Anker - Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro Max Noise Cancelling Earbuds with AI-Note Taker Case - Black

Sound quality is phenomenal. I switch between the Samsung buds 3 pro and I honestly believe the Liberty 5 Pro sound is better tuned for my ears. I have many Samsung products including tablet, computer, two phones, tvs, watch, and I know that the earbuds 3 pro are supposed to seamlessly connect to devices, but I think the 3 device multiple point on the Liberty 5 Pro does it better in some instances. I also feel that the Liberty 5 Pro Max is more comfortable and that ANC is pretty awesome.

Call quality is amazing. It blocks out my wife, kid, dog, and vacuum. It makes working from home feel like i'm in an office to myself. You can whisper and be heard in a really noisy room -- the call quality is great and doesnt change. The custom case is pretty next level too!

It’s nice how you can do everything from the case and the sound quality is very nice . Only thing that missing for me is that I wish it would announce your calls and notifications

I'm not sure who was asking for a headphone case that has it's own screen but here we are. It's not a bad thing it's just confusing. The actual headphones work well and the case does offer some extra functionality but it feels very tacked on. Setup, as usual with headphones, is really easy. Open the case and you should be able to pair them without an issue. If you want the full setup, you need to do a little bit more and download the Soundcore app and pair the box as well (they're each a separate device and we'll learn why later). I wasn't actually asked to pair the box right away but when you go to use a feature that needs it, the app will guide you thought pairing it first. Additional setup can be done right on the case. This is where the case screen really comes in handy. It's very easy to access certain settings without needing to open the app. But at the same time, there's the confusing issue with the case. All of these things could always be done quickly enough with apps already. The apps on the phone that's probably already in your hand. Instead, you can not have the phone in your hand and pick up your earbuds charging case to do those same things. Sound quality is great. I'm not an audiophile or anything but I know what sounds good to me (I say this is all of my headphone reviews). Great bass and overall tone and that's not even with the extra sound optimizations that you can do through the app. Active noise canceling also does a really good job and offers a lot of different levels as well as transparency mode (and an "ambient" mode which just sounded the same as transparency mode to me). You can adjust the active noise canceling level to five different degrees and there's an optional wind noise canceling that I'm not sure why anyone would ever not want on. The earbuds are fairly comfortable. They feel like most earbuds I've tested. There's a little pressure inside the ear but nothing crazy and they don't get super uncomfortable over time or anything. I've worn more comfortable earbuds but these don't rank far behind. Extra features is sort of where these headphones lose me. It's not bad it's just not necessary and in the end it feels like you're paying for a bunch of things you won't really use or care about after the novelty of using it the first time wears off. The biggest one of these is, as stated earlier, the screen on the charging case. It's neat for a few minutes initially but then you realize that the controls are kind of clunky and you'd rather just use the app to adjust your settings. Next, you have AI features (of course). There's an AI note taking app and it uses the charging box to listen. It actually functions pretty well in the couple of cases that I tested it in. Transcription seems pretty accurate. I just don't know what this is doing that your phone can't. The biggest thing this feels like it's doing is trying to sell you their AI subscription service. It sounds like you get 2 hours of transcription for free during the beta? I couldn't figure out quickly what exactly you get for free but I could tell there's a good chance it's not going to stay free forever. Another AI feature (I didn't see anything about an AI subscription for this one though) that I thought looked cool is the "Face to face translation". This is the main, functional, use case for the screen on the case. It also doesn't function too badly. It's a bit clunky to get set up but it translates pretty well and it's two-way. One speaker uses the box to speak into and it translates to the app and speaks a translation into your ear. Then you can respond through the app and it'll speak the translation (and show text) on the box. It's neat. But It just feels... clunky. Using it requires an soundcore account as well. As the speaker with the box, it felt weird to hold the button while you speak. I really wish it was more of a seamless, passive listening experience instead of needing to basically record your voice, wait for it to be translated, listen to the translation, then wait for a response to be recorded and translated in response. Clunky is pretty much the best word I can think of for most of the "extras" which just makes them not worth it for me. Interacting with the case screen feels like it takes multiple swipes every time. The flagship features needing to interact with the app as well as the box just feels weird. It's all things that you can learn to get used to but it definitely feels clunky to start with. So the headphones are great! It's just all the extra stuff that kind of weighs the whole thing down. It all just feels like a big novelty that your phone (which you're probably connecting these headphones to) can already do and probably a lot better. If you're really into the AI note taking and translation, these might be a good fit for you. I can see the translation feature working really well once you get used to the workflow. But if it's not a main use case, you probably don't need these.

Anker is known for their power banks and also for some of their earbuds, and the Anker Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro MAX buds are their most advanced to date. Anker recently developed a “Anker Thus” chip which gives the Liberty 5 Pro buds an enormous boost in processing power, and the ability to use various AI-style features not found on many other earbuds. The case is unique in that it’s a 1.78 inch AMOLED touch screen, and lets you control all major functions from the case itself, rather than having to use the Anker app or your phone. It slides open, and is just under 2.5 inches square. Build quality is a bit plastic but so long as you don’t drop it, you should be fine. You charge it via USB-C but it can also be charged with a wireless charger. Expect a few minutes to set it all up, as you need to connect the buds AND the case to your phone’s Bluetooth separately, and then install a firmware update. Overall, maybe about 15-20 minutes of setup time. The Liberty 5 Pro Max buds are oval in shaped with pre-installed silicone tips that are around a medium size, and a flexible “fin” on top that helps secure them in your ear when wearing them. Personally, I prefer earwear that fits over my ear, or around it (such as bone conduction type), but the Liberty 5 Pro buds are actually comfortable as far as in-ear buds go, and I’ve been able to wear them for longer periods than others I’ve used. Other tips and fins are included in the box so you can customize the fit to your ears. Out of the box, sound quality is fine, but a bit muffled. You can adjust this in many ways on the case, but I do recommend downloading the Anker Soundcore app from your app store – it will prompt you to do this anyway on the case during setup. The app gives you more options and settings and is easier to, in my opinion, to use than the charging case screen. You can apply varied sound profiles that tweak the sound quality, or customize your own and save them if you create an account in the app. Once I did this, I have found the sound quality to be excellent. The strongest feature on these buds are the noise canceling and filtering features. Once turned on, I could not hear any of my surroundings… just the sound. Very useful on planes or just when in a noisy environment. You can tweak this to allow some or most area noise in for safety if you like, too. They can also filter out background noise during calls, so the person you’re talking to can only hear you. This also works really, really, well. You can literally be standing next to a loud TV or in a crowded room filled with people talking, and when this feature is on, the person on the other end most likely isn’t going to hear a thing. Everyone I’ve talked to so far has been very impressed. The built-in mics do a good job of catching your voice for calls. Depending on your needs, these noise suppression features alone may be worth the cost. You can switch between two devices by the way, in case you want to use these on let’s say, a TV and your phone. One of the interesting features advertised on the Liberty 5 Pros are their ability to do AI note taking for meetings or school seminars, etc. It’s a neat feature in theory, but a bit of a letdown because you only get 120 minutes of free transcriptions per month, and if you need more, you have to subscribe via the app and it can cost you anywhere from around $9 to $20 per month give or take, depending on the length of time you prepay for. I’m not a fan of subscription apps, but since one of the intended audiences would be students for this feature, that added cost can add up a lot on a student’s budget. The recording is done from the charging case, not the earbuds themselves. So, you record via the case, and when it’s able to link up to the app, it will send an AI generated transcription of what you recorded that you can read. It works, but it will cost you for any more than basic monthly use. Another feature is instant language translation. You can use this in different ways. If you just need to understand what’s being said around you, you can have the buds translate a number of languages into your ear. It works fairly well. It can stall if it’s noisy or people keep talking a lot around you, but it should hopefully get the job done. If you want two-way translation with someone else, they will need to use the case to do their end, while you use the buds on yours – a bit awkward, and for some, just using a standard language translation app on your phone might work more fluidly. Other features to mention are the ability to put a screenshot photo on your case, and of course the usual number of taps and gestures you can use directly on the buds to control volume, answering calls, and navigating music tracks, which again, you can also do with the case. Battery life is good. Around 5 ½ to 6 ½ hours depending on use, but you can recharge multiple times with a fully charged case to get up to 28 hours depending on use. Noise cancellation will drain the battery quicker. Just a few minutes of top up time will get you a couple of hours more use if you need it. Water resistance is good for sweat or splashes but as with ANY buds, I still suggest you don’t drop them in water. One glitch: Once set up, these have auto connected to my phone without an issue, but when you remove them from your ear and put them back in the case, they SHOULD disconnect automatically from your phone. Mine on three occasions failed to do this, and hours later I realized I was missing phone notifications as the sound was muted, and I have to manually go in and disconnect them via phone settings. So far, I’d say 75% of the time they do as they should automatically, but 25% of the time they fail to disconnect on their own. Perhaps this will be fixed in a future update, but double-check connections when not in use just in case for now. Overall, I’m impressed with the Liberty 5 Pro buds. The sound quality, noise cancellation features, and customization, along with being able to do some of your settings on the case are great and among the best out there. The AI transcription feature is neat, but loses its appeal because of the subscription needed if you need to use it in any meaningful way. The language translation feature is helpful in some situations and cumbersome in others. So, I would not suggest buying these just for those two features – you can find alternatives. You should be buying the 5 Pro buds for their sound and noise cancelling qualities. If you don’t feel like you really need the ability to adjust things on the case, you can also save a few dollars by buying the Anker Liberty 5 Pro (minus the “Max” in the name) version which has a smaller fixed screen, but in terms of the buds themselves, are the same sound quality.