soundcore Liberty 5 Pro: Did They Just Build Their Best Earbuds Ever?

Added: 2026-05-22

[00:00:00]The Sound Core Liberty 5 Pro might be the most ambitious pair of earbuds the brand has ever made. A new AI chip, redesigned drivers, a charging case with an actual touchcreen on it, and a noise cancellation system that I've been testing head-to-head against the Sony XM6 and the AirPods Pro 3. So, let's find out if all this new tech actually makes the listening experience better.

[00:00:19]So, first, let's talk some specs. We've got AcaAa 4.0 dual dynamic drivers, dualchamber design. We've also got LDAC high-res support, Bluetooth 6.1, adaptive ANC 4.0, an IP55 rating, and Soundcore's new Ankor Thus AI chip, which we'll get to because it's actually doing something interesting. When it comes to battery numbers, Soundcore says 12 hours on the buds, 40 hours with the case on AAC, and about half that with ANC on and LDAC running. In my testing, those numbers actually did check out, give or take a few minutes in either direction. But paper specs don't tell you if these are actually worth your money. So, let's translate this into the real world. So, Soundcore did the thing nobody asked for. And somehow, I'm not mad about it. There's a touchcreen on the charging case, a full color display.

[00:01:06]You can change A&C modes, swap EQ profiles, control playback, even check your battery, all without pulling out your phone. Is that a gimmick? Maybe. Is it useful? Honestly, more than I expected. If you're at the gym and your phone is in your bag, this is genuinely nice. It's not a reason to to buy these earbuds on its own, but it is a reason to smile when you open up the case. The buds themselves got a redesign, too.

[00:01:27]Slightly thicker stem, new ear fin system. The build feels premium. Glossy plastic, decent hinge tension on the case. No creeks. You got IP55 rating, which means also rise sweat and light rain and dust. Not the pool, but you know, you'll be okay, you know, else-wise. And then when it comes to fit and comfort, for me, no issues. I've worn these sitting at the desk, walking the dog, at the gym, head shaking like an idiot to make sure they don't fly out and even on my side sleeping and they stayed put 100% of the time. No fatigue after multiple hours of use. But pro tip, every human ear is different shape and different depth. Your experience may vary. If the stock tips don't seal right for you right out of the box, you can go ahead and try a set of the SpinFit Omnes if you want to try that out. Now, that's going to bring us over to sound quality.

[00:02:13]And we're going to do this in two chapters the way that I've been doing it lately. Now, first up, stock out of the box. The Liberty 5 Pro have a V-shaped boosted bass uh type of sound. Boosted bass, boosted treble, slightly recessed mids. Bass hits hard. Like on P by Cook and Soul and Larry June, the subbase rumble is genuinely impressive. For Eva by Young Dolph, same story. The low end has weight without bleeding into the vocals. But on Luther by Kendrick and Siza, Siza's vocals set a step back from where I want them. The mids are there, they're just not the star. Now, with custom EQ, this is where the Liberty 5 Pro really open up. I've dialed in a custom EQ that pulls the mids forward, tames uh a little bit of that upper treble heat, and keeps the subbase exactly where it should be. If you want to see my personal EQ settings, pause the video right here and take a screenshot so you can try this for yourself. Now, with this EQ dialed in, Brown Sugar by D'Angelo and at your Best Buy, Aaliyah, they transform. vocals come forward, sound stage opens up, and you get that warm full body presentation these drivers are actually capable of.

[00:03:15]When it comes to overall volume, stock EQ, I'm getting about 113.2 dB of peak.

[00:03:20]With my custom EQ, that pushed it to 115.9 dB. Either way, it's dummy loud.

[00:03:26]You will damage your hearing at these levels, so don't do it longterm at max volume, but the headroom, it's absolutely there. And then that's going to bring us to the AI upscaling and Dolby Atmos. My honest take, it actually works, but it's not a night and day difference. Like, holy cow, this changes everything kind of difference. But on compressed streams, like the lowquality stuff you get on Spotify um and some of the stuff you see um out there, like on YouTube audio, there is a noticeable boost in perceived clarity and spatial separation. I like it. I find myself leaving it on a lot of the time, but and this is a big butt, to turn on the AI upscaling or Dolby Atmos, you have to turn off LDAC high-res. You can have both. Now, for most people that are just streaming regular compressed audio, you know, like Spotify and that kind of stuff, run the AI upscaling. For Apple Music loss list, Kobas, Title, that sort of stuff, go ahead and stick with LDAC.

[00:04:17]But to be honest, try both options with whatever service you listen to and go with whichever one sounds best to you.

[00:04:22]Now, stay with me here. After I break down the ANC, battery, and the honest deal breakers, I'm playing you the mic samples raw so you can decide if these are good enough for your calls. Don't skip that. So, now let's jump into the active noise cancellation and ANC. This is where Soundcore truly showed up. I ran the Liberty 5 Pro head-to-head against the Sony WF100XM6 and the AirPods Pro 3 in three different environments. We got 75 dB crowd noise simulated in this office. All three were excellent. The Liberty 5 Pro is genuinely on par with both, but I got to give a slight edge to the AirPods Pro 3.

[00:04:55]They suppress human voices noticeably better than both Sony or Soundcore. If your daily commute is full of conversation, that definitely matters.

[00:05:02]Now, the second test was 85 dB of airplane cabin noise. And with this one, this is where these things, the the Liberty 5 Pro truly shine. The low frequency droning crushed right on par with the Sony XM6 and the AirPods Pro 3.

[00:05:18]That truly surprised me. If you're a frequent flyer, this is a serious flex, especially considering the substantially lower price tag versus both of those earbuds. And then the third test was realorld coffee shops and walks. No complaints. Adaptive A&C actually adapts. You can hear it modulate when you walk from a quiet street into traffic. So overall, very, very good.

[00:05:39]ANC is top tier for sure. Now, moving over to transparency mode. Solid. Not AirPods Pro 3 level, which is still my 10 out of 10 benchmark, but it's natural. It's not hissy, and you can hold a conversation without ripping them out of your ears. I'd call it a strong 7 and a half, maybe an eight out of 10, something like that. So, let's talk battery and battery life. That's something that I mentioned earlier in this video. Soundcore's numbers held up in my testing. 12 hours on the earbuds, ANC off on AAC codec. With ANC on and LDAC running, you're looking at closer to 6 hours. Case gets you uh 40 hours total on, you know, the the AAC codec.

[00:06:14]Now, real world math, at 3 hours a day, that's about 13 days of use before you're hunting for a charger. And then, speaking of charging, you got options.

[00:06:21]USBC can top the case off in about 90 minutes. But the Liberty 5 Pro also support cheap wireless charging. So, if you've already got a pad on your nightstand or at your desk, just toss the case on it and forget about the cables. At this price point, wireless charging isn't always a given, but I always agree that it's a good move by Soundcore to keep it on the Pro Tier.

[00:06:41]Now, when it comes to controls, the controls are touchbased. Tap, double tap, triple tap, hold, fully customizable in the Soundcore app. The Soundcore app is still one of the most featurerich in the game. You got Here ID 5.0 for personalized sound, custom EQ, the different ANC modes, the works. If you like the tweak, you're in heaven. If you don't, the defaults are perfectly usable right out of the box. But as always, I recommend downloading the Soundcore app so you can make sure that your earbuds are running the latest version of the firmware for them. Now, when it comes to any sort of deal breakers, let's talk about what might stop you from clicking by. First, the LDAC versus AI upscaling trade-off I mentioned earlier. You can have high-res audio or the AI features, but not both at the same time. I get why that is technically, but practically it's a little annoying. Now, secondly, the touchscreen case, as cool as it is, it's a fingerprint magnet. And if you drop the case on concrete, that screen is going to be the first thing to go. So, if there are case covers available at some point, try to pick one up if you can. But, as far as downsides, that's pretty much it. So, now that's going to bring us over to the mic test. And for the mic test, I'm going to do what I always do. I'm going to go ahead and put these up, the Liberty 5 Pro. I'm going to pit these against the Sony XM6 and against the AirPods Pro 3 so you can hear which one is best in those two environments. Let's jump straight into that. All right. And here we have the microphone test for the Soundcord Liberty 5 Pro. So, testing, testing, 1, two, 3. As you can see, I'm indoors in a semi- quiet room. So, testing, testing, 1, two, 3. All right, here we have the microphone test for the Sony WF100XM6.

[00:08:15]So, testing, testing, 1, two, 3. As you can see, once again, I'm indoors in a semi- quiet room. So, testing, testing, 1, two, 3. All right. And here we have the microphone test for the Apple AirPods Pro third generation. So, testing, testing, 1, two, 3. As you can see, once again, I'm indoors in a semi- quiet room. So, testing, testing, 1, two, 3.

[00:08:35]And here we have the Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro in a simulated crowd noise environment. So something like a busy bar, a crowded restaurant, or something along those lines. So testing, testing, 1 2 3. And here we have the Sony WF100XM6 in a simulated crowd noise environment.

[00:08:52]So something like a busy bar, a crowded restaurant, or something along those lines. So testing, testing, 1, two, 3.

[00:09:00]And here we have the Apple AirPods Pro 3 in a simulated crowd noise environment.

[00:09:04]So, something like a busy bar, a crowded restaurant, or something along those lines. So, testing, testing, 1 2 3. Now, for my final verdict, the Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro at $169.99 is a solid buy in the under $200 true wireless market.

[00:09:19]Period. Buy this if you want flagship tier A&C and a featurel without paying flagship money. You stream a lot of compressed audio and want that AI upscaling boost. you're an Android user who values LDAC or you travel a lot and want airplane uh grade noise cancellation or you want a touchscreen case because yeah, it's actually kind of cool. And as always, dude, wait for discounts. Soundcore always drops a price pretty soon after a product launch. And this has just been my experience and everybody has seen this as well. So if you don't need like if you don't need them right away, so you're not in a rush, then your patience will be rewarded if you can hold off.

[00:09:57]But for people who, you know, 169's not a problem, dude, jump on these. These are an excellent buy. So, back to the question that I asked at the top of this video. Did all this new tech actually make the listening experience better, or did Soundcore just give us more buttons to press? The answer is actually both.

[00:10:11]Yeah, there are more buttons to press.

[00:10:13]There's more features. But the AI chip, the redesigned drivers, the A&C system, the wireless charging on a case with a touchcreen at this price, that's a true improvement. Soundcore swung for the fences here, and most of those swings actually connected. So, with all that out of the way and for full disclosure, Soundcore did send over the review samples here for me to test. However, this video is not being sponsored by Soundcore whatsoever. So, they have no input on what I'm saying, my opinions, or anything else in the script of this video. They were also not allowed to see the script prior to this video being put out. So, all of my opinions are 100% my own. Now, the reason I'm telling you this is because I believe in transparency and honesty with you as the viewer. But as always, definitely make sure you watch multiple reviews to, you know, before you make your final purchase decision. If you want to see how the Liberty 5 Pro stack up against the previous generation, the Liberty 4 Pro, I've got a dedicated head-to-head video that's going to be dropping soon, and I'll be putting the link up here once it actually releases. But with that said, my name is Hefe, and I'm out.

[00:11:13]Peace.