Pros
- Unique case with built-in AI note-taking feature
- Wonderful call quality
- Decent noise cancellation in some scenarios
- Easy-to-use touch controls
Cons
- Case screen attracts fingerprints
- Audio interruptions during rigorous workouts
- Noise cancellation can sometimes cycle on and off
- Smart voice control has limitations
The Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro Max wireless earbuds employ a unique design with a charging case that has its own screen and can record notes. The new Anker THUS AI chip purports to deliver more AI computing power for environmental noise cancelling than Anker’s previous-generation flagship earphones. I have been wearing these buds for several months while out for walks, on an airplane, daily listening at home, in coffee shops, and more. Are they worth getting?
About the Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro Max
The Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro Max wireless earbuds boast Clear Calls, a large neural network running entirely on-device. This replaces traditional environmental noise cancellation (ENC), which relies on signal processing algorithms or small neural networks that break down in loud, complex environments. They have eight MEMS microphones and two bone conduction sensors that isolate your voice from physical vibration.
The convenient AI Note-Taker built into its charging case is great for interviews, seminars, meetings, and more. Along with recording audio, the charging case’s mini touchscreen can be used to adjust modes and control playback. You can record, transcribe, and summarize every 10-15 minutes. Swipe to toggle ANC and Spatial Audio, pin go-to widgets, even add personalized wallpaper.
Double tap the charging case button at the back after a session and the Soundcore app will generate transcripts, identify speakers, and extract action items. AI translation is available as well.
You get up to 6.5 hours of playback with ANC per charge and up to 28 hours total with the charging case. With multipoint connectivity, connect up to three devices at the same time and there’s support for Apple Find My and Google Fast Pair. It’s IP55 rated for resistance against some dust and light water splashes. Bluetooth 6.1 provides a stable connection.
As a new flagship, the Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro Max sell in Canada for $320. They come in Titanium Black or Midnight Gold.
Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro Max Review
As noted, I spent plenty of time with the Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro Max earbuds.
The Design, Fit, and Operation
The Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro Max earbuds employ a unique, angled design. The pill shaped outer buds combine with silicone hooks at the top to fit neatly under the ear cartilage for a secure fit, even during rigorous workouts. The case slides open. I love the concept of a screen, especially the option to upload your own image as wallpaper. But it does attract fingerprints. You may find you inadvertently tap the screen if it’s stuffed into a purse, belt bag, or pocket. But you can’t do much without a Wi-Fi connection and you need to swipe up to unlock anyway.
Pairing was simple for both buds and case, the latter of which pairs as a separate device. Touch controls are easy to use. I like that there’s nothing for single tap so there’s little risk of inadvertently triggering something you don’t want.
Along with initiating note taking from the screen on the case, you can also see battery life for each bud and the case itself. Swipe up to adjust ambient sound, Dolby Audio, Face-to-Face mode, Wallpaper, Multi-Device Connection, adjust settings, and more. Swipe right to control music playback and left to toggle among sound modes. You can also swipe down from the top of the screen for more settings.
Sound Quality
I listened to both music and podcasts in a variety of scenarios. Sound was decent while listening to podcasts during outdoor walks, though slightly subdued compared to other earbuds I have tested.
In the sound effects page of the app, you can run a preference test to tailor audio to your personal liking. It asks for your preferred music type then plays a tune for you to choose Sound A or B. After seven similar tests, it determined that I like a natural balanced sound that is transparent, smooth, and enjoyable to listen for long periods. Apparently, this is great for most types of audio. Perfect. You can save this HearID preference and use it going forward.
It’s worth noting that while the earbuds securely stay in place during workouts, audio became choppy at times. I had the buds connected to my TV via Bluetooth while AirPlaying a workout from my iPhone. If I moved too vigorously or whenever I laid down to do a core or other floor move, it would get choppy or cut out. It was still listenable, but it would be annoying if this is the primary way you plan to wear and use the buds.
Noise Cancellation
I tested noise cancellation in a variety of scenarios. It was great on an airplane, better than expected for a pair of earbuds. But naturally, it’s not as good as over-ears or on-ears with advanced noise cancellation. I wore them on the train traveling into the city. It was nice to slink away from the light noise and chatter of other passengers. At home, noise cancelling effectively silences sounds like the loud air conditioning.
In busier spots, it’s hit and miss depending the setting. At one busy coffee shop, there wasn’t much noticeable noise cancellation. In a quieter shop, it works well though. But there was a weird moment when noise cancelling seemed to cycle on and off. As it did this, I could hear a fan-like noise in the left bud. It stopped after a while, but noise cancelling was virtually unusable when it was happening. It seemed to correct itself eventually, and I’m not sure what caused it. In the weeks following, it didn’t happen again. On walks, noise cancellation works well for ambient sounds, but you’ll need to crank the volume on a busy street.
AI Note Taking
AI note taking is a neat feature that businesspersons and students will enjoy. I tried it in several scenarios at home. I recorded audio from an awards ceremony playing on the TV and an annual Apple launch event from my computer. Since it requires Wi-Fi, you can only use this feature in scenarios where you can connect to a network. But basic offline capture is free. It stores locally and transfers once you connect to the app.
The awards show transcription, my simulation of a meeting with multiple speakers, was pretty good. But it sometimes had trouble discerning speaker voices. I love the intelligent summary feature as well. It takes a lengthy translation (this one was 16 minutes) and pares it down to the most important aspects.
This was more useful for recordings like the Apple Event, which was over 40 minutes long (the portion I recorded). The transcription took less than a minute to generate and it was pretty accurate. The intelligent summary took another few minutes or so to generate. It captured some of the key highlights of the event, bolding certain notes to indicate the points it felt were most important. The summary was comprehensive. I love that I can review it then go back to the actual transcription to cross-reference. I can’t confidently say I’d rely on it entirely. But it’s a useful backup or secondary source.
Who Would Use AI Note-taking?
This would be great for weekly company meetings or class lectures. It eliminates the need for you to take notes and drain your phone’s battery by using the device’s note-taking app. Keep in mind that you only get 120 minutes of AI transcription and translation per month, after which you’d have to pay for a plan. But for weekly half-hour meetings, two 60-minute lectures, or a couple of brainstorming sessions per month, you can capture those for free.
Voice Control
Active smart voice control accepts commands with “Hey Anka,” “Hi Anka,” “Hi Anker,” or “Hey Anker.” I tried and it works perfectly. But you can’t ask her to play music from a service like Apple Music. It’s only for certain commands like play/pause, previous/next track, volume up/down, answer/reject call, and adjust modes.
It’s odd as it will leave the app you’re in, open the Soundcore app, listen for your command, perform the action, then go back to the app. There’s a slight delay before your music resumes, so it’s not really a seamless process. Once you get used to the delay, it’s still convenient not to have to pull your phone out. But it isn’t a feature I’d use often until all the kinks are worked out.
The Soundcore App
The app provides connection and battery status for both the earbuds and the case. Once connected, you can choose the desired ambient sound mode, turn wind noise reduction on or off, adjust tap controls, and more.
With the case, you can swap wallpaper options. There’s only three of the same waveform design in different colours. But you can also upload a custom image from your own library, a cute feature. The app is also where you can access and manage all your AI notes.
There are some other neat menu items within the app worth checking out. These include sleep stories, meditations, white noise, and brainwave audio. They are all available through Calm for a limited time without a subscription. If I don’t feel like listening to music, playing city sounds is soothing. I can feel like I’m on the patio of a café in Italy listening to people walk by.
In the app, you can access the Anka voice assistant as well. Chat with your questions or initiate real-time translation and face-to-face translations. (I did not have the opportunity to try these features). At one point, I found hidden in the app a handy list of translated common phrases in different languages. They included ones like “cuidate” in Spanish for “take care” and “grazie mille” for “thank you very much” in Italian. These phrases were divided into categories for easy reference, too, like hotel, shopping, restaurant, and business. You could have them play audibly through the phone or earbuds so you can get the pronunciation right as well. But oddly, it seems to have disappeared from the app unless I have simply failed to find where it’s located. It’s a shame if it was removed.
Should You Buy the Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro Max?
The Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro Max are a good deal at $320 in Canada. They aren’t the most expensive buds in their class but also not the cheapest. The inclusion of the AI note-taking functionality in the case is a plus for students, businesspersons, and content creators. You can record an interview or make a secondary recording of a podcast. It’s good for back-up and even an auto-generated transcript. Yes, you can do this with so many other devices now, including phones. But this allows you to use your phone freely to do other things without worry that you’ll interrupt the recording. Place this tiny case down on the table and let it do its thing.
An Alternative Option
I’m not sure I would suggest buying these earbuds if you weren’t going to use the AI note-taker. It’s the defining feature. If not, I’d consider the Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro instead, which are a bit cheaper at $230. They excel for voice clarity, earning an award for breaking the Guiness World Record for call quality. My partner was the perfect person to put them through their paces. He commutes daily on the train and subway to and from work, and he’s constantly on phone calls.
He finds call quality great and loves the audio customization. But he experienced that same noise cancelling issue I did in the coffee shop, occurring any time he’s moving around. He described it as an annoying popping or clicking noise. A quick online search (thank you, Reddit threads) suggests this is an issue others have experienced as well. That said, using them with only normal or transparency mode, he’s happy with the audio performance and call quality.
All that said, if you are looking for excellent noise cancelling in all scenarios, I’d direct you to smaller on-ears. For example, there’s the Marshall Milton A.N.C. headphones I reviewed earlier this year. If you want in-ears, however, the Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro Max do a decent job in most situations. Yes, even on a plane. The unique note-taking case is what really sets the Liberty 5 Pro Max apart. If you’d use it, it’s worth getting these buds.