It’s the season of the new audio device releases in 2026 and HUAWEI Malaysia has officially launched the HUAWEI FreeBuds SE 5 Max. The company’s latest Best Value Branded TWS offers 80hr Battery, 52dB Adaptive ANC and 1 Charge for 2-Week Power.
I was offered the opportunity to review the HUAWEI FreeBuds SE 5 Max for couple of weeks before the official launch in Malaysia. As usual, does it live up to its claim and worthy to be in your daily gadget? Let’s find out more below.
Design
The FreeBuds SE 5 Max charging case features a semi-transparent lid with a subtly textured finish (specifically for the Blue edition, it has pearlescent frosted finish), allowing you to notice the earbuds presence while having young premium aesthetic vibes. The case also features a 45° Chamfer Case Design, providing ultra-slim profile with a contoured and full grip.
The earbuds are the brand’s lightest In-Ear ANC Earbuds, weighing approximately 4.5g. The ergonomic design was carefully crafted with over 10,000 ear profiles and tens of millions of data points for an easy, secure fit. The skin-friendly silicone ear tips helps improve the wearing and noise cancellation experience. Also, in the box, you get another 2 more size of ear tips.
One of the important feature to highlight is the IP55 Dust and Water Resistance, for the earbuds only. For its price range, having the IP55 ratings allows users to use it at any condition without worries, even when you want to hit to gym and listen to your favourite playlist to get into your training zone.
Controls
The controls on the FreeBuds SE 5 Max is quite straightforward with gesture style: double-tap, triple-tap and press & hold. It was fairly precise with each touch with minimal error, albeit super sensitive to my liking. Especially when you’re trying to lie on a pillow on your side, you can easily activate the gesture control.
Audio
The FreeBuds SE 5 Max features LDAC High-Resolution Audio codec technology that can perform wireless transmission of up to 990 kbps HD audio for a richer, more lifelike listening experience. It also uses 10 mm dynamic drivers that delivers wider frequency range for fuller, more natural details.
As for my listening usage, I have played tracks such as Kalau Kau Rindu by Luqman Podolski, perfect (Prototype) by Salute, LAVA by ØZI and Take a picture by Filter. The audio feels natural with slightly heavy on bass with the default preset, so if you require more towards lesser bass and focusing on vocals a bit more then I suggest go for the Treble boost profile. Just a quick note, with the app, you can choose from 4 preset EQ modes (Default, Bass boost, Treble boost, and Voices) or 10 custom sound effects.
ANC and Awareness
I am quite surprise for the estimate price RM1?? (no price official was shared during the writing of the review. Will update when I get the official pricing at bottom) of the FreeBuds SE 5 Max, it has Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) and Awareness mode.
The ANC offers a maximum ANC depth of 52 dB, which in real world translation it offer users a good usable ANC when they want to be in the zone. I personally tried and was impressed with its ANC performance as it managed to canceled the noise from a commercial truck outside of my home.
As for the Awareness mode, I wasn’t too impressed with it as offers a softer with some slight muffled environment sound. For those who are planning to make call with it, it is equipped with 6-Mic Call Noise Cancellation for crystal clear calls.
Battery
According to HUAWEI, the FreeBuds SE 5 Max charging case has 920 mAh battery while the earbuds has 41 mAh to deliver: 80-hour long battery life (with ANC disabled), playback on a full charge (with ANC disabled) for 10 hours, playback on a full charge (with ANC enabled) for 7 hours, up to 19 days of battery life with the charging case under light usage, and 9 days of typical use. As for my usage with mix of ANC and Awareness mode, the charging case still has around 80% battery level. So, the battery level on the FreeBuds SE 5 Max is really outperforming the competition out there.
Connectivity
FreeBuds SE 5 Max supports Cross-System Dual-Device Connection, allowing switching between two devices running different operating systems (iOS, Android, EMUI, and HarmonyOS).
You can connect the earbuds to your phone with the new HUAWEI Audio Connect, which is available on Android (for Android, you can download it through your phone’s brand app store as it is not available on Google’s Play Store) and iOS.
Last but not least, it has Bluetooth 6.0 connectivity to delivers stable connectivity and low latency.
Final Verdict
If the HUAWEI FreeBuds SE 5 Max’s price teased around RM1?? is true, then you are witnessing one of the valuable TWS audio you can get in Malaysia. While the device has many pros, it wasn’t that it was free of cons. Firstly, it doesn’t have any sensor to detect the earbuds is wore or removed. Secondly, the awareness mode feels underwhelming, but can be continue to be refined. Third and final one is the IP55 rating is only for the earbuds, not the for the charging case.
So, who going to get the HUAWEI FreeBuds SE 5 Max in Malaysia? The answer would be?: Student and young working adult. As for the ratings, I will give it 7.8 out of 10. Good value with adequate features and long battery life.