An overview of exciting new wireless headphones with Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) technology, touch controls, and great sound. Earbuds 2 Lite is the new generation of TWS Bluetooth headphones from HONOR.
Although technically separate from Huawei, the Honor brand still retains traces of this shift, especially its small line of True Wireless headphones. As such, the new Earbuds 2 Lite are almost identical to the ambitious Freebuds 4i, developing only a few (rare) specificities. Headphones mature enough to differentiate themselves from other excellent technological models for less than 120 USD.
| PROS | CONS |
| Intelligent sound adjustment | Too limited ergonomics |
| Impressive battery life | Freebuds 4i is much better |
| ANC does the job quite well |
General
| Honor Earbuds 2 Lite | |
| Brand | Honor |
| Type | In-Ear |
| Colors | Glacier White |
| Weight | Earphones 5.5g x 2 Charging Case 41g (without earpieces) |
| Connectivity | Wireless, Bluetooth |
The headphones themselves come in a compact case with a built-in rechargeable battery. Smart case – provides pairing of headphones with each other and connected to a smartphone immediately upon opening the lid. Package includes case, pair of headphones, replacement ear pads, USB-C charging cable, user manual, and warranty card.
Externally, the HONOR Earbuds 2 Lite headphones are quite distinctive and do not copy any known design. First of all, this concerns the location of various interfaces: microphones, proximity sensors, contacts for recharging, etc.
The case is as simple as possible. Made of white plastic with rounded edges, no sharp corners. To reset the headphones and control the connection, there is an inconspicuous button on the side of the case.
Each pair of ear cushions is individually packed. Marking is present (“white”, size). There are only three sizes: “L” and “S” in packages; size “M” is already installed on the headphones. The shape of the landing ring is oval, so it won’t be easy to find any universal options.
Design
| Type | In-Ear |
| Driver Type | Dynamic |
| Wireless | Yes |
| Noise Cancelling | Yes |
Each earpiece remains on a fairly classic rod / acoustic body duality, on the general basis of Airpods Pro or another model in those waters. To be more precise, we are dealing with real Freebuds 4i clones.
Here Honor put, like Huawei, on a flattened rod that is not necessarily elegant. The construction is entirely in the lightest plastic, although observed no design flaws during this test.
In terms of small details, we can very well notice the various vents and microphones dotting each earpiece, presented as simple loopholes, and a vent on the internal face.
(ear side) of the earphones, a slightly hybrid point that we found again on the model at the base of this “inspiration.”
The Honor Earbuds 2 Lite uses a short (not very intrusive) and inclined cannula, elliptical in shape, almost becoming a standard on headphones of this kind. Without necessarily being better than an Oppo Enco Free 2, the Honor model remains an example of comfort, particularly in the absence of pressure in the ear canal, due to its semi-intra topology. The weak point about the headphones is undoubtedly the lack of certification, even IPX4, which makes (although difficult to judge in practice) sports use almost impossible. This point was also missing from the Freebuds if needed to confirm his full revival of the design.
While the headphones are a little too classic, the charging box is practically stingy, although it tries not to mimic that of the Freebuds 4i, more oval. The build is extremely light, with a squeaky structure and a little rattling hinge. Its quality is therefore difficult to justify for a model at 120 USD. To make matters worse, the model is only rechargeable by cable via its USB-C socket. At least this box is not very bulky, which allows it to slip into any pocket.
Clearly, Honor has taken, as has already been the case on various previous models, what existed in the Huawei catalog, only standing out on the case.
Features
| Microphone | Yes |
| Music Controls | Yes |
| Quick Charge | Yes |
| Supported codecs | AAC and SBC |
| Frequency Response | 20 Hz (Min) – 20 kHz (Max) |
| ANC | 22 dB |
| Transducer | 10mm dynamic |
Ergonomically, the Honor did not go too far. The brand has a trio of touch zone, sensors, and AI Life applications (used on Huawei and Honor models). As such, the manufacturer makes the same limitations, limitations that we had already pointed out with Huawei’s Freebuds 4i. Here, the choice is made of a real simplicity of the orders, even if it means counting.
It’s simple; only two commands are possible as standard for both headphones: double-tap for playback and pause and long press to change the type of noise reduction (ANC, Awareness, ANC off). Impossible to navigate in the tracks and even less to modify the volume.
With the AI Life application, a semblance of change seems to be taking hold, nothing more. In particular, it is possible to assign the double-tap to another action: next track, previous track, or call to the assistant. For the long press, the only possible change is its deactivation. Optical sensors can turn off. In short, ergonomics seems to us once again deliberately slashed.
For the rest, the application only allows you to perform updates and check the battery level of the headphones and that of the box.
Sound
The sound part is not particularly put forward by Honor, and for a good reason: they’re too. We find very great similarities with the Freebuds 4i, not to say the same sound. Nevertheless, it seemed to us that, perhaps because of a little more advanced sound processing, the Freebuds 4i was slightly more mastered and more detailed. The sound memory being only for a short duration, one will not advance further in what frankly did not “jump to the ears” to us; it is more than probable that this sound quality is quite simply equivalent.
Unlike other headphones of the same genre, the Honor Earbuds 2 Lite are very dependent on the tips used. Thus, two sizes of tips can be perfectly suited to the ear, but one of the two can then accentuate the response in the low frequencies. In our case, the medium tips gave a relatively balanced response (shown below), with a slight boost in the bass. With the wide tips, this boost is much more marked, although nothing comes to engulf the mediums.
In general, Honor shows a certain mastery of sound. The sound is, on the whole, fairly balanced, from midrange to treble, and only a very late peak comes to make the listening slightly artificial depending on the songs, sometimes even loud.
Battery
| Battery Capacity | 55mAh |
| Battery Life | 10 hours without ANC |
| Charging Time | 3x Full Charge (Up to 32 hours total) |
| Charging Port | USB-C |
The case is recharged from the USB-C cable. You can use either a short native cable or any other of this standard. As a power source, you can choose any 5V USB power supply from smartphones or recharge from a computer/laptop—battery capacity of each earbud: 55 mAh. The case itself contains a 410 mAh battery.
Headphones HONOR Earbuds 2 Lite stands out quite strongly against the background of other analogs:
- Support fast charging. Just 10 minutes in a case provides 4 hours of work.
- The total operating time from one charge is up to 10 hours.
- The operating time, taking into account recharging from the case, is up to 32 hours.
Connectivity
| Bluetooth | 5.2 |
| Range | 10 m |
Conclusion!
True clones of the Freebuds 4i, the Honor Earbuds 2 Lite are interesting headphones, although they do not bring anything new compared to their elders, now less expensive. A completely developed product, but which paradoxically lacks interest.
