Huawei FreeClip review – Open-ear headphones with an innovative design

The setup of the Huawei FreeClip is identical to that of other headphones from the manufacturer such as the FreeBuds Pro 3. If you have a Huawei smartphone with at least EMUI 10 or HarmonyOS 2, a connection to the headphones is suggested as soon as the charging case is opened for the first time. However, Google’s Fast Pair is not supported, whereas Microsoft’s Swift Pair is. Alternatively, a classic manual pairing can be performed. The Huawei headphones are capable of dual connectivity and can be paired with two devices at the same time; the pairing list can manage up to eight devices.

The AI Life app is required to use the FreeClip with all its benefits. Apple Users can find this in the App Store; it is usually pre-installed on Huawei smartphones or can be downloaded from the AppGallery. Only Google users have to take a slightly more complicated route by downloading the app via the QR code on the packaging or directly from the Huawei website.

Not only can firmware updates be installed in the app, but equalizers can also be set, wearer detection can be switched on or off, and touch operation can be adapted to individual requirements. In this respect, there are also a few special features of the FreeClip, as they have touch-sensitive surfaces on the bean, the bridge, and the ball, which react to double or triple taps. In addition, there is no left or right earbud, they can be used either way and the integrated sensors recognize which side they are on. We are already familiar with these functions from the Watch Buds and also works very reliably with the FreeClip. The earbuds can also be used individually so that nothing stands in the way of monaural use.

If you use a Huawei smartphone or tablet, you can also adjust the sound quality in the app. The search function then not only includes acoustic location via played sounds but the last location of the headphones can also be displayed on a map. However, Huawei does not offer UWB support.

The audio codec features go beyond SBC and AAC. Huawei products can use the high-resolution L2HC codec. At Android 14 on the Pixel 8, we were also offered Spatial Audio. LC3 is also nominally supported, but we were only able to establish an AAC connection on the Pixel. It is not yet entirely clear whether this is reserved exclusively for Windows or will be added via an update. We are still waiting for an answer from Huawei in this regard. As soon as we have this, we will update the article accordingly.