Pros & Cons
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- Excellent noise cancellation for the price
- Adjustable EQ
- Supports LDAC codec
- Competitive battery life
- Sweat and rainproof design
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- Default tuning needs EQ tweaks to get the best sound
Anker Soundcore Liberty 5 Specs
| Active Noise Cancellation | |
| Connection Type | Bluetooth |
| True Wireless | |
| Type | In-Canal |
| Water/Sweat-Resistant | |
| Wireless |
The $129.99 Anker Soundcore Liberty 5 earphones are a compelling value thanks to their reasonable price and rich feature set. They include competitive active noise cancellation (ANC), crisp sound, excellent battery life, and a powerful app in a durable design. They're comfortable to wear and easy to control, and we appreciate extras like an adjustable EQ and LDAC codec support. For the price, they're hard to beat, making the Liberty 5 our Editors' Choice winner for affordable noise-cancelling earphones.
Design: Sticking With What's Proven
Anker isn't changing much in the overall design of its earbuds. The Soundcore Liberty 5 earbuds look a lot like the 2022-era Liberty 4, and while there are tweaks here and there, you'd be forgiven for confusing the two. I don't mind that they're so similar, though. The earbuds look nice and have a comfortable fit.
The stem design contributes to the fit. I've long found that earbuds with stems are more comfortable than pod-shaped buds because they can better balance in the ears. You may feel differently.
The Liberty 5 earbuds come in four color options: apricot, black, navy blue, or white. We received the black model for review, and it looks sharp. The earbuds have a glossy finish, which contrasts with the matte plastic of the charging case. Like previous-generation models, the charging case has a slide-open top, rather than open like a clam. It does not have the inner display of the Liberty 4 Pro's ($149) case.
(Credit: Christian de Looper)The earbuds connect through Bluetooth 5.4 with Google Fast Pair. They support the AAC, LDAC, and SBC codecs, which is nice to see in this price range. They also have Bluetooth multipoint for connecting to up to two devices simultaneously. Internally, 9.2mm wool paper diaphragm drivers deliver a frequency range of 20Hz to 40kHz. The Liberty 4 earphones have dual 9.2mm and 6.0mm drivers; the Liberty 5s drop the smaller driver.
The earbuds are controlled by squeezing the stem. I found them to work reasonably well, though sometimes I had to squeeze harder for anything to happen. I got used to the feel reasonably quickly, and simply squeezing harder each time prevented misfires.
The two earbuds have almost the same controls. A single squeeze plays or pauses audio, while a long squeeze alternates between noise cancellation and transparency mode. The only difference between the earbuds is that a double squeeze on the left bud will rewind to the previous track, while a double squeeze on the right bud will skip to the next track.
You can customize the controls and adjust all the main actions you'd expect. For example, you can opt for either earbud to play or pause audio or change the volume, and so on. The only limitation seems to be that you can't select a single squeeze to change noise modes, though double- and triple-squeezes can. You can choose to alternate between noise cancellation, normal, and transparency mode, or any combination of those modes.
The earbuds have IP55 water resistance, which is sufficient for a sweaty workout. If you get caught in the rain, they'll survive just fine, but don't intentionally submerge them. Also, keep in mind that the charging case doesn't have any water resistance.
(Credit: Christian de Looper)With noise cancellation enabled, the earbuds can play audio continuously for up to eight hours, or up to 32 hours including the capacity of the charging case. That's on par with other Soundcore models. Play time extends to 12 hours and 48 hours, respectively, with noise cancellation off. When it comes time to charge, a 10-minute charge will get you five hours of listening. The case supports wireless charging, though at a slower rate. Soundcore doesn't say how long a full charge takes.
In addition to the earbuds and the charging case, you also receive a USB-A-to-USB-C charging cable and five additional pairs of eartips, for a total of six.
App Experience: Plenty of Options
The earbuds work with the Anker Soundcore app, which I generally like. Anker updates the app consistently to provide more features or refined UI elements, and at this point, it's well-designed and easy to navigate. With the earbuds connected, from the home screen, you can see battery levels, switch between noise modes, and jump into settings for controls, the EQ, and so on.
(Credit: Anker/PCMag)When you tap on the sound effects option, you can toggle on Dolby Audio, perform a sound preference test that allows the earbuds to tweak the EQ to your preferences automatically, or customize your own EQ. There are eight bands to choose from, ranging from 100Hz to 12.8kHz. Customizable EQs always make us happy.
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Noise Cancellation: Potent for the Price
Anker says that it has enhanced its noise cancellation technology, and with the Liberty 5, you get what Anker is branding as ANC 3.0. Regardless of branding, the Soundcore Liberty 5's noise cancellation is plenty capable and surpasses what you get with the Apple AirPods 4 With Active Noise Cancellation ($179)—but it doesn't compete with market leaders like the Apple AirPods Pro 3 ($249) or the second-generation Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds ($299).
(Credit: Christian de Looper)In testing, the earbuds are pretty good at blocking noise from a plane. They effectively cut out super-low rumble and much of the mid and high frequencies, leaving only a white noise in the background that is mostly covered with moderate-volume music. They aren't quite as effective at cutting out sporadic sounds from a city bus, like the noise of the doors opening and closing, but they do reduce some of the rumble from the engine and reduce the other frequencies enough to prevent them from being distracting. Likewise, in a busy cafe, they cut out a lot of the lower frequencies but left many of the higher frequencies somewhat more audible. All that to say, the ANC isn't necessarily class-leading for wireless earbuds as a whole, but it is excellent for wireless earbuds at this price.
The transparency mode is only fine, though. It's decent at reproducing sounds from around me and works fine for brief conversations, but it isn't necessarily super natural and struggles with higher frequencies. It also introduces a background hiss.
The AirPods 4 are an open-style bud that rest on your ears rather than fit in them. This makes them great at transparency, but less effective at cancelling noise. They are a different style of bud than the Liberty 5, and while Soundcore's earphones are better at cancelling noise, the AirPods may work better for iPhone owners due to their seamless integration with Apple devices.
Sound: Mostly Excellent, With Some EQ Tweaking
With the default EQ preset selected and noise cancellation off, the earbuds provide rich and detailed audio, especially for $130. The earbuds do have a sculpted audio response, but it isn't over the top, and some people will prefer Soundcore's default tuning.
The bass is particularly noteworthy. On The Knife's “Silent Shout," which relies on sub-bass content to round out the track, I was impressed with the depth and weight of the bass synth. The bass is boosted, to be sure, but it doesn't dramatically overshadow the rest of the frequencies, and I easily heard the lead synth and the percussion. I would have liked a little more clarity from those high frequencies.
This small lack of clarity isn't as much of an issue on “Loyalty” by Kendrick Lamar. On this track, there's a sub-bass line that comes in partway through the first verse, and the Liberty 5s were excellent at producing all of the notes in that bass line, save for one. For context, I've never heard a pair of earbuds produce every single note, and these earbuds still deliver some rumble that prevents the bass from seeming disjointed. On this track, I felt like the bass was a little much compared with the rest of the frequencies, but it's worth noting that it can be dialed back using the app’s EQ. Thankfully, other aspects of the track sound good. Lamar and Rihanna's vocals are rich and clear, and the percussion is crisp enough.
Bill Callahan's “Drover” sounds excellent, too. While ultra-high-frequency detail is still limited, the earbuds produce the frequencies necessary for a natural acoustic guitar, complete with string noise. Callahan's vocals are rich and deep, and the drums sound powerful and driving. More crisp crashes from the cymbals would have been nice, though.
(Credit: Christian de Looper)Orchestral pieces like the opening theme to John Adams' The Gospel According to the Other Mary sound decent. However, the default bass tuning results in a little extra boominess from the lower strings, which sucked some of the room out of the track, making other instruments like the brass sound less vibrant. Thankfully, the brass still sounds natural; it's just that the lower-frequency instruments are slightly overpowering.
It's worth noting that my comments about the frequency response here aren't necessarily about the limitations of the speaker drivers inside the earbuds. We test headphones with the factory, default settings, as most people don't adjust the sound before listening. Although I don't love the preset EQs, I created a custom one that sounded more natural, introduced more detail in the high end, and cut back on some of the extra explosive bass. If you're so inclined, I think you'd benefit from taking a few moments to adjust the EQ yourself.
Anker is relying on Dolby Audio for the Liberty 5's spatial audio playback. I like the Dolby Sound Music Mode preset, available in the app, which adds some space and makes things sound a little more like a live concert rather than a recording.
The microphones built into the earbuds don't sound great when recording via an iPhone's Voice Memos app. My voice sounded tinny and sharp, which wasn't super pleasant. But my words were easily audible, and I don't think that others will have trouble understanding you on a phone call if you’re using these earbuds.