Buzz
Evaluation of the Design of Soundcore Liberty 3 Pro
Similar to all of Soundcore's in-ear headphones, they come with a variety of silicone ear tips and wingtips to cater to even the pickiest of ear canal shapes. This makes the unboxing experience even better, as Anker ensures you're satisfied with your purchase.
The case of the Liberty 3 Pro resembles a pill with the top part that can slide open to reveal a tricky spot – you have to twist the earbuds before fitting them in, and they lie flat enough for you unless you have tiny fingers needing to extract the rubber wingtips. It's not my favorite case, especially because it's larger than I'd like. Anker has improved nearly every aspect of the design compared to the previous generation, even making it larger and more cumbersome, so at least that's something.
The charging case works through USB-C or Qi wireless charging, and fortunately, this time the port isn't obstructed by a rubber pad (I quickly removed and discarded from the previous model). I've been carrying the pair in my right pants pocket for over a month now, and although I wish it were a tad smaller, it doesn't cause any discomfort.
What's the Sound Quality Like on Liberty 3 Pro?
The renowned claim of Liberty 3 Pro is its dual-driver setup, one driver dedicated to bass and midrange, and the other, a smaller driver, focusing on smoothing out the highs. It's a powerful combination that I loved on the Liberty 2 Pro and it's equally effective here.
In summary, this is one of the best-sounding TWEs I've tried, delivering ample bass ensuring even the most dynamic tracks are reproduced as closely as possible to a closed-back headphone set. The bass isn't overpowering, but the larger coaxial drivers produce precise and rich bass that most in-ear headphones can't reproduce. There's a wide soundstage suitable for a pair of wireless earbuds, thanks to the larger drivers, and I appreciate the added separation between instruments when listening to tracks like Marvin Gaye's 'I Heard It Through The Grapevine'.
3 Pro proudly supports LDAC, which was lacking in its predecessor. I'm typically not a big fan of LDAC because its increased bandwidth usage often leads to cutouts and other inconsistent behaviors – Bluetooth gonna Bluetooth – but I haven't encountered any such issues with this bud. With Spotify poised to introduce its own hi-fi tier to better compete with Apple Music, Tidal, Amazon Music HD, and others, wireless headphones that truly support higher-quality codecs will benefit the most. That said, the lack of support for any Qualcomm codecs – no aptX or aptX Dynamic here – is a bit disappointing, as AAC is the only other option.
The Liberty 3 Pro also introduces active noise cancellation (ANC) feature to the Soundcore lineup, and it's quite good, especially when you tweak it to your liking. Anker has designed the ANC to adapt to the environment, using its external microphones to measure the ambient noise and adjust the severity accordingly. Overall, it works fairly well, but even with significant ambient noise, the ANC algorithms still aren't quite good enough to compete with algorithms like Sony's WF-1000XM4 and Bose QuietComfort Earbuds.
Key Features
One of Liberty 3 Pro's standout features shared with many higher-end Anker Soundcore earbuds: the excellent app experience makes adjusting the listening experience not just enjoyable but effective. If the ANC's dynamic feature isn't enough, you can manually adjust its strength.
Want to tweak the EQ? There are plenty of presets available or simply customize to your liking. You can also adjust the control buttons, which is very handy given the multitude of options and diversity in accessing them: single tap, double tap, or triple tap, as well as tap and hold, can be configured independently for both buds, making it easy to pause music, increase volume, activate transparency mode, or interact with Google Assistant through a range of gestures.
From the call quality and microphone perspective, Liberty 3 Pro is average: good, but not great. I've made dozens of calls with these buds and no one complains about the clarity of my voice or the blocking (or lack thereof) of ambient noise.
Finally, regarding battery life, the buds last about seven hours per charge with ANC off, which isn't particularly noteworthy, but since I want to keep it real, I'm pleased with the decrease – down to six hours per bud – as it's more than acceptable. The charging case provides an additional 18 to 24 hours depending on usage.
Should You Buy Anker Soundcore Liberty 3 Pro?
Yes. Soundcore Liberty 3 Pro is a solid value wireless earbud at this time. Its sound easily appeals to many and even with finicky ears. The fit is great, the variety of ear tips and wingtips virtually ensure it always fits even with particularly shaped ear canals. ANC along with transparency mode also bring certain effectiveness and most importantly, Anker is attentive to user feedback to promptly update the buds with new features and bug fixes.
