We all rediscovered ourselves as runners, especially at the start of the lockwdown. Seriously, the sports population is particularly large and has many different users in various disciplines. I want to focus more on those who usually run, however, precisely because I had the opportunity to try the new ones Huawei FreeLace Pro which in my opinion are aimed mostly at them. These headphones, in fact, are equipped with a form factor devoted to sport, which for various reasons could be tempting to many people. They also feature an active noise cancellation system, perfect for isolating yourself and focusing on your business. Let's find out more about them in ours Full review.
Huawei FreeLace Pro review
Index
Unboxing
As always, Huawei does not disappoint from a packaging point of view. On the front of the box, therefore, the image of the product is shown, while on the back there are some main technical characteristics. Inside the sales package, therefore, we find:
- Huawei FreeLacePro;
- USB / USB Type-C cable for charging;
- spare earphone covers, of different sizes;
- short instruction manual, also in Italian;
- warranty certificate.
Design & Materials
I must say that over time the quality of this type of earphones has increased a lot, even at Huawei. Here, in fact, we find a structure made mainly in plastic, with the presence of some metal inserts along the two sides of the cable. Let's say that the Chinese brand did not want to pay too much attention to the measures, creating a pair of rather showy but still functional bluetooth headphones. These earphones, therefore, are equipped with a system for the management of music tracks, placed on the right, really well thought out. We therefore have a key to increase the volume, a physical key Play / Pause and a key to decrease the volume itself. On the side, then, we find the On / off button and a Status LED, which once turned off is almost invisible to the naked eye.
Taking a look at the technical specifications, here we find a cable length of 862,4 mm and a weight of 34 grams. It doesn't feel on your neck at all, therefore, when running or doing any other activity in the gym. Thanks to its soft surface, then, such cable it is quite comfortable even when it comes into contact with sweat, causing no skin reaction. Everything turns out to be quite flexible, except for the two terminal components, in metal, which in any case are rather light. Access the door USB Type-C of these headphones is very simple, because it is enough to "disassemble" the control panel on the right of the earphones themselves, highlighting this unit.
Looking at the earphones, we notice a in-ear design rather classic for a product of this type. Therefore, the terminal part can be easily removed to be replaced with others earphone covers of different sizes. I personally had to do this to find a pair of ear tips that fit my ears well. Thanks to the rubber surface and their particular form factor, however, they are quite comfortable and poco invasive. Once you find the perfect set, they no longer fall out of your ears. I would like to point out, then, how the lateral surface of these headphones is interrupted by the presence of ben three microphones, which help improve the audio of this product in different situations that we will see shortly. Furthermore, each of them mounts a magnetic metal surface that only on the left earphone is equipped with touch sensitivity.
Connectivity & Software
Let's immediately address the issue of connectivity. These FreeLace Pro, in fact, are equipped with Bluetooth 5.0 which supports Huawei HiPair function. The latter, however, is only active with Huawei devices equipped with EMUI 9.1 and later versions and allows you to quickly connect your headphones with a simple gesture: just pull out the port USB Type-C earphones and connect it to your smartphone. At this point an automatic pairing with the product will be started, without the need to access any settings. In case you do not have a Huawei / Honor smartphone, however, you will always have to proceed in the usual way.
While watching a video, for example on YouTube, I didn't notice one latency so marked. I must say that imperceptibly there is a minimum of delay, but I believe that most users would not even notice it as it is negligible. I will analyze this aspect, however, later. At the moment I can only confirm that they are actually very simple to use, even if they do not have a real interface with the smartphone.
We don't have any app to interact with but despite this the controls on the headphones are more than enough. Being devoted to sport, they rely 98% on commands physical, those positioned on the right plate. In addition to the on / off button, which must be held down for a few moments to activate the headphones and for about 4 seconds to proceed with pairing via Bluetooth, we find the three keys for managing songs and more. With the Play / Pause button it is possible, in fact, to call up the voice assistant by holding down on it for two seconds or, alternatively, to reject / accept a call. With two taps in sequence, then, you go to the next song, while with three close taps you access the previous song.
They are not present touch surfacesexcept the one contained in the left earphone. By keeping pressed, therefore, you can activate or deactivate the mode active noise cancellation. When we no longer want to listen to music, it is not necessary to turn them off. We can also just take them off our ears and glue them together due to the magnetic attraction between the two upper surfaces. At that point they will stop playing the song, going into a sort of standby mode. It will be enough just to detach them from each other, in fact, to reactivate the automatic pairing with the smartphone, thus starting immediately.
Audio
Huawei FreeLace Pro are technologically very advanced, but there is also an observation to make. Compared to other headsets, dedicated to different sectors, these can afford more generous dimensions and, consequently, can integrate better technologies. Reason why the brand has opted for the introduction of a dynamic driver da 14,2 mm that manages to offer more powerful and deeper bass, but not only. Thanks to it the distortions should have been almost completely eliminated, giving a more faithful and clean sound. In this respect, therefore, I can say that the quality is actually good, better than that tested on other similar earphones. With some songs you have the perception of the presence of bassi, while maintaining a fair balance on the mid and high tones.
As mentioned above, here we find an active noise cancellation system based on two distinct microphones. These do an excellent job, but in my opinion they cannot isolate the user from any kind of sound. Despite this, the performance is excellent, especially because it does not distort the quality of the audio in the headphones too much, an aspect not to be overlooked. There is, however, one Awareness mode which, in fact, amplifies external noises and does not completely isolate us from the world. I must say, therefore, that the difference between all these different functions is palpable, especially when you try them in noisier environments, a sign that the company has really tried to improve almost every aspect of these earphones.
There are three additional microphones on this pair of headphones, which are exploited by the system to improve the quality of the call. Furthermore, these can count on a particular algorithm, said Deep Neural Networks (DNN), which manages to isolate the human voice by improving its quality. What convinced me the least is the low latency game mode which, as far as I'm concerned, doesn't work properly. With a game like Call of Duty Mobile a certain delay immediately comes to light between our in-game actions and what is played on the headphones. This function, among other things, should be activated automatically when opening a game, but I don't really know if it is that useful. I tried to solicit it with 3-4 different titles, but the result was always the same.
Gaming is not their focus, making it perfect for those who play sports even on an occasional basis and for those who are not afraid of bad weather. Huawei FreeLace Pro, in fact, are equipped with IP55 certification.
Autonomy
Inside the plate on the left there is a space battery da 150mAh. On the official website they promise a duration of 24 hours on a single charge while listening to music, but this value is not easily achievable in reality. Despite this I can't tell you for sure how long they can last with continuous listening to high volume music, even if this will certainly be less than 20 hours.
I was able to appreciate the fast charging of these earphones which in less than an hour are able to recharge completely. Not bad, therefore, for a product of this type.
Price & Conclusions
Huawei FreeLace Pro they are sold on the official website Huawei Store at the price of 119 €. They are not a cheap product, we are sure of this, but quality, as always, has a cost. These headphones, in fact, are built in an impeccable way and show a really good sound quality. Many of the users interested in this product will not even be able to appreciate this last feature, linked to the audio, since during sports activity this aspect is less appreciated. Despite this, I recommend them to any type of user, especially to those who usually go to the gym or run, maybe even just as a hobby.
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