Odi Productions
In this article, I’m going to share my HONEST Anker Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro review for those who are wondering whether they are WORTH IT. I’ll also be comparing the Anker Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro vs AirPods Pro 3, Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Pro, Soundcore Liberty 4 NC, Galaxy Buds 3 Pro, Google Pixel Buds Pro 2, and Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds 2.
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 Pro Review in Short
The Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro is a true flagship contender at a cheaper price, due to its world-class mic quality, strong noise cancelling performance, secure comfort fit, and decent sound quality. There is better sound quality for the money, but you’d likely give up noise cancelling and mic quality. Competes with AirPods Pro 3, Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Pro, Soundcore Liberty 4 NC, Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro, Google Pixel Buds Pro 2, Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds 2nd Gen, AirPods Pro 2, and Sony WF-1000XM6.
Pros and Cons
- Best-in-class mic quality
- Elite comfort and fit
- Strong noise cancelling performance
- Solid value
- There’s better sound quality for the price
Order HERE for the LOWEST PRICE AVAILABLE (Do NOT pay retail):
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 design and fit of the Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro reminds me of the Bose QuietComfort Ultra due to the oval silicone eartips and “fins” or “wingtips” that further secure the earbuds to your ears.
This is a compliment as the comfort and fit of the Liberty 5 Pro is one of the best I’ve tested.
The earbuds have a very ergonomic and natural fit, and those fins do keep the earbuds securely in the ear even while working out or during movement.
I found that these stay in place better than most earbuds, which leads to a more consistent physical seal and noise cancelling performance.
Features
The Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro was originally released in May 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 6.1
- LDAC support
- Multi-point connection (3 devices)
- Adaptive Noise Cancelling
- Transparency Mode
- Native apps for both iOS and Android
- “Smart Touchscreen Case”
- Qi Wireless Charging case
Microphone Quality
One of the most marketed aspects of the Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro is its “Guinness World Records-certified call quality” powered by 8 microphones and 2 bone-conduction sensors.
This combination of microphones of bone conduction sensors is similar to some other flagship earbuds like Sony WF-1000XM6 and Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Pro.
What likely sets the Liberty 5 Pro apart is Anker Soundcore’s “Thus AI chip”, said to have 150x the computing power of their previous flagship earbuds.
Having tested the microphone quality of all the flagships in the class, the Liberty 5 Pro is truly impressive and is arguably the best of the bunch.
Most of the flagships have pretty decent microphones that are impressive in their own right, but Soundcore takes it to a new level with the Liberty 5 Pro.
Battery Life
- With ANC on: 6.5 hours of battery life on a single charge
- With ANC off: 12 hours on a single charge / 50 hours total with charging case
- Fast Charge: 5 minutes = 4 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: 10 out of 10
Active Noise Cancelling (ANC) Performance
Based on the 10-sensor setup and “Thus AI Chip” used for mic quality, it’s clear that Soundcore invested heavily invested into the tech for the Liberty 5 Pro.
The great news is that the same mic technology overlaps heavily with its noise cancelling performance.
The Liberty 5 Pro may be undercutting the more expensive popular flagships like AirPods Pro 3, Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Pro, Sony WF-1000XM6, and Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds 2, but its noise cancelling performance is definitely in the same league as any of them.
I found the noise cancelling to work really great with the consistent physical seal, and excelling at blocking the lower frequencies.
I wouldn’t say that the Liberty 5 Pro has noticeably stronger ANC than the other flagships (other than the Galaxy Buds 4 Pro), but it’s competitive enough with them and is arguably the best performance per dollar considering its price.
Noise Cancelling Score: 9.0 out of 10
Sound Quality
While the Liberty 5 Pro has been impressive for mic quality and noise cancelling performance, especially for the price, the sound quality has more question marks on paper.
Historically, I haven’t been the most impressed by Soundcore’s sound quality in either their earbuds or headphones.
Don’t get me wrong, there are some decent budget performers, but nothing has really blown me away as an audiophile.
Starting with the technicals, these do support the hi-res codec of LDAC and are powered by a 9.2mm wool-paper single-driver architecture.
I like that they have that LDAC support unlike the AirPods Pro 3 or Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Pro, but I’m a bit skeptical of the driver architecture.
After spending some time with the Liberty 5 Pro, I must admit that they do sound better than Soundcore products typically have fared.
I toggled back and forth between the EQ settings called “Soundcore Signature” and “Soundcore Balanced” (ironically, “Signature” was more balanced), and found the earbuds to have flagship-level sound quality.
With the right EQ setting, the Liberty 5 Pro is capable of sounding fairly balanced with a nicely-defined bass and good clarity in the vocals and instrumentat separation.
I personally would say they are just a tad better than the AirPods Pro 3 and Bose QC Ultra 2, but I’m not as impressed listening to them as the Sony WF-1000XM6, Huawei Freebuds Pro 5, or Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Pro.
If we look even further, earbuds like the Technics AZ100 and Status Pro X are in a clear level above for audiophile-level sound quality.
One budget earbud that I think matches up is the EarFun Air Pro 4+ with its dual-driver architecture and LDAC support.
Overall, these are a solid-sounding earbud that is well-rounded for most genres, but not quite “audiophile” in terms of the resolution, separation, or soundstage.
Sound Quality Score: 8.2 out of 10
Value
The Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro retails for $169.99 USD.
Let me be clear, this is a flagship-level earbud that competes with competition costing $200+, and is a fairly appealing choice due to its lower price.
While I think there is many options for better sound quality in this class, it would be hard to find this combination of mic quality, noise cancelling, and comfort.
The budget headphones that cost less can have decent sound quality, but typically the noise cancelling and mic quality is nowhere near this flagship level.
Value Score: 9.0 out of 10
Overall Scoring Breakdown
Comfort + Features (15% of score): 10 / 10
Noise Cancelling (25% of score): 9.0 / 10
Sound Quality (50% of score): 8.2 / 10
Value (10% of score): 9.0 / 10
Total: 8.75 out of 10
Is the Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro Worth it?
The Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro truly surprised me as a legit flagship contender that entirely deserves to be in the conversation with the likes of the AirPods Pro 3, Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Pro, Sony WF-1000XM6, Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds 2, and Huawei Freebuds Pro 5.
The “world-record” mic quality and strong noise cancelling performance are unmatched at its price.
The sound quality is even a bit better than the AirPods Pro 3 and Bose QC Ultra Earbuds 2, in my opinion.
I do think there is more audiophile-level earbuds in the class, but they typically don’t have this level of mic quality and noise cancelling, aside from the much more expensive Sony WF-1000XM6.
Some very strong alternatives in this class of wireless earbuds are:
- AirPods Pro 3
- Sony WF-1000XM6
- Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Pro
- Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro
- Google Pixel Buds Pro 2
- Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds 2nd Gen
- Soundcore Liberty 4 NC
- 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):
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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