SoundcoreLiberty 5 by Anker, Noise-Cancelling Wireless Earbuds, 2x Stronger Voice Reduction, Real-Time Adaptive Noise Cancellation, Fast Charging, Dolby Audio, 6-Mic AI Clear Calls, Long Battery LifeClimatePartner certified

Firstly I'll say these are great all rounders for earbuds. Sound is great, the ANC and transparency are pretty good, and I do like that these have IP55 dust/water resistance (Great for the gym), that and the gaming mode works wonderfully this time! (Not the case when the Liberty 4 Pro came out) However if you have a pair of either Liberty 4 model earbuds, I'd wait for the inevitable Liberty 5 Pro later on. These do have some improvements over the Liberty 4 Pro but sadly there's a couple of backwards steps.First issue is there are no sliding controls on the stems of the earbuds, which was present in the Liberty 4 Pro. It's now squeeze controls and I'm not a fan of this. Now it can be customized where either a single, double, or triple squeeze could be custom set to do whatever you want. But volume adjustment by squeezing wasn't very intuitive or responsive compared to the Liberty 4 Pro. Even said squeeze controls are worse this time around and I think that's due to the smaller section on the stem dedicated to the squeeze function. Maybe the later models after this one will improve this or even hopefully patched.Next is the ANC is a bit worse than the Liberty 4 Pro, not by much but with reducing volume to voices. When I'm at the gym or at home, I can't tell the difference between the 2 earbuds, but hearing voices both natively around me or on TV, certain tones of a voice pierce right through. (And I got a replacement set as this can be a sign of a faulty set of buds, this was the same with both units) Now this I don't mind too much, as I don't want ANC so good it's almost like sensory deprivation. But you'll want to be aware of this. Especially since I've been seeing reviewers say the ANC is outright better than the Liberty 4 Pro, and that's just not true. It's good, but not better.Now what I do like is the vastly improved transparency mode! While not as good as my flagship earbuds the Pixel Buds Pro 2, it's definitely an improvement over past Soundcore earbuds. I'd even say it's their best in show at the moment. It's very easy to hear conversations if you don't have the volume cranked too high, and I can easily hear traffic when out for a walk.They also improved the in-ear detection, much better than previous earbuds. It does take a couple seconds to pause music when taking a bud out, but it starts resuming my music almost immediately as I place it back in. The Liberty 4 Pro didn't even have this feature at first, and even with it being patched in it was a solid 5 or so seconds before music would pause or play.Also the battery life is improved quite a bit. A 4 hour walk and gym session had my Liberty 5 at around 49% battery, whereas the Liberty 4 Pro I'd be under 30% with the same time. Thankfully both earbuds have some impressively quick charging from their charging cases. A 20 minute top off had both back to 100%. However the Liberty 4 Pro's charging case does charge slightly quicker than the Liberty 5, but not by much. I imagine you won't notice if you charge your buds overnight or even for a few hours.Another thing I do love that's now working out of the box is the gaming mode. No issues thus far with either my phone, Nintendo Switch, or my Razer Edge when playing COD Mobile. Hardly any audio latency at all which is very impressive. Sadly wasn't the case with the Liberty 4 Pro, even now it's still a bit awkward to use. (You can't have multipoint on and they have to be connected directly to the device you're gaming on to work properly) I'm glad it's now working properly on the Liberty 5 right out of the box.For audio I can't really comment or even complain about. They sound great to me, but you'll want to use the Hear ID feature if they're too bass heavy or sound 'off' from your regular earbuds. Basically it's like a hearing test where you go to a quiet room and you'll answer which tones you can/can't hear. As well as listening to samples of a song that you think sound better. I hate fidgeting with levers and this gets rid of all that.Lastly with fit, you'll find something that'll work. Besides the included 6 sets of eartips, the nozzle where said ear tip goes has a universal shape where almost any 3rd party ear tip will work. I've had great luck with Spinfit, both their Omni and Ice eartips work real nicely. (They don't affect the seal and they're silicone, meaning they won't wear down over time as quickly as memory foam) Azla also makes great eartips that work wonderfully as an option too.In short, these are amazing earbuds that aren't exactly Airpod killers like what some reviewers claim. But I imagine you'll like these quite a bit if you need a slightly above cheap set of earbuds, or if you need something for the gym with good battery life. They do a lot of things real well (Maybe not so much with touch controls, but that's minor) but they don't do anything bad.

The buds fit securely, thanks in large part to the 5 extra (6 total) ear tip sets of various sizes, as well as a slightly deeper fit than other buds. The case design isn’t my favorite from a function standpoint, and I feel like it could potentially break if one isn't careful, but I understand it’s very much a soundcore thing, and it does look different and cool compared to others. Battery life is great and will last most people for a long time before needing to charge them. Wireless charging is a nice thing to have as well. The squeeze controls work, but do require a bit more pressure to activate than I’d like them to. In any case, they do still work and give you control over a lot, minus volume control. IP55 rating is a cut above other earbuds, and gives you peace of mind that you can use these at the gym or outdoors and not worry too much about water or dust related damage.ANC and transparency are great. ANC is good against both low and high frequency sounds, and transparency is shockingly natural sounding. There is a bit of white noise hiss, but you only really hear it in quiet environments. Occlusion is minimal, and it is more than possible to keep a conversation without taking the buds out.Out of the box, the sound quality is good. The app experience takes things up a notch. Soundcore have always been great when it comes to app support on their products, and this is no different. You can choose from different EQ presets, create your own custom EQ, or create a preference-based EQ using a sample song, which is what I did, and it got these to sound almost exactly how I like. These also feature things like Dolby sound, which I don’t care much for, but I can see being good for media such as movies and TV shows, as well as a sound test that gives you some insight on your hearing relative to your age, which I like. The gaming mode I can’t say much for, as I don’t do much mobile gaming, but it’s there for those that want it.Overall, even with some slight drawbacks, this is just about a premium level set of earbuds at a fraction of the price, which soundcore have proven to be good at producing time and time again (they didn’t pay me, I promise).Pros: Fit, battery life, wireless charging, ANC, transparency, sound quality, app experience, EQ customization, extra featuresCons: Slightly bigger case compared to others, squeeze controls aren’t the most responsive, default EQ is a bit bass-heavy

These are undeniably good, I won't argue with that. They deliver a polished experience, but are they a monumental leap over the Liberty 4 NC or the Liberty 4 Pro? Not really. The ANC is noticeably better, which is a welcome improvement, and the transparency mode is fairly natural-sounding. There's always a trade-off there between sounding completely natural and avoiding that subtle hiss you sometimes get with full-volume reproduction. Here, Soundcore opted for naturalness, even if it means the ambient sounds are 10-15% quieter than real life – a choice I appreciate, as that natural quality is more important to me than sheer volume in transparency.Connection stability is excellent, as is usually the case with Soundcore, their app is consistently good. As someone who tries out a lot of earbuds as a hobby, I genuinely enjoy using these. However, if you already own the Liberty 4 Pro, I wouldn't say an upgrade is necessary. If you're coming from the Liberty 4 NC or an older model, an upgrade could be worthwhile, but you might also consider waiting to see what a potential "Liberty 5 Pro" might bring, as that could offer a more significant generational jump. On another note, these are indeed comfortable to wear.