The FreeLace is a step up from the Free Buds, but the bar wasn't particularly high to begin with.

Integrated USB-C charging; Quick charging; IPX5 water-resistance; Plug-and-pair for compatible Huawei phones; Charges from a smartphone; Magnetic housings for auto play/pause

Poor fit, No multipoint connectivity, Battery life, AAC and SBC only; no aptX

In a market oversaturated with run-of-the-mill wireless earbuds, the Huawei FreeLace stand out from the crowd with an integrated USB-C plug. This allows you to charge the neckband earbuds from anywhere, so long as your phone has a USB-C input.

IPX5 water-resistance Magnetic housings for auto play/pause Plug-and-pair for compatible Huawei phones Integrated USB-C charging Charges from a smartphone Quick charging

Battery life falls short of listed 18 hours Poor fit AAC and SBC only; no aptX No multipoint connectivity

The FreeLace provide a set of commendable features that set them apart from other Bluetooth earphones, especially if you own one of the company's latest, greatest smartphones. However, the sound quality is disappointing and with plenty of excellent alternatives under £100, I'd give Huawei's FreeLace...

Smart and fast USB Type-C charging; Long battery life; Instantaneous pairing with Huawei phones

Uninspiring sound quality; Neckband design isn't for everyone

There are a few unintuitive aspects to the FreeLace, but they've got impressive sound quality and a low price compared to other branded wireless earphones.

Great audio quality; Long battery life; Easy to use with Huawei phone

Awkward volume button placement; Hard to know charge level; Less useful with non-Huawei phone

These days phone makers seem hell bent on making own-brand headphones to go with flagship phones, and that's exactly what Huawei as done with the FreeLace. Specifically, the FreeLace are a pair of own brand in-ear, wireless headphones designed to work with the company's shiny new Huawei P30 and...

If you're a Huawei smartphone user, you'll no doubt get the most out of the FreeLace earphones. These include the one-touch pairing, as well as additional notifications and the likes. That said, they're still fairly useful for other smartphones, especially those Android-based.

Long-lasting battery; Fast-charge from your smartphone; Good bass

Cable length

The FreeLaces are very cool from a design and innovation point of view, thanks to their nifty charging mechanism. They also look and feel seriously premium – but that’s about all that’s good about them. The sound quality is lacking, the in-ear fit is really poor - consistently so amongst most reviewers we’ve sense checked our experiences with, and they are very picky when it comes to hardware they play nicely with from a software update point of view. When excellent, wire-free buds like the RHA True Connect are available if you can stump up a bit of extra cash, not to mention superior, cheaper wired Bluetooth options like OnePlus’ Bullets Wireless, we’re very hard-pressed to recommend the FreeLaces; after all, what good are super smart earphones if they don’t fit and sound a bit meh?

USB-C smartphone charging works great; Premium design;

Poor in-ear fit; No wingtips included; Limited functionality for non-Huawei phones;

The Huawei Freelace are competent wireless headphones, but they do little to differentiate themselves in an increasingly competitive market.

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USB-C smartphone charging works great; Premium design;

Poor in-ear fit; No wingtips included; Limited functionality for non-Huawei phones;

Huawei’s new Bluetooth earphones have an intriguing design but fail to deliver an engaging sound

Smart and fast USB Type-C charging; Long battery life; Instantaneous pairing with Huawei phones;

Uninspiring sound quality; Neckband design isn’t for everyone;