The Huawei Freebuds Pro 3 are shiny earphones
Last year, the Huawei Freebuds Pro 2 shone in almost every respect in ntv.de's practical test. The successors are very similar to them, but are a little more convincing. Although they have inherited a small weakness, they are still among the best Bluetooth earbuds that ntv.de tested in 2023.
The design of the IP54 water and dust-protected Freebuds Pro 3 has remained virtually unchanged. Only the earphones have become slightly lighter and the charging case has slimmed down a little. The newcomers sit just as comfortably and securely in the ear as their predecessors and reliably seal the ear canal with one of four pairs of silicone tips in different sizes.
Excellent sound
The sound produced by the earbuds, each with an 11-millimetre driver plus upstream tweeter, was already strong in the second generation, but Huawei has managed to get a little more out of them through fine-tuning. The stereo sound stage appears a little airier and wider, and the treble seems to be a touch more detailed. This is especially true when using a player that supports the higher-resolution Bluetooth codecs LDAC or L2HC 2.0 (Huawei).
The bass is extremely powerful and voluminous, but never crosses the line into obtrusiveness. Due to the emphasized highs and lows, the mids are not as prominent as with other top earphones. But they are well-defined and the resulting sound is very coherent.
If you don't like this, the pleasantly tidy app offers various presets as well as an equalizer to make your own settings. It is annoying that the Android application is not available in the Google Play Store, but must be obtained directly from the manufacturer.
Powerful noise suppression
Huawei has also succeeded in surpassing the already very good active noise cancellation (ANC) of its predecessors. The dynamic adaptation to the environment does a first-class job, especially at lower frequencies. You can actually always rely on the automatic system, which audibly intervenes after a few seconds when background noise occurs.
The Ultra setting is more effective for hissing or other higher-frequency noise, although the typical inherent noise of the effect is also amplified. It is worth mentioning that the noise suppression also works reliably in windy conditions, something that many competitors fail to do. The call quality during phone calls also gives no cause for complaint.
Transparency mode available, simple controls
The transparency mode (attention mode), on the other hand, works rather inconspicuously. You can hear what is going on around you and have a conversation. However, it does not make a big difference compared to completely switched off effects. The activated speech mode with filtered out bass improves the intelligibility of voices somewhat.
The controls, copied from Apple's Airpods Pro, are easy to learn. You press the earbud sticks once or twice to control playback or phone calls. If you press and hold, you can switch between ANC and transparency mode or activate voice assistants. To change the volume, swipe up or down on the inside of the extensions. There's not much you can change, but there's no need to.
Not an endurance runner
The capacity of the earphone batteries has remained unchanged. It is therefore not surprising that the Freebuds Pro 3 are not much more durable than their predecessors. With ANC activated, they last just 30 minutes longer, meaning they have to be put in the charging box after just over 4.5 hours of use. Their reserves are sufficient for another 17.5 hours or so.
That's not great, but it's not critical either. In addition, empty earphones or a fully discharged case can be quickly recharged in 40 or 60 minutes. The box can also charge inductively, but this takes considerably longer at 2.5 hours.
Conclusion
At around 200 euros, the Freebuds Pro 3 are not necessarily inexpensive, but compared to this year's ntv.de favorites Technics EAH-AZ80, the Apple Airpods Pro (2) or the Sony WF-1000XM5, they are significantly cheaper. Because they can keep up in terms of sound and ANC, the Huawei newcomers are an interesting and largely equivalent alternative to the top earbuds. However, this also applies to the Nothing Ear (2) and the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 3, which have dropped significantly in price.
Source: www.ntv.de
