Soundcore Liberty 2 Pro Truly Wireless Headphones Review
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There are many truly wireless headphones out there. What makes the Anker’s Soundcore brand stand out from the rest?
Sound Quality
The first thing you’re probably wondering about is: how do they sound? In my opinion, on the default “Soundcore Signature” setting, the sound quality is pretty awesome. Mids and highs are crisp and defined, and lows are deep. Compared to my non-Pro AirPods, I would say the sound is noticeably better on the Liberty 2 Pro. Part of the reason is that the Liberty 2 Pros will “seal” out external noise to help you better focus on your music. Most people should be more than happy with the sound quality of the Liberty 2 Pro headphones.
However, if you find that you do not like the sound on the Soundcore Liberty 2 Pro headphones, you can do something about it! The Soundcore app provides a large amount of equalizer settings. This includes standard settings such as Bass Booster, Classical, Dance, Pop, Hip-Hop, Rock, etc.
There are also quite a few presets available from Soundcore’s list of Grammy-winning producers. As of today, there are 7 different profiles available from the producers, with some additional spaces marked as “coming soon”.
Of course, if you don’t like any of the preset options, you can customize the EQ yourself.
Finally, there is one interesting setting referred to as “Hear ID”. When selecting this option, the app and earphones provide a sort of hearing test to determine which frequencies your ears can hear. The app then creates a personalized set of equalizer settings for you and stores them to the headphones. When I performed the test, I was able to hear all the frequencies so the app produced a standard profile for me.
Design
I’m a big fan of the case. The top easily slides up (don’t try to lift it!) to reveal the earbuds. Upon sliding up the top, the earbuds automatically turn on and pair with the last device. So by the time you pull them out and put them in your ears, they have likely already found your phone, successfully paired, and are ready to play!
The case has 3 LEDs on the front to let you know the charging status of the case itself. The left and right LED also blink to confirm that the earbuds have been successfully placed back inside the case and are making contact.
The earbuds themselves fit well and look slick. Their rectangular design is somewhat more discreet than the Apple AirPods. I found the out-of-the-box fittings to be fine, but there are several other ear tips and wings to play around with if you do not find them comfortable at first.
Features
- Noise-cancelling microphones: The idea of the extra mic on each earbud is to “listen for” surrounding noises and filter them out when you’re taking a phone call. This is similar to how Apple’s AirPods work, however, it doesn’t quite work as well on the Liberty 2 Pro. Compared to the AirPods, callers state my voice sounds louder but muffled at times. Plus, since these seal to your ear canal, you can feel like you’re talking underwater when using both earbuds at the same time. They’re fine for a quick conversations, but if you need headphones for long conversations or conference calls, you may prefer a more traditional headset with an extended microphone.
- IPX4 water resistant rating: This rating means that the earbuds are resistant to splashing of water, but not for submersion in water. You’ll still want to wipe them down with a slightly damp cloth after a workout because sweat can be more corrosive than water.
- Customizable button presses: While the earphones will always play/pause with a single tap of the small button located on each earbud, you can customize the double-tap and the 1-second hold to either adjust the volume, rewind/skip tracks, or summon your phone’s voice assistant. This can be configured in the Soundcore app but, unfortunately, the setting is not retained when pairing your earbuds to another phone.
- Single earbud use: You can use either earbud by itself which is convenient when you need to hear what’s going on with your other ear.
Battery and Charging
Anker claims up to 8 hours of battery life and that a quick 15 minute charge in the charging case can yield up to 2 hours of playback time. The charging case can provide up to 3 recharges of the earbuds before the case itself needs to be charged.
The charging case can easily be recharged with a USB-C (thank you, Anker, for not using Micro USB!). You can also set the charging case on a Qi-compatible charging pad for wireless charging, which is another nice touch that Soundcore has implemented!
Video Review
Our Verdict
The Soundcore Liberty 2 Pro offer superb sound quality, the ability to use either earbud one-at-a-time, and convenient USB-C and wireless charging. Call quality could be improved, but overall the Liberty 2 Pros are an affordable and great sounding alternative to other brands.
PROs
- Great sound quality that can be tweaked to your liking
- USB-C and Qi wireless charging
- Single earbud use
- Long battery life
CONs
- Microphone can sound muffled
- Music does not automatically pause when removing from ear