Huawei’s Mate 20 will launch next month on 16 October in London; that much is already well known. However, when it launches, we’re now to understand that a new version of Huawei Freebuds will launch alongside.
Huawei Freebuds 2 Pro will continue the same design language as the Freebuds launched earlier this year (alongside the Huawei Nova 3i, locally). The updated version will come with a much nicer looking charging case/dock, and will pair with the Mate 20 (or other device) over Bluetooth 5.0.
Perhaps the most interesting feature is the wireless charging. It’s not just enough that the Freebuds 2 Pro will charge wirelessly within their own dock – the existing model already does that, much like Apple’s Airpods charge in their little case.
No, the wireless charging will be for the case itself; it can be charged via USB-C, through Qi wireless charging, and in a remarkable move, from the Mate 20 – wirelessly – too. Wireless charging will be a bit slower, but still, a great option for when you’re on the go.
In addition to this wireless charging party trick – which we think is rather cool – Freebuds 2 Pro will also support Hi-Res Wireless Audio, allowing for bitrates up to 560 Kbps (i.e. better quality than most of your music is likely to be).
Freebuds 2 Pro will use a built-in bone sensor to capture the wearer’s voice by bone conduction, to avoid confusion with other nearby voices. This will allow the buds to integrate better with Google Assistant, a key part of the Mate 20 experience.
With a rumoured price of around $249 at launch, the Freebuds 2 Pro will not be cheap, but with the features they offer, I’d suggest they’ll be a popular accessory for the Mate 20 range.
