Anker Soundcore Liberty Air 2 Pro
The review’s hero is an example of how something exciting can be hidden behind a rather cumbersome and unfamiliar name. For example, the inexpensive TWS earbuds with active noise canceling and the ability to analyze your hearing. Also, add to the wireless charging of the case and a bunch of nice tricks that make listening to music much more accessible.
Table of contents
Specifications
The emergence
Happening
The convenience of use
Noise reduction
Sound
Autonomy
General
Finding trendy but completely wireless earbuds is not easy. It is easy to save on body materials or noise cancellation in the mid-range models, while models with a complete “filling” of technologies will cost like a mid-sized smartphone. Not the most pleasant situation, I agree. But there is a way out: for example, look for headphones not from smartphone manufacturers. After all, for this, there are those companies that have specialized in sound for years. Anker, although not promoted like many brands, is very well versed in sound quality.
Specifications
Anchor Soundcore Liberty Air 2 Pro
Emitter type dynamic, PureNote
Resistance 16 Ohm
An aperture of emitters 11 mm
Bluetooth version 5.0, SBC, AAC
Battery life 7 hours on a single charge, 26 hours with a case
Microphone 6 pcs., Active noise cancellation
The emergence
The decision not to use glossy headphones jacks was good. Friendly matte plastic and a neat silver insert make the headphones stand out from others. While others strive for minimalism where it is not always needed, Anker does it in his way.
Soundcore Liberty Air 2 Pro
It may seem that the headphones are angular and will not sit very comfortably in your ears from the front. However, on the reverse side, a triumph of streamlined forms awaits you. Why is there such a difference between front and back? It’s simple. The front gray bar is the touchpad needed to control playback and volume. It seems to me that a flat surface for all these sensory manipulations is much more convenient than a cylindrical one.
The case’s anatomical shape made it possible not to use additional silicone tips to fix the earphone inside the auricle. So in the Liberty Air 2 Pro, you only have to deal with the ear pads. By the way, there are nine pairs in the set, so there will be no problems with the selection of the optimal size. It is a plus.
Soundcore Liberty Air 2 Pro
The earpads themselves are not attached to the headphones tightly but rather tightly. Should not fly at a random moment. The reliability of fastening here is achieved by the fact that the earpads consist of two parts. The first is made of soft silicone, and it is he who will contact the ear canal. The second part is more rigid, more difficult to stretch, and allows it to adhere to the plastic more confidently.
The indication was not removed anywhere; it is in place. To tell if the headphones are on and ready to use, you can use the subtle LED that attaches right below one of the microphones at the top of the case. Despite its size, it is pretty bright – the LED is visible even in sunny weather.
Case
Not every headphone case deserves a separate paragraph. But in this case, you cannot do without it. During all two weeks of testing, the materials used caused me a tactile delight. To the touch, the plastic on the outside is somewhat similar to a soft-touch, but the soft-touch itself is, nevertheless, a little more velvety. Immediately the texture is smooth. Although if you look at the surface of the case, you can get cognitive dissonance. This is due to the visual texture, which looks like the stone’s texture, which is slightly different from what your fingers feel. No, the visual texture here resembles a stone—the neutral gray color and the shape of the case help with this.
The opening of the lid here does not happen like everyone else, but with a shift. Yes, yes, that very slider design, painfully familiar to all of us from old (and not so) phones. Its movement is pleasant, the lid does not dangle, and there is a practical benefit from such a form factor – if the case falls, the headphones will remain inside.
Anker d not forget about wireless charging, and now the case can be charged not only through the Type-C port but also directly from your smartphone if it supports reverse charging, of course.
The convenience of use
In the first paragraph, I already wrote that the body’s anatomical shape is comfortable for the ears. However, the convenience of wireless headphones isn’t just about the way they fit in your ears. How the headphones are connected to your equipment also plays a significant role here.
Alas, not all of them can do it quickly and, most importantly, always. And with the Soundcore Liberty Air 2 Pro, everything is simple: take out the headphones, and the last used device immediately picks them up. You don’t have to press anything at all. I got it out and used it.
The Soundcore application also helps in customizing the headphones. After installation, I was even a little surprised that in front of me was a full-fledged headphone control center, and not two buttons with an equalizer, as is the case with some famous competitors.
And if everything is clear with the setting of touch buttons, noise reduction modes and “skipping” of external sound (pressed and working), then you will have to spend a few minutes setting up HearID. The fact is that in this mode the headphones will determine the sensitivity of your hearing in certain frequency ranges, after which they will create a preset with the most appropriate settings. You will be required to enter your age, and during testing, press the confirmation button when you start to hear a sound.
Noise suppression
In general, two microphones are enough for an active noise driver. But more significant is better, so Anker decided to use three microphones in one earphone at once, which gives more effective noise reduction in various conditions.
The user can choose from three ready-made noise reduction modes:
Outdoors (reducing the sound level of the surrounding urban environment);
Indoors (elimination of voices and midrange noise in rooms);
Transport (low-frequency noise reduction).
There is, of course, also a custom mode, but it is not easy to set up, so it is better to use something from the ready-made presets. The first two do their job well, but the most useful of them is the mode for use in transport.
The subway sounds are processed to a good level, leaving you with only a few high-frequency sounds. If you go to school or work every morning on public transport, then these headphones should be your salvation from the rest of the world.
And one more pair of headphones, two teams in a full bag …
And as it befits almost any TWS earbuds, the Soundcore Liberty Air 2 Pro can use its microphones for more than just noise cancellation and voice communications. All microphones in the same application can be switched to skip external sounds. A helpful thing if you need to understand what is happening outside. After all, even passive noise isolation is at a reasonable level here (provided that the ear cushions are correctly selected, of course).
Sound
The first thing that I involuntarily drew attention to when I first listened to music through these headphones – distinct bass and sub-bass sounds. Low frequencies do not turn into an incomprehensible mess and do not overlap the rest. The same goes for the rest of the frequencies. The sound is well detailed; even those musical parts that you cannot hear in a class headphones a little lower are audible.
This is facilitated by the not the most straightforward design of the headphones, although it would seem that they are ordinary TWS plugs. Above the drivers, there are as many as ten hardened nano-plates, which increase the frequency coverage and increase the clarity of the reproduced sounds.
Yes, someone would like to see support for LDAC and aptX codecs in these headphones, but for everyday use (videos on YouTube, music from streaming services), even the standard SBC codec will be enough. And do not forget that the headphones use Bluetooth 5.0 with not the smallest bandwidth.
Autonomy
From a single charge, the Soundcore Liberty Air 2 Pro can work for about seven to eight hours, even though all this time, you will be using a relatively energy-intensive noise reduction mode. This agrees with what the manufacturer promises, but in reality, you will rarely come across headphones discharged to zero because they charge impressively quickly in the case.
Complete wire
It was like this: I listened to music, put the headphones in the case for a while, and there already 90 percent of the charge had accumulated. The main thing is to charge the issue on time. And it’s good that you often don’t have to do this. A fully charged case can provide a total runtime of 26 hours—good result for compact TWS headphones.
Total
Anker has managed to make some of the best TWS headphones in its price segment. Yes, finding competitors is decisively difficult when headphones are cheaper than the con flagship-class but offer a complete set of all kinds of functions that you will not find in more expensive models during the day.
Soundcore Liberty Air 2 Pro
Active noise cancellation is at a reasonable level, the volume reserve is significant, and even 7 hours without a case is an excellent result. What else do you need from fully wireless headphones?