- Great sound and ANC
- Premium design
- Strong connection with NearLink
- Smart transparency and call quality
- Useful recording features
- Best features only on Huawei phones
- Expensive
Huawei’s FreeBuds Pro 5 take a confident step into the future with NearLink, promising faster, clearer audio than Bluetooth. They sound great, cancel noise impressively, and add clever extras like case-controlled recording. The only catch? You’ll need a Huawei phone to unlock everything they can really do.
Huawei’s refresh of a top-tier audio product sets the bar high — since the FreeBuds Pro 4 gained a reputation as some of the best-sounding wireless earbuds beyond the Apple–Bose rivalry. The FreeBuds Pro 5 are now here, bringing big changes in both looks and tech.
After using them for a while, I can say with certainty: this isn’t just a small upgrade. Huawei seems to aim to shake up our idea of what high-end earbuds should be like in 2026.
Huawei FreeBuds Pro 5 – Specifications
| Driver system | Dual drivers – 11 mm dynamic woofer + micro-planar tweeter |
| Audio codec / Transmission | NearLink + L2HC 5.0 (up to 4.6 Mbps, 96 kHz / 24-bit) |
| Wireless / Protocol | NearLink E2.0 + Bluetooth 6.0 (dual-band 2.4 & 5.8 GHz) |
| Active Noise Cancellation | Dual-channel ANC with AI adaptive tuning |
| Water / Dust Resistance | Earbuds: IP57; Charging case: IP54 |
| Battery (earbuds) | ≈ 9 h playback (ANC off) / ≈ 6 h (ANC on) |
| Total Battery (with case) | Up to ≈ 38 h (ANC off) / ~25–33 h (ANC on, depending on use) |
| Earbud weight | ≈ 5.5 g each |
| Charging | USB-C (wired) + wireless charging support |
| Color variants | Snow White, Frost Silver, Earth Gold, Sky Blue |
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Design & Build Quality
Huawei kept the pebble-like case, now a touch lighter and more premium, especially in the matte grey and gold options.
The earbuds sit securely without feeling locked into your head. Four sizes of tips help with comfort and sealing — a big upgrade for those who found the Pro 4 a tight fit.
Small detail, but a meaningful one: each part — left earbud, right earbud, and the case — can be located individually via NearLink. If you’re the type who loses only one earbud, welcome to salvation.
Also, the earbuds are IP57 water resistant means sweat and rain are no longer concerns.
NearLink Audio: The Talkabout Feature
This is the first true Huawei earbuds powered by NearLink Audio — and it’s a big deal. NearLink promises:
- Lower latency than Bluetooth
- A huge jump in bandwidth
- Far better connection stability in crowded wireless environments
Huawei even demonstrated it by sending the phone upstairs and walking away with just the earbuds — the music still coming through until a metal-walled elevator disrupted it. The reconnection afterward felt almost magical.
NearLink reaches up to 4.6 Mbps bandwidth, dramatically higher than typical Bluetooth transmission. To simplify: it’s enough bandwidth that, theoretically, your earbuds could stream compressed video. For music, that means more detail, richer dynamics, and fewer compromises.
And unlike older models, there’s no need to choose between “quality mode” and “stability mode.” It just works — and works well.
Sound Quality
Huawei switched the internal speaker system to a dual-driver configuration again — a 11 mm dynamic driver paired with a micro-planar tweeter — but now with redesigned magnets, DSP upgrades, and a more advanced crossover system.
Bass hits harder without boominess, vocals stand forward and clean, and tiny details in acoustic tracks come alive.
On tracks like Shape of You, the low-end feels more reinforced and confident than the Pro 4. The soundstage opens wider, and distortion is reduced significantly — especially at high volume.
If you’ve found Huawei’s older tuning slightly “polite,” this is bolder, more engaging, and more premium.
Noise Cancellation & Awareness Modes
Noise cancellation has always been a Huawei strength. This time, they’ve rebuilt the ANC engine using dual modules and smarter real-time adaptation. Metro hum, air-conditioners, traffic — all disappear convincingly. It’s right up there with the best available.
What caught me by surprise is the Awareness Mode (Huawei’s version of transparency mode). Compared immediately with AirPods Pro, there’s barely any noticeable gap. Voice Awareness enhances speech so clearly that even low-volume conversations nearby become crisp — almost too crisp.
There’s also a Dynamic slider that lets users fine-tune how much external sound blends in. That level of control isn’t common in earbuds today — and it shows Huawei’s maturity in audio UX.
Call Quality
Small earbuds at construction site noise? I tried — and people still heard me. Background clatter is suppressed aggressively without robotic artifacts affecting your voice. Pro 4 were already good in calls; Pro 5 push this closer to the AirPods Pro experience Huawei has always chased.
Unique Features
This is where Huawei separates from everyone else:
- The charging case can record audio without removing earbuds
- Recording also works online (for meetings or voiceovers)
- Recordings are saved locally with up to 200 minutes available
- Find My Earbuds now tracks the case and earbuds individually
It sounds niche, but once you try it — especially for interviews or lectures — it feels genuinely useful.
Smart volume adjustment, automatic transparency during conversations, hearing compensation features — these aren’t gimmicks. They make everyday use surprisingly smoother.
Battery Life
Battery performance sees a noticeable boost:
- Up to 9 hours of playback (6 hours with ANC)
- Up to 38 hours with the case
Price & Compatibility
In China, pricing starts around $200+ — competitive for a flagship TWS. The full power of NearLink and L2HC 5.0 codec is still exclusive to HarmonyOS devices right now, which means non-Huawei users won’t get the complete experience on Day 1.
That’s the only real limitation worth noting.
Is the Huawei FreeBuds Pro 5 Worth It in 2025?
If you own a Huawei phone, absolutely yes. These earbuds are designed to shine within Huawei’s expanding HarmonyOS world, and NearLink is a meaningful leap that Bluetooth simply cannot match yet.
If you’re on Android or iOS, still worth serious consideration. Even without full codec support, the sound, ANC, call clarity, and unique recording features put the FreeBuds Pro 5 comfortably among the very best TWS on the market.
Nick, the Co-founder of Earbuds Arena, is a seasoned freelance tech journalist with over ten years of experience covering wearables, apps, headphones, and gadgets. When he’s not immersed in the tech world, you’ll likely find him unwinding with video games, going for a run, or enjoying a game of soccer on the field.
