Soundcore, Anker’s audio brand, has stayed mostly in the budget-to-mid-range world, but with its Liberty 5 Pro earbuds, it’s aimed at the big crowd. The two new earbuds – Liberty 5 Pro and Liberty 5 Pro Max – use Anker’s new Thuso chip, which has more processing power than Soundcore’s previous earbuds to try to compete with chips found in Apple, Sony, and Bose products. And that extra processing power gives the Liberty 5 Pro the best in-call noise cancellation I’ve heard anywhere earbuds.
Previously, Soundcore’s highest-priced earbuds (excluding earbuds) were the Liberty 4 Pro at $150, but the Liberty 5 Pro is $170 and the Liberty 5 Pro Max is $230. That extends to the AirPods Pro 3. The price difference in the product line usually means different designs of the earbuds, like the AirPods 4 with ANC versus the AirPods Pro 3 that are closed. But the Liberty 5 Pro and 5 Pro Max earbuds are exactly the same. They have the same chip, 9.2mm drivers, microphone array, ANC functionality, sound profile, battery life, IP55 rating, and overall features. The only difference is the case.
$170
Good
- Unbelievable call quality
- The great ANC
- Useful case screen
Bad
- The default sound profile needs to be adjusted
The Case 5 Pro has an angled 0.96-inch TFT screen on the front that can be used to change settings such as ANC, audio profiles, talk-to-chat, and Dolby head tracking. Everything that can be done on the screen can also be done in the Soundcore app, so it’s just a choice if you want to take out your case or phone.
The 1.78-inch AMOLED screen of the 5 Pro Max case is on top of the slide. In addition to the power of the 5 Pro case, you can adjust the brightness of the screen or change the background image, and access the feature that sets the 5 Pro Max apart from its less expensive counterparts: a microphone and an AI note-taking application. You can record audio directly from the case, which has 357MB of storage, and transfer it to your phone where you can make transcriptions and summaries in the Soundcore app. (Requires a Soundcore account.)
The file can be edited in the Soundcore app or exported (audio as an MP3, and text and summary as a .txt, Markdown, .docx, or PDF file). Transcription can distinguish between different speakers and in my testing I found it to be very accurate, both in terms of who was speaking and what they were saying. If you are someone who needs to record classes or meetings regularly it is a useful feature, especially since it does not require your headphones to be in the middle. But beyond the big screen, it’s the only big thing that sets the 5 Pro Max apart from the 5 Pro.
The earbuds look similar to the Bose Ultra Earbuds with a wide, chunky outer body, but they don’t feel that way in the ear. In contrast to Bose’s bulbous housings, the Liberty 5’s housings are slimmer, allowing for a better fit while making them easier to hold. They are comfortable and feel very secure, and I didn’t worry about them falling off, even when jumping.
Out of the box, the sound profile of the Liberty 5 is on the bassy side, which makes voices – especially male voices – sound muddy. Snare hits sound fuzzy and there’s a shimmer that’s missing from high-end sounds. By choosing the tuning of your favorite audio clip from a series of seven examples, you can adjust the earbuds according to your preferences (there is also an 8-band EQ if you choose to use it). Fixed the issues I had with the default Soundcore profile. There was still good bass response, but the low mids were cleaned up and the high mids were slightly boosted, making the whole sound open up. Nick Drake’s acoustic guitar on “Pink Moon” shines brightly, as does the octave of the piano, and his voice is not swallowed up by the guitar’s register as his voice descends at the end of the vocal line. Compared to the AirPods Pro 3 my Soundcore profile was still heavy on the bass and didn’t have the same high response, but I enjoyed listening to my music a lot. Liberty 5 Pro supports LDAC for better sound quality from devices that use the codec.
The dynamic noise cancellation performance is comparable to the AirPods Pro 3, and it’s $80 less, which is great. The Liberty 5 Pro comes in a bit more mid-range than the AirPods, but the difference is very small. They handle low-end drones well and will work well for long flights.
The most notable feature of the Liberty 5 Pro series, however, is its voice calling capabilities. I’ve never heard earbuds or headphones handle phone audio this well. At one point, my overzealous son sang and screamed while jumping up and down in front of me and the person on the other end of the phone didn’t hear a thing. During another call, arborists put tree branches into a wood grinder right outside our open apartment window. The person on the other side knew nothing.
I have a friend who is also an audio reviewer, and I call him regularly to check the call clarity on headphones and earbuds. He can’t remember the last time I sounded like a natural on the phone. And this was when a bunch of cars, and other emergency vehicles, passed by as I was walking through the area. To see how they compare to the AirPods Pro 3, I was changing the earbuds without telling him what I was wearing, and he always said that the Apple buds felt muddy and too compressed.
The Liberty 5 Pro buds have a voice control mode that responds quickly, although they are not compatible when there is a conversation around you. I tried to switch between noise canceling modes while my wife was on a Zoom call in the same room, and when she spoke I would have to speak uncomfortably loudly for the modes to change. What’s interesting – and slightly disturbing – is that no wake-up call is required. So instead of listening for an activation phrase, it listens for about 11 different phrases, including “Play Music,” “Volume Up,” “Reject Call,” and “Transparent Mode.”
In call-only specifications, the Liberty 5 Pro series is a remarkable step forward. If you mainly use your earbuds to make calls, they are the best earbuds you can get. While the AI recording and recording of the Liberty 5 Pro Max case is interesting, unless you need it regularly, there’s no reason to spend an extra $60 over the Liberty 5 Pro. They have the same ANC performance, the same sound profile – which is really good after using the customized questionnaire – and the same amazing call quality. $170 may be more than the Soundcore earbuds of the past, but the upgrade is worth it, and if you don’t mind staying in Apple’s, Google’s, or Samsung’s ecosystems, the Liberty 5 Pro is a great option.
Photos by John Higgins / The Verge
