Inside Huawei’s Shanghai Automotive Sound Engineering Lab

A visit to Huawei’s Shanghai Acoustics R&D Centre wasn’t just a routine facility tour; it was a deep dive into an automotive sound engineering operation poised to disrupt the established hierarchy of in-car audio systems.

Since embarking on significant audio research investments in 2012, Huawei has meticulously developed this facility, boasting three specialized testing environments: a compact 4.8x4x4 meter fully anechoic chamber, a more expansive 14x12x5 meter semi-anechoic room with a reflective floor, and a purpose-built 9.1.6 listening room. While photography was restricted due to proprietary technology concerns, the technical specifications alone reveal the depth of Huawei’s ambition.

The Challenge of In-Car Audio

At the helm of Huawei’s “master-tuning methodology” is Goller, a veteran with experience at Gamut Audio, Bang & Olufsen, and Harman International. This methodology emphasizes a dual approach: combining objective acoustic measurements with subjective psychoacoustic principles for the final sound tuning.

During the tour’s initial briefing in the listening room, Goller articulated Huawei’s development philosophy: to reproduce recordings with the fidelity that the artists intended, creating a “phantom effect” that immerses listeners in the original recording environment. This necessitates not only precise acoustic measurement and purpose-engineered hardware, but also refined artistic tuning expertise.

The technical process commences with objective measurements – frequency response curves, phase relationships, timing behavior, and distortion characteristics – to define the performance parameters. Extensive subjective listening sessions then follow, leveraging psychoacoustic principles to refine the voicing and compensate for the inherent acoustic challenges of a car cabin: asymmetry, close-range reflections, and bass loading. The ultimate aim is to deliver audiophile-grade sound within the limitations of the automotive environment.

The HUAWEI SOUND ULTIMATE Series

The culmination of this research is the HUAWEI SOUND ULTIMATE Series, currently featured in the Maextro S800 luxury electric sedan. The system comprises a staggering 43 speakers powered by dual amplifiers that deliver a total of 2,920 watts.

Central to the ULTIMATE Series is what Huawei calls an “industry-first seat-specific 4D immersive surround sound experience,” featuring rear 4D exciters that synchronize with music and video content, adding tactile feedback to the auditory experience. This type of feature could resonate well in the Chinese market, where consumers are increasingly seeking immersive entertainment experiences within their vehicles.

Hardware innovations are highly specialized. For example, the Tangential Force Woofer rotates the conventional door-woofer geometry by 90 degrees to reduce panel resonance and extend bass response. A patented dual-diaphragm subwoofer further leverages the cabin volume, moving away from traditional enclosure design constraints. This innovation allows for richer, deeper bass without sacrificing cabin space – a key consideration in the increasingly competitive EV market.

The Crystal Star-Ring Diffuser automatically rises upon entry, integrating with rhythm-synchronized ambient lighting to enhance both aesthetics and acoustic performance. Huawei claims that this feature improves central image precision and offers 30% greater sound uniformity compared to its previous generation. The integration of lighting with audio cues creates a more cohesive and premium in-cabin experience.

On the spatial audio front, the system employs 10 overhead channels, adaptive sound-field control, and a proprietary spatial audio track model for precise positioning and clarity. Moreover, the system integrates with HarmonyOS, extending beyond audio into “sound-to-light” technology – AI-powered ambient lighting that intelligently responds to musical content in real-time. Integration with a robust operating system like HarmonyOS could provide a competitive advantage, potentially enabling tighter control over the acoustic environment and facilitating future updates and feature additions.

Independent Sound Zones

The most technically advanced feature is the independent sound-zone technology. Each of the four headrests integrates four drivers – two tweeters and two midrange units. Combined with Huawei’s sound-field control algorithms, the main speaker array functions as an active silencer, effectively minimizing audio spillover between the front and rear rows.

Huawei claims up to 30dB isolation between rows and 99% energy separation. During the demonstration, front passengers enjoyed classical music while rear passengers watched an action film, with reportedly minimal audible crosstalk. The ability to offer truly independent sound zones could be a significant selling point, particularly for families or business travelers who value personalized audio experiences within the vehicle. Further testing in diverse environments and at louder listening levels is necessary to validate these claims.

The system also incorporates road-noise cancellation using an “omnidimensional model” – multi-channel amplification with low latency applying ear-adaptive cancellation. Multi-layer acoustic glass and absorptive materials provide passive isolation, targeting a “library-level” baseline noise floor. In the competitive luxury car market, mitigating road noise is a key differentiator. Huawei’s multi-faceted approach, combining both passive and active noise cancellation, could provide a noticeable improvement in overall sound quality and passenger comfort.

The Investment Question

Huawei’s heavy investment in R&D is considerable, with CNY 179.7 billion (approximately £20 billion / €23.4 billion) spent in 2024, representing 20.8% of total revenue. The company has a considerable workforce of over 113,000 employees dedicated to R&D, and it allocates approximately CNY 60 billion (roughly £6.6 billion / €7.8 billion) specifically to fundamental science research.

These substantial figures place Huawei’s automotive sound ambitions into perspective. Huawei currently supplies solutions to over twenty automakers in areas such as driver assistance, cockpit systems, acoustics, and control. Critically, Huawei positions itself as a component supplier, granting individual automakers the autonomy to decide on market availability and product launches. This modular approach allows automakers to integrate specific Huawei technologies without necessarily committing to a full system overhaul, potentially lowering the barrier to adoption.

Market Implications

The automotive sound engineering sector, traditionally dominated by established European brands, faces a potential disruption. Huawei’s systematic approach, encompassing dedicated testing facilities, recruitment of talent from legacy audio companies, and substantial capital investment, represents a formidable challenge to the established order.

The question is not whether Huawei can deliver impressive technology demonstrations – the Maextro S800 system demonstrably performs well. The key question is whether this level of sophistication will scale to broader production volumes across diverse vehicle platforms at commercially viable price points. The ability to manufacture and integrate these complex systems efficiently will be crucial for widespread adoption. Huawei will need to demonstrate its ability to compete on both performance and price.

Goller’s stated ambition, “optimum reproduction of the recording – to bring us closer to the experience the artist intended,” aligns with audiophile ideals. However, automotive sound engineering has historically struggled to reach such levels of fidelity due to environmental constraints. Achieving this goal in a moving vehicle is a significant technical hurdle and requires sustained innovation and investment.

Assessment

Based on the experiences in both the laboratory facilities and the in-car system, Huawei’s program appears methodologically sound. The approach of combining measurement-driven development with subjective refinement aligns with standard practices in high-end audio environments, but adapted for the specific challenges of automotive contexts.

Whether this translates into marketplace success depends on factors that extend beyond acoustic performance, including production scalability, seamless supply chain integration with diverse automakers, and ultimately, whether consumers are willing to pay a premium for independent sound zones and advanced tuning features. Consumer adoption will depend on both the perceived value and the overall user experience. Marketing these cutting-edge features effectively to discerning car buyers will be essential for driving demand.

Huawei has established a strong technical foundation. The commercial validation will come as these systems evolve from showcase demonstrations to widespread integration across automotive lineups, proving their scalability and ability to deliver value in the real world.