Odi Productions
In this article, I’m going to share my HONEST Anker Soundcore Liberty 5 review for those who are wondering whether they are WORTH IT. I’ll also be comparing the Anker Soundcore Liberty 5 vs Liberty 5 Pro, Soundcore Liberty 4 NC, Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Pro, AirPods Pro 3, and EarFun Air Pro 4+.
I’m going to do my best to share whether these earbuds are worth it, and ideally who these earbuds are for. I bought these earbuds with my own money, and was NOT sponsored, paid, or received a free copy for review. All thoughts are my own.
I’ll be sharing my critical opinion with 10 years of experience as a professional music producer, audio engineer, and tech journalist. I also run the RecordingNow YouTube channel with over 25,000+ subscribers and over 5 million views.
Let’s dive right in!
Soundcore Liberty 5 Review in Short
The Soundcore Liberty 5 is one of the best earbuds under $100 that we’ve tested to date due to its strong noise cancelling and very good sound quality relative to its budget price. Competes with Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro, Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Pro, AirPods Pro 3, Soundcore Liberty 4 NC, EarFun Air Pro 4 Plus, Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro, Google Pixel Buds Pro 2, AirPods Pro 2, and Sony WF-1000XM6.
Pros and Cons
- Very good noise cancelling
- Comfortable fit
- Good sound quality
- Incredible value under $100
- Mic quality can be improved
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Disclosure: These affiliate links may provide a discount and in return, give us a commission in order to keep this website 100% independent to ensure honest unfiltered reviews 🙂
Comfort + Features
Comfort
The Soundcore Liberty 5 has a “stem” design that is similar to Apple AirPods and Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro line.
This is different from the Liberty 5 Pro that is more similar to the Bose QuietComfort Ultra series.
I find the Liberty 5 to be a very comfortable earbud that is fairly easy to get a physical seal without penetrating too deep into the ear canal.
That said, it could be more secure like the Liberty 5 Pro which has “fins” that secure the earbud outside of the ear canal.
When working out, I found that the Liberty 5 mostly stayed in place but still needed to be adjusted more often than the Liberty 5 Pro to maintain the physical seal.
Features
The Soundcore Liberty 5 was originally released in February 2026, so it has many modern wireless earbud features:
- IP55 dust and water resistance rating (dust-resistant and water-jet resistant)
- Built-in microphones for taking calls
- Bluetooth 5.4
- LDAC support
- Multi-point connection
- Adaptive Noise Cancelling
- Transparency Mode
- Native apps for both iOS and Android
- Qi Wireless Charging case
Microphone Quality
Microphone quality is something that the Anker Soundcore brand has been heavily emphasizing with the more expensive Liberty 5 Pro, but how does the regular Liberty 5 compare?
The Liberty 5 has a less sophisticated 6-mic array with no bone conduction sensors, compared to the Liberty 5 Pro’s 8 microphones plus 2 bone conduction sensors.
Also, the Liberty 5 Pro features the “Anker Thus AI Chip” that is largely responsible for its mic and noise cancelling processing.
Because of these differences, the “regular” Liberty 5 has decent mic quality but not true “flagship” level like the Liberty 5 Pro, AirPods Pro 3, Sony WF-1000XM6, etc.
Battery Life
- With ANC on: 8 hours of battery life on a single charge
- With ANC off: 12 hours on a single charge / 48 hours total with charging case
- Fast Charge: 10 minutes = 5 hours of playback
This battery life is currently one of the best-in-class we’ve tested to date, which tends to be around 6 hours with noise cancelling turned on, and 24-30 hours with the charging case.
Comfort + Features Score: 9.5 out of 10
Active Noise Cancelling (ANC) Performance
Soundcore products, in general, tend to perform above their price point for noise cancelling performance.
This is definitely true of the Liberty 5, which has some of the most impressive noise cancelling I’ve heard under $100.
Most budget earbuds tend to perform fairly average or below average compared to the more expensive flagships, and I find the Liberty 5 to be slightly above average.
That said, the Liberty 5 Pro does outshine the regular Liberty 5 for noise cancelling due to its more intense hardware setup (10 sensors + “Thus AI Chip”).
I still put the Liberty 5 below flagships like the Liberty 5 Pro, AirPods Pro 3, Sony WF-1000XM6, and Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds 2.
Noise Cancelling Score: 8.5 out of 10
Sound Quality
Starting with the technicals, the Liberty 5 supports the hi-res codec of LDAC and are powered by the same 9.2mm wool-paper single-driver architecture as the Liberty 5 Pro.
So despite their price difference, the Liberty 5 should have almost identical sound quality on paper to the Liberty 5 Pro.
In my testing, I found this to be true, which makes the Liberty 5’s sound quality one of the most impressive under $100.
The stock sound signature is Soundcore’s consumer-friendly V-shaped “house sound”.
This is quite a bass-forward sound profile, but it’s a pleasing and satisfying bass with strong impact and impressive sub-bass quantity.
Thankfully, the vocals are not drowned out and still come through decently despite the bass.
Listening in LDAC, which tightens up the bass nicely, I find myself slightly preferring the Liberty 5 to more expensive popular earbuds like the AirPods Pro 3.
Now I do think the tuning is superior on earbuds like the AirPods Pro 3, but the sound quality itself is easily competitive for a fraction of the cost.
Before we get too excited, I don’t put these earbuds in the “audiophile” tier alongside Sony WF-1000XM6, Technics AZ100, and Status Pro X, to name a few.
I put them somewhere in between the AirPods Pro 3 and Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Pro, with the Samsungs being slightly superior.
In the budget class, I find the EarFun Air Pro 4+ to match the sound quality.
Not bad overall for a sub-$100 earbud!
Sound Quality Score: 8.2 out of 10
Value
The Soundcore Liberty 5 retails for $129.99 USD, but can be found on sale for as low as $89.99.
At under $100, I’m thoroughly impressed with the Liberty 5 due to its noise cancelling and sound quality.
While I do think the Liberty 5 Pro is superior overall, it costs almost double at the time of this writing.
From that perspective, the Liberty 5 is the better value and is arguably the best earbud under $100 tested as a whole.
Value Score: 10 out of 10
Overall Scoring Breakdown
Comfort + Features (15% of score): 9.5 / 10
Noise Cancelling (25% of score): 8.5 / 10
Sound Quality (50% of score): 8.2 / 10
Value (10% of score): 10 / 10
Total: 8.65 out of 10
Is the Soundcore Liberty 5 Worth it?
Overall, I’m genuinely blown away by how good the Soundcore Liberty 5 is for under $100.
While not quite flagship-level like the Liberty 5 Pro, it has the same sound quality and pretty competitive noise cancelling.
Most noise cancelling under $100 is average to below average, which makes the Liberty 5’s above-average noise cancelling seem even more special.
The sound quality is also on par with earbuds like the AirPods Pro 3 and Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Pro.
Right now, the Liberty 5 is a tough package to beat under $100.
Some very strong alternatives in this class of wireless earbuds are:
- Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro
- Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Pro
- AirPods Pro 3
- Soundcore Liberty 4 NC
- EarFun Air Pro 4 Plus
- Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro
- Google Pixel Buds Pro 2
- Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds 2nd Gen
- Sony WF-1000XM6
- AirPods 4 ANC
- Bose QuietComfort Earbuds (2024)
- Beats Studio Buds Plus
- Beats Powerbeats Pro 2
- Beats Powerbeats Fit
- Sony Linkbuds Fit
- Beats Studio Buds
- Nothing Ear 3
- Status Pro X
- Sony WF-1000XM5
- Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 4
- Apple AirPods Pro 2
- Technics EAH-AZ100
- Bowers & Wilkins Pi8
- SoundPEATS H3
- Denon PerL Pro
- OnePlus Buds Pro 3
Order HERE for the LOWEST PRICE AVAILABLE (Do NOT pay retail):
Save Money with RENEWED!
Disclosure: These affiliate links may provide a discount and in return, give us a commission in order to keep this website 100% independent to ensure honest unfiltered reviews 🙂
How We Tested and Our Methodology
RecordingNOW.com is a 100% independent publisher with over 10 years of experience testing and reviewing consumer electronics and headphones.
We currently purchase the products we test with our own money, and are not paid by any company or manufacturer to influence our opinions or decisions.
After purchasing the product, we conduct up to hundreds of hours of detailed hands-on testing in a controlled, acoustically-treated environment.
ODi Productions is our resident expert and author of this article, with 10 years of experience as a professional music producer, tech journalist, and audiophile.
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