Huawei has officially announced the FreeBuds Pro 5, the next member of its flagship headphone series. Coming on the heels of the Mate 70 Air launch, this new model is already attracting attention with early details promising a major leap forward in wireless audio quality. With pre-orders now open in China and a full launch scheduled for later this month, the FreeBuds Pro 5 are poised to be a strong contender, especially for those eyeing premium headphones like the Apple AirPods Pro 3.
A New Era of Lossless Audio: NearLink Technology
The most striking and headline-grabbing feature of the FreeBuds Pro 5 is its NearLink Audio technology, a first for wireless headphones. Huawei describes this technology as “the dawn of a new era of lossless audio.”
NearLink theoretically enables lossless transmission of 2.3 Mbps, with transfer speeds capable of instantaneously jumping to 12 Mbps. The earbuds support the L2HC codec, which aims to improve sound quality far beyond most Bluetooth headphones available today. NearLink is also expected to be more power-efficient. Huawei claims this technology can reduce power consumption by up to 40% compared to traditional solutions.
All these efficiency improvements could translate to longer battery life compared to the current FreeBuds Pro 4, which reaches a total of 33 hours with the case. Huawei hasn’t released exact figures yet, but a significant increase is expected.
The next-generation FreeBuds Pro 5 also comes with some design tweaks. The position of the noise-canceling microphones has been repositioned. This change is intended to further improve Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) performance.
With lossless audio support, more efficient hardware, and an updated design, the FreeBuds Pro 5 signals a potential challenge in the premium headphone market. We’ll have all the details when the earbuds hit shelves later this month.
