After 4 strong generations earlier than them, Soundcore Liberty 5 wi-fi noise-canceling earbuds are compact audio powerhouses. My Soundcore Liberty 5 earbuds evaluate finds they problem premium noise-canceling earbuds like AirPods Professional 2 for about half the value. In reality, Liberty 5’s worth ($130) went down from Liberty 4’s beginning worth by $20.
Whereas Apple, Sony and Bose dominate the high-end market, Soundcore steadily refined their Liberty sequence to ship spectacular sound high quality with out the premium price ticket. Throughout my testing, the earbuds demonstrated outstanding efficiency in quite a lot of methods, together with a limitation or two.
Soundcore Liberty 5 earbuds evaluate
Worth drop!
Soundcore Liberty 5 Noise-Canceling Wi-fi Earbuds
Anker’s up to date Soundcore Liberty 5 earbuds characteristic stronger voice discount, real-time adaptive noise cancellation, quick charging, Dolby Audio, 6-microphone AI clear calls and lengthy battery life. They usually’re $20 cheaper than Liberty 4.
- Listing worth dropped $20 from Liberty 4
- Actual-time adaptive noise-canceling
- Dolby Audio modes
- Lacks Liberty 4 case’s battery indicator
The wi-fi earbuds 2025 panorama is actually aggressive, however upon Soundcore Liberty 5’s launch on Might 7, their mixture of refined adaptive noise cancellation, Dolby Audio and distinctive battery life appeared to make them value contemplating. Moreover, Soundcore consolation and match improvements handle widespread ache factors many customers expertise with competing fashions.
However can these budget-friendly earbuds can really compete with the audio giants? Let’s dive into what makes the Liberty 5 particular and see whether or not they ship real worth.
Desk of contents: Soundcore Liberty 5 earbuds evaluate
Construct high quality and design
Photograph: David Snow/Cult of Mac
The bodily design of the Soundcore Liberty 5 showcases Anker’s concentrate on each aesthetics and performance. Taking a more in-depth have a look at what makes these earbuds stand out from a design perspective reveals considerate engineering selections all through.
Liberty 5 encompasses a acquainted stem-style design just like Apple’s AirPods Professional however with its personal distinct character. These earbuds weigh simply 4.6 grams every with out the case, making them exceptionally light-weight for prolonged put on.
And in contrast to touch-sensitive fashions that usually register unintended instructions, the Liberty 5 employs pinch controls on the stem (pinch and pinch-and-hold). That’s a extra exact and deliberate interplay methodology that forestalls unintended activations throughout changes.
One other spectacular side is ear tip selection — six totally different ear tip sizes, considerably greater than the trade normal three or 4 choices. This selection ensures virtually anybody can discover their good match no matter ear canal dimension. Moreover, regardless of their featherlight building, the earbuds keep a safe match that works nicely even throughout vigorous train.
The wool-paper 9.2mm diaphragm drivers characterize a considerate materials alternative that balances acoustic efficiency with structural integrity. Furthermore, customers who benefit from the AirPods Professional match will seemingly really feel proper at residence with these earbuds.
Shade choices and case options
Photograph: David Snow/Cult of Mac
Breaking away from the one-color strategy Apple followers know so nicely, Liberty 5 is available in 4 colour choices: black, white, blue and pink. The case design encompasses a easy sliding mechanism somewhat than the standard flip-top design, permitting for handy one-handed operation.
Nonetheless, Liberty 5 dispenses with Liberty 4’s battery studying on a case show. So it trades a characteristic for a extra compact dimension. The charging case measures a pocket-friendly 2.3in x 2.3in x 1.1in inches and weighs solely 51.7g with the earbuds inside. As an alternative of the display, Soundcore opted for a cleaner strategy with a refined LED gentle strip that signifies charging standing and connectivity.
IP55 score and sturdiness
Liberty 5 earbuds boast an IP55 score, representing a major sturdiness improve over earlier iterations. This certification means they’re protected in opposition to each mud ingress and water jets from any path.
This enhanced sturdiness makes them particularly appropriate for health fanatics. The earbuds can simply deal with sweat throughout intense exercises and even survive working within the rain. Moreover, the mud safety part of the score means they’ll face up to seaside environments or dusty outside settings with out inner harm.
Consequently, the Liberty 5 presents considerably higher environmental safety than many opponents on this worth vary, notably these with solely IPX4 scores that lack mud resistance solely.
Characteristic set: What makes them stand out
Photograph: David Snow/Cult of Mac
Past their elegant design, Liberty 5 earbuds pack spectacular expertise that units them other than opponents within the mid-range market.
Adaptive ANC 3.0 and Transparency Modes
The Liberty 5 showcases Soundcore’s most superior noise cancelation system but. The Adaptive ANC 3.0 repeatedly recalibrates 3 times per second to match your surroundings. This clever system delivers twice the voice discount in comparison with earlier Liberty fashions, with a measured 6.5 dB enchancment particularly within the human voice frequency vary (300Hz-3kHz). I’d say it’s noticeably higher.
Customers can choose from 5 totally different ANC power ranges or specialised transportation modes for airplanes and automobiles. So these buds actually present refined ANC.
Alongside highly effective noise cancelation, Transparency mode makes use of twin microphones on every earbud to ship remarkably pure ambient sound. Not like different earbuds, this mode means that you can hear your environment virtually as clearly as when you weren’t sporting earbuds in any respect. I discovered it spectacular at letting in voices and sounds that max ANC completely smothered.
Dolby Audio modes: Music, Film, Podcast
A serious characteristic of Liberty 5 sound high quality is the inclusion of three specialised Dolby Audio modes. Music Mode enhances stereo imaging and element for a extra immersive listening expertise. Film Mode creates theater-like encompass sound that brings cinematic content material to life. In the meantime, Podcast Mode optimizes voice readability, making it good for spoken content material.
The sound high quality of Soundcore Liberty 5 earbuds is great. It provides main manufacturers a run for his or her cash. It doesn’t prime AirPods Professional 2, but when your pockets hurts when you consider AirPods Professional 2, you can purchase Liberty 5.
Customized EQ, HearID and Choice Take a look at
The Soundcore app presents intensive sound customization choices. Customers can fine-tune audio with an eight-band equalizer or select from 22 genre-based presets. Usually, Soundcore’s signature setting works nicely with most musical genres. The revolutionary HearID 4.0 expertise assesses your listening to profile, evaluating it to your age group’s common.
For these not sure about EQ settings, the app’s Choice Take a look at suggests customized sound profiles primarily based in your choices.
Low-latency Recreation Mode and Protected Quantity
For gaming fanatics, the devoted low-latency mode reduces audio lag for extra responsive gameplay and exact audio cues. Nonetheless, this mode can not run concurrently with LDAC or Dolby Audio.
Additional, Liberty 5 features a Protected Quantity limiter characteristic to assist defend your listening to (when you flip it on), following analysis suggestions to maintain audio beneath 85dB to stop listening to harm.
Actual-world efficiency: Testing insights
Photograph: David Snow/Cult of Mac
After completely testing the Soundcore Liberty 5 earbuds for every week or so, their real-world efficiency reveals each strengths and limitations.
Consolation and match throughout exercises
In sensible phrases, the Liberty 5 earbuds excel as exercise companions. Weighing so little, the earbuds keep firmly in place throughout train. I discovered they barely loosened once I shook my head for that specific objective, so sweat working freely throughout a motorbike journey didn’t a lot hassle them. That’s thank partially to the IP55 water-resistance score.
Battery take a look at: 7 hours+ with ANC on
I discovered that Liberty 5 delivered a bit of over 7 hours of steady playback with ANC enabled. That falls a bit in need of Soundcore’s 8-hour declare, but it surely’s nonetheless spectacular for all-day use.
And the fast-charging functionality is genuinely sensible — inserting the earbuds within the case for simply 10 minutes offered about 5 hours of further playback.
Bluetooth 5.4 and Multipoint Connection
Liberty 5 earbuds implement Bluetooth 5.4 expertise with assist for SBC, AAC and LDAC codecs. Multipoint connectivity functioned reliably, permitting simultaneous connection to 2 units even with LDAC enabled.
The ten-meter Bluetooth vary maintained secure connections with out audio dropouts as I walked away from the supply system.
Microphone high quality in noisy environments
Maybe most spectacular is the six-microphone array coupled with AI noise cancelation. Voice calls remained remarkably clear in several conditions. The system successfully remoted voices whereas actively suppressing background noise. That makes Liberty 5 notably appropriate for many who regularly take calls whereas strolling outside, for instance.
The underside line: Soundcore Liberty 5 earbuds evaluate
Photograph: David Snow/Cult of Mac
Total, my impression is that Liberty 5 earbuds handle to ship at the very least 80% of the premium expertise at roughly 40% of typical flagship worth factors. They show themselves worthy contenders within the extremely aggressive wi-fi earbud market.
Liberty 5’s strengths clearly shine by way of their spectacular adaptive noise cancelation, intensive sound customization choices and memorable microphone high quality. Moreover, their light-weight design coupled with six totally different ear tip sizes ensures distinctive consolation for many customers. Although the battery life falls a bit of in need of marketed claims, seven hours with ANC activated nonetheless outperforms many opponents.
Sound high quality, probably the most critically essential side of any audio system, stands surprisingly near premium alternate options. Whereas audiophiles would possibly detect minor variations in distortion dealing with in comparison with flagship fashions, the typical listener will seemingly discover the Liberty 5 expertise similar to costlier choices.
The worth-to-performance ratio makes these earbuds notably compelling. At $130, Liberty 5 proves that excellent wi-fi earbuds not require emptying your pockets of $250 or extra.
Worth drop!
Soundcore Liberty 5 Noise-Canceling Wi-fi Earbuds
Anker’s up to date Soundcore Liberty 5 earbuds characteristic stronger voice discount, real-time adaptive noise cancellation, quick charging, Dolby Audio, 6-microphone AI clear calls and lengthy battery life. They usually’re $20 cheaper than Liberty 4.
- Listing worth dropped $20 from Liberty 4
- Actual-time adaptive noise-canceling
- Dolby Audio modes
- Lacks Liberty 4 case’s battery indicator
Purchase from: Amazon or Soundcore
★★★★★
Soundcore offered Cult of Mac with evaluate models for this text. See our opinions coverage, and take a look at different in-depth opinions of Apple-related objects.
