On August 19, Huawei FreeLace Pro neck mounted noise reduction Bluetooth headset and Huawei MateBook X were released together, and officially launched on September 4. The selling points of FreeLace Pro are clear: active noise reduction, 24-hour endurance, and the ability to charge with mobile phones. With the price of 599 yuan, FreeLace Pro became one of the most popular products in the press conference at that time.
Compared with the current price of FreeLace, which is 399 yuan, FreeLace Pro can be understood as a more beautiful design and enhanced endurance with noise reduction. In 2020, unless the frequency of use is very low, it is no longer recommended to buy earphones without noise reduction.
parameter
Green, black and white (close to light pink)
Total length 86.24cm, 34g
14.2mm dynamic coil
Dual active noise reduction, the maximum noise reduction depth is 40dB, and 3-microphone call noise reduction
IP55， Bluetooth 5.0
Microphone sensor, Hall sensor, capacitance sensor
150mAh battery
Noise reduction for 16 hours, turn off noise reduction for 24 hours (medium volume)
Charging for 5 minutes, listening to music for 5 hours, and charging for 60 minutes
Appearance&Wearing
FreeLace Pro accessories include two other size earmuffs, and the charging cable of "USB-A port to Type-C port".
The headset of FreeLace Pro is designed with magnetic suction. The body of the headset is large, and the silicone earmuffs have ear wings. The left headset has a touch function to switch the noise reduction mode.
The main body of FreeLace Pro is made of aluminum alloy. The reflectivity is a little high, which affects the texture, but the touch is good.
There is no empty position of the key, and the rebound is very hard. If you do not recognize the long press, it will not be touched by mistake. The power key is below the main part, which is hard to press. The power key also knew that its position was awkward, so it moved back deliberately, without rubbing the collarbone. The indicator light is also below, which is usually invisible
Official picture of the early FreeLace
The silicone on the main body of the earphone is very soft, so it is relatively insensitive to wear. The headphone cable is hard and short, just like FreeLace. The advantage is that it is not easy to tie, and it is easy to take care of; The disadvantage is that when wearing it, the headphone cable will bend in a large arc, and the body will be lifted up when looking up (I am 180cm, slightly giraffe shaped, and the effect is close to the FreeLace official picture above). However, this is an unavoidable problem for similar products, and I also agree with this choice (as long as the headphone cable does not fight, everything is easy to discuss).
W51 vs. FreeLace Pro
The earphone body is about 5.76g (connected, unable to measure accurately), slightly weighted
The FreeLace Pro factory has three ear muffs, two of which are large (the same size, but different ear wing lengths), and one of which is small. Earmuffs are very soft and thick, and the sound insulation effect is OK.
The original earmuffs from the factory are the most suitable for the public size. The other two earmuffs are measured to be too long for one ear and too small for another, which is completely unstable and too extreme. They are only suitable for special ear structures.
Wear&Interact
Wear: The earphone body is large, and the author feels a little propped up when wearing it (the small earmuffs are too small to hang). The earphone body is heavy. When running, the earphones that are not glued together are "two small fists hitting your chest", and when they fit, they are "two small fists hitting your chest". In addition, the FreeLace Pro has no problem in wearing and will not lose its head.
APP： For Huawei/Glory mobile phones (above EMUI 9.1/Magic UI 2.1), Bluetooth pairing can be completed by plugging the headset into the C port of the mobile phone. Any mobile phone can download Huawei's smart life app, and then fine tune the noise reduction mode, double-click the function, update the firmware, without limiting the platform.
Connection distance: After all, it is a neck mounted headset. The Bluetooth connection distance of FreeLace Pro is significantly longer than that of TWS headset. AirPods Pro W51、OnePlus Buds， Generally, the earphone is disconnected at the door (about 10 meters from the mobile phone in a straight line), while FreeLace Pro can insist on walking through the elevator (more than 15 meters from the mobile phone in a straight line).
Special operations: For headphones with volume control function, in the Bluetooth or developer options, after turning off the Bluetooth absolute volume, adjusting the volume with the headset will not affect the volume of the system, but will perform secondary control on the existing volume output, which is equivalent to providing an additional volume adjustment gradient. For Android systems that don't adjust the volume carefully (most of them only have 15 levels), if you think the minimum volume is still too loud, you can try it.
Interaction: The magnetic suspension of neck mounted headphones (not effective on the computer) is not as comfortable as the suspension of TWS headphones * 1. However, the volume control and song switching of physical keys are more comfortable than those of TWS earphones * 2. FreeLace Pro's "dual computer power key, switching between the recent two devices" is also very practical. Commuters listen to music on their mobile phones. When they arrive at the company, they can double click the power key and directly switch to the computer, which is comfortable * 3.
Sound quality&delay&noise reduction
FreeLace Pro is an aluminum magnesium alloy diaphragm+14.2mm dynamic coil (one plus OnePlus Busds is 13.4mm, OPPO Enco W51 is 7mm), with the highest AAC code (what happened to the Bluetooth headset this year???).
The overall sound quality is OK, better than most TWS. The sound of FreeLace Pro tends to be obvious: the low frequency is large, the high frequency is clear, and the medium frequency is weak. It is suitable for dynamic times, and female voice performance is also good, but it has affected the vocal performance of Xueyou and Yi Xun. However, it may be a long tube pot, which can not be opened under the low volume, and the loss of sound quality is too obvious. The ear defenders can only wait for the next generation of products to improve.
The Super Latency Test is used for the delay test (the headset plays intermittent sound and the handset microphone receives sound to judge the delay, and the test result will be larger than the actual value). The above is the delay test of connecting Xiaomi 10 Ultra to FreeLace Pro in "AAC mode+AAudio, AAC mode+OpenSL ES, SBC mode+AAudio".
FreeLace Pro, together with Huawei/Glory's machine, can reduce the delay to 150ms in the E-sports mode, while the delay of connecting other mobile phones is between 260ms (SBC mode) and 350ms (AAC mode), slightly higher than the average (in AAC mode, the delay of OnePlus Buds and OPPO W51 is about 300-320ms even for third-party mobile phones). For delay sensitive users, SBC is recommended.
In terms of noise reduction, FreeLace Pro is very powerful, the maximum is 40dB (the national noise reduction headset W51 is 35dB). The noise reduction is one gear stronger than OPPO W51 and AirPods Pro, which is enough to deal with low-frequency noise on the road side.
Ear pressure is in direct proportion to the noise reduction level. The effect of FreeLace Pro's ethereal noise reduction and filtering of low-frequency noise is comparable to that of 3M earplugs, and even strong enough to cause a little dizziness in quiet environments. It also has a transparent transmission mode (receiving the ambient sound and then broadcasting it to yourself), and the noise reduction function of FreeLace Pro is very sufficient.
In terms of call quality, FreeLace Pro belongs to the normal level of neck hanging Bluetooth headset. HotGuys Chaoshanzai personally measured that the call quality is "about 70% of the level of mobile phone microphone".
Special USB-C male charging&endurance
The FreeLace Pro uses the male port of the USB-C (insertion end), while the normal headset is the female port of the USB-C (inserted end, do not want to tilt). Its advantage is that it does not need a charging line and can be charged directly by connecting it to the C port charger. Mobile phones that support OTG output, C ports of laptops, GaN multi port chargers, Apple PD fast charging heads, etc. can be connected to any C port.
70% power, 2.3W input
The FreeLace Pro official noise reduction mode can run for 16 hours, and the off noise reduction mode can run for 24 hours (at medium volume). In practice, the noise reduction mode is always on, and it can be used 2-3 hours a day for commuting. The endurance is stronger than the official standard (after all, the medium volume will be deaf for a long time). It is difficult to recharge once a week.
The FreeLace Pro's "USB-C male charging" setting must be matched with endurance and fast charging to be meaningful. The original intention of "USB-C male charging" is to use the mobile phone for emergency charging when going out. First, regardless of the original Apple Pencil charging style, the charging speed of "charging for 5 minutes, listening to music for 5 hours" will allow the mobile phone to be connected to the earphone (it is not convenient to plug the pocket, only to use it). FreeLace Pro will continue to work in just a few minutes, which is really an emergency.
However, the setting of "USB-C male charging" will sacrifice the usual charging experience. The FreeLace Pro can only be charged by unplugging the headset on the right, and the operating cost is higher than that of ordinary neck mounted headphones. Fortunately, the FreeLace Pro has a continuous life of nearly one day, making charging a low-frequency operation. Otherwise, the setting of male charging is not cost-effective.
summary
From many details on FreeLace Pro, we can see that the product manager/designer is really using the neck mounted headset. Fierce noise reduction and high endurance, coupled with double click switching and connecting devices, make FreeLace Pro very suitable for commuting. It can be used around the neck all day long, and can totally afford the price of 599 yuan. If you must buy a neck mounted headset, FreeLace Pro will be a good choice.
But in 2020, when TWS ruled the earth, I was embarrassed to listen while walking with a neck mounted headset. In front of TWS, the size of the neck mounted earphone seems a bit "pompous and second best". The neck mounted headset is like a bracelet, which seems to be the exclusive configuration of fitness lovers, but actually TWS is more suitable for sports wear.
The advantages of neck mounted earphones are ease of mind, better noise reduction and better endurance. They no longer care about the power display, no longer worry about flying the earphones when taking off the mask, and no matter how you move, you are not afraid of losing the earphones. Grab your earphones and run out of the door. You won't occupy a pocket when hanging your neck.
A pair of neck mounted earphones will make you pay attention to safety, make you embarrassed to listen to music on the road, and make you quit the habit of sleeping with earphones. But I finally changed back to the following, low-key, disturbing and uncomfortable TWS.
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