Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro review: record-breaking headphones

This time, we got our hands on very interesting headphones, the soundcore Liberty 5 Pro, which fall into the premium segment of true wireless headphones. If this brand doesn’t ring a bell, it’s a sub-brand of the Chinese accessory manufacturer Anker. As the name suggests, soundcore focuses on audio accessories. The first product with this name – a wireless speaker – saw the light of day in 2014, since 2016 the brand has also had wireless headphones in its portfolio, and in 2018 the product line became a standalone brand. During this time on the market, the manufacturer has made a name for itself. It certainly doesn’t just focus on cheap models but isn’t afraid to venture into the premium segment either. Proof of this is the headphones tested today, which boast an entry in the Guinness Book of Records.

Case with a display

The first interesting feature of the soundcore Liberty 5 Pro headphones is the charging case itself, or rather its display. It’s a touch-sensitive, 0.96″ TFT TN display with a relatively coarse but still clearly legible pixel grid. Thanks to the display’s integration into a glossy black surface in the visually truncated front part, the case looks interesting and fresh at first glance. The headphone cover is not a classic flip-up design but slides backward. The mechanism operates precisely and with a somewhat satisfying click.

Although the case is entirely plastic, it certainly doesn’t look cheap at first glance. The surface is pleasant to the touch, doesn’t pick up fingerprints or dirt, and showed no signs of wear after three weeks of intensive testing. If I had any complaint about it, I would have to mention its dimensions. In numbers, the case measures 61.2 x 62 x 28.7 mm, and next to the case of my older Samsung Galaxy Buds second generation, the soundcore Liberty 5 Pro case looks truly enormous.

Strange to look at, comfortable to use

The soundcore Liberty 5 Pro headphones also appear bulky at first glance, but in reality, that’s not entirely the case. This is mainly due to their unusual shape, somewhat resembling the letter T. The part you insert into your ear is relatively small, and the impression of bulky headphones is created by their outer part. In this case, we cannot speak of a stem or an earbud shape; the outer part of the headphones extends on both sides such that the manufacturer placed a rubber tab in the upper part, which is meant to brace against the ear. Thanks to this, the headphones are excellently secured in the ears, and I had absolutely no fear of losing them.

However strange the design looks, Anker did a good job, and the soundcore Liberty 5 Pro headphones are surprisingly comfortable and didn’t press on my ears even after several hours. Frankly, I was even surprised that my wife, for whom very few headphones are comfortable, was satisfied with them. The package includes three sizes of silicone ear wings and four sizes of ear tips. I believe that virtually every user will find their optimal fit here.

Fabulous for calls

Each earbud contains 4 high-precision MEMS microphones and one bone conduction sensor that detects skull bone vibrations. Thanks to this, the soundcore Liberty 5 Pro headphones boast an entry in the Guinness Book of Records for the highest voice transmission quality score among TWS (true wireless) headphones. And indeed. During testing, I put aside my issued office HP Poly Voyager Focus 2 and used Anker’s new product instead. It probably won’t surprise you that the ANC is on a completely different level, but that’s an unfair comparison due to the entirely different design. What surprised me was the separation of my voice from the surroundings.

Even the mentioned Poly Voyager headphones can suppress voices and background noise, yet if it’s noisy in the office, this noise is still transmitted into the call. Here, over several weeks of use and many hours of Teams meetings daily, I never once noticed the other party complaining about noise in my surroundings; I didn’t even have to use mute when I wasn’t speaking. So I tried to raise the bar and tested a phone call while I was cooking. Even while blending, my voice was clearly audible without ambient noise. With this strong ambient interference, only a slight distortion was audible.

ANC is among the best

For quality calls, and not just for them, you need to cancel out your surroundings not only for the other party but also for yourself. That’s why soundcore Liberty 5 Pro also comes with advanced active noise cancellation. In both cases, the new Anker Thus AI chip is involved, which, together with the Adaptive ANC 4.0 software solution, delivers the best ANC performance yet from soundcore headphones. In combination with the mentioned sensors, the headphones process up to 384 thousand signals per second, which is double that of the previous generation.

And indeed, it’s not just a marketing slogan. I compared the tested headphones with the Sony WF-1000XM6 with my own ears, and I must state that the ANC quality here is fully comparable across all audio bands, including virtually zero background noise. The Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds 2nd generation might be better than the soundcore Liberty 5 Pro. However, I didn’t have the opportunity for a direct comparison here, and most importantly, both Sony and Bose fall into a higher price category than Anker’s headphones. Last but not least, I must commend the soundcore Liberty 5 Pro for not creating uncomfortable pressure in the ears when ANC is active.

The headphones then offer several ANC modes. You can either leave the function off, switch it to transparent mode, adaptive mode, or permanently on with five intensity levels. The transparent mode surprised me with its clarity. I very often encounter noticeable sound distortion and significant background noise. Here, there is practically no distortion and only minimal noise. The adaptive mode, in turn, automatically switches the headphones to transparent mode and mutes the sound in the headphones if you are talking to someone. After ending the conversation, it automatically switches back to ANC mode. From practical experience, my only criticism of this function would be that ANC does not work at its highest level in this mode, and occasionally, it switched even when I personally wasn’t talking to anyone.

Sound quality

The soundcore brand has also worked on the sound of its premium headphones. The soundcore Liberty 5 Pro headphones rely on 9.2mm dynamic drivers with a composite wool paper diaphragm. This material brings a more natural texture to instruments and eliminates the typical “plastic” or metallic sharpness in the highs. This is likely why soundcore decided to move away from a dual-driver solution for its high-end headphones.

Here again, a comparison with the higher-end Sony WF-1000XM6 and Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds 2, which also use a single dynamic driver solution, is relevant. The sound quality is also aided by Bluetooth 6.1 with LDAC codec support. Although soundcore has moved away from the distinctly bass-heavy sound profile of the Liberty 4 Pro, even with today’s tested new product, the deep tones are more prominent than the rest of the frequency range.

It’s nothing terrible, and I certainly wouldn’t describe the sound as overly bass-heavy. The bass has both emphasis and precision, and the sound is not muffled. Mids are beautifully clear, and vocals are intelligible. For the highs, I must again appreciate the abundance of fine details, without unpleasant sibilance. Overall, from the perspective of reproduction quality, the soundcore Liberty 5 Pro may not dominate as much as they do for calls and ANC, but within their price category, they still belong to the best you can find on our market.

Top-notch application

Naturally, you can customize the sound profile to your liking through the application. The manufacturer really succeeded with it; it offers a wide range of functions while maintaining clarity. Within the application, you can manage multiple devices of the brand, and there’s also an option to create a registration to synchronize your settings.

In the soundcore Liberty 5 Pro headphones menu, you then have the option of ambient sound, where wind noise reduction can be activated for both ANC and transparent mode. Under the HearID item, there is nothing less than an equalizer with several preset profiles, manual settings, and something like a smart equalizer that adjusts based on your listening preferences. You simply select your preferred genre, and the application plays a constantly repeating music sample, on which you choose, using several options, which sound profile suits you best.

The option to customize the behavior of the touch surfaces on the headphones is also present. For each earbud separately, you can set an action after performing one of six gestures. For calls, a double tap is permanently assigned to answer/reject a call, and holding is for switching between ANC and transparent mode. Voice assistant activation is also available, to which you can give commands in English, German, or Chinese (if you dare). Voice commands then serve to control the player, volume, and calls. The headphones responded more or less reliably to English even in noisy environments.

Battery life and charging

The soundcore Liberty 5 Pro headphones from Anker are not absolute marathon runners, but they offer sufficient battery life for a typical user. In its promotional materials, the manufacturer states a battery life only with ANC enabled: 6.5 hours with standard use and 2.5 hours with “extreme” noise cancellation use. With the case, we should be talking about 28 and 10.5 hours, respectively. Frankly, I don’t entirely know what conditions Anker considers “extreme,” but after 2 hours of use in a noisy office, just under 40% of the headphones’ energy had disappeared.

Each earbud contains a 62 mAh battery, and the case offers an additional 690 mAh capacity. 5 minutes of charging should provide up to 2 hours of listening (with ANC off). The headphone case supports both USB-C and wireless charging. With a cable, charging takes just over 2 hours, and on a wireless pad, it takes just under an hour more. The exact charge level of individual earbuds and the case itself is clearly visible on the case’s display.

The case display is more practical than it seems

However, you see far more than just the battery status on the display. In fact, I was pleasantly surprised by how useful the display on the headphone case can be. I particularly liked this less-than-an-inch touchscreen panel for its quick mode selection and ANC settings options. But there’s more the case offers. There are options for selecting sound profiles, enabling and setting Dolby Atmos mode, and, of course, access to pairing mode. On the home screen, you then see information on how many audio sources the headphones are currently connected to. The Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro can be connected to up to 3 sources simultaneously. Other options include voice assistant activation, finding headphones by playing a loud sound, and a remote camera shutter for the phone.

Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro price and availability

The soundcore Liberty 5 Pro headphones are typically sold at a recommended retail price of 4,990 CZK including VAT, and although the competitors mentioned in the review cost even more, this is certainly not a low price. However, at the time of writing the review, the headphones can be purchased in many large e-shops on sale for just under 3,500 CZK including VAT, and for this amount, they truly offer a lot of value and, I dare say, an unbeatable price-to-performance ratio. The headphones are available in black, light blue, and white.

Conclusion of the soundcore Liberty 5 Pro headphones review

Anker, with its soundcore brand, is no longer a newcomer, and today’s tested representative of the flagship TWS headphone series only confirms this. The Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro can appeal to anyone who frequently makes calls with headphones and values not only the quality of active noise cancellation. If you often make calls in noisy environments and don’t want to constantly repeat every other word because the other party can’t hear you, you will be thrilled with these headphones.

However, music listeners will also find something to enjoy. I must appreciate Anker’s departure from a distinctly bass-heavy presentation, although, according to my personal taste, the sound could still be a little more balanced. Nevertheless, the clever equalizer in the app will help you fine-tune the sound to your exact preference in just a few moments, even if you’re not particularly fond of such adjustments.

I must also praise the perfectly fitting ear shape. Thanks to their design, the Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro headphones are ones you don’t even have to be afraid to go sporting with. And finally, I must admit that although I was initially skeptical, the display on the headphone case is a great and practical helper. Among the outright negatives, I would perhaps only include the really bulky case, which you will feel in your pocket.

Editor’s rating: 91 / 100

Do you use headphones more for music or calls?