Tech
Crimson Desert developer apologizes and promises to replace AI-generated art
The developer behind the open-world RPG Crimson Desert has issued an official apology after players discovered several instances of AI-generated art in the game. Pearl Abyss posted on X that it released the game with some 2D visual props that were made with “experimental AI generative tools” and forgot to replace them before launch.
Just a day after Crimson Desert’s launch, players took to social media to post reports of potential generative AI usage. Pearl Abyss said on X that “following reports from our community, we have identified that some of these assets were unintentionally included in the final release.” Now, the game’s Steam page has an AI generated content disclosure, which says that, “generative AI technology is used in a supplementary capacity during the creation of some 2D prop assets” which are later replaced.
Moving forward, Pearl Abyss said it will conduct a “comprehensive audit of all in-game assets and are taking steps to replace any affected content.” The developer said that these updated assets will roll out in upcoming patches, and that the team would internally review how it communicates with its player base to provide more “transparency and consistency.”
Pearl Abyss isn’t the only developer to fail to disclose the use of AI-generated assets in its games. Late last year, Sandfall Interactive was stripped of its Game of the Year and Debut Game awards from the Indie Game Awards for the use of generative AI in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 for placeholder textures that were mistakenly left in the game. Like Pearl Abyss, Arc Raiders’ developer Embark Studios is going back and replacing AI-generated material in its game after some backlash from its player base.
Bothell, Wash.-based Portal Space Systems is partnering with an Australian venture called Paladin Space on a commercial service that would round up and dispose of potentially dangerous orbital debris.
The concept — known as Debris Removal as a Service, or DRAAS — is meant to address one of the most pernicious problems facing spacecraft operators: how to dodge tens of thousands of pieces of space junk that are zipping through Earth orbit.
Since its founding in 2021, Portal has been focusing on the development of maneuverable orbital vehicles that could rendezvous with other satellites, either for servicing or for disposal. Its flagship is the Supernova in-space mobility platform, which will be equipped with an innovative solar thermal propulsion system. There’ll also be a smaller version of the spacecraft, called Starburst. Starburst-1 is due for launch as early as this year, and Supernova is scheduled to make its debut in 2027.
Meanwhile, Paladin Space has been working on a reusable payload called Triton, which is designed to track and capture tumbling pieces of orbital debris that are less than 1 meter (3 feet) in size. That small-to-medium size category accounts for most of the debris that’s being tracked in orbit.
“Triton is built to remove dozens of those objects in a single mission, which fundamentally changes the cost structure of debris remediation and provides the greatest benefit to satellite operators,” Paladin CEO Harrison Box said today in a news release.
The Portal-Paladin partnership calls for installing Triton hardware on Starburst spacecraft. Portal’s orbital platform would go out in search of space junk, and Paladin’s payload would grab the debris. When Triton’s trash bin is full, it would be dropped off for safe disposal while the spacecraft remains in orbit for continued servicing.
The companies are targeting an initial deployment in 2027, focusing on heavily trafficked bands of low Earth orbit. Future missions may take advantage of Supernova’s added capabilities to service a wider variety of orbits.
Other efforts to remove orbital debris are in the works: A Japanese company called Astroscale executed two orbital test missions (ELSA-d and ADRAS-J) and is now gearing up for follow-up demonstration missions (COSMIC, ADRAS-J2 and ELSA-M). A Swiss company called ClearSpace is working with the European Space Agency on an experimental mission that would take a defunct satellite out of orbit.
Portal CEO Jeff Thornburg said DRAAS will be much more than a one-off demonstration. “This is about making debris removal operational, not experimental,” he said. “Satellite data underpins communications, navigation, weather forecasting and national security. Maintaining that infrastructure requires active debris management. For the first time, we can do that as a repeatable service.”
Portal has already attracted millions of dollars in financial support from SpaceWERX, a division of the U.S. Space Force that focuses on bridging the gap between commercial technologies and military needs. Its partnership with Paladin targets a different market for in-space services. NASA has estimated that debris avoidance maneuvers cost U.S. satellite operators roughly $58 million annually.
At least one potential customer is going public about its interest. Portal said Starlab Space, a joint venture that is working on a commercial space station, has signed a letter of intent to integrate the DRAAS service into future station operations. Starlab’s team includes Airbus, Voyager Technologies, Northrop Grumman, Mitsubishi and Palantir.
“Safety is the foundation of everything we’re building at Starlab,” said Brad Henderson, Starlab’s chief commercial officer. “We’re engineering a station designed to last for decades, one that must meet the highest standards of integrity to protect our crew and the science that will live aboard. Capabilities that reduce collision risk and limit the need for frequent collision avoidance maneuvers directly serve that mission.”
Frequently Asked Questions
What Kinds of Coffee Subscriptions Are There?
There are two main kinds of coffee subscription providers: roasters and retailers. Both roasters and multi-roaster retailers sell great coffee. This guide contains a mix of both.
Roasters are cafés and small-batch producers who buy raw beans from farmers all over the world and roast them to perfection. By buying from a roaster, you’re directly supporting the people who make your favorite coffees. The downside is you usually won’t have as broad a selection. Roasters usually sell only their own coffee, but that often means special blends and single origins are available from a roaster that you can’t get from a retailer. Your local roaster down the street may also have subscription offers, giving you the chance to buy local without leaving your house—and often catch a discount.
Retailers or Multi-Roaster Subscriptions are coffee subscription providers who buy their beans from many different roasters, then ship bags of coffee to you. A multi-roaster retailer will often have a much broader selection of high-quality coffee available (from multiple brands) to ship to your doorstep—often selected and curated carefully by coffee experts. The downside on some subscriptions is that you’re not buying directly from a roaster, which means the coffee may not be as fresh. (That’s where this guide comes in. We can tell you how fresh they are, because we always test each one and take note of the roast dates on each coffee bag.)
Subscription Beans vs. Locally Roasted Beans
Look: If you live in a big city with great coffee—and let’s be clear, nearly every midsize city in the United States has at least a couple of excellent roasters—the best way to try fresh roasts and new beans, and learn about them, is to … go to your local roaster. Look up your local coffee roasters or visit your favorite coffee shop and ask where they get their beans. Buy the beans. Talk to people. It’s fun, if you like talking to people.
Heck, this is also true when you’re traveling. The best coffee you can find is often the cup you drink when you’re on the road, in a new place, tasting something new. Even if you don’t live on the road, it’s fun to explore different shops when you do travel.
But the wonder of the internet is that you’re not limited to only the best of what’s local. Subscriptions allow you to take the temperature of the most interesting roasters from all over the country, without going anywhere in particular. Heard about that one roaster in Delaware or North Carolina making crazy coffee with co-ferments and natural fermentation? A roaster in Guatemala highlighting beans from their neighbors? Let them surprise you. Are you new to the world of premium coffee, and you’d like some help from the curators at Trade Coffee or Podium Coffee Club to learn what you like?
This is why you might take a subscription. The world is at your door—even the world you’ve never even visited. I’m also lazy enough to order subscriptions from roasters a 15-minute drive away, but this is between you and your local ecologist.
But also, sometimes it’s homesickness for what used to be local. One of the best, most interesting, and kinda attitudinal roasters I know in this country is a tiny spot in South Jersey called Royal Mile. They used to be my favorite local coffee shop, when I lived in Philly and would drive to Jersey to get the coffee. Now they aren’t local at all, because I moved. But through the magic of the internet and the US Postal Service, I can still get their truly wild, surprising, mad-scientist single-origin bags anytime I want. What a privilege.
How We Test Coffee Subscriptions
To test these subscriptions, we try a variety of beans from each service, both our own picks and any curated options. We brewed each bag in different ways to see which beans were best suited to which brewing method. Over subscriptions he tested, Scott Gilbertson covered the spectrum of grinds with espresso, moka pot, French press, pour over, and Turkish or cowboy coffee. Matthew Korfhage wanders through espresso, AeroPress, drip, cold brew, pour-over, and a wealth of somewhat unclassifiable devices.
It’s worth doing the same if you have access to different brewing methods, especially if you opt for a subscription that offers a lot of variety. A roast that makes a great shot of espresso does not necessarily make the best pour-over coffee, and vice versa. Some roasters, like the excellent Equator Coffee, offer one subscription specifically for espresso, one for decaf, and another for light single-origin roasts that lend themselves to drip and pour-over. It can also be rewarding to take notes on your favorites. Some of these services offer a way to do this on the site, which is handy, though a paper notebook works well enough. If you’d like some more pointers on brewing, be sure to read our guide to brewing better coffee at home.
Are Coffee Subscriptions Worth It?
A delivery coffee subscription service often does offer discounts on shipping or the base cost of each bag, as compared to buying single bags for delivery. But usually, subscriptions will be premium beans, so it won’t be as cheap as the less-fresh, often preground coffee from your grocery store.
But if you’re the sort who likes to try the best freshly roasted single-origin Ethiopian or Guatamalan beans from roasters all over the country? This is where coffee subscriptions shine. You’re also often getting the best speciality bags a roaster has to offer, or a curated selection from a certified Q-grader—meaning you’re a lot more likely to find new roasts and origins you wouldn’t have come across on your own.
I have no dearth of local roasters that I love to support. My home of Portland, Oregon, is perhaps the densest home to craft coffee in the country: Heart, Coava, Stumptown, Roseline, Sterling, the home of the Specialty Coffee Association, multiple national coffee publications, and a craft coffee festival. I’ve been writing about coffee in Portland and elsewhere for more than a decade.
But a coffee subscription gives me access to beans from all over the country and world. It’s a mix of ease and adventure, and a chance to be a barista at my own home multiroaster café. I enjoy that I can get fresh-roasted beans from a coffee farm in Guatemala who roasts their own impossibly fresh beans onsite, alongside world-famous beans from other farmers right down the road—or taking a world tour each month with beans from my favorite globe-hopping roaster, Atlas Coffee Club.
But for others, a coffee subscription is just a way to get a steady drip of their favorite bag from their favorite roaster, guaranteed to arrive every week or every two weeks. Simple convenience is its own form of worth it.
How Does WIRED Select Coffee Subscriptions to be Reviewed?
There’s a lot of good coffee out there. And I am never not trying coffee—drip, espresso, cold brew, I’m consistently drinking it and testing out new roasters. I’ve been writing about coffee for 15 years on both coasts, and I’ve always been on the lookout for new and exciting growers, roasters, and beans.
I keep abreast of coffee industry publications like Sprudge, haunt subreddits, consult friends and industry contacts, and I take tips.
Coffee can be subjective, of course, and everyone has their preferences. I include my personal favorite roasters among this list, rotate in new discoveries I figure readers might be interested in, and also solicit favorites from other very… wired… WIRED reviewers with different palates. But when deciding what subscriptions to include in our small, curated list, I also ask: What does this subscription offer that others don’t? I’m often looking for coffee subscriptions that best serve particular types of drinkers—a new service, a new delivery method, a clever way to cater to what you (whoever you may be) really want at your doorstep each week.
Often, a unique or uniquely useful or just kinda cool subscription model or roaster will be the first I’m in line to test. Other times, I get sent a sample bag of beans and it sends me over a moon. Always feel free to send a note about a particularly terrific roaster or subscription, at [email protected].
How Have Tariffs Affected Coffee Prices?
Ain’t gonna lie. Tariffs don’t help coffee prices. Pretty much all coffee roasted and sold in the United States is imported. If it costs more to bring into the Unites States, it will eventually cost more to buy.
This is one of many factors that affected coffee prices throughout last year, including extreme weather in Brazil and Vietnam, increasing demand, and relatively flat supply. All of these factors, including tariffs, have contributed to coffee prices rising drastically since the beginning of 2025. By fall 2025, commodity coffee bean prices were 40 percent higher than the same time the previous year. In late 2025, fully a quarter of our dozen top-pick coffee subscriptions raised prices by a buck or two a bag.
This year has been kinder. While still up considerably since 2024, coffee commodity prices seem to have stabilized a bit after a small bipartisan delegation of lawmakers introduced a bill that would specifically exempt coffee from tariffs. In November 2025, most of the largest coffee tariffs were rolled back by presidential decree. The Supreme Court then rolled back all tariffs in February, and nixed a presidential attempt to unilaterally instate another round of 10 percent tariffs, raising the specter of tariff refunds.
But lingering effects remain, and it’s not clear coffee prices have gone back down after last year’s hikes. This is true especially because many roasters absorbed higher costs for a number of months before hiking consumer prices. The best I can say is that none of my top coffee subscription picks raised prices in 2026.
Subscriptions can absorb high coffee commodity prices in part by selecting which beans get sent. In many cases, subscriptions are able to charge less than the individual bags you see at the supermarket, because of guaranteed sales (kinda the same way subscribing to a magazine costs less than buying at the newsstand.)
But coffee subscriptions aren’t immune to price hikes, even as they’re better able to weather the vicissitudes of chance and the market. Another lowered the size of its bags from 12 ounces to 10 ounces last year. Others raised prices on only some bags. New Orleans-based French Truck Coffee, one of our honorable mentions as a favorite coffee subscription (love that chicory!), explicitly added a 4-percent “tariff” price hike to make up for the 10 percent premium they say they’re paying in tariffs.
More Coffee Subscriptions WIRED Recommends
Photograph: Matthew Korfhage
There are so many coffee subscriptions out there, and honestly, a lot of them are very good coffee. Some are even amazing coffee. This list would need to be three times as long to capture every one of them at the least. I have way more subscriptions I’ve loved than I have space to talk about them, so here I’ve gathered some past picks that we here at WIRED like; some of these provide very specific services too. Have a favorite we haven’t tried? Send an email to [email protected]
Gento Coffee for $48 for two bags: Gento is part of a new and welcome trend: growers who roast their own coffee and ship directly from the source. In Guatemala, Gento takes this a step further, roasting beans from other local growers that rank among the most esteemed bean farms in the world. But in this case, the beans might only travel down the road to be roasted. The single-origin subscription is really the play, here. Alongside roasts from Gento’s own beans from the Prentice family farm, you might find roasts from esteemed Guatemalan growers like Genaro Juarez and Patrona Perez. If those names don’t mean anything to you yet, they will after you try them.
Photograph: Matthew Korfhage
Camber Coffee for $20+ per 12-ounce bag: Bellingham, Washington, roaster Camber Coffee slipped under the radar for me for maybe too long—but amid its 10-year anniversary celebrations, I finally remedied this. Camber makes distinguished, aromatic, balanced single-origin coffees and a truly chocolatey espresso blend called Big Joy that lives up to its name: it’s like a fudge brownie in espresso form. Subscriptions net you 10 percent off list price on each bag.
Sunday Coffee Project for $27 per box ($45 for two): Portland’s Sunday Coffee Project is a roaster without a café, a fun art project, and a home to some of the most distinctive, funky, fruity, interesting coffee I know in this country. This could be a yeast-fermented Thai light roast that tastes a whole lot like Sangria, or an Ethiopian so floral you’ll swear you got invited to a spring wedding. Plus, your coffee comes in a little art box, designed to look like a coffee-themed children’s cereal complete with games on the back and a little cartoon character on the front: maybe a sheep lifting weights or a snake playing tennis. It’s a wee roaster, and they’ve dialed back their offerings from weekly new roasts to monthly new roasts. But if you like light and adventurous coffee, a box from Sunday Coffee Project may be your favorite thing you get in the mail that month.
Courtesy of Trucup
Trücup for $17 per 12-ounce bag: Are you sensitive to the acids in coffee, but you love coffee? Trücup makes unique, low-acid coffee through what it calls a natural steam process, which makes it a great option for caffeine lovers with sensitive stomachs or those who suffer from gastroesophageal reflux disease or heartburn. (Standard disclaimer: If you’ve been diagnosed with GERD, talk to your physician before you try any coffee.) Either way, even those with well-fortified stomachs may want to take note. WIRED Reviewer Scott Gilbertson loves this coffee for a more mellow cup in the afternoon or evening.
Grounds and Hounds for $19: We’ve recommended this as a top pick in the past, for its mix of feel-good donations to animal shelters and excellent roasts. Grounds and Hounds offers small-batch roasted blends and single-origin beans, with 20 percent of its profits going to benefit animal shelters. The brand has some of WIRED reviewer Scott Gilbertson’s personal favorite coffees, especially the dark roasts. (Try the Snow Day Winter Roast when it’s available.) Subscriptions are mostly recurring, individual-bag subscriptions.
Wonderstate Coffee for $19 to $21 per 10.5 ounce bag: Wisconsin’s Wonderstate, previously named Kickapoo, is quite possibly the nation’s first fully solar-powered roaster—and has a long and vocal commitment to providing higher pay to farmers. It’s also a quite excellent roaster. The most recent batch of single origins I tried had a tendency toward light, subtle, mild-mannered, and lightly tannic brews—a cosmopolitan palate that’s also Midwestern-polite.
Photograph: Scott Gilbertson
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French Truck Coffee for $18 to $22 a bag: French Truck Coffee got its start in New Orleans and now has a dozen of its signature yellow storefronts scattered around town. WIRED operations manager Scott Gilbertson is a fan of the Big River blend, which has a deep, rich, and very robust flavor profile that’s especially well-suited to pour-over brewing. In fact, French Truck has some of the most detailed brewing instructions around.
Birds & Beans Coffee for $18+ a bag: Like birds? Clear-cut coffee farms can be hard on them. But Birds & Beans is a coffee roaster devoted to making sure its coffee is grown in Smithsonian-certified, bird-friendly farms with tree cover that helps birds thrive. The dark roasts in particular are delicious and genuinely dark: Scarlet Tanager is a favorite of WIRED operations manager Scott Gilbertson.
Stone Creek Coffee for $40 (two bags): Milwaukee-based Stone Creek Coffee delivers its fresh, flavorful coffee in big 1-pound bags, with a variety of blends and single-origin options available. The Cream City blend in particular is a delightful medium roast with some warmer flavor notes like chocolate and brown sugar rounded out by some fruity flavors, according to former WIRED coffee writer Jaina Grey, giving the coffee an almost cacao nib flavor. Add a little milk and it’s almost like drinking hot cocoa. A monthly subscription delivers two bags a shipment.
Grit Coffee for $17+ a bag: From its roastery in Charlottesville, Virginia, Grit Coffee roasts up excellent blends, including an excellent, roasty, chocolatey Side Hustle blend with a subtle high note of acidity to balance it out. But what really differentiates Grit from other roasters is grit. The roaster makes long-term, often 10-year commitments to its coffee farmers.
Photograph: Jaina Grey; Getty Images
Lady Falcon for $49 (two bags): Lady Falcon Coffee Club may draw you in with the art nouveau-style bags. But the luscious, velvety coffee within is what will keep you coming back, according to former WIRED reviewer Jaina Grey. Each coffee blend is thoughtfully mixed to heighten the flavors present in the contributing coffees, and the flavor notes are spot-on.
Angels’ Cup for $28 a bag: Angels’ Cup is more like a distance-learning coffee school than a box subscription service, and the Black Box subscription is like a blind coffee tasting from afar. You will learn what you actually like and dislike about coffee, along with some education through the app, roaster’s notes, and notes from fellow tasters.
Mistobox for $20+ a bag: With more than 500 different coffees from 50-plus roasters, Mistobox makes a good gift subscription, especially if you don’t know what kind of coffee to get someone. Somewhere in those 500 choices, your coffee fanatic should find something that will make them happy. One of the most compelling and surprising offerings: Misto lets you choose the most you’re willing to pay per shipment, and your offerings will change accordingly. Delivery frequency can also be customized down to the day. But as it appears they’re in the process of transferring to a new back end, we’ll give them a moment before assessing the new website and ordering system.
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When you have multiple keyboards installed, you can manage them on iOS by opening Settings, then choosing General > Keyboard > Keyboards. To swap between keyboards you’ve installed, tap and hold the globe icon that appears in the lower left corner of all your keyboards.
On Android, you can find your keyboards via System > Keyboard > On-screen keyboard from Settings. To switch between them, tap and hold on the globe icon that appears in the lower right corner whenever a keyboard is on the screen.
The Best Phone Keyboards to Try
Gboard (Android, iOS) is a good option to start with here. It’s preinstalled by default on Pixel phones, but it’s also an excellent keyboard pick for iPhones and Android phones not made by Google. It’s fast and clean, works really well for GIFs, emoji, and stickers, and supports glide typing (where you swipe over letters to form words rather than tapping on each individual letter).
Then there’s SwiftKey (Android, iOS), which is developed by Microsoft. As you might expect, there’s Copilot AI integration built right in, so if you’re stuck for something to say, you can use generative AI to do your writing for you. SwiftKey will also learn your writing style as you go, meaning autocorrections and suggestions get more accurate over time.
Typewise (Android, iOS) demonstrates how third-party keyboards can be a little out of the ordinary. It offers an unusual layout that makes use of hexagonal letter and character tiles, and which Typewise says can seriously speed up your typing speed. There’s also support for multiple languages, AI integrations, and custom gestures.
You may be familiar with Grammarly from the web and the desktop (and from the recent news about its missteps), but the grammar and spell checker service is also available as a keyboard on iOS and as a keyboard extension on Android. As well as checking on your writing, Grammarly puts AI front and center: You can get writing suggestions from a prompt, for example, or change the tone of an existing message with a couple of taps.
If you’re interested in customization options above everything else, then consider Mister Keyboard for iOS. It’s stacked with ways to tweak the look and layout of your iPhone’s keyboard, and to access features like emoji and the clipboard. Either pick one of the preset themes, or take pixel-by-pixel control over the keyboard.
Mister Keyboard isn’t available for Android, but there is theming support in Futo Keyboard for Android. It also includes smart autocorrect and text editing tools, and prides itself on its privacy. The keyboard app doesn’t ask for permission to connect to the internet, so you know that your keystrokes aren’t being sent anywhere.
The Securities and Exchange Commission has closed its investigation into electric vehicle startup Faraday Future, despite SEC staff on the case recommending an enforcement action last year, TechCrunch has learned.
Four sources familiar with the investigation, who were granted anonymity to speak about the government case, told TechCrunch that the SEC informed the company and people involved in the probe about the closure this past week.
The dismissal of the case comes amid a historic drop in enforcement actions by the SEC, which only initiated four cases against publicly-traded companies in its 2025 fiscal year, a recent report shows. The SEC did not respond to an after-hours request for comment.
The investigation into Faraday Future lasted for nearly four years. The SEC was looking at whether the EV startup made “false and misleading statements” when it went public in a 2021 merger with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), and was also probing whether Faraday Future faked the sales of its first electric vehicles in 2023 — a claim that’s been made by at least three former employee whistleblowers.
The financial regulator sent the startup multiple subpoenas, regulatory filings from Faraday Future show. The SEC also took depositions of multiple former employees and executives in 2024 and 2025, three of the people familiar with the case have told TechCrunch.
In July 2025, Faraday Future revealed the SEC had sent the company and multiple executives — including founder Jia Yueting — letters known as “Wells Notices.” The SEC sends Wells Notices when staff working a case have decided to recommend the agency take enforcement action.
It’s not clear if Faraday Future ever responded to the Wells Notices sent last year. As recently as February, the company disclosed in regulatory filings that it had not. “The Company and executives plan to engage with the SEC to explain why enforcement action is not warranted,” Faraday Future wrote in such a filing last month. A company spokesperson said Sunday that Faraday Future would share more information later Sunday.
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The Department of Justice also sent Faraday Future requests for information after the SEC opened its investigation in 2022. Faraday Future has referred to this as an “investigation” in regulatory filings; the DOJ has never confirmed if it opened a full probe, and it did not respond to an after-hours request for comment.
It is rare for the SEC to not pursue an enforcement action after sending a Wells Notice. One study done at the Wharton School in 2020 showed that around 85% of targets who receive a Wells Notice wind up in court with the SEC.
The SEC investigated nearly every electric vehicle startup that went public in a SPAC merger over the last six years. In almost all of those cases, the agency reached a settlement with the startups. It dismissed an investigation into Lucid Motors in 2023, and as TechCrunch first reported in February, the SEC ended a probe into bankrupt EV startup Fisker late last year.
Origins of the investigation
Faraday Future was founded in California in 2014 by Jia, a businessman who at the time was running a booming tech conglomerate in China known as LeEco. It was one of many new companies trying to become the “next Tesla” or, optimistically, a “Tesla killer.”
Faraday snapped up talent from Tesla, other automakers, and also tech companies like Apple, and at one point employed as many as around 1,400 employees. But things got bumpy quickly. The company turned heads, in both good and bad ways, at the 2016 Consumer Electronics Show, with a flashy concept car and the lofty goal of being as disruptive as the iPhone.
The company revealed its first vehicle the following year: a luxury electric SUV called the FF91. By the end of 2017, though the company was nearly out of cash and had laid off or furloughed hundreds of workers. Jia’s company in China had collapsed, and he self-exiled to California as the government in his home country placed him on a debtor blacklist. (It was at this time that a close business associate to Jeffrey Epstein pitched the sex criminal on investing in Faraday Future, as well as other EV startups, as TechCrunch recently revealed. Epstein never invested.)
Faraday Future was rescued by an investment from major Chinese real estate conglomerate Evergrande. But that relationship fell apart quickly, too, with Evergrande walking away by the end of 2018 and Faraday Future laying off even more employees.
Jia nominally stepped aside as CEO in 2019 and also filed for personal bankruptcy to settle billions of dollars of LeEco debt he had personally guaranteed. But behind the scenes, he was still largely in charge of the company.
This became an issue when Faraday Future went public in 2021 and raised about $1 billion. Members of the newly-appointed public company board believed that Faraday’s executives had misrepresented Jia’s control over the day-to-day operations — especially after a short seller report was published that scrutinized Faraday Future — and formed a special committee to investigate.
That committee hired an outside law firm and a forensic accounting firm, and within the first few months it started reporting its findings directly to the SEC, the three people familiar with the investigation told TechCrunch.
Between January and April 2022, Jia was sidelined as a result of the board’s investigation, a senior VP named Matthias Aydt (who is now co-CEO with Jia) was placed on probation for six months, and another VP named Jerry Wang (who is Jia’s nephew) was suspended. (Wang ultimately resigned after “failure to cooperate with the investigation,” according to company filings, but is now back with Faraday Future.)
The committee’s work also showed that Faraday Future had, in the two years before it went public, survived in part on multi-million-dollar loans made to the company by low-level employees with connections to Jia — known as “related party transactions” in legal parlance.
On March 31, 2022, Faraday Future disclosed that the SEC had opened its investigation. The startup revealed the requests for information from the DOJ in June.
Dodging another bullet
Through the rest of 2022, and amid the early stages of the SEC investigation, employees and people close to Jia waged a campaign to regain control of the board and his company. This eventually resulted in death threats against some directors, who ultimately resigned, paving the way for people close to Jia to run the company once more.
Faraday Future finally delivered the first few FF91 SUVs in early 2023. Former employees have sued the company alleging that these were not true sales, and that the company had misled investors. The SEC investigators working the case subpoenaed Faraday Future about issues related to these sales, filings show.
Former executives and employees were initially deposed by the SEC in 2024, according to the people familiar with the investigation. The SEC sat some of them for longer depositions in the first half of 2025, the people said.
The Wells Notice sent in July 2025 said SEC staff had made “a preliminary determination to recommend that the Commission file an enforcement action against the Company alleging violations of various anti-fraud provisions of the federal securities laws.”
Specifically, the Wells Notice referenced “purported false or misleading statements” made during the SPAC merger process about “related party transactions” and Jia’s “role in the Company.” Jia, his nephew Wang, and two other unnamed employees also received Wells Notices.
Faraday Future is still trying to sell the FF91, but it has also recently changed its business in a few ways. The company is importing more affordable hybrid and electric vans from China. It also appears to be selling re-badged versions of Chinese robots, and turned a publicly-traded biotechnology company into a firm focused on crypto.
Those efforts have not stopped the company’s struggles. On Friday, the company announced it had received a warning from the Nasdaq that its stock price was under the minimum of $1, which could eventually lead to the company being de-listed.
Nobel Laureate David Baker will lead a new University of Washington initiative that’s launching with $7 million to develop designer enzymes and proteins to solve challenges in medicine, technology and sustainability.
The funding comes from the Washington Research Foundation (WRF), a nonprofit organization based in Seattle that supports research and entrepreneurship in the state. WRF granted nearly $200,000 last year to the UW Institute for Protein Design (IPD), which Baker leads, to create a plan for the new program.
The goal of the four-year initiative is to accelerate IPD’s work by educating new scientists, translating discoveries into commercially viable tools and supporting the launch of startups.
Baker received the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for using AI and machine learning to create never-before-seen proteins. He is the director of the IPD and a UW biochemistry professor.
Enzymes, which are a category of proteins, have key applications in global industries such as pharma, agriculture, energy and manufacturing. They’re able to orchestrate the transformation of molecules and dramatically speed up essential chemical reactions.
“With AI, we can now design these molecules from scratch, tailored precisely to the task at hand,” Baker said in a statement. “This grant from WRF will help us push this technology further and train a new generation of scientists to bring designed enzymes from the computer to the lab to the market.”
IPD has already launched more than 10 startups, including PvP Biologics, acquired by Takeda; Icosavax, acquired by AstraZeneca; A-Alpha Bio; and Neoleukin Therapeutics.
The project will start receiving grant dollars from the Washington Research Foundation around June of this year. Further support is coming from the philanthropist and former Citibank CEO Sanford Weill; the Fund for Science and Technology, which is part of Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen’s philanthropies; and the IPD Breakthrough Fund. The UW is providing IPD with additional office and lab space in Seattle’s South Lake Union as part of the initiative.
The grant comes from the foundation’s BioInnovation Grants program, which launched last year and has funded three additional efforts to advance Washington state’s life sciences sector. The program has committed more than $32 million across five institutions.
The result of the mod is less a novelty case mod and more a proof-of-concept for what a hybrid Xbox/PC box could look like in practice, arriving months before Microsoft’s own Project Helix promises official support for PC titles on next-gen Xbox hardware.
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Get caught up on the latest technology and startup news from the past week. Here are the most popular stories on GeekWire for the week of March 15, 2026.
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As both the iPad Air M4 and iPad Pro M4 sport the same chip, what really separates the two tablets? Is it a guarantee that the Pro iteration is best?
To help you decide between the two, we’ve compared our experiences between the iPad Air M4 and iPad Pro M4 and noted the key differences below.
Remember, the iPad Pro M4 has been succeeded by the iPad Pro M5. For a closer look at the newer model, visit our iPad Pro M5 vs iPad Pro M4 comparison to see what’s new with the latest model.
Otherwise, we’ve also compared the iPad Air M4 to the iPad Air M3 and even battled the MacBook Neo and iPad Air M4 against each other too.
Finally, check out our round up of the best tablets and even the best Android tablets, if you don’t think iPadOS is for you.
Price and Availability
The recently announced iPad Air M4 is available to buy now, with a starting RRP of £599/$599 for the 11-inch, 128GB iteration.
SQUIRREL_PLAYLIST_10208285
As it’s been succeeded by the iPad Pro M5, the iPad Pro M4 is no longer readily available to buy from Apple’s official site. In fact, tracking down an iPad Pro M4 can be quite difficult, unless you’re happy to opt for a refurbished or renewed model. If so then the price will vary somewhere between the £660 – £800 range, depending on the condition and provider.
Remember, neither of these starting RRPs includes any accessories such as an Apple Pencil or Magic Keyboard. Those will need to be purchased separately.
Design
- Both come in a choice of two sizes: 11- or 13-inches
- Although the 13-inch iPad Pro M4 is the thinnest, the 11-inch is also thinner than the iPad Air M4
- Both have landscape front-facing cameras
Both the iPad Air M4 and iPad Pro M4 come in a choice of two screen sizes: 11- or 13-inches. Regardless of the iPad Air M4 size you opt for, the tablet will be just 6.1mm thick.
In comparison, the 13-inch iPad Pro M4 is the thinnest of the lot, at just 5.1mm thick whereas the 11-inch version is 5.3mm. The 13-inch iPad Pro is so thin, that you’ll actually notice the USB-C cable will jut out ever so slightly when it’s plugged into the device.
Otherwise, the 11-inch iPad Air weighs up to just 465g (for the cellular iteration) while the 13-inch is slightly heavier at up to 617g (again, for the cellular model). The iPad Pro M4 sits in-between the two iPad Airs, as the 11-inch weighs up to 446g while the 13-inch is 579g.
Although all iPad Pro M4 models are lighter than the iPad Air, which means the tablet feels barely noticeable whether in hand or slotted away in your bag, it’s still worth noting that we found the iPad Air to still be a compact model – especially the smaller 11-inch version.
Finally, both the iPad Air and iPad Pro are equipped with a Touch ID fingerprint scanner that’s built into the power key and a USB-C port at the bottom. In addition, both are equipped with a landscape front camera, which makes taking video calls feel more intuitive than before.
Winner: iPad Pro M4
Screen
- iPad Pro has an OLED panel for brighter and more vibrant colours
- ProMotion is only available on the iPad Pro
- Even so, the iPad Air’s LED-backlit panel is enough for everyday use
As we mentioned above, both the iPad Air and iPad Pro M4 come as either an 11- or 13-inch iteration. Fortunately, regardless of the size you choose, the screen technologies will remain more or less the same. That’s an improvement over the iPad Pro M3, where the smaller 11-inch model had a lower resolution LCD panel compared to the 12.9-inch mini LED.
So, let’s dive into the screen technologies on offer here. Unfortunately the iPad Air’s screen isn’t as well equipped as the iPad Pro’s, with an LED-backlit panel and not quite enough brightness levels for HDR video. In fact, put the iPad Air next to the OLED-equipped iPad Pro and the difference is unmistakable, as the pricier tablet boasts a higher maximum brightness and more vibrant colours too.
Not only that, but the iPad Pro also benefits from ProMotion technology, which means it sees a 120Hz refresh rate. Unfortunately, the iPad Air still caps out at just 60Hz. While this isn’t necessarily a dealbreaker, when you’re comparing it to the 120Hz iPad Pro, the iPad Air feels dated.
Finally, the iPad Pro M4 has the option to sport a nano-texture glass display which goes a long way in reducing glare and providing a matte finish. However, this is only available on the 1TB or 2TB models, and will cost an additional £150/$150.
Winner: iPad Pro M4
Performance
- Although both have M4 chips, the iPad Air’s silicon has one less CPU and GPU-core
- iPad Air features the N1 and C1X chips (latter only in cellular models)
- You can upgrade your iPad Pro M4 with more memory, storage and additional cores in the chip
The newly launched iPad Air may appear to have the same M4 chip as the 2024 iPad Pro, however there are a few differences between the two silicons. Firstly, the iPad Air M4 has an eight-core CPU and a nine-core GPU, whereas the standard iPad Pro M4 has a nine-core CPU and 10-core GPU. Plus, you can even add an additional CPU-core thanks to the 1TB and 2TB iterations – although they come at a higher price.
Even so, the iPad Air M4 is still a very capable tablet that can even handle exporting large files in Final Cut, doing AI-based tasks and editing images with ease.
However, we were seriously blown away with the sheer amount of power on offer with the iPad Pro M4. While it’s likely overkill for anyone who wants an iPad for reading and the occasional video stream, the iPad Pro M4 is brilliant for those seeking serious power for more intensive tasks.
With this in mind, we’d argue that the iPad Air M4 is likely the better choice for more casual users who don’t necessarily have a need to splurge. Plus, the iPad Air M4 benefits from Apple’s own N1 chip which brings Wi-Fi 7 to the tablet, and cellular models sport Apple’s C1X modem too.
Winner: iPad Pro M4 in terms of sheer power
Software
- Both run on iPadOS and include Apple’s Liquid Glass UI
- You can use your Mac’s trackpad and keyboard to control the iPad Air M4
There aren’t many differences between the iPad Air and iPad Pro M4’s software, as both support Apple’s most recent iPadOS 26 which saw the design shift to Liquid Glass. While it’s not quite macOS, iPadOS does operate a little more like a traditional computer, and has a windowed interface for layering apps and multitasking.
A new feature we especially appreciate with the iPad Air M4 is Universal Control which allows you to control your iPad using your Mac’s trackpad and keyboard. It’s clever and means the iPad Air can easily double as a makeshift laptop.
One area which somewhat lets the iPad Air and iPad Pro M4 down is Apple Intelligence, which is pretty underwhelming overall.
Winner: Tie
Battery Life
- Apple hasn’t made many improvements with either the iPad Air or iPad Pro M4
- Both promises around 10-hours of battery life
- The 11-inch iPad Pro M4 has a slightly larger battery than the thinner 13-inch model
Unlike some of the best Android tablets, Apple doesn’t tend to fit its iPads with mighty batteries. Even so, both the iPad Air and iPad Pro M4 are promised to see up to 10-hours of battery life and, during our respective reviews, we found this to be more or less the case. Of course, do remember that the actual battery life will vary depending on your own usage.
Annoyingly, only some regions will benefit from a charging adapter in the box and the UK isn’t one of them.
Winner: Tie
Verdict
Remember that the iPad Pro M4 has now been succeeded by the iPad Pro M5, so tracking down the former is slightly harder (though you’ll likely be able to nab a decent price cut if you do). Check out our iPad Pro M5 vs iPad Pro M4 guide to see what’s new with the top-end model.
Otherwise, we’d advise that if you want an everyday iPad for general browsing and streaming, and perhaps light work or studying, then the iPad Air M4 seems like a brilliant choice with a decent price tag. On the other hand, if you tend to use more demanding apps for photo or video editing, gaming or the like, then you’ll likely be better suited to the iPad Pro M4 instead.
This drone, priced at $149 after clipping the on-page $50 off coupon (was $249), weighs only 135 grams and fits neatly into almost any backpack or pocket, making it light enough to carry without drawing attention. The DJI Neo’s frame is around five inches across and manages to fit all of the necessary components for smooth flights and sharp 4K filming with minimum (or none at all) trouble.
Launch and landing are quick and easy; simply place the drone in your hand, hit a button on the phone app, and it rises on its own, propellers shielded by built-in guards so you can get up close and personal without worry. When it comes time to land, everything works the same way in reverse, with no complicated procedures or extra equipment to get in the way. Don’t forget about the video; it rolls at a silky 30 frames per second in 4K, with the half-inch sensor also capturing sharp 12mp stills, all kept steady by electronic stabilisation even when the breeze kicks up to a fair old 4. If you want some vertical clips for your phone screen, they’ll be 1080p and ready to use right away.
DJI Neo, Mini Drone with 4K UHD Camera for Adults, 135g Self Flying Drone that Follows You, Palm Takeoff…
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Flight time is approximately eighteen minutes each charge, which is more than enough time to capture some great images. The 22g of internal storage should be sufficient for a while, so you won’t need to carry spare memory cards. When the battery runs out, a spare pack will allow you to go on longer travels. The phone app handles all of the fundamental tasks for you, such as monitoring and preset flights that will circle your subject or pull back gently, so you don’t have to worry about the intricacies. If you want to get fancy, you can attach the extra remote controller and increase your range; in manual mode, it will go up to sixteen metres per second for some proper active pictures, or you can just utilize the gesture control and wave your hand to start filming without touching the screen.
The auto-tracking and object following modes are useful for everyday video since they easily transform everyday scenes into properly finished films. The flying settings are quite ingenious; they just whiz through the camera moves, ensuring that your results remain consistent. Many users in 2026 continue to choose this small model for the ideal blend of size, video quality, and price, describing it as a dependable entry-level device with no complicated restrictions or hefty fees to contend with.
Verdict
The Huawei FreeBuds 5 Pro combine a supremely comfortable fit, confident sound and class-leading ANC with useful extras like multipoint and rich EQ options to offer a polished, genuinely premium alternative to big-name rivals – despite a few frustrations around wireless charging, Huawei-only features and the faffy Android app install.
-
Superb noise cancellation
-
Comfortable, lightweight fit
-
Strong connectivity features
-
No wireless charging
-
Huawei-only smart extras
-
Awkward Android app setup
Key Features
-
Review Price:
£179.99
-
Supremely comfortable fit
Smaller, lighter buds reshaped from 10,000+ ear scans for a secure, all-day wear.
-
Rock-solid connectivity
Bluetooth 6.0 and a stem antenna keep audio stable even in busy stations.
-
Impressive noise cancellation
Dual-driver ANC easily cuts out most travel and city noise.
Introduction
Huawei isn’t short of premium wireless earbuds, but the FreeBuds 5 Pro might be its most compelling pair yet.
Combining a subtly refined design with next-gen connectivity, punchy sound and seriously impressive noise cancellation, they’re pitched as a true alternative to some of the best wireless earbuds around – and at a lower price, too.
After a few weeks of commuting, travelling and everyday listening with them, it’s clear Huawei has learned a lot from previous generations. From comfort and fit to rock-solid connectivity in busy stations, these buds feel every inch a flagship – even if some of their smartest tricks are still reserved for those in Huawei’s own ecosystem.
So, are the FreeBuds 5 Pro strong enough to tempt AirPods loyalists and undercut Sony’s best, or do a few key compromises hold them back? Let’s dive in.
Design
- Similar design, but thinner and lighter
- Touch, tap and squeeze controls
- IP57 dust and water resistance
If you were expecting a total redesign for Huawei’s long-standing premium earbuds, you’ll be disappointed – but you won’t hear any complaints from me. Huawei’s older FreeBuds were among the comfiest around to wear, with a snug fit that didn’t feel too bulky in the ear – and it’s very much still the same story here.
In fact, they’re 10% smaller and 6% lighter than the FreeBuds 4 Pro, and have been squeezed and reshaped based on the modelling of over 10,000 ear shapes to make them more comfortable than ever.
I’ve long been an AirPods Pro 2 user, even after switching to Android, as I find them the most unintrusive and comfortable to wear during longer listening sessions, but I think the FreeBuds 5 Pro are on par – or maybe even a little better – than the Apple alternative. That did require me to spend a bit of time truly testing the multiple ear-tip sizes (XS to L) to find the right fit for me, but it was well worth it.
Of course, the two sets of premium buds share plenty of similarities, including the same overall stemmed design, but Huawei’s buds separate themselves in several ways.
First off, Huawei’s ‘star oval on a stick’ design – Huawei’s words, not mine – allows the stem to double up as an antenna, which not only boosts the overall range of the buds but reduces that annoying Bluetooth interference you sometimes get in signal-congested areas.
They’re also available in more shades than Apple’s famously white-only earbuds, available in sand, white, grey and blue, with a matching carrying case.
The oval-shaped carry case is as sleek as ever, with a hidden hinge that keeps it clean, even when open. It sports a new excimer film coating that somehow makes the plastic case feel of my white sample almost like satin in my hand – a very premium feel, indeed – though it’s also available in a vegan leather finish if you opt for the blue finish.
There are also various ways to control the buds, including various combinations of taps, swipes, and pinches. You can swipe and tap the outer panel of the buds on a separate glossy surface, while pinching is reserved for the sides.
Pinching is the most reliable of the bunch, both quick pinching and pinching and holding, and the volume control via a swipe works well most of the time. I had to disable the tap-and-hold input however; it activated seemingly at random, summoning Gemini when I didn’t want/need it. It’s not like I have long hair to blame for the accidental activation, either.
You’ve also got head gestures, allowing you to nod or shake your head to accept or decline a call without touching your phone, but like with Apple’s alternative, I always feel like a bit of a lemon randomly nodding or shaking my head in public. Maybe that’s just a me thing though…
The good news is that all the gestures can be customised or, in my case, completely disabled in the companion app – but more on the app shortly.
Durability is pretty much par for the course for high-end wireless buds too, with IP57 protection on the buds and a slightly lesser IP54 from the case. That should make them fine for use in the rain or particularly sweaty gym sessions, but I wouldn’t get in the pool with them.
Features
- Support for 2.3Mbps lossless audio, but only with Huawei phones
- Solid connectivity, even in congested areas
- App is a faff to install, but well worth it
As Huawei’s flagship earbuds, it should come as no surprise that the FreeBuds 5 Pro feature the very latest in connectivity. Headed by Bluetooth 6.0, the buds offer true high-res 2.3Mbps Lossless Audio support, ideal for Tidal playback and the like – though that’s only available if you’re using a Huawei phone and, let’s be honest, not many of us are these days.
Outside the Huawei-exclusive sound profile, support for most of the (non-Qualcomm) staples – LDAC, AAC, SBC – are all present and accounted for, though which you’ll get depends on the device you’re connected to. Different manufacturers prefer different codecs, and there isn’t much you can do to force it to the highest-quality codec if your phone, tablet or laptop doesn’t support it.
Regardless, the combination of Bluetooth 6.0 and the redesigned antenna module delivered superb connectivity, even staying connected and playing music while wandering through the main concourse of London Liverpool Street station – something that, seemingly, only a few wireless earbuds can manage.
When connected to an iPhone or Android device, you’ll have access to the new Huawei Audio Connect app. It’s easy enough to install on iOS, as it’s on the App Store, but you won’t find it on Google Play. Instead, you’ll have to rely on your phone manufacturer’s oft-neglected app store (it’s available on both Samsung’s Galaxy Store and Oppo’s App Market, in my experience) or download it directly from the Huawei site.
It can be a bit of a pain, especially for the less tech-savvy among us, but it’s only something you’ll need to do once – and it’s well worth doing, as the app provides access to a wealth of optional features and functionality.
It’s a rather clean app despite being packed to the rafters with extra features. The staples of the companion app are front and centre, providing a quick glance at elements like battery life, connectivity and the ability to toggle elements like ANC and transparency, along with more advanced options.
That includes a range of EQ options, both preset and custom, with the latter designed in conjunction with the Beijing Central Conservatory of Music. The default balanced profile provides the best all-around experience, but as somewhat of a bass-head, I opted for the bass profile, and the jump in bass presence is immediately noticeable.
You can tweak the level of ANC depending on your environment, customise the range of controls available, enable optional features like conversational awareness and adaptive volume, and if you’re struggling to find the right ear tips, the ear fit test can guide you in the right direction.
There’s also support for multi-point connectivity, and while it’ll automatically switch between connected devices depending on playback, you can manually switch between devices in the app – and even specify a priority connection if you like.
You’ll also find a Find Device option, which helps you locate the buds if you’ve misplaced them by playing loud tones from the buds. It doesn’t offer anything like Apple’s Find My support for wider coverage though, and nor can you find the case if you’ve misplaced that.
Battery Life
- Up to 9 hours of battery life
- Drops down to 5 hours with ANC and LDAC playback
- Case holds up to 38 hours of charge, but no wireless charging
Despite being smaller and lighter than their predecessors, the FreeBuds 5 Pro offer better battery life. Huawei claims that they can last up to nine hours with ANC disabled or six hours with it enabled, matching the likes of the second-gen Bose QuietComfort Ultra buds but behind Apple’s AirPods (eight hours) and the JBL Tour Pro 3 (10 hours).
In testing, which consisted of listening to a Spotify playlist for around an hour with ANC active and using the highest-quality LDAC sound profile I had available to me, the buds drained around 20%, suggesting battery life of around five hours, just under Huawei’s numbers – though that improves if you drop down to AAC, and even more if you disable the battery-sucking ANC when it’s not needed.
Of course, the accompanying carry case boosts overall battery life, holding a charge for up to 38 hours of use, depending on the modes you use.
Rather disappointingly for premium earbuds, there’s no wireless charging here, just USB-C – though you’ll get the buds from flat to full in 40 minutes, with a full charge of the case in around an hour in my experience.
Sound Quality
- Dual-driver system
- Isolated airflow between woofer and tweeter
- Bass doesn’t overpower the highs at all
Huawei’s flagship buds sport a dual-driver system sporting an in-house developed 6mm diaphragm Planar tweeter, which the company claims can deliver two times brighter treble, along with a more precise woofer that reduces distortion by 45%.
That alone would be a pretty solid upgrade, but the Huawei boffins have worked out a way to isolate the airflow for the woofer and tweeter separately, allowing for better sound separation – essentially preventing the bass from overpowering the highs, as with many small in-ear buds.
And, connecting the buds to my Oppo Find N6 and using the LDAC codec with Spotify Lossless, I was pleasantly surprised by what I heard. The default profile is well-judged, offering a pretty wide soundstage paired with punchy bass, great vocal separation and a nice, smooth treble.
However, even with the bass-focused profile enabled, the thumping bass still doesn’t have much detrimental effect on the high end. It’s more present, for sure, but it feels well controlled and, more importantly, distortion-free at high volumes, ideal for the old-school D&B and Dubstep tracks I listen to on my morning commute.
I don’t think it has quite the sharpest resolution of any wireless earbud on the market – that award goes to the excellent WF-1000XM6 – but for much less than Sony’s buds, it’s not a bad showing at all.
Noise-Cancellation
- Impressive ANC capabilities in most scenarios
- Transparency mode really lets you hear the world around you
Huawei has done something interesting when it comes to ANC; rather than simply using standard ANC capabilities, the FreeBuds Pro 5 uses both the tweeter and woofer for noise cancellation, which the company claims can boost the cancellation frequency from 4kHz to 6kHz and provide a more robust overall experience.
Compared with a boosted sample rate – up to 400,000 times per second – Huawei claims that there’s a 220% increase in noise cancellation performance compared to the FreeBuds 4 Pro.
That all means that the FreeBuds Pro 5 aren’t another pair of your bog-standard noise-cancelling buds – they’re pretty phenomenal. I keep harking back to the AirPods Pro 2, but for me (and likely many others), these are the baseline of what to expect from wireless ANC, and it’s a high bar. But one that Huawei just matched.
Enabling the ANC with maximum effect (something you can do in the app), the world around me quietened noticeably. Even without anything playing on the buds, irritating noises were reduced to more of a whisper, and with music playing, the wider world effectively vanished.
Some particularly loud noises, like the hiss of a bus (that gave me quite a jump) and particularly loud segments of the London Underground slipped past Huawei’s guard at times, but for the most part, it was a distraction-free experience. It’s just as effective on planes too, getting me to and from Barcelona without needing to crank the buds up anywhere near maximum volume.
Now these aren’t the very best noise-cancelling buds around – that crown has passed to the Sony WF-1000XM6 – but they’re not too far off.
Transparency mode performance is similarly top-notch. Some brands try to blend environmental noise into the sound of the music so they don’t stand out too much, but really, I want the opposite; I want to hear the environment over the music so I can truly stay aware of my surroundings.
That’s what the FreeBuds Pro 5 do, and they do it exceptionally well with clear directional audio – so well that I’m usually able to have a full conversation with someone without needing to take the buds out. There is a conversational mode that automatically turns down the audio and toggles on the transparency mode when you speak, but I prefer to control it manually.
Should you buy it?
You want a great all-round pair of buds
With a comfortable design, a solid companion app, impressive sound quality and great ANC, the FreeBuds 5 Pro tick a lot of boxes.
You want the very best ANC
Even with Huawei’s new dual-driver ANC system, it still can’t quite compete with some of the best around from Bose and Sony.
Final Thoughts
The Huawei FreeBuds 5 Pro nail the fundamentals with a comfortable, lightweight design, confident sound and some of the best ANC you’ll find at this price, while extras like multipoint, rich EQ options and rock-solid connectivity help them feel every bit as premium as their more expensive rivals. The fact they held their own – and in some areas, surpassed – my long-term AirPods Pro 2 on daily commutes and flights is no small achievement.
They’re not flawless; the absence of wireless charging feels stingy on a flagship pair of buds, the smartest audio tricks are still locked behind Huawei hardware, and having to jump through hoops to install the companion app on Android won’t appeal to everyone.
But if you can live with those caveats, the FreeBuds 5 Pro deliver a level of polish, performance and value that makes them a genuine contender to the established greats – and a seriously tempting upgrade for anyone looking beyond the usual suspects.
How We Test
The Huawei FreeBuds 5 Pro were tested over the course of a month in a variety of environments, including public transport, outdoor settings and on planes. A wide range of music was used to test bass, treble and midrange performance.
- Tested with real-world use
- Battery drain carried out
- ANC compared to rivals
- Tested for a month
FAQs
Yes. You still get strong connectivity, LDAC/AAC support and most features via the Huawei Audio Connect app.
ANC is excellent for the price, cutting most travel and city noise and coming close to top-tier rivals.
Full Specs
| Huawei FreeBuds 5 Pro Review | |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Huawei |
| IP rating | IP57 |
| Battery Hours | 9 |
| Fast Charging | Yes |
| Weight | 5.5 G |
| Release Date | 2026 |
| First Reviewed Date | 20/03/2026 |
| Audio Resolution | Up to 48 kHz / 24-bit |
| Driver (s) | Dual-drive acoustic system |
| Noise Cancellation? | Yes |
| Connectivity | Bluetooth 6.0 |
| Colours | Black, White, Sand, Blue |
| Frequency Range | – Hz |
| Headphone Type | True Wireless |
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