Design and Comfort of Wearing
The FreeBuds 6i is still available this time around in three colorways: purple, white, and black. The purple on the FreeBuds 5i would be more akin to blue, but the purple on the 6i is very amazing.
Compared to the earbud housing, the earphones themselves have undergone far less alterations. There is hardly any difference between the FreeBuds 6i and the 5i. The HUAWEI brand is still prominently displayed on it. Although it will weigh 0.5g more than the 5i, wearing it will make the difference inconspicuous.
Sound Quality
Compared to the Huawei FreeBuds 6i, the driver is slightly larger. With the 11mm Quad-magnet Dynamic Driver that comes with it, the mid- and high-frequency performance becomes more crisp and detailed, while the low-frequency performance becomes more powerful and surgey. Punchy bass can be heard as low as 14 Hz thanks to the 50% more powerful and Hi-Res certified 11 mm quad-magnet dynamic speakers.
Cancelling Noise
The FreeBuds 6i’s noise canceling feature is one of its best features. With a dual-microphone feed-forward and feedback design, Huawei’s most recent active noise cancellation technology effectively blocks out outside noise. This technology is included in the earphones. This is referred to as Intelligent Dynamic ANC 3.0. The ultra-wide ANC frequency can reach up to 5 kHz, and the average full-range noise cancellation is 27 dB. I would think that, at least as of right now, the difference between the Pro and i series has become pretty noticeable.
After some use, you’ll find that these mid-size eartips are ideal for your needs. It’s important to remember that the FreeBuds 6i has a very good transparent mode for recording background noise. To transition to the Transparent Mode, just give the earbuds a long press. This mode provides superb ambient sound reproduction, which is far superior to other low-cost earbuds like the Redmi Buds 5 Pro.
Operation & Connections
The most widely used touch controls are used to operate the FreeBuds 6i. You may adjust the volume with a swipe up or down, play or pause music with a double touch, and choose between long and short presses for the noise cancellation feature. This is how wireless earphones are often used. We would rather see the squeeze control, even if it is also rather simple to use. Ultimately, using earphones to listen is not the most comfortable experience, and it can easily lead to malfunctions.
BlueTooth V5.3, used by the FreeBuds 6i, allows dual-device communication and Pop-up Pair. Apart from the updated Bluetooth version, there aren’t much differences between the connection and the 5i. After all, the 5i already boasts decent latency and rather steady connectivity.
Life of a Battery
It plays music for five hours when using ANC, which is one hour less than the 5i’s battery life. However, the 6i will survive an additional 30 minutes—to 8 hours—when the ANC is turned off. The 6i’s overall battery life is significantly longer—up to 35 hours of continuous audio playback—when you include the earbud case. Yes, the battery life is excellent for everyday use.
The FreeBuds 6i charges far more quickly; it takes just 40 minutes to fully charge the earphones and an hour to fully charge the case. If you must use earbuds for an extended period of time, the 6i is a far better option.