While everyone expected Huawei’s Richard Yu to address some of the hot topics of the moment (the three Ts: trade war, tariffs, Trump), the CEO of Huawei’s Consumer Business Group opened IFA 2019 with a keynote that was all about products. After all, the fact that the company was tasked with officially starting this year’s edition of Europe’s biggest electronics show was enough of a statement in itself. The company was able to cut the noise, both metaphorically, and literally. Along with a new flagship 5G chip, the Kirin 990, they unveiled a new set of earphones, the FreeBuds 3, that are the first ever open-fit earbuds to feature active noise cancelation. Design wise, they’re clearly “inspired” by the AirPods 2, but they have at least two other advantages over Apple’s beloved accessory: an anti-wind microphone design that makes it possible to use them to call while riding a bike or through wind gusts, and a full-black option. 
Huawei also updated its P30 Pro smartphone with two new color options, Misty Lavender and Mystic Blue, that feature a redesigned half-matte, half-glossy back cover and will get to the market with the EMUI 10, an upgraded interface based on Android 10, the latest installment of Google’s smartphone operating system.