Huawei Freebuds 5i review – good sound, terrible controls
17/1/2023
Translation: Veronica Bielawski
The Huawei Freebuds 5i score with good sound and strong noise cancellation. However, the controls have me plummeting into despair.
Compared to their predecessor, the Freebuds 5i feature stronger active noise cancellation and a longer battery life. However, the tapping controls are a bad decision.
Smaller and lighter
There’s also a significant visual change compared to the predecessor, the Freebuds 4i. The Freebuds 5i are seven millimetres shorter, making them 29 millimetres long. Each individual earbud weighs 4.9 grammes, compared to the predecessors’ 5.5 grammes.
The Freebuds 5i sit comfortably and firmly in my ears. I’m not worried about them falling out during sports. Even when exercising, they stay nice and put. A bit of sweat or rain won’t harm the earphones; they’re water- and splash-resistant according to IP54. They come with three sizes of rubber tips for a snug fit.
Source: Jan Johannsen
Like their predecessor, Huawei states a battery life of 7.5 hours for the Freebuds 5i, though I never had them in my ears for that long in one stretch. In total, the battery runtime is 28 hours (it was only 22 on the previous model) if you include recharging in the case. Fifteen minutes of charging via the USB-C port is supposed to give you four hours of music playback. Fully charging the case and earbuds takes close to two hours.
Ready for more than CD quality
The Freebuds 5i rely on Bluetooth 5.2 and support three codecs for transmission: AAC, SBC and LDAC. For SBC and AAC, the highest bit rate is 320 kbit/s, for LDAC 990 kbit/s.
Each earbud houses a 10-millimetre driver. «Adaptive Ear Matching» is supposed to adapt the sound to each person’s individual auditory canal. This is an automatic feature that can’t be deactivated. I like the resulting sound. The bass is powerful and has a proper boom to it – as proper a boom as you can get in earphones this size, in any case. The mids are nicely present, the highs clean and broad. They seem well coordinated and don’t overlap. Voices are easily understandable. As far as I’m concerned, there’s no difference in sound compared to the more expensive Freebuds Pro 2.
Source: Jan Johannsen
The Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) on the Freebuds 5i is supposed to reduce background noise by up to 42 decibels, at least in Ultra noise cancellation mode. On the earbuds themselves or in the app, you can also choose between General and Cozy mode for quieter environments. They offer a noise reduction of 30 and 25 decibels, respectively. The thought behind these modes is that the less hard ANC has to work, the less power it consumes, thus extending battery life.
I’m happy with the ANC. It completely blocks out the background noise of the city. On noisy streets, it reduces the noise level to the point where I can listen to podcasts or music at the same volume as at home.
Source: Jan Johannsen
I’d say the Freebuds 5i are also on par with the more expensive Freebuds Pro 2 in terms of noise cancellation. On the other hand, I did notice disadvantages when making calls. Not for me, but for my call buddy. The microphones and software reach their limits on noisy main roads. In this environment, I’m much easier to understand when holding the phone up directly to my ear than with the earphones; they’re great for talking on the phone if you’re on quieter side streets or in your own home.
Searching for the touch sensor
The sound of the Freebuds 5i is good, but their handling disappoints me. Like their predecessor, they rely on touch controls. For example, to pause or start playback, I’m supposed to tap the earbud. But I have a hard time hitting the right spot with the right intensity. I have an easier time on other headphones. As an added difficulty, there’s no feedback on my input – no sound, no vibration, no form of confirmation.
Source: Jan Johannsen
After days of failed attempts, I threw in the towel, too tired to even be frustrated. From then on, I relied on my smartphone to control playback, skip to the next song and answer calls. The only thing that works smoothly on the earpiece itself is adjusting the volume by sliding your finger up or down. I found myself looking forward to the end of this review – and other headphones.
Semi-helpful settings in the app
You can adjust certain settings for the Freebuds 5i via Huawei’s «AI Life» app – ranging from firmware updates to adjusting gesture controls to the equaliser. Mind you, the latter is rudimentary with just three presets.
Source: Jan Johannsen
You can also enable wear detection in the app. That way, playback pauses as soon as you take one of the earbuds out of your ear. There’s also a fit test in the app designed to help you check that the Freebuds are sitting correctly in your ears.
Conclusion: good sound, but I wouldn’t inflict these on myself
The Huawei Freebuds 5i are an improvement over the 4i. They have good sound and excellent noise cancellation, and I was looking forward to recommending them as an affordable alternative to the Freebuds Pro 2.
Unfortunately, the poor touch controls have convinced me to keep my hands off the Freebuds 5i. And that’s in spite of their good sound, powerful noise suppression and long battery life.
Header image: Jan Johannsen
When I was but a young student, I'd sit in my friend's living room with all my classmates and play on his SuperNES. Since then I've had the opportunity to test out all the newest technology for you. I've done reviews at Curved, Computer Bild and Netzwelt, and have now arrived at Galaxus.de.