Apple AirPods Pro vs Huawei Freebuds 3 - The pro or the clone - Android

When it comes to true wireless earbuds, active noise cancelling is hard to come by. So which pair is best for you?

True wireless earbuds have been some of the most popular releases of the last few years, but it can be tough to figure out which ones are best for you. With the newest crop of ‘buds featuring active noise cancelling, we’re putting two of the most recent options against each other: the Apple AirPods Pro and the Huawei Freebuds 3. While you can’t really go wrong with either, there are still some things you should know before you pick one or the other up for yourself. Let’s get into it.

Which one has a better design?

Let’s start with obvious. The Freebuds 3, like the Freebuds before them, are an obvious clone of the AirPods 2. They feature the same design right down to the one-size-fits-all open-air approach to fit. Having reviewed the original AirPods, I have the same problem here regarding fit. The Freebuds 3 just would not stay in my ears no matter what I tried. Like the original AirPods, the Huawei Freebuds 3 either fit perfectly or they don’t fit at all. In our review, Bogdan said he didn’t have any issue wearing them. Similarly, both David Imel and Kris Carlon described a perfect fit when trying them. I was not so lucky, as just bending over to tie my shoes caused them to fall out of my ears. If you can get your hands on a pair to try, make sure they fit before buying. Apart from fit, the Freebuds 3 do a great job mimicking the premium Apple aesthetic right down to the metal cap on the bottom of the stem.

On the other hand, the AirPods Pro features a brand new design that most people will still find familiar. Just like the good ‘ol wired earbuds of the past, the AirPods Pro come with three different silicone eartips – large, medium, and small. This change helps account for the variety in human ears, meaning they’ll comfortably fit a wider range of people. Not everyone will find a perfect fit, but Apple finally seemed to realize how important a good seal is for blocking outside sound from reaching your ears. There’s even a fit test that you can take in order to make sure that you’re using the correct eartips. To no one’s surprise, this test can only be done from an an iOS device.

The cases for each pair of ‘buds are similar, though not identical. The AirPods Pro has a rectangular case while the Freebuds 3 have a circular case, but both are super easy to use and even easier to carry around in your pocket. The smooth white plastic is fairly similar on both, and the lid snaps shut almost exactly the same. There’s even a similar metal hinge on there back of both cases. Taking either pair of ‘buds one out of its respective case is almost the exact same experience. Magnets help both earbuds snap into place so you don’t have to worry about whether or not they’re charging.

Between the new design that prioritizes a better fit and the fact that the Freebuds 3 design is just a rip off of the original AirPods, this was a pretty easy one to judge. The AirPods Pro wins this category by a landslide.

Winner: AirPods Pro

---

Which true wireless earbuds have better active noise cancelling?

The primary feature Apple and Huawei tout for their earbuds is active noise cancelling, so let’s compare. The way to read the graphs below is easier than it looks. All you need to know is that the higher the peaks, the more noise is being cancelled. The closer the line is to 0dB (or if it’s flat), the less outside noise is being cancelled.

The winner here is obvious: it’s the AirPods Pro. While the Huawei Freebuds 3 claims to offer up to 15dB of noise reduction, it’s hindered by the open design that, by default, allows outside noise to leak in. While it is fairly effective in certain situations, such as when you’re sitting in a room with a running fan or microwave, it doesn’t completely mask the noise. It just makes it sound a little quieter.

The AirPods Pro, on the other hand, do a really good job with ANC as you can see by the bumps between 100Hz -1,000Hz on the graph. This is where most ambient noise resides, and while the AirPods Pro ANC won’t completely negate the drone of an airplane engine or train, which tend to lie in that sub-100Hz range, it’s more than good enough to make your everyday life just a little quieter.

Moreover, the AirPods Pro have a transparency mode that lets you hear what’s going on around you. The Freebuds 3 don’t have a transparency mode, so if you seek a little bit of practicality from your headphones then the AirPods Pro are the way to go.

Winner: AirPods Pro

---

Which one sounds better?

When it comes down to it, these are both still earbuds and sound quality is still important. Obviously, neither is going to give you reference-level quality or over-ear amounts of bass due to the small drivers inside, but that doesn’t mean they sound bad. For earbuds, they both actually sound pretty good, though they take different approaches.

By looking at the  frequency response graphs for both pairs of earbuds, you can see that the AirPods Pro tends to have a slight bump in the low end (pink), which means that bass notes will sound a little louder when compared to other notes. Compare that to the Freebuds 3, which has a sharp dip in the low end that trails off in the deep lows, and it’s easier to understand why the Freebuds have such weak bass response. This is most likely due to the open-air fit of the Freebuds 3, while silicone eartips help seal up the AirPods Pro. By physically blocking your ear canal, rather than just sitting in it, the AirPods Pro are able to keep a lot of those low-end frequencies in your ear instead of leaking them out.

This concept also applies to outside sounds coming in. Where the AirPods Pro block outside sound by physically being in your ears, the Freebuds 3 let sound in easily, making it harder for you to hear the low-end notes of your favorite songs.

That said, the story changes a bit as we move up the frequency response graph. Where the Huawei Freebuds 3 appear to have a relatively flat line in the mids (pink to green), meaning there is no extra emphasis given to those notes, the AirPods Pro line is a little bumpy in that area. This means instruments like guitars and vocals, which reside in these frequencies, will sound a little clearer and more natural on the Freebuds 3 since there is little to no extra volume given to them.

The highs were more emphasized in the Freebuds 3 when compared to the AirPods Pro, so cymbals and certain aspects of human vocals should sound a little louder. That makes sense since the design of the Freebuds 3 allows outside noise in. The extra emphasis in the highs should help you hear those extra details.