Most True Wireless stereo earphones on the market have an in-ear design, provide better physical noise cancellation with a better seal and they are also more stable as they fit better inside a users’ ear canal so when we compare them to an open-fit design, it shows this type still has the edge.
One of the major reasons for choosing open-fit earphones is its comfortable experience. Compared to in-ear earphones, open-fit earphones can provide a more comfortable experience. Moreover, open-fit earphones are now catching up in the active noise cancellation (ANC) technology category as some of them are already providing ANC features that usually only exist in high-end in-ear earphones.
Looking at the open-fit earphones on the market right now, the most popular are Apple’s AirPods 2, Samsung’s Galaxy Buds Live and the newly launched HUAWEI FreeBuds 4.
So, let us compare them and find out why HUAWEI FreeBuds 4 comes out on top.
Studio-Quality Sound: Sound quality is possibly the most important factor for most consumers to pick their earphones. The HUAWEI FreeBuds 4 is equipped with a 14.3mm dynamic driver, producing greater and more impressive bass. In terms of performance, the HUAWEI FreeBuds 4 adopt a newly upgraded bass enhancement engine, bass tube and motherboard to form an independently sealed sound cavity. Using the HUAWEI AI Life app, users can record surrounding sound with ease as well as Voice Mode to enhance voice pick and reduce environmental noise.
Open-Fit Active Noise Cancellation: Aside from the dynamic driver, the ANC technology also plays an important role. The earphones use an ergonomic simulation platform to objectively assess the comfort of the earphones.
The HUAWEI FreeBuds 4 curvature and size are optimised and polished at the micro level, which fits the ears better, providing better comfort and noise cancellation thanks to an airtight seal. They also adopt a dual-microphone hybrid de-noising technology that helps improve noise cancelation. These microphones can help accurately pick up ambient noise and also features a new internal structure that can help avoid wind noise interference as well as improving sound pickup sensitivity for the internal microphone.
To enhance noise cancellation effectively across different wearing scenarios, HUAWEI FreeBuds 4 are the first open-fit earbuds in the industry to use Adaptive Ear Matching (AEM) noise cancellation technology. When noise cancellation is switched on, the earbuds automatically detect the users’ ear shape and determine the optimum noise cancellation setup for each user, resulting in the most comfortable noise cancellation experience. HUAWEI FreeBuds 4 can achieve up to 25 dB which is one the deepest in open-fit ANC TWS earphones.
Air-like comfort: Comfort is key in earbud design to give an optimal user experience. The HUAWEI FreeBuds 4 has been revamped with 13 size optimisations that further reduced its body size. It also brings three enhancements to its overall curvature for a better fit. These string of optimisations not only enables a more pleasant wearing experience for long periods but it also allows for strengthened ANC performance on the earbuds.
All-New Interactions: Leveraging Huawei’s all-scenario device ecosystem and accumulated expertise in wireless connectivity, the HUAWEI FreeBuds 4 bring various connection features.
Dual-device connectivity: HUAWEI FreeBuds 4 supports dual device connection with various kinds of devices such as smartphones, tablets, PCs, smartwatches, and smart TVs under Huawei’s all-scenario devices. It also supports dual device connection with smart devices running on different operating systems like Android, iOS, and Windows systems, achieving simultaneous connection with smart devices of different operating systems and brands.
Smart and personalized controls: The HUAWEI FreeBuds 4 comes with a smart interactive experience. You can effortlessly enable active noise cancellation, adjust the volume, answer calls, press play, and switch songs right from the earphone stems, with simple Swipe/Double tap/Long press touch controls.
Sound quality: Looking at the spec sheets of HUAWEI FreeBuds 4, Apple AirPods 2 and Samsung Galaxy Buds Live, the size of the dynamic driver is 14.3 mm, 14 mm and 12 mm respectively. HUAWEI FreeBuds 4 features the largest dynamic driver in this comparison and should be capable of producing higher audio output and better bass performance.
Active Noise Cancellation: Apple AirPods 2 does not come with active noise cancelling and it loses to HUAWEI FreeBuds 4 in the quiet listening session.
Design: The colour of the earphones represents your personality and more colour options cater for more user’s preferences. The HUAWEI FreeBuds 4 comes in Ceramic White and Silver Frost, which have always been the classic colourways for Huawei audio products, offering users a trendy and classic design. Meanwhile, the Apple AirPods are only available in a single colour option
Connectivity: While the Airpods 2 did a good job on the stability of connectivity, they are limited to Apple's ecosystem to get the full functionality out of them.
Sound quality: Samsung Galaxy Buds Live is equipped with only a 12 mm driver.
Active Noise Cancellation: Samsung Galaxy Buds Live has an ANC function at 10db but HUAWEI’s Freebuds 4 can achieve up to 25 dB
Design: For the Samsung Galaxy Buds Live, it is available in Mystic Bronze, Mystic White, and Mystic Black. They have a variety of colour options for users
Connectivity: Samsung Galaxy Buds Live does not support Bluetooth Multipoint connections.
Price: For the price, although it may vary across different countries and regions, the local prices of the HUAWEI FreeBuds 4, Apple AirPods 2 and Samsung Galaxy Buds Live are at AED 299, AED 679 and AED 349 respectively.
After the comparison on sound quality, active noise cancellation, connectivity, design and price, it’s fair to say that HUAWEI FreeBuds 4 is a winner among the Airpods 2 and Samsung Galaxy Buds Live. It deserves to be called among the best open-fit earphones with its sound quality, stable connection, classic but trendy design.