Anker Soundcore Liberty 2 Pro Review: Worth The Price?

Written by Cheryl Tan

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Anker is a well-known brand for power banks, chargers and cables, and for good reason. Their products are generally high quality and reliable, but does that translate into their subsidiary, Soundcore, and the new Liberty 2 Pro earphones?

With previous earphones from Soundcore, you really got what you paid for, which was decent sound at a cheaper price point. But the Liberty 2 Pro is currently the most expensive true wireless option that Anker and Soundcore offer, so let’s take a look at whether it warrants the asking price of US$149.99.

The oval-shaped charging case is a bit on the bulky side, but the lid slides open and shut smoothly, while the earbuds are nestled inside snugly and won’t drop out even if the case is held upside down. The case has a smooth, matte grey finish that doesn’t get scratched easily, which is nice.

My quibble with the case is inside. The way the earbuds are held in place isn’t convenient, requiring the user to flip the buds in their hand a few times before finding the correct position to put the earbuds into the ears.

I’m extremely pleased that we get a USB-C port for charging, although it was hidden behind a small flap for some reason, causing me to think it was a MicroUSB port at first. Another big plus is that the case is compatible with Qi wireless chargers, so you can just plonk this down on a charging pad and leave it alone.

Once in the ear though, the loop wings help to keep the earbuds securely seated and you get a pretty comfortable fit since the bulk of the earbud is sitting outside the ear. This does mean it protrudes a bit, but it’s nothing too obtrusive.

Credit: Anker

Music quality is much better than I expected. The Liberty 2 Pro uses a hybrid system, with a single balanced armature driver from Knowles and an 11mm dynamic driver. Anker calls this the “Astria Coaxial Acoustic Architecture”, with the drivers aligned to provide an accurate sound signature.

Honestly, it sounds rather gimmicky, but it seems to work. Listening to my usual testing playlist, I found that there was plenty of detail and clarity in the upper registers and mids while the bass wasn’t compromised.

You get excellent, crisp vocals paired with slightly warmer mids that are able to handle the nuances in a track without anything being too overwhelmed. The soundstage is wide as well, with instruments being placed quite accurately.

Thanks to the 11mm dynamic driver, the bass isn’t anaemic and still manages to have decent thump and punch. The volume level on these are quite high as well, so make sure you don’t turn up the volume too much at the start.

There’s also a Soundcore app where users can tune the EQ of the earphones to match what they like. Additionally, there’s a HearID feature which will play a range of sounds to determine the user’s upper and lower hearing limits so that the app can tailor the EQ to their hearing capabilities.

Battery life is decent, with eight hours in the earbuds and three additional charges in the case for a total of 32 hours. The earbuds also support aptX, which means higher quality audio for those who have high-resolution tracks or audio streaming services.

The connection is excellent as well, with Bluetooth 5.0 meaning there were no dropouts or stutters while I was testing these earphones, even in areas where there are plenty of traffic.

There aren’t touch controls for these, even though there’s a large faceplate on each side. Instead, you get one physical button on each side. Personally, I’m a bit mixed. I would definitely prefer physical buttons over touch controls if it’s not implemented well, but I feel that the larger touch area on the Liberty 2 Pro would do well if touch controls are included.

The buds are also rated IPX4, so we’d recommend not wearing them in heavy rain, but for an exercise session, they should do just fine.

Honestly, the Liberty 2 Pro isn’t the best out there but for the price point and how good the sound quality is, I think it’s definitely an option that more people should consider.

More information about Anker’s Soundcore Liberty 2 Pro can be found on Anker’s website or Soundcore’s website.