Unboxing the Huawei Freebuds 3i

Upon unboxing the Huawei FreeBuds 3i, I couldn’t help but notice the similarities to Apple’s AirPods Pro, both in form factor and in its uniform ‘Ceramic White’ colorway (although Huawei offers the FreeBuds 3i in ‘Carbon Black’ as well). Compared to its counterpart however, the FreeBuds 3i come with four sizes of ear tips (XS, S, M, L) for the user to customize their experience with. Finding the perfect fit will be important in improving the listening experience, especially in regard to the noise cancellation features. The wireless earphones themselves are elliptically sleek in design and free of branding, apart from a light gray marking to denote which ear a respective earbud belongs in. The FreeBuds 3i weigh 5.5g each.

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The charging case for the Huawei FreeBuds 3i comes in a matching colorway depending on the earphone color you chose. It has a minimal and functional silhouette, with the power button found on the right side of the case, which can be easily turned on with your thumb. An indicator light on the front of the case as well as inside the case informs the listener of the current charge level of the earphones. The FreeBuds 3i themselves easily fit inside the charging case, only required to lay flat within the labeled left or right resting spot. On a full charge, listeners can expect up to 2.5-3 hours of playtime. With a full capacity charging case, the HuaweiFreeBuds 3i can provide up to 14.5 hours of playtime. The charging case itself also supports USB-C charging, thus being accessible to power banks and computers as well. 

Huawei FreeBuds 3i feature two types of noise cancellation – ‘active noise cancellation’ when listening to music and ‘call noise cancellation’ when on a phone call. Active noise cancellation is activated by tapping and holding the earphone and informs the listener with a ‘noise cancellation on’ message. Double tapping allows the user to play or pause music, as well as answer phone calls. Coupled with the customized silicone ear tips, the 10mm dynamic drivers (comparable to AirPods Pro’s 11m drivers) can achieve a noise cancellation of up to 32dB. Call noise cancellation automatically filters out external noise so that the voice of the person speaking is isolated and clear. The FreeBuds 3i’s dynamic drivers allow for an immersive listening experience full of detail and sharpness with its sensitive bass quality and optimal treble extension. 

Huawei FreeBuds 3i also features fast pairing when within proximity of a Huawei smartphone. A pop-up notification will appear on the phone when it is able to pair with the earphones and will automatically do so on subsequent pairings. In addition, Huawei FreeBuds 3i seamlessly switch between Huawei products such as smart watches, phones, and tablets. With a single Huawei ID, listeners do not have to manually switch and re-pair with every device. 

The Huawei AI Life app allows the user to pair their earphones with their phone so that they can check on battery status, change settings, update the firmware and more. This app is not limited to just Huawei devices and thus can serve a wider audience who may have different branded phones.