But that doesn’t change the fact that, in terms of ANC, these are the best sub in-ears we’ve tested. For the price, these earphones get a lot more things right than wrong and win our Editors’ Choice award for affordable true wireless noise cancellation. However, the wildly sculpted sound signature may scare away audiophiles. The updated version of the Anker SoundCore Liberty Air 2 Truly Wireless is the Anker SoundCore Liberty Air 2 Pro Truly Wireless. Anker has updated their products with a customizable active noise cancelling (ANC) technology that can significantly reduce background noise. Other than that, these headphones are built and styled similarly to their base model. They have a snug fit and a bass-heavy sound profile that can be adjusted using the graphic EQ or presets in their companion app. Their overall battery life, though, is less than the playtime they advertise.
Design
In addition to offering ANC at a reasonable cost, the Soundcore Liberty Air Pro 2 places a strong emphasis on design. Four elegant-looking colors Onyx Black, Titanium White, Sapphire Blue, and Crystal Pink are offered for the product. For our review, we received the Onyx Black model, which is arguably the least noticeable of all the colors while still having a sleek, fashionable appearance. The earbuds have a stem-like appearance, and the upper side of the stem contrasts the matte black color of the earphones with a silver tone. The touch panel for controls is likewise incorporated into the stem. Three microphones are located inside each earphone for voice calls and active noise cancellation. The earbuds’ nozzles are angled to fit snugly and in-canal inside the ear. The silicone ear tips included in the box range in size from XXXS to XL, and Anker has made the earbuds lightweight. Although most ears should be covered by these ear tips, the reviewer found it a little challenging to get the ideal fit. No matter the ear tip used, the reviewer’s ears were a touch too big for the earbud’s bulb, and the fit wasn’t really comfortable. So be aware that the Liberty Air Pro 2 may not be the most comfortable TWS you’ve ever worn if you have smaller or unusually shaped ears. If you get acclimated to their placement on the earbud, the touch panels on the earphones function fairly well. Double-tapping the left bud by default skips a track, and double-tapping the right bud by default plays or pauses audio. Both earbuds can be switched between the ambient sound and noise cancellation modes with a two-second press. On the Soundcore app, which we will discuss in the following section, the controls can be customized.
Anker Soundcore Liberty Air 2 Pro review: Comfort
The Soundcore Liberty Air 2 Pro earbuds come with a hefty nine sets of silicone tips, which is to Anker’s enormous credit. There are two other sets that are slightly deeper variants of the medium and big circumferences, and seven of these range in size from XXXS to huge. Because the AirPods Pro only come with three pairs of tips, you have a far higher chance of finding the ideal fit. Given that they don’t have wings or hooks and don’t have the twist-to-fit design that Sennheiser and Samsung like, these earbuds fit comfortably and hold fairly solidly. Additionally, they are cozy to wear for shorter times, like an hour or two. In contrast to the more durable Sennheiser CX 400BT, the Soundcore Liberty Air 2 Pro can become a little tiring on your ear canal after extended listening sessions. It appears that each earbud’s weight is concentrated mostly in its tips, as opposed to being distributed evenly throughout the rest of the ear.
Connectivity
Excellent connectivity is offered by the Soundcore Liberty Air 2 Pro. Once you open the case, they immediately establish a connection with your laptop or smartphone. Even in areas where there are many wireless signals, the earbuds maintain a stable Bluetooth signal and have a strong connection to your device up to ten metres away. Additionally, you can listen to one bud while it charges in the case, remove the charged bud, and then resume listening in stereo. And when you remove an earbud, the music automatically stops. Thankfully, you can disable this from the app. also you will learn our article on Anker Soundcore Liberty Air 2 Pro review.
Anker Soundcore Liberty Air 2 Pro review: Noise Cancelling
These earphones’ Active Noise Cancellation is passable but not very spectacular. It doesn’t even come close to the industry heavyweights like the Sony WF-1000XM3, but given the price gap, we didn’t anticipate them to. However, the similarly priced Oppo Enco X performs a better job of effectively blocking out background noise. While the Enco X did an excellent job of muffle ring sounds like low-speed fans, the Soundcore Liberty Air Pro 2 falls short in this regard. In all ANC modes, when no music is playing, you can also hear a fairly audible hiss. However, the ANC performance ought to be adequate for the majority of users, particularly on the Transport Mode, which we discovered to be the most efficient of all modes. Additionally, the earbuds have a transparency mode that enables users to hear their surroundings. On the Soundcore app, you may choose between Fully Transparent and Vocal mode. Additionally, there is a Normal option that doesn’t use ambient or noise cancellation. The app makes switching between different modes simple. Surprisingly, this app also features a useful widget that enables users to switch between these modes without ever opening it.
Audio Performance
The Soundcore Liberty Air 2 Pro’s bass-heavy sound is what stands out the most right away. It’s not always to the point where the bottom end is completely out of control, and for some songs it kind of works: bass-drum kicks gave me the impression that they were banging my head against my skull, but much more satisfyingly and happily than that sounds. However, this bass preference frequently deprives the mids and highs of their sparkle and impact. Hearing Marmaduke Duke’s “Kid Gloves,” which features beautiful plucked violins, become dulled by the abundance of low end was almost a little depressing. Although this is the default sound, there are other options, which is good news. The Soundcore app offers customization in a few different ways, but its “HearID” feature is the most intriguing. It uses the results of a series of beep tests to create a personalized sound profile for you that measures how well you can hear various frequencies at various volumes. Amazingly, the loud bass was completely rectified by our customized profile. Although it was generally more evenly balanced with the mids and treble, it was still sufficiently present to deliver the punch we desired. Now that the violins had their shine back, upbeat songs like “Bella Belle” by The Electric Swing Circus found it easier to walk the line between fun and boomy. It should be noted that the post-HearID sound still falls short of, instance, the Sennheiser CX 400BT’s meticulously defined characteristic. Additionally, the soundstage isn’t as large. However, the Soundcore Liberty Air 2 Pro sounds fantastic for $130, with pure vocalization and perfectly defined instrument separation. Also keep in mind that HearID does not act as a magic “fix the bass” button. Because it customizes the output for each user, your results might sound different from mine. You can still manually adjust the EQ using the Custom profile in the app to get these earbuds sounding however you want them to sound, even if you don’t find the results as pleasing as we did.
Call Performance
With this Soundcore, making and receiving phone calls is also no problem. Although your speech could have been a little clearer, it is still audible at a volume that is sufficient because outside disturbances and even slight wind noise are substantially diminished. The most difficult sounds are transmitted as slight crackles under your voice, yet calling while they are present is enjoyable. Sadly, the Liberty Air 2 Pro struggles with video conversations because your voice output is compressed and has an unacceptably low loudness.
Anker Soundcore Liberty Air 2 Pro review: Battery and Charging
Anker claims a convincing 7 hours of playback time, although this is probably with ANC turned off. We were able to listen to music nonstop for 4 hours and 42 minutes using these earbuds at 50% volume and with the Indoor noise-cancelling mode activated. Even though that might be a disappointing outcome for non-ANC buds, it’s still a respectable performance when you take into account the additional battery drain of continuous noise-cancelling. Though Sony’s WF-1000XM3 appear to be the overall ANC earbud winners on longevity, they even just barely outlasted the AirPods Pro, which lasted 4 and a half hours in our testing. The charging case is advertised as provide an additional 19 hours, although once more, this is probably excluding ANC. You may anticipate the case to add about 12 hours of ANC playback based on our tests. The speed of recharge also impressed me. The Soundcore Liberty Air 2 Pro recovered 2 hours and 34 minutes from a brief 15-minute rest in the case, which is more than half of their maximum capacity.
Price and Availability
Conclusion
For commuting and travelling, the Anker Soundcore Liberty Air 2 Pro are excellent. They have a great active noise cancelling feature that you can also adjust to better match the noise in your environment, and they are also fairly comfortable and portable. However, the battery life is quite low and may not be sufficient for lengthy journeys at around 3.5 hours.
