Huawei has taken the opportunity presented by the launch of its Mate 30 flagship series to finally provide availability details for its FreeBuds 3 truly wireless earbuds. The earbuds, which were officially unveiled during IFA, will be available starting in November.
That’s for no fewer than six regions, including China, Europe, the Middle East, Russia, Asia Pacific, and Latin America.
Huawei FreeBuds 3 come in either a glossy black or white coloration. Huawei has chosen a less adventurous route in terms of color schemes for its earphones. So both the earbuds and the round wireless charging case — which itself can be charged wirelessly or via USB Type-C — come in the same color.
Reintroducing differentiators for Huawei FreeBuds 3
As mentioned above, the Huawei FreeBuds 3 earbuds were announced back at IFA 2019 in Berlin. The company managed no fewer than 11 “Best of” awards for the event, including one from Android Headlines. That’s not without good reason either. These Bluetooth headphones are all but guaranteed to offer one of the best experiences around in terms of both features and quality.
Among the top reasons for that is going to be Huawei’s in-house Kirin A1 chip. Built into FreeBuds 3, that’s a Bluetooth 5.1 and Bluetooth LE 5.1 dual-mode chip that intelligently manages the listening experience. Not only does Bluetooth 5.1 improves stability, quality, and efficiency. Huawei has included that in both earbuds. So the audio transmission goes to each individual bud separately instead of asynchronously from one bud to the other.
That should already cut back on interference while also letting users listen to just one bud at a time if they choose. Huawei’s chips additionally work to monitor for interference on frequencies used by the buds, actively switching frequencies for the headphones to compensate where that occurs.
That means these truly wireless earbuds are actively adapting to prevent interference from Wi-Fi and similar signals. The signal itself transmits high-res audio at up to 2.3Mbps, compared to many competitors that top out at just 900Kbps.
Last but not least, Huawei’s FreeBuds 3 offer active noise cancellation powered by the same AI chip driving everything else. That’s in spite of the buds being built on an “open fit” design without the usual cushioning used for that. The feature can be activated or deactivated at a tap. That allows users more control over the experience they get from the headphones’ 14mm drivers and custom-built bass boosting tubes.
Still no pricing?
The availability announcement seems to indicate that Huawei FreeBuds 3 won’t be available in the Americas. It almost certainly won’t be in the U.S. There are ongoing trade problems between the company, its home country, and the U.S. so that isn’t too unexpected. But it also isn’t clear whether these can be purchased online and imported.
Beyond that, Huawei still hasn’t revealed any details about how much its FreeBuds 3 truly wireless Bluetooth headphones are going to cost.
In terms of features and audio quality, the gadget is not a budget offering. Its biggest competitor, based on the shape and overall design, is going to be Apple’s AirPods.
So the cost will likely be similar, although it could be higher. A lower-cost pricepoint seems more plausible, given Huawei’s focus on value.