Quick Summary
The new flagship Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro series earbuds come with a display on the charging case and a host of AI functions.
While boosting the ANC and call clarity, the Liberty 5 Pro Max case can also be used as a meeting recorder with AI transcription.
Anker has announced new earbuds under its popular Soundcore brand, that are loaded with AI skills, promising to offer an elevated listening and calling experience – with a host of features packed in.
The Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro series is comprised of the Pro and Pro Max, with both offering the exact same earbuds, but different cases.
While both models have a display on the case, the Pro Max is larger at 1.78-inches, and allows for AI notetaking. The case can record meeting notes for you, using AI to transcribe and identify the speakers, producing a summary and action items – without having to put your phone out on the boardroom table.
While the recording functions of the Liberty 5 Pro Max might make these £199.99 / $229.99 earbuds appeal, the regular Pro buds offer exactly the same sound quality and are cheaper at £149.99 / $169.99, available now from Amazon.
Both benefit from Anker's new THUS chip, which powers a range of AI enhanced audio functions, which is where a Guinness World Record comes in. According to Anker, the Liberty 5 Pro set a world record for call clarity.
That's thanks to the THUS chip doing its work, using data from 10 sensors – including bone conduction – to ensure optimal performance. This separates the speaker's voice from environmental noise to make sure that calls come across clearly.
There's also new active noise cancellation, which Anker says is "2x deeper" than the previous Liberty 4 Pro. It's adaptive, constantly monitoring the environment to make sure that noise is eliminated.
The Liberty 5 Pro series will also create a personalised EQ for listeners, while the AI can replace data lost through Bluetooth compression to restore audio quality. Anker says this will bring back 65% of the quality that's lost, which sounds great, but it's not really clear how that might be measured.
There's support for Sony's LDAC codec for enhanced sound quality and they support multipoint connections.
The IP55 protection means they can withstand a splash of rain, while the battery life comes in a 6.5 hours with ANC, extended to 28 hours with the charging case.
That makes for a fully-loaded set of earbuds, with skills that others can only dream of – however, it's likely to be the display on the case that draws people in.