have noise canceling. And they have a transparency mode, too.
Press and hold either earbud to turn on noise canceling. It mainly filters out steady, lower-pitched sounds. Think of the noise in your car or on a train. Or the range hood while you're cooking. Of course, you'll need to use a recipe that actually calls for turning the hood on. When you're studying in a library, you'll also hear a little less of sounds like someone putting a pen down on a desk.
The Huawei FreeBuds filter out fewer decibels than the MPOW X3, for example. But the ANC does work. If you switch from transparency mode to noise canceling, in particular, all that ambient sound drops away.
ANC score: 6
In short: the noise canceling does its job, but other earbuds have better ANC.
Earbud controls
First, a small annoyance with the controls: when you take the earbuds out of the case, they don't automatically pair with a new device. No, you have to hunt for the (secret) pairing button. Press and hold it, and only then do they start pairing with your new device. The only other manufacturer that does this is the fruity American brand that makes those white earbuds. Could Huawei have taken inspiration from that fruity brand? I can't imagine why: AirPods aren't that good.
Right, minor frustration out of the way. On to the controls. The Huawei FreeBuds 4i have touch controls. Tap an earbud and it responds. We like both buttons and touch controls. Either can be done well or badly. Buttons need to be easy to press, so you don't have to push the earbud hard into your ear canal. With touch controls, you need to be able to feel where the touch surface is.
That last point is a little tricky with the Freebuds 4i's design. A narrow stem extends from the housing, so the touch surface is also very narrow. Although that feels a little counterintuitive, the earbuds respond very well to your touch. So that's fine.
Controls: 6.5
Of course, the gestures you use to control the FreeBuds Bluetooth earbuds matter too. You'll find them in the table below.
How do the Huawei FreeBuds 4i touch controls work?
| Left | Right | |
| 1x | Nothing | Nothing |
| 2x | Music: pause/play Calls: answer/hang up |
Music: pause/play Calls: answer/hang up |
| 3x | Music: pause/play (also) | Music: pause/play (also) |
| 3 sec. | ANC/awareness/off | ANC/awareness/off |
|
8+ sec. |
Power off/on | Power off/on |
We couldn't find a way to control the volume. That means if your favorite song comes on and you want to turn up your FreeBuds, you'll have to dig out your device first.
We couldn't find an app that lets you do this either. We did find the Freebuds app, but as far as I can tell, it's for the first version of the FreeBuds. It also has a low rating in the Play Store.
How do you connect the Huawei FreeBuds 4i to a phone or laptop?
Here's how to connect the Huawei FreeBuds 4i to your phone or laptop:
- Place the earbuds in the case.
- Open the lid.
- Press the button on the side for 5+ seconds until the light turns on or changes.
The FreeBuds 4i will then appear in the Bluetooth device list on your laptop or phone.
How to factory reset the Huawei Freebuds 4i
Here's how to factory reset the FreeBuds 4i:
- Put the earbuds in the case and close the lid.
- Hold the button for 10+ seconds until the light starts flashing differently.
Battery: how long can you use the earbuds?
The Huawei FreeBuds 4i charging case has a 215 mAh battery. That's an absolute record. We've never tested earbuds with such a small case battery. The average is around 450mAh. But in our view, earbuds costing €60+ should have 500+ mAh of battery capacity. For comparison, the €79 Eardopes B6 Pro has 1000mAh, more than 4 times as much.
The earbuds themselves have 55mAh. That's about average, so no complaints there. You can listen to music for around 4.5 hours without recharging in the case. This depends heavily on whether ANC is on or off and how high you set the volume.
Battery score: 5
We'd love to give a higher score, but the charging case really doesn't have enough battery capacity.
You can see the charging case above. Thankfully, it has a USB-C port. Huawei also includes an excellent cable in the box, better than those from other manufacturers. The material is firmer and better quality, and the cable is much longer than standard.
Conclusion: are the Huawei FreeBuds 4i good?
| Score | |
| Sound | 6 |
| Microphone | 8 |
| Fit | 6 |
| ANC | 6 |
| Battery | 5 |
| Controls | 6 |
| Stability | 6 |
The Huawei FreeBuds 4i wireless Bluetooth earbuds have an excellent microphone, better than other earbuds in this price range. The sound is okay, but nothing special. The fit is different because of the oval ear tips. During testing, we noticed some movement in the ear, more than with round ear tips. The ANC works, and when you switch from transparency mode to noise canceling, you clearly hear the ambient sound drop away. Still, other earbuds in this price range have better ANC. Battery capacity is below average: 215mAh in the charging case. All in all, these Huawei Freebuds 4i earbuds get a passing grade, but they don't stand out from the competition.
Alternatives
Huawei FreeBuds 4i vs. QCY T10
The Huawei FreeBuds 4i look very similar to the QCY T10.
Huawei FreeBuds 4i vs. SoundPEATS T2
The SoundPEATS T2 earbuds are in roughly the same price range as the Huawei 4i. The SoundPEATS sound better, and their ANC works better too. They also have more battery capacity. At the time of writing, they're slightly cheaper as well.
Others also viewed:
- Browse all our wireless earbud articles
- These are the 8 best wireless earbuds
- These are the best noise-canceling earbuds
- These are the best earbuds under €50
- These are the earbuds with the best microphone
- Also see our article on alternatives to AirPods
- See the best earbuds for running or the gym
- Also see our hands-on with the Eardopes B6 pro.
