In one look
Expert rating
Benefits
- Excellent sound quality
- Solid ANC
- Reliable controls
- Wireless charging case
The inconvenients
- Difficult software situation
- Small gains compared to its predecessor
- No fast charging for headphones
Our Verdict
The FreeBuds Pro 3 are another decent pair of wireless earbuds from Huawei and while they have a lot to like, including a lower price than their big rivals, not much has changed from the previous generation.
The wireless earbud train continues to move forward and Huawei is back with another flagship pair vying for your ears’ attention.
The FreeBuds Pro 3 arrive at a slightly higher price than their predecessors – at £179.99 – and while they’re lower than Apple and Sony, there’s not much innovation here to tempt anyone who already owns the FreeBuds Pro 2.
a new groove on the upper makes it easier to use pressure/touch controls
Design and build
- Refined design
- Groove for controls
- New green color
The design of the FreeBuds Pro 3 is largely unchanged from the previous generation.
With short, wide stems, they look a little chunky but that doesn’t bother me too much. The buds are 5% lighter (5.8g per head) than the FreeBuds Pro 2 but it’s not noticeable.
Either way, they are comfortable and secure. I just used the pre-installed silicone tips, but there are of course other sizes in the box, including a new extra small option.
Chris Martin / Foundry
The case is very similar, with minor adjustments and improvements. It is a little smaller and the hinge is hidden, no longer intersecting the rear panel with the Huawei logo which is a piece of “nano-glass”. Although it is implied that the entire case is glass, the rest is plastic.
The buds are more exposed, making them easier to pop out, and the case now has a built-in speaker. For now, it will give you a sound when it’s finished charging, but a “Find My Case” feature will come later.
You can get the FreeBuds Pro 3 in four colors: Silver Frost, Silver Blue, Ceramic White, and Green. The latter is the new livery and the one I tested here.
An IP54 rating makes them dust and splash resistant and a new groove on the stem makes it easier to use press/touch controls. I really like not looking for the right part and the haptic feedback is very clear.
Chris Martin / Foundry
You can pinch once, twice, three times, or a long pinch for various controls (namely playback and ANC modes), as well as slide your finger up and down to adjust the volume.
The latter works well but needs to be done on the same grooved section that faces forward rather than the more intuitive outer surface of the upper where the Huawei logo resides.
Sound quality and features
- Two pilots
- Two high-resolution codecs
- Software obstacles
Huawei is once again offering a dual-driver audio system here with 11mm dynamic drivers paired with planar diaphragm drivers.
The combination allows the heads to offer an extremely wide frequency range of 14 Hz to 48 kHz. And once again, they sound great, delivering rich, dynamic and spacious sound.
The FreeBuds Pro 3 certainly deserve their Pro nickname when it comes to codecs
The bass is again particularly strong, so if you like EDM (electronic dance music), the FreeBuds Pro 3 are a great choice. However, they are suitable for many genres of music as well as podcasts and the like thanks to their detailed midrange and delicately processed high end.
I can’t turn it on and off to test performance, but Huawei touts the “adaptive triple EQ” that can adjust the sound profile based on volume level, ear canal shape, and port condition.
Again, the earbuds can detect when they’re in your ears to automatically pause playback when you remove an earbud. It works as advertised.
Chris Martin / Foundry
Active noise cancellation (ANC) is now Intelligent ANC 3.0 which the company says is 50% better than the FreeBuds Pro 2. I can’t say I’ve noticed such a jump, but they certainly do a great job by blocking unwanted sounds. , and awareness mode is useful when you want to hear what’s going on around you without removing the headphones.
By default, ANC is in dynamic mode and chooses automatically based on your environment, but manual selection of cozy, general and ultra is found in the AI life app.
Call quality is again ensured by a four-mic system consisting of three silicon mics and one bone conduction mic. Regarding the FreeBuds Pro 2, I found the quality very good. Everything Pure Voice 2.0 does in the background to eliminate noise, including wind, does a solid job.
The FreeBuds Pro 3 certainly deserve their Pro moniker when it comes to codecs. In addition to the basic earbuds you find on almost every pair of headphones, they support LDAC and L2HC 2.0, meaning you can listen to high-resolution audio wirelessly.
This is provided you have a compatible device, with L2HC 2.0 only available on Huawei phones running EMUI 13.0 or later. Keep in mind that you will also need a subscription to high-resolution content/streaming.
Chris Martin / Foundry
If you have a compatible Huawei device, you’ll benefit from pop-up pairing to make it easy to connect. Other modern/smart features include dual connections that let you be connected to two devices at the same time, even Android and iOS, fit test, and find my earbuds.
There is also audio sharing so that two pairs of headphones can be connected to the same thing, listening to the same audio, but this is limited to certain Huawei devices.
Another software hurdle is the fact that the AI Life app isn’t available on the Google Play Store, so you have to get it through Huawei’s app gallery. This is a problem and even then the app couldn’t find my FreeBuds Pro 3. I had better luck on iPhone where the app is available and found the earbuds.
You can use the headphones without the app, but you’ll need it to access all settings and features.
Chris Martin / Foundry
Battery life and charging
- Marginal gains
- No fast charging
- Wireless charging case
In terms of battery life, Huawei says you’ll get 6.5 hours out of the earbuds, but that’s specifically about using them at 50% volume with ANC turned off and the base Bluetooth AAC codec. Including the charging case, the total is 31 hours.
Chris Martin / Foundry
Actual battery life varies of course. Listening at 50 percent volume with noise canceling turned on, while traveling on a noisy train for an hour, lost about 20 percent of the battery, suggesting a five-hour lifespan.
It’s a marginal gain over the previous generation of FreeBuds Pro but you can find longer battery life elsewhere if needed.
The earbuds will take around 40 minutes to charge inside the case, with Huawei not mentioning any fast charging. The case can be charged via USB-C or wireless charging, but at up to 2W, the latter will take more than twice as long to fill the case.
Typically, Huawei underestimates its competitors on price
Pricing and availability
Typically, Huawei underestimates its competitors when it comes to pricing. The FreeBuds Pro 3 are yours for £179.99, making them more of a mid-range option.
You can buy them on the official store as well as on Amazon and Very. They are not available in the United States at the time of writing.
If you can’t afford earbuds like the Apple AirPods Pro 2, Sony WF-1000XM5, and Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds, the FreeBuds Pro 3 are a great option for a flagship pair.
For something cheaper, Huawei has the excellent FreeBuds 5 and you can check out our best true wireless earbuds chart for more options.
Should you buy the Huawei FreeBuds Pro 3?
Huawei has made another great pair of true wireless earbuds.
They edged out their big rivals while still offering top-notch audio quality, noise cancellation, built-in controls, and a number of useful features.
However, there are some things to consider before hitting the buy button.
A number of features are limited to Huawei devices, the software experience is not simple and nothing has changed when comparing the headphones with the FreeBuds Pro 2 that, now they are the older generation you could find at an attractive price.
Specifications
- 11mm dynamic driver, planar diaphragm driver
- 14Hz – 48kHz
- Bluetooth
- Bone sensor, accelerometer, gyroscope sensor, infrared sensor
- Simultaneous connection to two supported Bluetooth devices
- LDAC, L2HC2.0, AAC, SBC
- Pinch and swipe gestures
- Battery life: Up to 6.5 hours of music playback on 1 charge (4.5 hours with ANC), 31 hours of playback with charging case
- USB-C
- Wireless charging (market dependent)
- Active noise cancellation (up to 47 dB)
- Dimensions: 29.1 x 23.7 x 21.8 mm (per earpiece)
- Dimensions: 67.9 x 47.5 x 24.5 mm (charging case)
- Weight: approx. 5.8g (per earbud), approx. 45.5g (charging case)
- IP54
- Silver blue, frost silver, ceramic white, green
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