The Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro Max is Anker’s most ambitious pair of wireless earbuds yet. Available at S$299 on Shopee and Lazada in Singapore, these sit at the premium end of what Soundcore has ever charged. For the extra S$60 premium over the regular model, you get an interactive 1.78″ AMOLED screen on the charging case which also doubles as an AI note-taker.
Build quality and features
The earbuds themselves have ditched the stem design of the Liberty 4 Pro. The Liberty 5 Pro Max adopts a curved oval shape, closer in profile to the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds, with an ear fin at the top that tucks into the grooves of your ear for stability. If fins don’t work for your ear shape, Anker includes two flush plastic pieces you can swap in instead which is a thoughtful touch.
Build quality is generally good. The earbuds are made out of plastic that is of good quality, and uses a mix of both matte and glossy finishes for a two-tone finish. The earbuds come in Champagne and Midnight, and the unit I have here is the Champagne colorway. The charging case of the Liberty 5 Pro Max is one of the product’s key highlight as it features a built-in 1.78-inch AMOLED smart display that runs a simple and intuitive OS. The touch panel is bright, responsive, and lets you access quick setting via swiping through widgets to toggle ANC, adjust EQ presets, check battery, and control playback without ever pulling out your phone. You can even change the wallpaper of the screen, This is not the first time we see a company put a interactive touchscreen on the charging case. While the features can be useful, the charging case is more than often kept in my bag so I’m not sure how useful this will be for other people.
As for battery life, the Liberty 5 Pro Max is rated for up to 12 hours per charge with ANC off, or 6.5 hours with ANC on. Combined with the case, that extends to 50 hours total without ANC, or 28 hours with ANC enabled. A five-minute charge gives you up to four hours of playtime. One thing to flag: with ANC, Dolby Audio, and Smart Voice Control all running simultaneously, battery life drops to around 4 hours per charge and 17 hours total from the case. Another feature to callout is the ability to do a 3-point multipoint connection.
Controls and App
The Soundcore app is well-designed and feature-packed. There is an “Easy Chat” feature, linked to bone conduction sensors, that can automatically lower your music and switch to transparency mode when it detects you’re speaking. It can be handy when you need to respond to someone trying to talk to you.
There is also a Smart Voice Control with 20 built-in commands to control the earbuds. There is an option to “Say Anka” to activate the voice control, but you can turn that option off to have an instant voice control. For example, say “stop music”, “increase volume”, or “answer call” and the earbuds does exactly what you say in under a second – it’s pretty cool.
Otherwise, you can use the typical touch-based controls which are largely responsive. And if you’re not a fan of the default touch options, you can easily customise them with the Soundcore app. Other features of the app are the custom 8-band equaliser or you can simply choose from some of the curated sound effects.
AI Note Taker
This is what separates the Liberty 5 Pro Max from other earbuds on the market, and largely the reason for the S$60 premium over the regular Liberty 5 Pro. You can use the AI Note Taker feature just from the case itself, without needing to connect to your phone first – making this a convenient tool if note taking is something you do quite often.
Like a typical voice recorder app, press the big red button on the case to start recording. While recording the screen stays lit and there doesn’t seem to be a way to let the screen go into standby mode, so you probably can’t be recording without anyone knowing. The recording will be stored locally on the case first, and will only be available on the Soundcore app once it is connected to your phone. Once the recording is available on your phone, you can then request for a transcript and an intelligent summary which uses AI to identify the different speakers in the recording. These summaries are processed entirely on-device, without internet required. The case stores up to 12 hours of audio. You can also press the pairing button mid-recording to flag anything important, which highlights that portion of the transcript for easy reference later.
In testing, the feature performed well. I tested it with podcasts from different speakers – one from USA, one locally in Singapore. It correctly identified the number of speakers, and I’m impressed at how it can understand the Singapore english accent well. The Intelligent Summary was also accurate and accurately reflected the context of the conversations.
The on-device processing can take quite some time especially if the recording is long.You get up to 120 mins of free transcription monthly, but you can get more if you subscribe to the paid plans.
Fit and comfort
Soundcore offers up to four sizes of ear tip to choose from, so you should be able to find one that offers a good seal and fit. The Liberty 5 Pro Max delivers a comfortable and personalised fit that is good for extended listening. The oval-shaped ear tips help to holds the earbuds position well and distributes weight across nicely,
Having said that, the earbuds are still considered a little sizable compared to stem-style design so those with smaller ears may find the earbuds touching parts of your ear. For me, it was ok and the ergonomic shape of the earbuds does help with the overall fit in my ear.
Sound quality
The Liberty 5 Pro Max utilises a 9.2mm Wool-Paper Diaphragm Drivers and out of the box, the tuning leans towards V-shaped where bass and treble are boosted. Bass lovers will enjoy it immediately, with the low-end offering punch with depth for that satisfying rumble. Midrange is a implemented well enough with vocals and most instruments staying present in the overall mix with good clarity. without being overwhelmed by the bass. Treble is slightly extended but not sparkling by any means. Soundstage is decent, not the widest I’ve heard on a pair of true wireless earbuds, but separation and placement is still good enough. There is also Dolby Audio feature available, but I found that music don’t sound as good with it turned on, but it’ll probably work better for video content.
There is also this AI Sound Enhancement feature which claims to restore up to 65% of quality lost to Bluetooth compression, and it’s actually quite useful on lower-quality sources of music. The overall sound feels cleaner and more refined, which is noticeable on tracks that are low-quality to begin with.
ANC performance
The Liberty 5 Pro Max has five levels of ANC strength on its Manual mode, or you opt for its Adaptive ANC 4.0 which us its 8 sensors and the new Thus AI chip to process noise signals. In practice, the ANC is strong and effectivee, and perhaps for comparison the Apple AirPods Pro 3 is just slightly better. On buses, it handles the engine rumble and ambient chatter well enough though sudden sharp sounds will still seep through. But the general background hiss of commuting gets cut down considerably. For daily commuting or working in a noisy office, this will more than do the job.
Microphone quality
This is where the Thus AI Chip gives the Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro Max an edge, and it really does deliver on it. In real-world testing, the microphone performance is solid with voices coming through clear and with depth. Even at a noisy hawker centre, the onboard 10 sensors in the microphone system does an effective job at isolating my voice and completely wiping out all background noise. In very noisy environments, my voice can sound a tad processed but the overall clarity and forwardness is still present.
Conclusion
At S$299, the Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro Max is asking you to decide whether you actually need what the Pro Max case adds over the S$239 Liberty 5 Pro. If not, the regular Liberty 5 Pro is actually offering a great value at this mid-tier price point. Sound quality is great and customisable, ANC is effective, and the microphones are one of the best in the market. If you regularly attend meetings, sit in on lectures, or conduct interviews, the AI Note-Taker alone could justify the extra money.