As headphone jacks become more and more of an endangered species, wireless audio accessories are stepping into the spotlight. When it comes to truly wireless earbuds, there are a lot of options these days, but Huawei is hoping to stand out from the crowd with its newly announced FreeBuds 3i, offering active noise cancellation at a competitive price.

The FreeBuds 3i have been redesigned to offer a more sleek and ergonomic form. They come in two different color options (Ceramic White and Carbon Black), feature large 10mm dynamic drivers, and offer multiple mics that serve up active noise cancellation. The FreeBuds have the requisite tap controls for things like play/pause and answering calls, but they do not offer volume controls, which is something I've come to appreciate on my TicPods Free.

If you have a Huawei phone running EMUI10 or above, the buds provide quick pairing and auto playback resume. Huawei rates them for up to 3.5 hours of audio playback with the case delivering another 14.5 hours. They also come with Bluetooth 5.0, which is nice to see.

When Myriam covered the 3i's predecessor the FreeBuds 3 earlier this year, she found them to be a solid alternative to Apple's Airpods. The 3i may offer a similar package in terms of audio quality, and at their low price point, it's rare to see premium features like ANC included. Google's own Pixel Buds don't offer it, and they cost almost twice as much. Plus, the FreeBuds 3i come with not just three, but four sizes of silicone tips in the package. 🤯

So far we've only seen Huawei sharing its release plans for the FreeBuds 3i in the UK, where the buds will retail for £90 (around $110 USD). The Ceramic White color will drop on the Huawei store May 20th. Select retailers will also stock the Ceramic White along with the Carbon Black variant starting June 17th. Hopefully we'll have more details on the FreeBuds availability in other regions soon.

Source: Huawei