They are the new norms and everyone is rocking them. Wireless Earbuds is the current trend and until further notice, this is what we’ll be using until some futuristic company builds some chips that would be implanted into our brain with which we can listen to songs and podcasts.

But that’s not the point. The point here is the fact that Huawei made it’s own TWS wireless earbuds which looked quite similar to that of the Apple AirPods 2 but one of these devices is the best or maybe they both are the best who knows but the reality is these two devices both offer premium quality functionalities that makes them outstanding.

Some of us might not be intrigued by the fact that Huawei’s older Flypods took so many AirPods features especially the design which Xiaomi Buds Air had also copied but that doesn’t mean the knockoff is a total rippoff right. But let’s talk about what makes each unique and why you should consider buying one of these devices.

We’ll start with the Design

It’s no lie that some Chinese brands do take after Apple’s design patents leading to gigantic legal battle. But Huawei might have innovated while also copying the designs of the AirPods 2. I might be wrong about that but considering the fact that people might mistaken the Flypods to an AirPods is another weird thing to consider.

Aside the devices themselves, the Huawei Freebuds has a quite unique design for the casing which is circular whereby the Apple AirPods 3 has a round entity.

As far as weight is concerned, both the Freebuds and the Airpods 3 are lightweight and fits comfortably within pockets. The Huawei Freebuds might not entirely fit right into your inner jean pocket easily. The features of the casing seems very similar.

For example, both casing have magnetic lids that makes closing very smooth and easy. Also, The earbud slots of both cases are also magnetic, allowing both the FreeBuds 3 and AirPods 2 to snap in place in their respective cases.

And still on the similarities between both wireless earbuds, the Huawei Freebuds 3 features a pairing button at the right side of the casing which serves as both it’s carrier and also it’s charger. Unlike the FreeBuds 3, Apple AirPods has its own button at the rear side of the charging case while both features the new USB Type-C at the bottom.

One obvious similarity between the Freebuds 3 and the AirPods 2 is the design of the actual earbuds themselves. They both feature open air design which unlike the latest AirPods Pro that has active noise cancellation, it’s obvious not everyone likes closed earbuds with ear tips.

At the bottom, the FreeBuds 3 feature an Aerodynamic Mic Duct design that lessens wind noise, while the AirPods 2’s bottoms are open, with grilles covering them.

Connectivity speed and OS Support

One essential thing about both the Apple Airpods 2 and the Huawei Freebuds 3 is how fast they both connect to smartphones. The central connection system for both of these devices is Bluetooth 5.1 which is the newest and can get through from a very long range.

Pairing either earbuds with devices is rather straightforward. Both earbuds casing are used for connecting to smartphones which when opened triggers a pop-up window on your smartphone which allows you to pair up easily. As for the Freebuds 3, instant pairing only applies to Huawei smartphones running the latest EMUI 10 and above.

Meanwhile you can still connect using the manual method of pairing by heading to the settings and looking up the Wireless earbuds bluetooth and then pairing it from there because both earbuds are new and works with the newest OS versions from both companies.The AirPods 2 and the FreeBuds 3 are compatible with Android and iOS devices and can be set up quickly.

Manual pairing works similarly for both earbuds. One has to open the AirPods 2 case next to a device and press the pairing button located on the rear until the indicator light turns white. The FreeBuds 3 can also be synced with devices by opening the cap and pressing the pairing button located on the right side until the light indicator inside the case turns white.

Features and Functionalities

First of all, the Huawei Freebuds 3 is powered by the company’s own processor the Kirin A1 chipset which gives the earbuds some charge-up. Even though the earbud is designed without an ear tip, it still has the electronic active noise cancellation system within it which enhances your listening power even when in crazily loud environments.

The FreeBuds 3 also have a bone sensor for clearer calls, low latency, have a 356MHz audio processor, and accurate video and audio synchronization.

Whereas for the Apple AirPods 2, it features Apple’s own H1 Chipset which allows access to voic-enabled Siri as well as delivering low gaming latency and fast paced connections with the device it’s been connected to. The AirPods 2’s H1 chip also comes with a speech-detecting accelerometer to filter out external noise and focus on the sound of your voice during calls.

One intriguing feature I enjoy on both of these device is the fact that they have touch control systems which allows you to easily play, pause, next, previous music tracks using different tap controls. For example, double tapping the right earbud of the Huawei Freebuds 3 plays, pauses or switch music while double tapping the left bud switches on/off the active noise cancellation feature

While those are the standard controls, they can be modified via the Huawei AI Life app. Users can select which function they’d like to assign to either left or right bud which in turn gives you complete control over each earbud separately.

Whereby the Apple AirPods 2 allows you to tap on the right bud twice to play, pause or switch music tracks meanwhile the left earbud has no functionality.

Instead of a dedicated app to modify the controls, the AirPods 2 can be customized via the Bluetooth settings in iOS devices. Though that, users can then assign either Siri, play/pause music, skip/return tracks, or none at all.

Power and Battery longevity

Both the Huawei and Apple earbuds feature amazing long time of usage. The Freebuds 3 for example has a 30mAh battery on each of the earbud while the charging case has a 410mAh battery capacity however the earbuds itself lasts for 4 hours on a single charge and continuous usage but the charging case can take it through 20 hours. It is also capable of charging it up to 45% battery in just 15 minutes.

But as for the Apple Airpods 2, it’s quite saddening that Apple failed to disclose the capacity of the battery their earbuds was shipped with meanwhile it lasts an hour longer than the Huawei Freebuds 3 racking up to 5 hours of active usage on a single charge while giving you 24 hours wile used with the casing.

Apple also noted that the AirPods have up to 3 hours of talk time. Charging will give you 15% power in 15 minutes.

When it comes to charging, the FreeBuds 3 can be charged via the USB-C port located on the bottom of its case, while the AirPods 2’s case has a Lightning port. The FreeBuds 3 case already offers wireless charging, in contrast to the AirPods 2 that only comes with a standard charging case. Apple provides a wireless charging case option, though, for an additional price.

Which is more expensive?

As for the pricing, the Huawei Freebuds 3 is not affordable as for it’s pricetag in comparison with the Apple AIrPods 2. The standard price for the Huawei Freebuds 3 is $215 ( NG ₦78 249 and SAR 3,075) where as the Apple AirPods 2 costs $199 ( NG ₦68,000 and SAR 2,899)

But its worth noting that pricing differs from regions and countries and also from stores to stores. The converted price to Nigeria Naira and South Africa Rand might not correlate with local store price tag.

Final Thoughts

These devices offers awesome functionalities and premium features making them an essential device to own. Although not everybody will prefer an opened earbud whereas others might prefer the AirPods Pro which has ear tip that isolates noises.

Also the price point of both devices is certainly way more above $150 which makes them fall into the premium spectrum compared to others like the RealMe Buds Air which despite full load of features costs only $79.

The Apple AirPods 2 anyway taps directly into the Apple’s ecosystem which puts you through just like a sliced out part of a pie.

As for the Huawei Freebuds 3, there isn’t much to lose here as the device can work with any other smartphone and maybe until Huawei decides to roll out it’s Harmony OS which it said is built on an entire IoT ecosystem which works throughout a large array of devices, then Huawei’s future ecosystem might be intriguing but not now.

But that doesn’t conceal the fact that the Freebuds 3 oust the AirPods 2 in some aspects such as the active noise cancellation and color whereby the latter is just a monotone and might require you hack the design casing in order to create your own color.