Open-ear headphones with glamour factor – Huawei FreeClip 2 review

The FreeClip 2 has a recommended retail price (RRP) of $199 and are available on Amazon.

After Huawei introduced a new headphone concept with the first FreeClip 2023, the FreeClip 2 is a logical further development of the successful model.

The basic design remains unchanged, but larger batteries are used, the sound has been improved, and the Bluetooth standard has been updated. Huawei also wants the headphones to be seen as a fashion accessory.

With the FreeClip 2, Huawei has once again opted for the C-Bridge design of its predecessor. The C-Bridge is now additionally coated with liquid silicone to make it more skin-friendly. It is available in black, white, blue, and rose gold.

Once again, the workmanship leaves a very high-quality impression. The C-Bridge appears sturdy and always springs back to its original position quickly. The contact pressure feels slightly stronger than on the predecessor, but Huawei does not provide exact figures for this. This means that the headphones sit even more securely in place, but the pressure is still not uncomfortable. Nevertheless, the FreeClip 2 feels slightly more present on the ear.

The C-bridge connects the other two elements: the Comfort Bean and the Acoustic Ball. The former houses the battery and the touch-sensitive control surface, while the latter houses the speakers and microphones. The headphones automatically detect which ear they are being worn on.

Huawei has improved the IP certification of the earbuds: with IP57, they are protected against harmful amounts of dust and temporary immersion in water. The charging case is IP54 certified.

Huawei wants to achieve a fashionable touch not only through the design, but also through a collaboration with French jewelry company Les Néréides.

They have designed jewelry clips that can be attached to the C-bridge. Huawei offers a limited edition version of the FreeClip 2 in its store, which comes with matching clips and a jewelry box. Les Néréides also offers individual pieces of jewelry for the FreeClip headphones.

Alternatively, jewelry from other suppliers is also available. For testing purposes, we received a set of glittering butterflies that attach perfectly to the headphones. One disadvantage is that they have to be removed every time the FreeClip 2 is put back into the case, as otherwise the lid cannot be closed. However, this is not a problem if only one earbud is in the case.

The Huawei FreeClip 2 comes in a cardboard box that does not contain any plastic packaging materials. We cannot say whether it is shrink-wrapped in plastic, as our test device had already been opened before it reached us.

Repairs or battery replacement by the user are not intended.

Setting up the Huawei FreeClip 2 is easy via Bluetooth pairing. Thanks to Microsoft Swift Pair, this happens automatically on computers as soon as the charging case is opened for the first time. The same applies to Huawei smartphones and tablets. Since Google Fast Pair is not supported, the pairing process must be initiated manually. Multipoint support allows two devices to be paired simultaneously, and the pairing list can manage up to eight devices.

If you have a Huawei smartphone such as the Pura 80 Ultra, you don't need an additional app to use the FreeClip 2 to its full extent. Otherwise, the Huawei Audio Connect app should be installed to use the full range of the headphones. However, this is not absolutely necessary. It is available in all app stores, including Apple's App Store, with the exception of the Google Play Store.

The app allows you to manage paired devices, install updates, define equalizers, and much more. In comparison, however, it is noticeable that 3D audio is reserved exclusively for Huawei devices, as are the in-house high-resolution audio codec and the recording function with the headphones.

Control is quite simple via swipe and tap gestures on the comfort bean. This can be customized or even turned off in the settings. Head gestures can also be used to answer or end calls.

Huawei has revised the driver architecture of the FreeClip 2, resulting in significantly more prominent mids. This gives the headphones an audibly more powerful impression and makes them well suited for media playback.

Due to their design, a transparent mode is unnecessary, as the surroundings remain clearly audible at all times. However, ANC is also not possible, which is particularly noticeable when traveling. Nevertheless, the content played back is always clearly audible on the plane. The adaptive volume control automatically adjusts the level to the environment, which works quite well.

Huawei offers a whole range of technology for telephony: in addition to the two microphones, DNN (Deep Neural Network) with an AI NPU and modern VPU (Voice Pick Up) are used. This ensures that we can always hear our conversation partner clearly and that we are also clearly audible in quiet environments. However, the microphones are quite susceptible to wind when we are on the move, and if we keep the smartphone in our pocket, there can be brief dropouts. Our conversation partner then describes us as sounding quite muffled and noisy.

THD (Total Harmonic Distortion): Harmonic distortion quantifies the magnitude of the components that arise from non-linear distortion (harmonic content) in relation to the original signal. THD refers only to the fundamental harmonic content. The distortion factor is often mentioned in the same breath, but refers to the overall signal.

THD+N (Total Harmonic Distortion + Noise): This value is comparable to THD, but in addition to the interference from harmonics, the interference from noise is also recorded as an effective value.

For the measurement, a low-harmonic sine wave signal (1 kHz, > 0 dB) is played through the headphones to be tested and recorded by a linear measuring microphone (measuring distance: approx. 1 cm) in an artificial head.

Both values are given as a percentage. The lower the value, the better the signal fidelity.

The Huawei FreeClip 2 are charged in the included charging case. A full charge is possible in less than an hour, but wireless charging takes more than twice as long.

Huawei specifies the battery life as up to nine hours for media playback and up to six hours for phone calls. This largely corresponds to our experience and is usually sufficient for everyday use. The charging case provides three additional charges.