I’m not the kind of person who’s easy to please with earbuds. Earbuds fall out, in-ear types create pressure, over-ear ones suffocate my ears after an hour. I had my own relationship with AirPods, but by summer I finally realized: I wanted something that just hangs on my ear and doesn’t remind me of itself. The push came from a review by expert Ivan Kuznetsov on AndroidInsider about Huawei FreeClip 2. I read it, caught myself nodding at every paragraph, and ordered a pair. Spoiler: no regrets. I already had ear cuffs, the first generation ones. So I have something to compare with, and the comparison turned out to be interesting. I’ll tell you honestly, without promotional fanfare: what got better in FreeClip 2, and where Huawei left everything as it was.
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What’s New in Huawei FreeClip 2 Compared to FreeClip
The original FreeClip were a revelation for me in a way. These were the first earbuds that stayed on my ear without making me want to immediately rip them out. They clip onto the cartilage rather than invading the ear canal, and that changes absolutely everything. But the sound was, let’s say, lean. Clean, neat, but as if lacking substance. The bass was so insufficient that I simply couldn’t listen to some tracks on them.
Even the seating in the case is different compared to the first generation
Huawei FreeClip 2 addresses this problem. The bass has become noticeably more powerful, and for open earbuds, that’s a serious step forward. Low frequencies no longer get lost in the background; music sounds fuller. At the same time, the construction itself has become lighter. According to Huawei, each earbud now weighs about 5.1 grams, and the bean-shaped component has been reduced by approximately 11 percent. On paper these are just numbers, but on the ear the difference is noticeable: the fit is tighter, the earbud sits more securely.
I’d like to separately note the bridge. In the first generation, the C-shaped connector was glossy and slippery, sometimes sliding around. Now it’s rubberized with a fine texture, grips better, and looks more premium. A small thing, but the overall impression of a quality product is built from such details. The case has also been redesigned: it’s more compact, matte, with a denim-like texture, feels nice in the hand, and doesn’t creak.
Huawei FreeClip 2: Comfort, Sound, and Battery Life
The main reason people buy earbuds like these is the fit. And here FreeClip 2 delivers perfectly. You barely feel them in your ears. I would put them on in the morning and take them off in the evening, and throughout the day I only remembered them when my ears started to itch slightly after many hours. No pressure, no feeling of a plug in the ear canal. I haven’t abandoned my AirPods though — they still have plenty of features — it’s just that in terms of comfort, the ear cuffs are ahead for me.
The sound turned out better than the first generation
The open design offers another bonus that’s rarely mentioned. You hear everything around you. On the street, it’s simply safer: you can hear cars, cyclists, and people addressing you. At home, it’s convenient to respond to family members without yanking out an earbud. In the subway, however, you pay for this, but more on that below.
Sound-wise, for everyday use I have more than enough. I listen to podcasts, YouTube in the background, music on the go, and occasionally make calls. Voice on calls comes through clearly; the people I talked to didn’t complain. There are no exotic audiophile codecs here, only the basics, and you need to understand that upfront. But in real-world use, I didn’t notice any difference; the connection with my iPhone holds steady, with no dropouts.
Battery life is a separate story. I managed to put FreeClip 2 through their paces on several family trips, ran them over long distances, and still didn’t drain them in a single day. The case charges via Type-C, holds a charge for a long time, and for someone who doesn’t listen to earbuds around the clock, it’s a non-issue. The only out-of-the-box nuance: there’s no cable included. Huawei decided that everyone already has a Type-C cable lying around in every drawer. The logic makes sense, but being stingy at this price point feels a bit strange.
Why Huawei FreeClip 2 Doesn’t Have Noise Cancellation
I’ll say it straight so nobody has any illusions. There is no noise cancellation here. And it’s not because Huawei was lazy. In this form factor, it simply cannot exist. The earbud doesn’t plug the ear; there’s air between it and the ear canal, and there’s physically nothing to cancel external noise with. This isn’t a bug — it’s the very nature of open ear cuffs.
There can be no noise cancellation here due to the form factor
In a quiet room or on a plane at medium volume, everything is perfectly audible. But in a noisy subway, some of the sound gets drowned out by the rumble, and you have to turn the volume up. Huawei partially compensates for this with adaptive volume that automatically boosts levels in noisy environments, but don’t expect miracles. If you need complete isolation from the world and studio-like silence in your ears, look toward in-ear buds like AirPods Pro. This is a different approach.
For me, this isn’t a drawback but a feature I agreed to in advance. I don’t want to disconnect from reality when walking around the city. It’s more important to me that the earbuds don’t fall out and don’t create pressure. And FreeClip 2 deliver perfectly on that front.
Huawei FreeClip 2 Price in Russia and Where to Buy Cheaper
Now about the money. At launch in February 2026, FreeClip 2 were priced around 16,000 rubles. Now prices vary: on Yandex Market you can find offers under 15,000 rubles, and in some places the earbuds start at around 11,500 rubles for certain colors. So with proper deal hunting, you can land at a pleasant price.
Is that expensive for earbuds without noise cancellation? Objectively, it’s not cheap — I won’t argue with that. I look at the purchase differently though: over my lifetime, I’ve bought so many pairs of earbuds that I could never wear comfortably that the total adds up to far more wasted money. I wear FreeClip 2 literally every day and forget they’re on me. Against that backdrop, the price tag stops being scary.
Earbud prices fluctuate, and you can find both cheaper and more expensive options
