Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro and Pro Max earbuds: First impressions, price, where to buy

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Soundcore announced two new pairs of headphones at its Anker Day event on May 21: the Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro and Liberty 5 Pro Max.

The earbuds are the first Soundcore products to feature the new THUS AI chip, designed to improve the earbuds’ microphone performance in terms of call quality, voice activation, and smart features such as live translation and AI note-taking. Spoiler alert: Mic performance is no joke on these headphones.

The Liberty 5 Pro and Liberty 5 Pro Max are available from May 21. I spent a few days trying out both pairs of headphones. Below you’ll find my first impressions, specs, price, and everything you need to know about Soundcore’s latest audio release.

Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro: Specifications and price

The Liberty 5 Pro is available for $169.99 and comes with the following feature set:

The Liberty 5 Pro comes with a small screen on the body.
Credit: Béthanie Allard / Mashable

• Battery: 6.5 hours with ANC (28 hours with charging case), 12 hours without ANC (50 hours with charging case)

• Active noise cancellation: Yes, adaptive and five manually adjustable ANC levels

• Microphones: 8 microphones, plus two bone conduction sensors

• Connection: Bluetooth6.1

• Multipoint: Yes, up to three devices simultaneously

• IP rating: IP55

• Ear tips: Five sizes, from XXS to L

• Ear fins: Three sizes

• Colors: Blue, white, black and pink

Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro: First impressions

I haven’t had a chance to test the Liberty 5 Pro’s full range of features yet, but since Soundcore emphasizes the “very clear” calls these headphones are capable of, I made sure to test the microphone, as well as the usual suspects of sound quality (rich and nicely varied, from my first listens) and active noise cancellation.

The microphone quality is superb

Call quality might seem like a weird feature to brag about, but if you’ve used headphones with a poor-quality microphone, you know how annoying it can be to have to disconnect your headphones every time you need to take a call.

My first test for these headphones was informal. While FaceTiming a friend and wearing these headphones, another friend in the room with me leaned into my phone’s camera frame to say hello. My friend on the other end looked away – she had no idea the other person in the room with me had spoken. During this time, she could hear me without any problem. It’s really clear. I was also able to easily hold full conversations while other people were watching TV and chatting in the same room, while the person on the other side of the call was none the wiser. All this to say that the first results are very promising.

So, is it really just a case of pairing a full set of microphones with an AI chip? Not exactly. Soundcore goes further by adding two bone conduction sensors to detect vibrations in your skull and ensure that only your voice is picked up, even in noisier environments.

Noise cancellation is no joke either

I almost jumped out of my skin when someone came up to say hello while I was listening to music on these headphones at about 40% volume. Apparently they had been trying to get my attention for a good 30 seconds. So here is another informal test, passed.

On a more technical note, these headphones have eight microphones that work with the THUS chip to provide the best possible noise cancellation. The result is impressive, especially considering their $169.99 price tag. While I’m looking forward to testing them more around the world, right down to my home office (and just existing in a house where seven other people live), these headphones are more than getting the job done so far.

Comfortable and stable

The fin/ear tip combination of these headphones reminds me a lot of the Bose QuietComfort series of headphones. Anytime I positively compare wearing headphones to the QC series, it’s a very, very good thing, considering the Bose headphones are the most comfortable I’ve tested.

While I haven’t yet subjected them to the long hours of wear required to see if they deserve the same accolades, I can say that so far I haven’t felt any fatigue wearing them in one- to two-hour bursts. At the same time, they feel secure and provide an excellent seal to boost passive ANC.

A unique charging case design

No need for a companion app to adjust earbud settings.
Credit: Soundcore

The Liberty 5 Pro’s charging case features a 0.96-inch mini touchscreen, where you can access settings like ANC settings, equalizer presets, spatial audio, and Bluetooth pairing. Essentially, this reduces the need for a companion app to adjust every feature other than playback or volume. Despite the small screen, it was a surprisingly convenient way to use the headphones, especially when pairing them with new devices.

While it doesn’t feel flimsy, I’m curious to see how this case holds up once I throw it in a bag and take the earbuds with me.

Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro Max: specs and price

The Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro Max is available for $229.99, with the following feature set:

The Liberty 5 Pro Max comes with a larger screen on the body and the ability to record meetings for AI note-taking.
Credit: Béthanie Allard / Mashable

• Battery: 6.5 hours with ANC (28 hours with charging case), 12 hours without ANC (50 hours with charging case)

• Active noise cancellation: Yes, adaptive and five manually adjustable ANC levels

• Microphones: 8 microphones, plus two bone conduction sensors

• Connection: Bluetooth6.1

• Multipoint: Yes, up to three devices simultaneously

• IP rating: IP55

• Ear tips: Five sizes, from XXS to L

• Ear fins: Three sizes

• Colors: Titanium-gold and black

Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro Max: first impressions

The Liberty 5 Pro Max headphones have many of the same features as the 5 Pro, including the same technology to power noise cancellation, sound quality, and microphones. They also feature the same earpiece shape. There is A notable difference, however, which we’ll cover below:

The mic also impresses on the Pro Max headphones

The Pro Max earbuds use the same 10-sensor array (the microphones and the bone conduction sensors) as the 5 Pro earbuds, so it’s no surprise that, in combination with the AI ​​chipset, these earbuds also sounded incredible on calls and did a reliable job of blocking out background noise.

Living in a house with seven other people means that if I’m not at my desk (and even then), there’s at least a 50% chance that I’ll answer a call while someone else is chatting around me. For the times this has happened so far, not once have the people on the other side of the call heard the background noise on my end. My next tests will be to take these headphones out into the world (for even louder and more distracting environments).

A larger screen on the earphone case

The entire top of the case serves as a screen to customize the earbuds’ features.
Credit: Béthanie Allard / Mashable

The 5 Pro Max has an even larger touchscreen on the charging case than the 5 Pro, which takes up the entire top of the case. The 1.78-inch AMOLED display lets you access many of the same features as the smaller 5 Pro case, as well as the AI ​​note-taking feature, which uses the case to record the conversation.

The AI ​​note-taking feature isn’t something to scoff at either

As a journalist, I particularly like any easy way to record interviews or conversations, and that’s exactly what Soundcore is looking to do with its AI note-taker. Basically, it works when the box records the conversation, the meeting, the discussion – whatever you are trying to understand. Then it transfers the file to the companion application and, at your request, can generate a transcript and summary with the identified speakers.

While recording, pressing the flag button creates markers in the recording that are highlighted in the transcription. Before creating the transcript, you can also select the recording type (discussion, presentation, etc.), so the AI ​​can choose the best format for the information.

So far I’ve seen it be an incredibly useful tool, but I’m also interested to see the limitations (it looks like a Pro version for more transcription minutes is available) and how it compares to Apple’s built-in Voice Memo feature.

Noise cancellation and sound quality

In my testing so far, the noise cancellation and sound quality are basically indistinguishable from the 5 Pro earbuds, which means they both sound great and do a great job blocking out sound.

One issue I noticed while testing the adaptive ANC on the 5 Pro Max earbuds was a slight clicking sound in the left earbud – it was almost not detectable during audio playback, but without music it was definitely present. It might just be an issue that a software update will fix, so I’ll keep an eye on it as I progress through my testing period.

Where to buy the Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro and Liberty 5 Pro Max

As of May 21, you can pick up the Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro for $169.99 and the Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro Max for $229.99 at the following retailers: