Huawei Music Award: Can the music service keep up with giants like Spotify?

Music apps had to evolve. Whereas we used to be content with downloading songs to play them in default apps, the new era of streaming has made this custom obsolete, aiming for agility in subscription services that can provide us with a vast library that exists on the web at any time.

Huawei Music, In particular, he had to pull ahead, beyond this context, in the midst of the company’s conflict with the United States. With the departure of Google apps from its ecosystem, its own services have had to be updated to not only offer the basics but also try to reach new audiences. Was it a difficult time? Yes, but also a great opportunity.

We tested the app on a premium service and these are our impressions.

Huawei Music reinvents itself to compete with the giants

Operation HuaweiMusic try to make it attractive not only for users Huaweibut also other models.

It supports the usual music playback function, allowing us to store our own tunes in files and be able to organize them, create lists and much more. Remember when it was more common?

But this is more of an add-on: we want to see if your streaming service can compete with giants like Spotify, Tidal or Apple Music.

The interface is intuitive and simple. It highlights our daily use, music offered according to our preferences (daily mix, new releases, playlists). It provides popular charts and even shows you the “Best of” for every artist we visit. In short, it is very similar to what we see from other giants on the market.

His search is also very close to the competition and he gives us a menu where the different genres that we can explore overlap. There everyone shows us their best artists and their best selections. Or simply we can find the artist we have in mind and select it manually.

corresponding directory

The main question that falls on this type of service is to know if all the songs that we can find on other platforms are found, and the answer is Yes, albeit with an asterisk.

In general, I do not find big flaws in the universe of melodies Huawei Music: the most famous artists (and those who are not so famous) find their songs, albums and singles on the platform. My search has been successful.

However, this will also depend on what kind of music we usually listen to. I’m very into Peruvian punk and rock and there are smaller artists who either don’t or don’t have all their records in service. Will there be many users with such tastes? I do not think so.

Of course, a service that we will always be in trend against YouTube Music, which adds covers, live versions and other extras.

unique features

Huawei Music offers tools that can be more than helpful.

First, it adds the ability to recognize song melodies through the microphone, as if it were Shazam. The best addition compared to competitors.

Have you noticed that many songs sound different depending on the type and brand of headphones you wear? The app also comes with an equalizer that can accommodate us when trying to get the most out of our headphones.

Regardless, it also has AI-enhanced audio filters and other technologies to customize it to its fullest: in 3D, HiFI, surround sound, and even optimized for the Kirin chips themselves.

Speaking of that last point, of course there are improvements if you have the complete Huawei ecosystem: multi-device playback, party mode sync so that more phones have the same sound and the same song at the same time. In addition, you will be able to customize the entire player with themes, just like the old music players.

When it comes to audio, the premium service delivers quality up to 640 kbps, superior sound over both data and Wi-Fi. Of course, not for all songs, since the vast majority is concentrated at 320 kbps, which is better than traditional options, but inferior, for example, Tidal, which can produce HiFi with 1411 kbps.

What I didn’t like

The main problem I had with the app is that I didn’t use it on Huawei!

Using a Xiaomi device (Redmi Note 8 Pro) I was able to download Application gallery (Huawei App Store) to be able to download the app from there and log in. Everything is right there.

However, I had to change the main equipment to Honor 70 and everything went wrong for me! I was able to download it but it kept showing me “region not available for online music” so I could only use it as a music player for downloaded music.

Also, it’s only a mobile app and it doesn’t have a desktop web player: a big improvement that should come soon with user experience in mind.

Should you buy Huawei music?

Surprisingly yes. I didn’t really believe in the app, but it convinced me: a wide selection of music, good sound quality, and even a music recognition feature that is useful in certain situations. Of course, my recommendation, based on my own experience, is clear: make sure it works on your mobile or you’ll be paying for a subscription for nothing.