- 1.1 Design
- 1.2 Comfort and Fit
- 1.3 Configuration and Control
- 1.4 Sound Quality
- 1.5 Features
- 1.6 Battery Life
Anker’s Soundcore Liberty Air 2 Pro offers truly wireless, active noise-cancelling (ANC) earphones for $130. The Sony WF-100XM3 is $165 more than a year after its introduction, while the Apple AirPods Pro are $250 and the new Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro are $200. Is there a catch? This Anker Soundcore Liberty Air 2 Pro review will find out, but despite some design flaws, these ANC buds are decent for the price.
Anker Soundcore Liberty Air 2 Pro Specs
Type | In-Ear |
Connection Type | Bluetooth |
True Wireless | YES |
Speakers | 11mm dynamic drivers |
Battery Life | 26 hours |
Weight | 0.4 ounces (per bud), 1.8 ounces (charging case) |
Size | 1.5 x 0.9 x 0.9 inches |
Colours | Grey, Blue, Silver, White |
Price | $130 |
Design
Unfortunately, these earphones’ design isn’t promising. The grey model’s long, somewhat angular stalks are even more unsettling than the AirPods’ cylindrical white tubes, making each bud appear like a miniaturised version of early 2000s businessmen’s Bluetooth headsets. The blue, white, and silver colours aren’t as terrible, but those stretched-out stalks are hideous anyway. Practicality rescues the Soundcore Liberty Air 2 Pro from design failure. Touch controls are reliable. Using double-taps or hold motions prevents unintentional skipping, and I never encountered input failures. The blue, white, and silver colours aren’t as terrible, but those stretched-out stalks are hideous anyway. Practicality rescues the Soundcore Liberty Air 2 Pro from design failure. Touch controls are reliable. Using double-taps or hold motions prevents unintentional skipping, and I never encountered input failures.
Comfort and Fit
The Soundcore Liberty Air 2 Pro earphones include nine silicone tips, a credit to Anker. Seven of these are XXXS to big, and two are somewhat deeper medium and large circumferences. You’ll have a greater chance of finding the right fit with the AirPods Pro’s three tips. Despite lacking wings or hooks and not using Sennheiser or Samsung’s twist-to-fit design, these earphones fit simply and securely. Wearing them for an hour or two is comfy.
Configuration and Control
Setting up the Soundcore Liberty Air 2 Pro with a source device is like any other Bluetooth headphones. While in their charging case, sliding back the cover puts them in pairing mode, and I could immediately link them to my phone. Managing the Soundcore Liberty Air 2 Pro’s major capabilities requires installing the accompanying app, like with many wireless headphones. More on those later, but touch controls allow play/pause, skipping, and calling. While you may press down on either earbud to activate or deactivate ANC, there’s no tap or hold input to instantly use Transparency mode, which would require using the Soundcore app on your phone.
Sound Quality
Bass is the Soundcore Liberty Air 2 Pro’s most noticeable feature. It doesn’t mean the bottom end is out of control, and for some songs it works: bass-drum kicks felt like they were banging my brain in my skull, but in a good manner. However, this bass inclination may often dull the mids and highs. The low sound of Marmaduke Duke’s “Kid Gloves” muted the beautiful plucked violins, which was almost sorrowful. Now those violins sparkled, and bouncy songs like The Electric Swing Circus’ “Bella Belle” could balance joyful and boomy. After HearingID, the sound doesn’t equal the Sennheiser CX 400BT’s meticulous detail. Its soundstage is narrower too. The Soundcore Liberty Air 2 Pro sounds amazing for $130, with strong instrument separation and clean vocals.
Features
It’s not even a basic tech implementation. Transport, indoor, and outdoor ANC are available, as well as a custom option to customise noise cancellation intensity. These tiny earphones can’t completely block out loud sounds like generators or automobiles, but they can obscure them with music in moderate settings. The indoor profile works well too. The latter emphasises speech for easier dialogue. Vocal Mode lets in enough traffic or checkout machine noises, while Fully Transparent amplifies droning sounds too much.
Battery Life
Anker claims 7 hours of playback. The ANC is likely off. These earphones played music for 4 hours and 42 minutes at 50% volume and indoor noise-cancelling. Even though non-ANC buds performed poorly, that’s a nice outcome when noise-cancelling is added. They barely beat the AirPods Pro, which lasted 4 and a half hours in our tests, but Sony’s WF-1000XM3 are the most durable ANC earbuds. The charging cover adds 19 hours; however, that may not include ANC. Our research shows the case adds 12 hours of ANC playback. Recharging speed pleased me.
FAQs
Should you purchase Anker Soundcore Liberty Air 2 Pro?
At $130 USD, the Anker Soundcore Liberty Air 2 Pro competes with several true wireless earbuds. These earphones have frequently dropped below $100. Liberty Air 2 Pro is a great value at that price.
How do these earphones compare to Anker Soundcore Liberty 3 Pro?
The Anker Soundcore Liberty 3 Pro costs more but has Bluetooth 5.2 with multipoint, immersive sound, and personalised active noise cancelling.
Can the Anker Soundcore Libery Air 2 Pro connect to numerous devices?
Since the Anker Soundcore Liberty Air 2 Pro does not support Bluetooth multipoint, you must disconnect before connecting to another device. Restore the earphones to the charging case and open the lid to pair with a new smartphone. Press and hold the case’s back button for 3 seconds until the right earbud’s LED flashes white. Pairing mode will start when the earphones disengage.