Huawei P30 will launch alongside AirPods-trolling Freelace headphones that are 'different', colourful and 'always stay'

Unlike AirPods which are 'the same', colourless and 'always fall out,' perhaps?

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Huawei P30, Huawei Freelace

• Update: Huawei Freelace have now officially launched, alongside Huawei FreeBuds Lite true wireless buds.

Alongside the Huawei P30 and Huawei P30 Pro there will be Huawei's usual assortment of accessories and add-ons – possibly a new Huawei smartwatch, for instance – and it's been confirmed these will include some new headphones – probably wireless ones, because new, wired earbuds are something of a rarity these days. These don't seem to be Apple AirPods 2-style true wireless buds, they look like yer classic Bluetooth in-ears, with a narrow wire between the buds that you run behind your neck. You know the sort of thing.

How do we know this? Because Huawei helpfully tweeted it.

The buds are called Freelace – which autocorrect will render totally impossible to text as anything other than 'Freelance' – and will evidently come in a range of colours to match those of the Huawei P30 and P30 Pro, or to match your trousers.

By 'Sing a different tune' and 'colour yourself', Huawei is cussing Apple. You see, it is subtly alluding to the fact that everyone you meet wears AirPods – like sheep! – and that AirPods only come in white (and, soon, black). So Huawei is saying 'sing a different tune to all the colour-less AirPod wearers. Be different.'

'Music, always stay' presumably means they have magnets in the buds, so they can be clipped together, and the headphones then worn around your neck like a kind of audiophile necklace. So they 'always stay' in position there or, obviously, in your ears. Or it could just be a mistranslation from Chinese. Who knows?

Duncan Bell
Duncan Bell
Freelance contributor

Duncan is the former lifestyle editor of T3 and has been writing about tech for almost 15 years. He has covered everything from smartphones to headphones, TV to AC and air fryers to the movies of James Bond and obscure anime. His brief is everything to do with the home and kitchen, which is good because he is an excellent cook, if he says so himself. He also covers cycling and ebikes – like over-using italics, this is another passion of his.