Headphones with AI chip made in Germany: Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro tested

The new in-ear headphones from the Chinese manufacturer Anker are eye-catching: The cases of the Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro and Pro Max are equipped with OLED screens. These allow you to control media playback and phone calls. But the really exciting part is invisible. Inside is an AI chip made in Germany. We tested the Max version.

The Pro Max case is equipped with a touch-sensitive 1.78-inch OLED screen. With the somewhat sluggishly responding screen, you can initiate pairing, control media playback, or make settings on the headphones. In contrast to its larger sibling, the non-Max version has a smaller screen; its case also lacks the recording function. Apart from that, the two devices are technically identical.

The bean-shaped in-ears come with five different-sized silicone tips for a proper fit. They are also equipped with a soft rubber lip that provides additional grip in the ear. As a result, they hardly slip even during jerky movements and are suitable for sports thanks to IP55 certification.

Strong noise cancellation

Anker uses 9.2 millimeter audio drivers in the Dolby Atmos-capable in-ears. These are clearly tuned for rich bass reproduction and a fun-oriented sound. In the app, you can adjust the sound and, for example, give the treble more space. Overall, the sound is pleasing, but the Liberty 5 Pro (Max) doesn't quite match the differentiated low-frequency reproduction down to the sub-bass range and the clear highs of the Sony WF-1000XM6.

For noise cancellation and telephony, a total of eight microphones, four per side, capture ambient noise and your own voice. The Thus AI chip, developed by Anker and manufactured in a plant in Dresden, which is used for the first time in the Liberty 5 Pro and Pro Max, also helps with this. It is a NOR flash memory chip a few square millimeters in size without classic CPU cores or matrix units, which operates with a few milliwatts of power.

According to Anker, the appropriate anti-noise is generated based on 384,000 calculations per second. With a neural AI model, the microphones, and bone conduction sensors, the headphones are supposed to be able to precisely recognize the voice and separate it from disturbing ambient noise. So much for the theory.

Let's agree to disagree

We tested the headphones on a busy train station, on a train, at the airport, and on a plane. In every discipline, the Liberty 5 can compete with our in-ear ANC reference, the Sony WF-1000XM6, without setting new benchmarks. The Anker headphones particularly rigorously eliminate constant, low-frequency interference noise, such as engine noise, in some situations even a little better than the Sony competitor. The latter, in turn, is better equipped against suddenly occurring high-frequency interference noise, such as screaming children. This may also be due to the better passive damping of the Sony headphones due to the foam tips. The Liberty 5 Pro (Max) works similarly well for phone calls in a bustling environment. Almost nothing of it reaches the person on the other end. Only in very noisy environments is the voice sometimes transmitted with digital distortion, or the AI is a bit overzealous and also removes part of the voice.

Unlike the Pro version, the Pro Max also replaces a voice recorder. You can place the case, equipped with microphones, in the middle of a conversation and have it recorded. After recording, the case transfers the recording to the associated app. The microphone quality is decent, and the automatic transcription is quite accurate. In terms of voice recognition, the Liberty 5 Pro Max outperformed a simultaneously recording Plaud Note Pro.

Both variants communicate via Bluetooth 6.1 and support LDAC in addition to AAC and SBC. However, LE Audio and Auracast are missing from the feature list. Anker estimates the battery life of the headphones with active noise cancellation at 28 hours. Without recharging in the case, one bud should last 6.5 hours. In addition to USB-C, the case can also be charged wirelessly via Qi.

Anker is charging 179 Euros for the Pro version, while the Pro Max costs 249 Euros, the same price as Apple's AirPods Pro 3.

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(rbr)