Anker Soundcore Liberty Air 2 Pro

These headphones are worthy of praise as soon as you take them out of the box as they come with nine pairs of EarTips in sizes XXXS to XL. This makes it possible to obtain a high degree of fit accuracy with the system. Once the appropriate size has been determined, it is rewarded with a stable fit that easily allows you to break into an occasional sprint without the earphones dislodging and does not press uncomfortably on the ears even during prolonged use. This is helped by the in-ears fairly low weight of 5.5 grams per side. At the same time, the ergonomic design embeds itself well into the ear so that there is a fairly high level of passive shielding from the outside world. These earpieces protrude only slightly, which makes it possible to use them while wearing a hat or cap. Since the Liberty Air 2 Pro are not only impeccably manufactured, but also water-resistant according to IPX4, protection against weather-related moisture is also provided for use during outdoor activities.

These in-ears are powered by rechargeable batteries with a capacity of 55 mAh each, which achieve a runtime of almost six hours at higher volume levels. If ANC or transparency mode is used continuously, the listening time is reduced to about five hours. In the transport case, which serves as a charging station and provides a battery reserve of 500 mAh, the headphones can be fully charged three times and charged once to 50 percent, giving this compact pair of headphones a total runtime of about 25 hours, or 22 hours in ANC or transparency mode. At the moment, the battery status display in the Soundcore app for iOS offers relatively little information, for example, it displayed that the headphones had a residual capacity of ten per cent for 60 minutes, but this could be remedied with an update. It is also impractical that these in-ears do not have a charge level indicator, and it remains uncertain when they are fully charged. If the batteries are empty, which is the case after about 60 minutes, the system is equipped with a quick-charge function that allows for two hours and 15 minutes use in transparency/ANC mode or a good two and a half hours in basic mode after a power supply of 15 minutes. The case can be charged either via the USB-C port or wirelessly via Qi, which, according to the manufacturer, takes about three hours. However, if you use the included USB-C to USB-A charging cable the battery reserve is restored in one hour and 45 minutes.

Device control

Pairing the headphones, which support Bluetooth standard 5.0 and offered an above-average range of twelve metres in combination with various Android and iOS devices, takes place as soon as the case is opened via the sliding mechanism. This switches the system on and automatically puts it into pairing mode, and both sides can also be used individually in single mode. However, the fact that it is not possible to switch the in-ears on and off manually feels like a shortcoming, and the earphones have to be placed back in the charging case to switch them off.

However the reliably responsive touch control of the Liberty Air 2 Pro is a good feature that can be adjusted via the app within a predefined range. In this respect, volume control can be used if necessary, but it is not provided for in the standard assignment. In the factory settings, a double-tap on the right side controls playback, while on the left side it is used to skip ahead in track selection. A double-tap on either earpiece accepts calls, and they can be rejected or ended by pressing the touch-sensitive surfaces. The noise-cancelling function can be activated or deactivated by pressing the earpiece. As well as touch control, the earpieces are equipped with so-called ear recognition, so that playback pauses when the earpiece is taken out of the ear, but this function can be deactivated at any time via the app.

When making phone calls, on the whole, these in-ears offer solid speech intelligibility, although the representation of one’s own voice wasn’t very prominent. Instead, it was somewhat subdued, and tended to oversteer into the treble. However, outdoors, this gave the advantage of attenuating the background noise.

Sound

The basic sound of the Liberty Air 2 Pro is tuned with a bass emphasis and is definitely tailored to listening pleasure, there is a lush low bass that is not boomy, but is compact enough so that the round, rich bass reproduction sounds appealingly defined. The powerful bass foundation feels present but not overloaded and offers vocals and lead instruments enough room to develop and benefit from clear, detailed imaging. This also benefits the intelligibility of voices, which is noticeable when listening to podcasts or audiobooks. On the other hand, we noticed a negative tendency to overemphasise sibilants with increasing volume and a slight drop in the high frequencies, which can be effectively remedied with the help of the EQ. In terms of audio codecs, these in-ears support Bluetooth standard SBC as well as the higher-quality AAC format, while aptX has been omitted.

In principle, the Liberty Air 2 Pro invite you to personalise your listening experience in an uncomplicated way by performing a hearing test via the app. On the basis of this, compensation can be made for any imbalances between the left and right ear or an age-related decrease in hearing ability. A special feature is that the resulting HearID can be EQ’ed and adjusted to personal preferences. This personal sound profile is then permanently stored on the headphones and is thus permanently active, independent of the app. It is possible to deactivate the profile, which allows a direct A/B comparison with the basic sound, which is very well resolved and demonstrates the potential of individual sound adjustment. Here, both the listening test and the EQ are impressive, and in combination they can provide a noticeable increase in uniformity, clarity and three-dimensionality.

Noise reduction and transparency modes

The free Soundcore app for iOS and Android systems can be used to select the desired ANC and outdoor perception mode. On the noise cancellation side, outdoor and indoor configurations, a travel setting and a customisable user function are available. Here, the transport mode is primarily tailored to the reduction of low-frequency noise, the outdoor mode to more complex noise sources and the indoor mode to background voices. This is a good idea in itself, although the intensity of the attenuation is not very high overall. In outdoor use, it is noticeable that street noise can be reduced well, but the attenuation itself is rather subtle. The sound is changed as the bass range is boosted in transport and low to mid frequencies are boosted in outdoor mode, while in indoor mode it is predominantly the midrange that seems a little more present.

Also, the amplification of outdoor sounds does not necessarily seem powerful, as the full transparency mode only allows for outdoor orientation at low playback volume. The situation is similar in the special voice mode, which also attenuates ambient noise. However, the speech intelligibility of loudspeaker announcements and fellow human beings suffers from a rather hazy representation, as there is also a perceptible background noise and a boost in the bass range during playback, which is not the case in full transparency mode. The handling and stability of the app can be described as exemplary; it appears sophisticated, clear and functions well. Especially since direct access to the selection of ANC and transparency modes can also be set up via a widget, which works flawlessly.