As audio know-how continues to evolve, producers are making strides in creating comparatively cheap merchandise with premium characteristic units. 2021 appears to be like set to be the 12 months of reasonably priced noise-cancelling headphones, very true wi-fi ones. We have seen merchandise just like the Oppo Enco X, Realme Buds Air Pro, Huawei FreeBuds 3i and some others that provide lively noise canceling at a sub-10k worth level. Now Anker’s sub-brand, Soundcore, is delving into this profitable house with its personal ANC headphone providing, the Soundcore Liberty Air Pro 2, underneath 10k. Anker is well-known for its vary of smartphone equipment, nevertheless it’s slowly however certainly making its mark on the audio market with Soundcore. The Liberty Air Pro 2 is a mid-range ANC TWS earphone that faces stiff competitors from the aforementioned manufacturers. So, let’s discover out if the Liberty Air Pro 2 stands out and if it is sufficient to beat our favourite reasonably priced ANC TWS, the Oppo Enco X.
Construct and design
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The Soundcore Liberty Air Pro 2 not solely delivers ANC at an reasonably priced worth, but in addition pays important consideration to design. The product is out there in 4 colours — Black Onyx, White Titanium, Blue Sapphire and Pink Crystal — and all of them look fairly elegant. We obtained the Onyx Black variant for overview, which might be probably the most understated of all the colours, nevertheless it additionally appears to be like elegant and trendy.
The headphones characteristic a stem-style design with the highest aspect of the stem that includes a silver end that contrasts with the principally matte black end on the ear pads. The takeout additionally features a contact panel for management. Every earbud comprises three microphones for lively noise cancellation and voice calls.
The ear suggestions are angled to create a good match to the ear. The headphones are light-weight, and Anker has supplied a variety of silicone suggestions within the field from XXXS to XL. Whereas these earbuds ought to cowl most ears, the reviewer had a bit of a tough time discovering the proper match. The bulb, or rounded half of the tip, was slightly too massive for the reviewer’s ears, and the match wasn’t very comfy regardless of the tip used. So take into accout, you probably have smaller or oddly formed ears, the Liberty Air Pro 2 may not be probably the most comfy TWS you’ve got used.
As for the touchpads on the headphones, they work fairly properly when you get used to their placement on the headphones. By default, double-tapping the left button skips a observe, and double-tapping the precise button pauses or performs music. A two-second press on both earbud toggles between ambient and noise canceling modes. The controls may be custom-made within the Soundcore app, which we’ll discuss within the subsequent section.
Transferring on to the charging case, it is positively one of the most important in the marketplace, nevertheless it’s not too thick so customers can match it of their pocket with out bulging the case an excessive amount of. The case has a silky matte rubber texture that’s nice to the contact and likewise fairly grippy. The cowl slides again and divulges the headphones inside. The sliding mechanism is clean and fairly distinctive as most TWS charging instances open upwards. There is a USB-C charging port and a reset button on the again, and three battery indicators on the entrance. As well as, the charging case additionally helps Qi wi-fi charging, so you’ll be able to merely place it on any appropriate charging pad to cost the case.
Lastly, the headphones can be utilized independently of one another and likewise characteristic in-ear detection to robotically pause/play music relying on whether or not the headphones are within the person’s ear or not. In our exams, this characteristic labored flawlessly most occasions we tried it.
Options: lively noise cancellation, Soundcore software and others
The most elusive characteristic of TWS headphones in 2021 is undoubtedly lively noise cancellation. The Soundcore Liberty Air Pro 2 gives this characteristic for slightly below 10K, making it a pretty product for these trying to expertise ANC with out breaking the financial institution. There are three preset ANC modes on these headphones – transport, indoor and out of doors. There may be additionally a devoted mode that enables customers to pick the ANC stage.
The lively noise canceling characteristic of these headphones is respectable, however not very spectacular. It would not come near the heavyweights within the discipline just like the Sony WF-1000XM3, however we would not anticipate them to as a result of of the worth distinction. Nonetheless, the equally priced Oppo Enco X does a more convincing job of canceling out ambient sounds. Whereas the Enco X did an amazing job at drowning out seems like low fan speeds, the Soundcore Liberty Air Pro 2 leaves one thing to be desired on this space. There may be additionally a reasonably audible hiss that may be heard in all ANC modes when no music is enjoying. Nonetheless, ANC efficiency ought to be passable for most individuals, particularly in Transport mode, which we discovered to be the simplest of all modes.
The headphones additionally characteristic a transparency mode that enables customers to listen to their environment. Within the Soundcore app, you’ll be able to change between absolutely clear and voice modes. There may be additionally a standard mode with out ambient or noise muting. The software means that you can simply change between these modes. Surprisingly, this app additionally has an amazing widget that enables customers to modify between these modes with out logging into the app.
As we talked about within the final part, the Soundcore app additionally permits customers to customise the controls. Customers can customise single and double faucets and lengthy presses for each ears, permitting you so as to add quantity controls and voice assistant activation that are not current by default. The app additionally has an eight-band customizable equalizer the place customers can add totally different customized sound profiles. There’s additionally a characteristic known as HearID that measures your private listening to and adjusts the sound accordingly. For the needs of this overview, we determined to stay with the default Soundcore sound profile, nevertheless it’s good to have a lot of customization choices.
The app additionally helps you to take a tip match take a look at that performs a sound and analyzes whether or not the guidelines you’ve got been sporting are tight. We examined lots of totally different suggestions and this helped us slender it all the way down to the most suitable choice, a bizarre mixture of XS and S (issues with totally different ear sizes), so we encourage you to take the take a look at and discover the very best match as properly, as this will provide you with the very best sound expertise from these buds.
Along with the lively noise canceling characteristic and companion app, the Soundcore Liberty Air Pro 2 is an especially versatile pair of TWS headphones. The headphones are outfitted with voice assistant help, IPX4 sweat and water safety score, Bluetooth v5.0, in-ear detection, mono mode and help for Qi wi-fi charging. The headphones help SBC and AAC Bluetooth codecs, though the dearth of help for superior codecs comparable to aptX is slightly disappointing. Even the Oppo Enco X comes with LHDC codec help. Though the LHDC codec is barely supported by just a few Oppo and Xiaomi telephones, it’s higher than not having prolonged codec help. There’s additionally no multi-point connection, so you’ll be able to solely join the headphones to 1 gadget at a time.
Productiveness
The Soundcore Liberty Air Pro 2 options 11mm drivers and a V-shaped sound profile with wealthy, highly effective bass and accentuated highs. The bass response is spectacular, well-rounded and wealthy, however not intrusive within the mids and highs. In pop or rap compositions, the bass will increase and fills the sound with dynamics, however doesn’t veil the vocals and mid-range devices, which is kind of spectacular. in Godzilla by Eminemthe observe opens with a low bass rumble together with simply Eminem’s vocals, each sounding extraordinarily detailed with out stepping on one another’s toes.
Uncompensated frequency response of Soundcore Liberty Air Pro 2 (blue) vs reference IEM (orange)
Nonetheless, the marginally overemphasized treble could make some tracks sound harsh. One of the examples Hunter by Bjork the place the hi-hats sound a bit shrill. Nonetheless, it is a uncommon phenomenon and didn’t fear us an excessive amount of. The Liberty Air Pro 2 is well-tuned and presents a good quantity of element, which is uncommon at this worth level. Now the Oppo Enco X positively presents a a lot better and clearer sound due to the coaxial twin driver. The treble within the Enco X can be barely exaggerated, not as a lot as within the Liberty Air Pro 2, so important listeners could lean in the direction of the Oppo Enco X.
Nonetheless, these headphones aren’t audiophile headphones, so for the plenty, each headphones have an excellent sound profile, and also you positively cannot go fallacious with both at this worth level. In case you’re a bass lover, you would possibly just like the Soundcore Liberty Air Pro 2’s sound profile a bit higher, because it delivers a bit more bass punch.
Name high quality on these headphones is fairly respectable for probably the most half. Though we weren’t in a position to take a look at them open air, the headphones do an excellent job indoors, even with high-speed followers within the background.
Battery life
The battery life of the Soundcore Liberty Air Pro 2 is fairly respectable, however nothing extraordinary. With ANC off, you’ll be able to stand up to 26 hours of complete playtime, with 7 hours with out headphones on a single cost. With ANC on, the headphones final for about 4.5 hours on a single cost, and the charging case is succesful of charging the headphones 3 times. This provides you a complete battery life of round 18 hours, which is fairly respectable for this worth vary.
There may be additionally help for quick charging, the place quarter-hour of charging will provide you with round 3 hours of playback. You additionally get Qi wi-fi charging help, as we talked about earlier, which is a uncommon characteristic to have underneath 10K.
Verdict
In case you’re trying for a mid-range TWS with a premium characteristic set and good customization, the Soundcore Liberty Air Pro 2 is straightforward to advocate. It does face some stiff competitors on this section, particularly from the stellar Oppo Enco X, nevertheless it manages to face out with its highly effective but managed bass and distinctive design. You additionally get IPX4 sweat and water resistance, that means these earbuds will simply turn out to be your exercise companions so long as you discover the proper, comfortable match. Priced at Rs 9,999, the earphones provide good sound high quality, strong construct, distinctive design and respectable battery life.
