The Anker Soundcore series has always been known for its high cost performance. The previous generation Liberty 4 established a good market foundation, and the newly launched Liberty 5 Pro has received a comprehensive upgrade in design and functionality. This new product, priced at $1,299, is not only equipped with a smart touch screen charging box, but also has a lot of advanced and practical functions.
In terms of appearance design, Liberty 5 Pro abandons the common ear handle shape in the past and adopts a slightly curved oval design. The overall outline is closer to Bose QuietComfort Earbuds. Although the size of the headphones has increased slightly, they are still comfortable to wear. Although it lacks the natural support provided by the ear stem, the manufacturer uses the ear wing design on the top to allow the earphones to be firmly inserted into the concha cavity. To meet the needs of different ear shapes, the package comes with two smooth replacement plastic components for users who are not used to ear wings, and five sizes of ear gels are provided to ensure good sealing. The body has an IP55 dust-proof and waterproof rating, which is enough to protect against sweat during daily exercise. The surface of the headset supports sliding and clicking operations, allowing users to directly control the volume and customize single-click, double-click and triple-click functions within the app.
The most significant hardware upgrade of this generation is its charging box configuration. The front of the charging box is equipped with a long and narrow touch screen. In addition to displaying the battery level in real time, users can also switch between different sound modes by sliding left and right, without relying on mobile phone operation. The charging box adopts a slide-open design, and the charging interface is located on the back of the machine. It is quite compact, but it will still take up a certain amount of space in a narrow pocket.
Through the Soundcore exclusive application, users can discover more advanced features. The system’s built-in HearID listening test can create exclusive EQ profiles based on personal hearing characteristics, and provides an eight-band custom equalizer and four preset modes: strong bass, clear vocals, calm and soothing, and balanced. The system also supports Dolby Audio spatial audio with head tracking technology. The sound direction will change as the user’s head rotates, providing a listening experience similar to AirPods spatial audio.
In addition, the headphones have built-in Anka artificial intelligence voice assistant driven by a new self-developed “Thus” chip. Users only need to call “Hey Anka” to perform hands-free operations such as weather inquiries and playback control. What is more practical is its real-time translation and face-to-face two-way translation functions, with almost no obvious delay in the process. Thanks to this AI chip designed for small devices, functions such as Anka assistant and Clear Calls noise reduction can be calculated locally on the headset without relying entirely on cloud connections, thus significantly reducing power consumption during operation.
In terms of connection specifications, Liberty 5 Pro uses Bluetooth 6.1 technology, supports SBC, AAC and LDAC high-resolution audio for Android devices, and is compatible with Google Fast Pair for fast pairing. The multi-point connection function is enabled by default in the system, and up to three devices can be connected at the same time, making it easy to switch smoothly between mobile phones, tablets and computers. However, it should be noted that the system will not be able to enable LDAC encoding when three devices are connected. If you want to ensure the highest sound quality, you must reduce the number of connections to two.
The battery life is equally stable, with 12 hours of playback on a single charge when active noise reduction is turned off, and 6.5 hours of use when noise reduction is turned on. When used with the charging box, the total battery life can reach 50 hours and 28 hours respectively. The earphones support fast charging technology, which can provide about four hours of playback time after five minutes of charging. The charging box itself also supports USB-C and Qi wireless charging.
In terms of noise reduction performance, Liberty 5 Pro provides five levels of active noise reduction intensity adjustment in the app, and has an adaptive mode that can automatically adjust according to the environment. When worn snugly, the highest-intensity noise reduction can block nearly 84% of ambient noise on average, effectively filtering the low-frequency engine sounds of vehicles. The earphones also support transparency mode and incorporate the Easy Chat function. When it detects the user talking, it will automatically switch to transparency mode and reduce the music volume. It will automatically restore the original settings about five seconds after the conversation ends, making it ideal for use when ordering food or having a short conversation.
In terms of sound quality, the bass performance of the Liberty 5 Pro preset is quite strong, and the low frequency (below 200Hz) is deep and powerful, making it suitable for pop music listeners who prefer rich sound. Mid-frequency vocals and instrument details retain good clarity and are not obscured by the heavy bass. The high-frequency part is slightly boosted in specific frequency bands to enhance the presence of metal percussion instruments, but the overall sense of space is slightly narrowed. If you think the preset bass is too heavy, users can adjust it through HearID or a custom equalizer.
In terms of call quality, the headset is equipped with eight microphone arrays and two sets of bone conduction sensors. In general environments, voice reception is clear and background noise suppression is good. If you are in a noisy environment, you can turn on the Clear Calls function in the app to further isolate interference, but this will relatively speed up battery consumption. In strong wind environments, the system can effectively attenuate wind noise to ensure that conversation content remains clear and legible.
In summary, the Anker Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro, priced at 1,299, strikes an excellent balance between features and price. Whether it is stable noise reduction performance, rich AI applications, or high-quality call and audio encoding support, its overall experience surpasses many similar products with higher prices.
