Soundcore Liberty 5 Review: A Life-or-Death Masterpiece
Once again, Anker has relentlessly released a new pair of earbuds. However, the earphone market has now entered a phase of serious consolidation, with only brands like Anker, Earfun, and Soundpeats surviving in the current budget earphone market.
Thanks to fierce competition, performance has improved while prices have dropped, creating an incredibly favorable market for consumers. Among these, Anker’s Soundcore Liberty 5, which I’m introducing today, is truly phenomenal. It’s such a product that makes you wonder “Is the earphone war finally over?” – so I bought it immediately and am reviewing it here.
【Conclusion】Soundcore Liberty 5 is the King Under $130
Let me start with the conclusion: the Soundcore Liberty 5 is insane beyond its spec sheet. It’s a level of completion that makes you think “Anker can actually do this!!!” I don’t think there’s any other earphone I’d recommend more to casual users right now.
Of course, there might be products with better price-to-performance ratios. But the time and effort spent finding those minute differences isn’t worth it.
You’d be much better off just buying the Soundcore Liberty 5, which has the best overall performance, rather than worrying about other options – it’ll make your life much smoother.
If you’re considering $100 earphones, you’re better off just getting the Soundcore Liberty 5, and it even has the destructive power to crush all $80 earphones. This is literally a “just buy this” level product.
Best Performance Yet, Price Frozen – $130 is Too Kind
What makes the Soundcore Liberty 5 most impressive is that it achieves the highest completion level ever at a frozen price point. The Soundcore Liberty 4 Pro was also around $130.
The previous Soundcore Liberty 4 was a beloved popular model for a long time. Now, at the same price, we have a product that overwhelms competitors in the same class. This is our Anker. The budget-friendly Anker is back! It’s absolutely admirable.
Looking back, intermediate experimental models like the Soundcore Liberty 4 NC and Soundcore Liberty 4 Pro were all stepping stones for the Soundcore Liberty 5… When I think of it this way, all the money I’ve spent makes sense. There was value in living as humanity’s test subject.
Soundcore Liberty 5 Detailed Specifications
Here are the specifications compared to the previous Soundcore Liberty 4 Pro:
| Feature | Soundcore Liberty 5 | Soundcore Liberty 4 Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Around $130 | Around $130 |
| Battery Life | ANC: 8 hours Normal: 12 hours LDAC: Unknown Total: 48 hours | ANC: 7.5 hours Normal: 10 hours LDAC: Unknown Total: 40 hours |
| Wireless Charging | ✓ | ✓ |
| Control Method | Knob style | Knob style |
| Case Usability | Slide type | Slide type |
| Design | Sophisticated | Sophisticated |
| Noise Cancelling | Very powerful | Powerful |
| Transparency Mode | Much improved | Mediocre |
| Sound Quality | Clear audio | Clear audio |
| Microphone Quality | Good | Good |
| Multipoint Switching | 0 seconds | 1 second |
While the catalog specs don’t show much difference, the noise cancelling has been significantly strengthened, and the price has actually gone down – which is excellent.
The following features have also supposedly evolved:
- Ultra Noise Cancelling 3.5
- Dolby Audio support
- 9.2mm dynamic driver
- Bass reflex structure
- Additional microphones
…Honestly, I don’t know what any of this means, and since I don’t use these features, I don’t care.
Wireless Charging Continues
While not an evolution, wireless charging continues to be supported. The LED design has also returned to the new Lexus style, just like the Liberty 4.
Since wireless earphones and wireless chargers are a perfect match, I highly recommend getting a wireless charger and making that spot the permanent home for your earphones.
Soundcore Liberty 5 is Back to Basics
What allowed this product to overwhelm the competition was going back to basics.
“What are earphones?”
“What features do we really need?”
It feels like they reorganized and redesigned based on these questions. In other words, it became simple.
Current earphones tend toward excessive features. Prices have gone up with unnecessary functions, but the Soundcore Liberty 5 doesn’t have any of that. They selected only essential features and implemented them with high quality. Yet it’s still affordable.
For example:
- Useless LEDs from Soundcore Liberty 4 → Removed
- Heart rate monitoring that nobody uses → Removed
- Soundcore Liberty 4 NC’s terrible case that was too hard to open → Didn’t return
- Soundcore Liberty 4 Pro’s in-case LCD → Removed
They removed everything unnecessary and strengthened only truly needed features. True simple is best.
Liberty 5’s Low-Frequency Noise Cancelling Got Incredibly Strong
Noise cancelling, an essential earphone feature, has become truly remarkable.
It’s about 2 levels stronger than the previous model, with particularly enhanced performance in suppressing train noise.
Compared to earphones I own:
Soundcore Liberty 4 < Earfun Air Pro 4 = Soundcore Liberty 4 Pro << Soundcore Liberty 5
Anker is amazing!!!
However, high-frequency blocking like café noise or women’s conversation shows little difference. It feels like low-frequency blocking got stronger.
Liberty 5’s Transparency Mode is Super Enhanced
The transparency mode has also improved tremendously. These tiny earphones have 4 microphones built in.
The perceptible difference compared to the previous model is clear. I think this level is practically usable.
…But there’s still some awkwardness, and compared to AirPods Pro, something feels lacking. I still just remove the earphones when talking to store clerks.
Call Quality Also Slightly Improved?
With more microphones, call quality feels slightly improved too. This might just be perceptual error though.
Sound Quality Also Got Better According to Reviews
Looking at YouTube reviews, there are many evaluations that it has excellent sound quality for $130.
Since I only watch YouTube, dramas, and movies, it doesn’t matter much to me, but voices definitely seem clearer.
I think it’s sufficient sound quality for casual users to be satisfied with. There might be unclear details though.
Multipoint Switching is Perfect
One small but important improvement is multipoint switching speed.
Previously, switching took about 1 second, but now it switches so instantly that you barely notice the transition.
It’s at a “Huh? Did it change?” level. Amazing. Of course, I don’t use multipoint much, but it’s nice to have.
Evolved Noise Cancelling + Lower Price = Ultimate Masterpiece
Liberty 5 doesn’t seem to have changed much, but it has changed properly.
- Sound quality
- Noise cancelling
- Battery
- Wireless charging
- Transparency mode
All these features are included, and among them, noise cancelling has definitely evolved.
With just this, even a noisy world isn’t scary. You can immerse yourself in your own world anywhere. This experience is truly comfortable and worth spending money on.
Plus, the price is similar. Nobody knows what the Soundcore Liberty 4 Pro even was anymore.
Of course, the case is slide-type so you can open and close it with one hand. Supremely convenient and amazing.
Soundcore Liberty 5 is a Double-Edged Sword
However, the Liberty 5 is a double-edged sword for Anker too. The completion level is too high.
They removed the unnecessary, maximized the necessary, and lowered the price to the limit.
Can a product that surpasses this come out in the future? I think even Anker itself will have trouble surpassing this. Liberty 5 has surpassed everything, including their own products – it’s a life-or-death masterpiece.
Expecting Zero-Latency New Feature Earphones
Now, to surpass the Liberty 5, there’s only one option: a completely new feature – zero-latency transmitter functionality.
The biggest weakness of wireless earphones is Bluetooth latency, which is why gamers and video editors avoid them. Transmitter functionality could potentially solve this.
Of course, Anker must be preparing for this. There’s no way they’re not.
Soundcore Liberty 5 is a Life-or-Death Supreme Work
Ultimately, I think Liberty 5’s mission might be to blow away the entire budget earphone market itself.
This can’t be beaten. It has to sell. There’s no reason to choose other earphones.
And then Anker introduces zero-latency new earphones to the settled market and dominates again – that’s the scenario.
This is just my hope, but the Liberty 5 is excellent enough to make me feel this way. It was worth waiting 3 years since the Liberty 4.
A masterpiece that can fight for the next 3 years – that’s exactly what the Soundcore Liberty 5 is.
