Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro - The Only Earbuds With A Guinness World Record
I tested out the Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro & Pro Max in London, at King's Cross—one of the busiest train stations at rush hour—to test the World Record-holding Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro earbuds. The record is for voice call quality, and these were tested against 13 big-name competitors and came out on top! So I wonder whether this is the only area in which the Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro excels? Let’s test out how good the ANC feature works on trains.
Watch the video so see how the ANC comparison vs Airpods Pro turned out - HERE
So, when commuting or travelling, active noise cancelling becomes invaluable. The ability to block out ambient noise and reduce chatter and people's voices allows you to focus on your music or movie content with fewer distractions. And Soundcore say that their ANC is now 100% better than their previous model, the Liberty 4 Pro. These buds support adaptive ANC, so they can adjust the levels on the fly based on the surrounding environmental noise, and you can manually select from 5 levels. From my personal experience, whilst travelling, the one sound that seems to cut through most noise-cancelling is a crying baby. So I tested that… and you can see that test in the video.
Noise cancelling is one important part of the story; another is transparency mode. When you’re on a train platform or a busy street, it is important to be aware of your surroundings. This is where you’d probably want to use it. So the Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro ANC buds are perfect for commuting, but they have an absolute game-changing feature you will love if you travel abroad. It’s an exceptional feature. We’ll come back to that when we get to the software.
Design & Controls Earbuds
Alright, so let me give you a guided tour of the design and the hardware that allows Soundcore to achieve this incredible ANC and passthrough. So both the Pro and Pro Max models are identical. There are 10 sensors in total on the buds. Each bud has 4 mics and 1 bone-conduction sensor, specifically designed for voice pickup and noise cancellation. That’s more than most, but the brains behind the scenes are what truly take the Liberty 5 Pro to the next level. They call it the Thus AI chip. More on that in a minute.
Back to the design. Soundcore has gone to great lengths to make these buds comfy and secure; they provide a nice selection of eartips and a software feature to find the exact right size for your ears. If you plan to use the Liberty 5 Pro for running, cycling, or at the gym, they also offer supportive wings for extra stability. They are IP55-rated for dust and water resistance, which is a higher rating than the AirPods'.
There are also capacitive controls built into the backs of both buds. They recognise taps and slides for volume control. And when you can’t use your hands, you can make use of voice controls, perfect for activities; these commands even work when you’re not connected to your phone.
The enclosure is quite substantial, which definitely helps improve sound quality, and the drivers are also large. Soundcore uses 9.2mm dynamic drivers, which are larger than those in most earbuds. I’ll share my opinions on the sound quality and how it compares to the AirPods next, so stick around for that.
Case Design & Case Controls
So this is one of the biggest differences between the Pro and Pro Max models. While both the Pro and Pro Max have a touchscreen display, the display on the Pro Max version is significantly larger; there's also a software feature exclusive to the Pro Max and another world's first found on the Pro Max. I shall explain. Both displays are nice, bright, and sharp & give you the ability to switch between ANC modes and EQs, control audio, and customise wallpapers.
The advantage of this feature is that you can control everything independently, even when disconnected from your phone. In some scenarios, that makes it more convenient, or even safer, not to use your phone.
Battery & Charging
So, let’s talk about power and charging. The Liberty 5 Pro deliver up to 28 hours of battery life with ANC on. 6.5 hours in the buds with ANC on. And when the buds are out of power, a quick 5-minute charge in the case will give you up to 4 hours of playback.
The buds themselves also have wear-detection sensors, which make them even more power-efficient. When you take them out, they stop playing and eventually power down if left idle.
Here’s another slight difference between the Pro and Pro Max: while both support wireless charging, the Pro Max's case has built-in magnets. So, MagSafe accessories can lock the case in place.
Sound Quality Opinions
Alright, let's talk about sound. ANC, build quality, case features, and usability are all top-notch…but what about sound? Well, both Pro and Pro Max have exactly the same capabilities in this area. You got BT.61, LDAC for HiRes Audio, Dolby Atmos, Dolby head tracking. There’s even a software feature that helps you tailor the perfect sound for yourself. But to get a good sense of how Soundcore wants these to sound, I tested them initially with the default settings.
Watch the video for my Opinion on sound vs AirPods
Okay, after extensive testing, here’s how the audio experience of the Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro stacks up against the AirPods Pro 2. The first thing that hits you is a more powerful, immersive performance. These buds get louder, and the soundstage feels wider—a big advantage when listening to classical or theatrical music.
While AirPods tend to favour the mids and highs, the Liberty 5 Pro defaults to the bass, delivering a punchier low end. Even with that bass, the vocal clarity is crisper. When you switch to the LDAC Hi-Res codec, the detail is exceptional. You can hear the natural ambience of the room in live recordings, and subtle details like breaths or fingers sliding across guitar frets—nuances often lost on the AirPods. The difference in depth is genuinely that big.
Okay, so I was using the Soundcore signature sound to formulate my opinions. But not everyone will instantly appreciate the powerful bass levels. So now, let me show you how easy it is to create the perfect audio profile to suit your tastes.
App Features
This is the official Soundcore app, and they’ve done a fantastic job of keeping the UI easy to use without watering down the advanced features. On the home screen, you get your battery levels and ANC modes front and centre, along with the wind reduction setting, which is honestly very impressive for both sound quality and ANC.
And here is where you’ll find the Soundcore HearID feature. Put simply, it's an A/B test with a generic reference track. It’s designed to help you decide what kind of sound you actually want, and then it creates a custom EQ curve around that. Interestingly, my HearID boosted the vocals, most likely because the bass levels are already so powerful and, in my opinion, didn’t need boosting.
Once you’ve created one, you can of course save it, and when you tap on the HearID profile, you’ll see all of the other EQs to choose from, as well as Soundcore's AI audio upscaler for more compressed and lower quality recordings, and the certified Dolby Audio toggle. This can only be used when you’re not using the LDAC connectivity.
And here you can also manually create your own curve using the built-in 8-band EQ. There is a "Find My" feature for locating the buds & another for finding the perfect-fit ear tips.
The onboard controls are, of course, completely customizable on both sides, and this is where it gets interesting. Here are some of the features I consider exceptional.
Exceptional Features
Within the controls menu, you can remap the long press to Anker’s own AI voice assistant, your phone's AI assistant, or AI translation. This is the feature I mentioned as a game-changer for anyone who travels a lot. The AI translation allows you to listen to what people are saying to you, even if they aren’t speaking your language. I’m sure you can see how useful this could be.
Also on the homescreen, at the bottom of the page, you’ll find the smart voice controls. This is where you can enable Anker's own AI model for voice controls. Again, this is an impressive feature that can be handy when you can’t use the case or capacitive controls on the buds. It can also be used to answer general questions or just to have a conversation about anything.
The Liberty 5 Pro and Pro Max also support triple-point pairing and auto-switching. So if you wanted to, you could have your laptop, your phone and your watch all connected simultaneously to the buds, and they will intelligently switch to the correct audio source on the fly.
And here is the world's first. I mentioned this is exclusive to the Pro Max model. This case has a built-in AI note-taking feature. So, next time you’re in a meeting or lesson, and you need to pay attention, you can use this to record, transcribe and summarise everything that was said. This could be extremely useful for a number of reasons.
There’s so much to like about the Liberty 5 Pro, and it’s important you know why and how they are this good. It is largely thanks to another world's first on these earbuds. It’s Soundcore's world's first computer-in-memory AI Chip. They call it the Anker THUS. This chip enables the Liberty 5 Pro and Pro Max to deliver 150X more computing power than the previous generation. And it’s this that unlocks next-level voice pickup, ANC, and sound quality, as well as the standout AI features these buds offer.
I honestly think Soundcore has raised the bar with these earbuds, and they are very easy to recommend. Especially given the price.
The Pro model comes in at £149 and is available in Black, White, Blue, and Pink Gold. Regarding sound quality, ANC, and voice pickup, they’re exactly the same as the PRO Max. But if you are willing to spend an extra £50. What you get is an upgraded case with a larger display, magnets for MagSafe chargers, and built-in AI note-taking capabilities. And this one is a titanium gold and midnight black.
And one thing is for sure, no matter which one you get, when it comes to sound quality, ANC, and voice pickup, I think they’re going to impress. If you’re looking for the most up-to-date pricing, I will do my best to get you a discount if I can. Here’s a link!
