The HUAWEI FreeClip 2 S are a continuation of the company’s bet on the open-ear format for earbuds, but with a more sophisticated approach designed to look beautiful when worn.
With a more metallic finish across the different colors, the HUAWEI FreeClip 2 S offer very good sound quality combined with a beautiful design that many confuse with a piercing, making it a sort of everyday accessory.
A design that doesn’t compromise audio quality
Although open-ear earbuds are not a novelty, they are still a type of audio accessory rarely used on a daily basis or, in some cases, little known.
With the HUAWEI FreeClip 2 S, the tech giant invested heavily in an elegant and more discreet design, but without compromising audio quality in any way.
The metallic finish in the different colors offers a much more beautiful touch than the vast majority of open-ear earbuds, presenting itself much more as an accessory that matches the user’s style.
Despite the focus on design, HUAWEI continues to offer very good sound quality considering the price charged for this accessory.
Weighing only 5.1 grams, each earbud fits very easily on the user’s ear without causing discomfort, even after long periods of continuous use, with a slightly larger part resting behind the ear and the small ball where the sound comes from sitting at the entrance of the ear canal without blocking it.
Featuring a 10.8 mm dual-diaphragm driver and a frequency response range of 20 Hz to 20 kHz, the earbuds offer a wide frequency scale with a generous diaphragm to deliver well-rounded sound without having to completely cover the ear canal.
In terms of durability, during the time we tested the HUAWEI FreeClip 2 S, the metallic finish remained scratch-free and flawless at all times, even when kept inside bags and pockets alongside keys and other items.
Furthermore, the earbuds have an IP57 certification and the charging case is IP54 rated, so the rainy days we had in the middle of August and the sweat caused by the heat still felt in September were not a problem we had to worry about.
In terms of battery, each earbud features a 60 mAh battery which, according to the brand, can offer up to 9 hours of continuous playback. The charging case features a 537 mAh battery that provides a total autonomy of up to 38 hours on a single charge.
The case, which is almost a complete, shiny sphere, supports wireless charging (150 minutes) and USB-C charging (50 minutes for just the case and 60 minutes for the case and earbuds).
The HUAWEI FreeClip 2 S are available in Deepsea Blue and Space Silver colors and can be purchased for an MSRP of €229. With the purchase, you receive free customization of the earbuds as well as one year of HUAWEI Care for earbud replacement should they have any issues.
The HUAWEI FreeClip 2 S are very comfortable
After testing a few earbuds of the same kind, such as the Bose Ultra Open Earbuds and the SPC Boost Clip, the HUAWEI FreeClip 2 S were a pleasant surprise in terms of comfort during use.
With less pressure than the Bose and better build quality than the SPC, the HUAWEI earbuds are very comfortable to wear. Even if it sometimes feels like they are poorly placed, the truth is that they lock into the correct position depending on the shape of each person’s ear.
We can’t tighten them further, but if necessary, they adapt to a wider fit; however, it didn’t seem necessary to widen the earbuds. On the contrary, we would have liked them to be a bit tighter so they wouldn’t feel like they were slipping off, even though, in reality, they are very secure.
After several hours of using the HUAWEI FreeClip 2 S, we felt that comfort is one of the standout points, because even when they seem to be slipping at times, they never cause any fatigue or discomfort.
Sound quality was not left behind
Something difficult to achieve in earbuds like the HUAWEI FreeClip 2 S is delivering well-crafted bass that can be felt by the user.
In this regard, HUAWEI did not disappoint. After losing Google services, the company bet heavily on the world of accessories, which secured it a spot in the market with a very good reputation.
In this case, we are talking about audio that offers clean, distortion-free highs, with bass that, despite the open-ear format, can be felt without any issues and without the need to increase the volume. Additionally, they deliver a solid level of mids to further enrich the audio, making them an extremely capable accessory for high-quality music listening.
Making a direct comparison with similar earbuds from a completely different tier, the Bose Ultra Open Earbuds—some of the best in their category—fail to justify the MSRP difference of nearly €200 more.
Of course, with the right promotion, the price gap narrows down to a minimal difference compared to the HUAWEI FreeClip 2 S, but at the recommended retail price, we don’t lose that much with the HUAWEI to justify the extra investment.
We are talking about a company whose main focus isn’t audio, yet it manages to deliver sound quality superior to many traditional earbuds, in addition to offering an ergonomic, comfortable, and very beautiful design to wear on the ear.
The HUAWEI Audio Connect app is quite intuitive and comprehensive, allowing you to control the sound, shortcuts, and a bit more of the earbuds’ features.
Through the app, we can check for updates, customize the audio to our liking, monitor the battery levels of each earbud and the case, as well as manage the shortcuts and the usage modes of the HUAWEI FreeClip 2 S.
Integrated touch and motion controls
Even with the open-ear format, HUAWEI maintained the convenience of touch controls on the HUAWEI FreeClip 2 S, as well as the ability to track the user’s head movement.
With impressive sensitivity, we can control the earbuds with light taps on the flexible part, which they detect with immense precision. The taps are used for play/pause, next track, or previous track commands.
Additionally, on the part that rests behind the ear, we can also control the volume by swiping a finger up or down, depending on the desired command.
This convenience, aside from allowing for a more comfortable control of what we are listening to without needing to reach for the smartphone, also works very well; the times when 3 taps were mistaken for just 2 were very rare.
The only touch shortcut that we feel is less comfortable to use is, in fact, adjusting the volume. Since we have to do it on the larger part of the earbuds behind the ear, we often end up shifting them from their resting position, requiring a slight readjustment after changing the volume.
A piercing or earbuds?
Due to the shape and finish of the HUAWEI FreeClip 2 S, we had several people, less familiar with the subject, asking what we were wearing.
While some figured they were just differently-shaped earbuds, others asked if it was a piercing we had gotten.
This point is interesting because it is the first time we’ve used this type of earbuds, and the reaction of other people involves not knowing if they are a different format or a fashion accessory.
The idea behind the HUAWEI FreeClip 2 S is, in fact, to be a complementary accessory to each person’s style, so we can conclude that the company hit the mark in this area.
Good earbuds with a good price and a very beautiful design
The HUAWEI FreeClip 2 S are positioned in the market as earbuds to consider when looking for something beautiful, high-quality, and with an elegant design.
The fact that some people mistake the earbuds for a piercing shows how well-designed this device is to disguise itself as a fashion accessory.
Furthermore, we are talking about earbuds that, despite the open-ear format, maintain the ability to feel the bass, hear the mids, and keep the highs controlled—something that usually only happens in high-end earbuds more closely tied to the specialized audio market.
HUAWEI also leans on the price/quality factor by pricing the HUAWEI FreeClip 2 S at an MSRP of €229, as it sits right in the middle of what we see practiced by high-end and entry/mid-range tiers. In this way, the company positions itself as an accessible option for different audiences: from the most demanding who don’t mind spending a bit more as long as the audio quality compensates, to those who don’t want to spend that much but are looking for a solution with high-quality audio.
Comfort is a very strong point with the HUAWEI earbuds, since they are neither too tight nor too loose when worn. This way, keeping them on for several hours does not become a nuisance.
The battery is quite good, easily lasting a week of daily use for a few hours without problems. In our case, with one to two hours of constant use per day, we managed to get the HUAWEI FreeClip 2 S to Sunday with more than 50% battery remaining in the case, which is a good number compared to other models. Charging is fairly fast given the autonomy they deliver, taking about 1 hour to go from 0% to 100% with the case and earbuds completely discharged.
The HUAWEI FreeClip 2 S thus present themselves as open-ear earbuds with an elegant and stylish design, capable of delivering high-quality sound without compromising on build and price.
The HUAWEI FreeClip 2 S are available in Deepsea Blue and Space Silver colors and can be purchased for an MSRP of €229. With the purchase, you receive free customization of the earbuds as well as one year of HUAWEI Care for earbud replacement should they have any issues.
- Design elegante que se assemelha a um acessório
- Autonomia muito bem conseguida
- Conforto de utilização
- Áudio muito bom face ao preço praticado e à concorrência especializada
- O controlo de volume faz com que os auriculares saiam do lugar
- Aplicação completa mas com demasiadas opções
- Caixa redonda não funciona muito bem para levar no bolso
We thank HUAWEI for providing us with the HUAWEI FreeClip 2 S for review.
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