New AirPods Pro 3 rivals but with ultra high quality audio: Huawei releases FreeBuds Pro 5 with NearLink technology support

Earlier today Huawei unveiled a suite of new smartphones, along with the MatePad Edge 2-in-1. As well as introducing its latest foldable, the company also presented the Mate 80, Mate 80 Pro, Mate 80 Pro Max and Mate 80 RS Ultimate Design. As a pre-release teaser suggested, Huawei has now started selling the FreeBuds Pro 5 earbuds as direct competitors to the AirPods Pro 3 (curr. $219 on Amazon) too.

According to Huawei, the FreeBuds Pro 5 deliver exceptional audio quality when paired with a Huawei smartphone or the new MatePad Edge 2-in-1. Specifically, the company's new earbuds support NearLink technology, which is said to stream audio at up to 4.6 Mbps. If your smartphone does not support NearLink, then the FreeBuds Pro 5 also offer AAC, SBC, L2HC and LDAC as fallback codecs.

Moreover, Huawei includes two drivers per earbud, as well as an in-house Kirin A3 chip and microphones that provide up to 3x better active noise cancellation (ANC) than earlier Huawei earbuds. Furthermore, the FreeBuds Pro 5 boast IP57 certification against dust and water resistance. Despite prior claims, the FreeBuds Pro 5 is only rated to last 5 hours between charges with ANC enabled. The FreeBuds Pro 5 retails for CNY 1,449 (~$205) in a choice of four colour options. It is unclear at this stage when or if Huawei plans to offer the FreeBuds Pro 5 globally, though.