Soundcore - by Anker Liberty 5 Advanced In Ear Noise Cancelling Bluetooth Wireless Earbuds - Black

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• Rated 5 out of 5 stars

  Well-balanced earbuds with excellent ANC

  • Tech Insider Network Member
  • Top 10 Contributor

  *** Summary *** The Anker Liberty 5 Bluetooth earbuds were a pleasant surprise for me with their good sound quality, excellent active noise cancellation, and a plethora of tuning options to dial in the EQ to my liking, all at a price point that is very affordable. All of my previous earbuds were from bigger “brand name” companies which I chose because of their brand cachet and the fear of making a mistake. After experiencing the Liberty 5 across multiple scenarios, I can attest that Anker knows what they’re doing when it comes to creating quality audio hardware with premium features at a fair and value price point. Due to some small inconveniences, I can’t give it full stars, but a 4.5 Stars. It’s still a Win. ________ *Pros: -Excellent sound quality. -Really good active noise cancellation. -Clear and loud phone calls even with just one bud. -Excellent wind noise masking during calls. -Comes with six different ear bud tip sizes. -Supports Dolby Audio and LDAC (high-res audio) -8-band custom EQ + lots of preset options -Good battery life. -Comfortable for long-term wear. -Very fast quick charge. -Solid Bluetooth connection. -Excellent value. ________ *Neutral: -When opening the lid, there is slight friction in the beginning that prevents smooth opening due to the wobbly lid. -Out of the box, the sound is tuned too much for bass and a bit muddy. -Sometimes difficult fishing out the earbuds out of the case. ________ *Cons: -No raised groove on lid  hard to tell which direction to slide open the lid *** Hardware, Design, and Comfort *** I found the design of the Liberty 5 to be attractive and functional. The bud part that goes inside the ear offers a comfortable and secure fit thanks to the six differently sized ear tips, and the ear tips offer a great seal for very good passive noise cancellation. The stem part is where the touch control zones are, and I found the length to be just right. The touch zone has an indent on the surface, making it easy to find it. I found the touch responsiveness, however, to be a bit lacking. Instead of my desired action, such as music pause, happening immediately, there is a delay that made me doubt whether my command was going to go through or not. I eventually got used to this but during my break-in period, it was kind of annoying. The earbuds are compact and light, and they were very comfortable to wear for hours on end. The buds snap inside the case quickly and accurately via the strong magnetic force, and I found the case to be comfortable to carry around thanks to its small footprint. The plastic feels a bit cheap-feeling and the sliding lid wobbles up and down on the hinge, which makes opening the case not very smooth. Also, there is no indent on the lid, making it hard to know in which direction I should push the lid open when I’m not looking at the case. I’m guessing this area is where Anker cut some corners in order to keep the Liberty 5 below a certain price point. It’s a not a big deal or let down but I’m not sure how durable the lid and the hinge will be long term. *** Audio and Sound Quality *** I mainly use the Liberty 5 earbuds at work to listen to music, and they have been excelling in my sometimes-noisy environment. I have some noisy cubicle neighbors but thanks to the quick-reacting and excellent active noise cancellation (ANC), I’ve been able to listen to my music in peace. Out of the box, I found the default tuning to be too heavily oriented toward bass, which sometimes resulted in muddy-sounding music. I played around with the different preset EQ settings as well as setting up my own custom EQ curve, and so far, I find the Piano preset to be the best for the types of music I listen to. With so many tuning options, I’m sure you won’t have a problem dialing in the earbuds to your liking. After my dog chewed up my Plantronics Bluetooth earbud, I decided to try using the Liberty 5 for phone calls, and I was surprised by how good it was at delivering loud, clear voices and blocking out ambient noise for the person on the other line. Everyone I talked to said my voice and volume were MUCH better, and they asked me to use the Liberty 5 every time I called them from now on. 😊 The high-res LDAC option isn’t available to toggle on out of the box, but you can unlock it via a firmware update. The app will warn you that battery life will go down as a result, but it’s totally worth toggling on both LDAC and Dolby Audio for the better sound experience. Speaking of battery, Anker lived up to its marketing claim and the buds charged up REALLY fast. *** Is it a good buy? *** Yes, most definitely. Anker may not have the brand cachet of the big market players, but the Liberty 5 earbuds deserve to be tried. The sound is very good, the tuning options are myriad, the ANC is excellent, and the buds are comfortable to wear for long hours. I would totally recommend these to my friends and family unapologetically.

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  optimummind Posted 1 week ago

• Rated 5 out of 5 stars

  Great Sound, fits my small ears!

  • Tech Insider Network Member
  • Top 1000 Contributor

  Wearing in-ear headphones has been challenging for me until now because I have small ear canals and many earbuds were so large that they caused pain. The Liberty 5 earbuds, however, come with assorted tips in various sizes. The size 'small' fit me without pain! I am excited to finally have some noise-cancelling earbuds that fit. Installing these earbuds was not difficult, but was more involved that just connecting via bluetooth (not hard, just a small number of steps). The earbuds come packed with the instructions printed on the box insert! First thing to do is scan the qr code and download the Soundcore program to your phone. Take a few minutes to go through all the steps and fittings, including testing your hearing, so that the earbuds will be customized for YOU. I mentioned the earbud tip sizes coming in a large range. Comes installed with medium tips and the extra tips (from XXS to XL) are stored in the bottom on the box. Try them on for fit and comfort. I went with the XXS. Next it will test the sound cancelling fit. This resulted in my selecting the XS size for the right ear and the XXS size for the left. Oh, and keep the qr code as the paper 'pamphlet' is totally too small a font to read (but probably satisfies lawyers world-wide. Sigh). Then follow the steps to connect and you're in!! The sound quality was really nice. The click buttons on the right and left can be programmed to answer calls, change volume and more. Be sure to cycle through these and set them to your preferences. The charging is super! Can charge in a few minutes and last five hours, which works for me since I will be using them for virtual work (charge during meal break!). The charging case is small and has a slide cover, which should keep them in place in a pocket or bag. The charging cord that came with them has a large USB-A end to plug into the electricity, which is not available on my laptop, but that is a small work-around. Overall, the soundcore Liberty 5 earbuds seems excellent. For me, with small ear canals, I do not think they would stay in during exercise or outside activities, but for deskwork, driving, etc, they will be perfect!

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  Aggieof83 Posted 1 week ago

• Rated 5 out of 5 stars

  Excellent Performance at an Affordable Price

  • Tech Insider Network Member
  • Top 250 Contributor

  I've used earbuds over the years from virtually every major manufacturer. This was my first time using earbuds from Anker. I was pleasantly surprised with how terrific they were, as they have a fairly low MSRP and they feature active noise canceling. Pros: - The sound quality was fantastic. From my experience, the sound quality outperforms every other brand I've used in a similar price range. Podcasts sounded great and music was terrific as well. - I like the design of the case with how it gently slides open. The earbuds magnetically snap into place very easily. - While many earbud products provide you with 3 sets of ear tips for different sized ears, this product provides SIX different sizes. You are pretty much guaranteed to get the perfectly comfortable fit that you are looking for. - I'm typically not a fan of audio companion apps, but the Soundcore app does have a cool white noise feature that I liked. It had tons of preset options if you want to meditate with specific background noises, fall asleep to gentle waves, etc. You can also easily customize white/background noise to your liking by adding anything from birds, to campfires, to hiking steps, crickets etc. The combinations are nearly infinite. Cons: - The touch controls worked OK for me, but there was a slight learning curve to get the proper pinching technique down. When you consider the sound quality, craftsmanship, features (ANC), and price range, this Anker Liberty 5 Soundcore product is an excellent option!

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  jsisko76 Posted 1 week ago