Tovic Salvador

Article (news)

Arthur Fuentes

ABS-CBN News

<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1781433581426soundcore liberty 5 pro max.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/>Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro Max. Arthur Fuentes, ABS-CBN News</div>MANILA—The Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro Max earbuds offer exceptional sound quality and equally exceptional active noise cancellation (ANC). After testing them for several weeks, I definitely rank them in the S-tier of premium earbuds. These flagship earbuds were released in late May, and we were lucky enough to have been sent a review unit soon after.My first impression of this gadget was: &quot;Did you really need to put a touchscreen on the charging case?&quot; The design was certainly eye-catching, and I thought it was a nice way to set yourself apart, although it felt a bit gimmicky. But after playing around with it for a few days, I understood that this charging case has its own set of superpowers apart from the earbuds themselves. Clearly, Anker is positioning the Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro Max as more than just an audio device, but I’ll get to that later.<div>COMFORTABLE</div>The earbuds themselves are also thankfully different in terms of design–not the usual buds with protruding stems from Apple and Samsung. These tuck into your ears and have “fins” for extra stability. These buds are very comfortable. I could wear them for hours and not feel the slightest discomfort. They also fit my ears perfectly, but if you find them a bit small or large, you can change the silicone eartips for a better fit. The eartips range in size from XXS, XS, S, M, and L. The stability fins come in three sizes. <div>EXCELLENT SOUND</div>As you may expect from similar devices in this price range, these Soundcore earbuds offer superb sound. I am by no means an audiophile, but these buds are really good—they are up there with Galaxy Buds4 Pro in my opinion, and even a little better sounding than the AirPods Pro 3.If you don’t like the default sound settings, you can customize the equalizer settings to better suit your listening preferences. But in my case, I already liked the default settings.The buds also support Sony’s LDAC codec, which allows for higher fidelity sound over Bluetooth. If you’re confined to Spotify, this doesn’t really make much of a difference, but streaming services like Tidal or Amazon Music support it.  The sound clarity extends to making and receiving calls, even in noisy environments. <div>EXCELLENT ANC</div>One of the most important features for me, for premium earbuds, is active noise cancellation. I personally consider this to be even more important than sound quality, because what’s the point of having great sound if it’s drowned out by outside noise?And in terms of ANC, these earbuds are top-notch—maybe as good as Apple’s flagship AirPods Pro 3, and it even edges out the S-tier Samsung Galaxy Buds4 Pro.    The Liberty 5 Pro Max buds are supposed to be able to cancel noises as loud as 90 decibels, which is the level of electric drills and hair dryers. I’ve tested these Soundcore buds during flights, as well as in a noisy newsroom, and they were able to shut out the airplane’s drone as well as most of the unwanted sounds in the office. The company says that the earbuds have twice the level of active noise canceling compared to the previous generation. Frankly, most of the time, I can’t tell the difference in ANC performance between these and the excellent AirPods Pro 3, which are my favorite gadgets for muffling distracting decibels. They do sometimes seem to let a bit more high-frequency sounds through than the AirPods, but other than that, the Soundcore buds can go toe-to-toe with Apple’s flagship buds. <div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1781433637608soundcore devices.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/>The Soundcore Linerty 5 Pro Max earbuds support up to 3 different devices simultaneously through its multipoint feature. Arthur Fuentes, ABS-CBN News</div><div>SNORING, TINNITUS CANCELED</div>But aside from cancelling noise, these buds also have features that help you sleep, maintain your calm, and set the mood for the day. You can set the buds to mask the sound of snoring and the constant droning of tinitus. It can even generate white noise to further help with concentration. But I guess my favorite bonus feature is the audio library that has nature sounds, meditations and even sleep stories included. These features fall under the Soundcore Calm subscription service, which is apparently free for now, but may charge a fee eventually. <div>MULTIPOINT CONNECTIVITY</div>One thing I really like about these earbuds is their ability to connect to three devices at once. It allowed me to switch from my Android smartphone to my iPad, and then to my MacBook almost seamlessly. This three-point connectivity option can be configured on the charging box, or on the app. But it will require you to turn off the LDAC codec, which limits connectivity to just two devices. But, as I said, unless you’re subscribing to a streaming service that supports LDAC, turning it off isn’t really an issue. The Liberty 5 Pro Max’s multipoint is the closest thing I could get to recreating the AirPods experience, where you could effortlessly switch listening from one Apple device to another—except in this case it works with both Android, Macs, PCs, iOS and iPadOS. Switching between devices is not as instantaneous as with AirPods in the Apple ecosystem, but then again, it doesn&#x27;t confine you to one platform either.Of course, if you’re living exclusively within Apple’s much-vaunted walled garden, you will most likely opt for AirPods. But if you don’t like to be tied down to one ecosystem, the Soundcore buds are a great option.<div>MORE THAN JUST A CHARGING CASE</div>Soundcore has one more thing going for it. The charging case does more than just charge the earbuds, as you may surmise from the presence of a 1.78&#x27;&#x27; AMOLED touchscreen. It’s a smart case that you can use it to adjust the settings on the earbuds, without needing to open the app on your phone.You can also use it as a recording device for face-to-face meetings, with the recordings syncing automatically with the Soundcore app to generate transcripts and action items on demand using AI.I know that a lot of people already have smartphones that can do this, or use apps like Turboscribe or Otter for transcripts. But still, it’s a cool feature, especially for journalists, students, and people who need to take notes.The transcription service however, comes with a subscription plan.Another bonus is the earbuds’ Smart Voice Control functionality, which allows you to control the playback, volume, call and ambient sound with voice commands. I can see this being especially helpful when you’re using the earbuds while cycling or carrying something. But Anker also warns that turning on this function will reduce battery life. At P12,975, these earbuds are pricier than a lot of other offerings, but much cheaper than either the AirPods Pro 3 and the Galaxy Buds4 Pro, and even the comparable Sony WF-1000XM6 buds, against which it competes.

These buds offer very good sound quality, active noise cancellation, while also featuring multi-point connectivity across Android, Windows, Mac and iOS devices.

These buds offer very good sound quality, active noise cancellation, while also featuring multi-point connectivity across Android, Windows, Mac and iOS devices.

REVIEW: Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro Max earbuds offer S-tier sound quality, noise cancellation

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REVIEW: Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro Max earbuds offer S-tier sound quality, noise cancellation

Arthur Fuentes,

ABS-CBN News

Published June 15, 2026 08:00 AM PHT

Read More:

Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro Max

wireless earbuds

Bluetooth earphones

Anker

AirPods Pro 3

Galaxy Buds4 Pro

active noise cancellation

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