This is an ongoing review that I will update as I get more experience with this product.
I was a huge fan of the Liberty Pro 2 earbuds from years ago, and only went looking for a different brand of headphone when they started using a long stem design, which I don’t like. I switched to Google Pixel Buds to go along with my Pixel Phones, but was excited to try the Liberty 5 Pro based on the technological advances Anker was advertising.
I’m still not sure if the LCD screen and touch controls are anything more than a gimmick, but so far I haven’t used them for much of anything because I prefer to use the app. I got the white version, and the front of the earbuds are an even shinier, darker silver than the photos represent. I would have preferred a lighter white-ish silver, but these don’t look bad. The case is fairly lightweight, which I appreciate, but the pearlescent white finish may look like garbage within a few months of use. We’ll see.
Audio quality-wise, these sound pretty good. I’m still using them and breaking them in, but I would put them on par with the audio quality from my Google Pixel Buds Pro 2, which I think is excellent. My main purpose for using them is for connecting to my MacBook Pro and using them as earbuds during meetings. I hope that they will have a strong and stable Bluetooth connection and stop cutting out like my Beats Fit Pros do.
🗓️ June 3rd Update: I did a test where I called a friend of mine over WhatsApp, and I swapped back and forth between my Google Pixel Buds Pro 2 and the Anker buds. He’s a professional audio tech, and I trust his ears more than anyone else’s. In his opinion, the Anker Buds had a very non-Bluetooth audio sound, meaning it lacked some of the characteristic hiss and hollowness that comes with using Bluetooth earbuds. He said the Anker’s buds sounded basically as good as if I were holding the phone to my face on a regular call. He mentioned a tiny bit of hiss at the start when I talked, but explained that is probably a noise gate opening once the earbuds detect audio input.
I haven’t taken these on a plane yet, but I can say that when walking on roads with busy and loud cars, this is by far the best noise cancelling I’ve ever experienced. I haven’t taken a phone call with them yet, and I am very curious to see if the call quality is as good as the reviews have made it out to be.
The most jarring thing about using these headphones is how they, by default, don’t respond to “Hey Google” commands like I’ve gotten used to with two subsequent generations of Google Pixel Buds. Anker has instead opted to use their own voice assistant where you have to invoke it by saying “Hey Anka”. Do we really need a new voice assistant with a new name for us to remember? No, I don’t think we do. I’m never going to use this.
Thankfully, you can configure a double tap of the touch-sensitive button to invoke Google’s Assistant. Unfortunately, Anker, either by choice or because Google doesn’t allow them to (I’m still not sure which), can’t pass through media commands properly. So when I ask for it to play music by a certain artist, for example, it responds back saying that it created a playlist for me, but it doesn’t actually start playing the music. This is a major letdown, and I’m unclear if it’s something Anker can fix with a firmware update or not.
All in all, these are a decent set of earbuds for the price, but if you’re used to using Google Gemini as an assistant that you can easily talk to, these are a major letdown. You’d be better off buying Google Pixel Buds.
🗓️ June 17th Update: after a couple of weeks of use, I had my first major failure with this product. I was on a conference call and they were connected to my M1 MacBook Pro. They made a burst of static, the signal dropped, and never came back on. I had to scramble to switch audio to another output and it was very frustrating. I hope Anker can improve this with some firmware fixes!
🗓️ July 2nd Update: The left earbud occasionally emits minor static while in use. It stays connected, but it’s enough static to be a bit irritating. Come on Anker, let’s get some firmware updates rolling to make this product more reliable.
