Nothing ear (1) vs Huawei FreeBuds 4i: which are the best headphones?

Technical sheets Design Use and application Noise reduction Audio Microphone Autonomy Conclusion Price and availabilityComments

Which of the Nothing Ear (1) or the Huawei FreeBuds 4i stands out in the segment of true wireless headphones under 100 euros?

Source: Frandroid

On the one hand, Nothing, a new brand launched by Carl Pei, former co-founder of OnePlus. If she still benefits from the ardor of youth, she still has everything to prove. On the other, Huawei, the injured giant, which must show that it can recover after the failure of its FreeBuds 3. Both offer wireless headphones in in-ear noise reduction format for less than a hundred euros . Who will win? This versus is here to answer it.

Nothing ear (1) and Huawei FreeBuds 4i technical data sheets

Model	Nothing Ear 1	Huawei FreeBuds 4i
Format	in-ear headphones	in-ear headphones
Removable battery	No	No
Microphone	Yes	Yes
OS compatibility	Android,iOS	Android
Active noise reduction	Yes	Yes
Reported battery life	34 hours	22 hours
Connector type	N/C	USB Type-C< /td>
Bluetooth version	5.2	5.2
Weight	9.4 grams	11 grams
Price	€99	€56
	Product sheetSee the test	Product sheetSee the test

Design: Originality versus classicism

In terms of design, we are clearly in a game of originality on the ear side (1) versus the rather controlled classicism of the FreeBuds 4i. Beyond the transparency of the case, we can notably cite the absence of left/right mention on the Nothing headphones which can be a bit confusing at the start.

Nothing Ear 1 earphones // Source: Frandroid Huawei FreeBuds 4 earphones // Source: Frandroid

In terms of size, the FreeBuds may fit a little more easily in the pocket, due to their oval box, but no what to take too large a lead for Huawei.

Once this difference in style is over, the two models show many similarities. Both are delivered with three pairs of different tips, the earphones are in both cases difficult to remove from the case and RGB LEDs allow each time to know the battery level of the earphones.

The Nothing Ear 1 pairing button // Source: Frandroid The Huawei FreeBuds 4 case // Source: Frandroid

These are two headphones that have the same design qualities and flaws. Where the ears(1) ultimately stand out is on the resistance of the product. Indeed, Nothing's headphones benefit from an IPX4 certification, when their competitors do not have one.

Come on, ears (1) win by a short header here, but the match is still very close.

Application: the ears (1) win without doing anything

Unfortunately for the FreeBuds 4i, the software difficulties are just too numerous to give them the advantage. Let's do a little inventory.

Huawei headphones do not support the Google Fast Pair protocol, unlike the ear (1). Unless you have a Huawei or Honor smartphone, it's already less practical.

In addition, the Al Life application has not been updated since August 2020 on the Google Play Store, which requires contortions that the ears (1) do not impose. Clearly, you have to go through Huawei's AppGallery to use your headphones to the full.

Huawei is therefore starting a few points behind. Nothing ends up prevailing over the software part by offering five customizable shortcuts, compared to only two at Huawei. Among these, there is also no volume control, which is always annoying for headphones.

The Nothing Ear 1 headphones are controlled using touch surfaces // Source: Frandroid The Huawei FreeBuds 4 headphones are controlled by touch // Source: Frandroid

For the rest, the applications offer fairly similar functionalities with management of the noise control in particular, but the advantage clearly goes to the new brand, Nothing.

Noise reduction: Variety and quality of ears (1)

On the noise reduction part, the match is tighter. The ears (1) offer a little more variety and quality, but the FreeBuds were not unworthy.

The difference is widened by the presence of two noise reduction settings in ear (1), light and maximum, where there is only one with the FreeBuds. For the rest, we find each time a transparency mode at Nothing and perception at Huawei, as well as a simple mode without noise reduction.

The quality of the reduction goes slightly further with Nothing. According to our tests, while the two manage to effectively reduce the noise of a fan, a water tap or circulation, the ears (1) also have the luxury of managing to filter out voice noise.

Audio: sober sound signatures abound

Let's start by saying that both pairs of headphones support the same two codecs: AAC and SBC.

The Nothing Ear 1 headphones // Source: Frandroid The FreeBuds 4 lack nuance in the treble // Source: Frandroid

Their two sound signatures seem quite similar in that they do not insist too much on the bass, preferring to focus more on the mids and highs, for a more subtle and balanced rendering.

That doesn't stop them from being flawless, but overall the strengths seem to balance each other out. Where the ears (1) can sometimes suffer from a slight saturation at high volume, the FreeBuds display bass that is perhaps a little behind. The dynamics of the two models are good without being exemplary either.

If you really want to set them apart, you'll have to take an interest in spatialization, which is exemplary with ears (1), whereas it's only correct with FreeBuds.

Microphone: compression and small noise reduction

The FreeBuds 4i and the ears (1) do not shine during voice calls. They both offer a noise reduction that is very present for small noises, but which struggles to suppress larger sounds, such as a mechanical keyboard for the FreeBuds 4i and wind noise on the ear side (1).

The Nothing Ear 1 headphones are equipped with active noise reduction // Source: Frandroid The Huawei FreeBuds 4 manage to filter noise well for your interlocutor // Source: Frandroid

Noises aside, the voice is muffled and compressed for the ears (1), but it is just as compressed with the FreeBuds 4i. Draw.

Autonomy: Huawei breaks the counters

Many wireless headphones fail to exceed five hours of autonomy. The FreeBuds 4i go up to 7:45 hours of autonomy according to our tests. Well ahead of the 5 hours and 5 minutes of autonomy offered by the ears (1).

The Nothing Ear 1 headphones are in-ear headphones // Source: Frandroid The Huawei FreeBuds 4 are open headphones // Source: Frandroid battery in just 25 minutes. Opposite, the 1h 25 charge of the ears (1) are a little pale.

The ears (1) regain some points by offering Qi wireless charging where the FreeBuds do not offer a similar device. This does not prevent them from having panicked the counters on the autonomy part.

Who should you choose between the Nothing ears (1) and the Huawei Freebuds 4i?

At first glance, you might think that the match is largely lost by the FreeBuds 4i. Huawei's earphones indeed lose out to ear (1) in important parts. In design, forgetting the IPX4 certification, on the application part with a lower level of customization and installation concerns. On the active noise reduction, they are very slightly behind on the fineness of the filtration.

But for the rest, namely the audio quality, which may be considered the most important criterion for headphones, or their performance in audio calls, there is no match. Let's add that the FreeBuds win with a comfortable lead on autonomy, charging twice as fast and offering more than two hours of additional listening time.

The Nothing Ear 1 headphones are partly transparent // Source: Frandroid The Huawei FreeBuds 4 headphones // Source: Frandroid

If we had to give a winner, it would seem fair to name the ears (1). After all, they win in three categories to the FreeBuds 4i in one. But let's insist on the fact that the Nothing earphones are never clearly far ahead of the FreeBuds 4i, except perhaps on the software part.

Once the price is taken into account, which is often slightly lower for Huawei than their Nothing competitors, the difference is no longer so clear. If one were to conclude, the ears(1) win, but by a short head.

To learn more about these headphones, you can consult our complete tests:

Price and availability of the Nothing ear (1) and Huawei Freebuds 4i

The Nothing ear (1) earphones have been available since July 31. Offered only in white – and transparent – ​​they are displayed at 99 euros.

Where to buy the Nothing Ear 1 at the best price?

The Huawei FreeBuds 4i are available in three colors – black, red or white – at a price of 99.99 euros. They can be found at many retailers for a few tens of euros less.

Where to buy the Huawei FreeBuds 4i at the best price? See more offers

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