Anker’s Soundcore Liberty Air 2 Pro review: Wireless (and kinda wonderful)

When Apple’s AirPods came out towards the end of 2016, audiophiles scoffed.

First, because most wireless headphones at the time – especially a pair as dinky as Apple’s headphones – had notoriously bad audio. Second, because they looked like a pair of Apple’s regular wired earbuds (which were also notoriously bad at audio) and lastly, because no one thought the form factor of two small earphones packed into a charging case would last.

Boy, were they wrong.

Today, you’ll be unlikely to leave the house without running into someone walking along with a pair of wireless buds in their ears, and a quick Amazon search brings up no less than 350 different types of wireless headphone.

That makes standing out in this particular dimension of audio product quite a challenge. However, some have taken to it with gusto; case in point, Anker’s Soundcore Liberty Air 2 Pro headphones which look to beat out the competition with active noise cancellation, decent battery life and a great app, all for a solid price point.

Soundcore Liberty Air 2 Pro review: Design

The headphones and case are rather unassuming; you get an easily palmable case with a textured, matte finish and the buds themselves follow the traditional earbud design and all come in various colours, from sapphire blue to crystal pink.

You also get nine different sized silicon ear tips, which is really nice to see – especially if you’re someone who finds it hard to get a good fit with in-ear cans.

The case slides out with a satisfying click, and there are three battery indicator lights on the front. There’s also a physical button on the back, which makes pairing them with different devices a doddle.

Oh, and each earbud comes with a little gold fan cover over the individual speakers – which are mainly there to look cool.

Soundcore Liberty Air 2 Pro review: Audio Quality

The Liberty Air 2 Pros sound good, very good. Especially at this price point (heck, the fact that they have targeted active noise cancellation at this price is a real boon for Anker).

Speaking of noise cancellation, you get three ambient sound modes: full noise cancellation, transparency mode and normal.

Sound is deep and bassy, but don’t fret if that’s not exactly to your audio taste as Anker lets you tweak your sound settings on the fly via its excellent app. More on that later.

Soundcore Liberty Air 2 Pro review: Battery

Our playtest gave us around six hours of music before we needed to stick the Liberty Air 2 Pros back in their charging case, although Anker says you can expect longer if you turn off noise cancellation.

There are three additional charges in the case, and you can see how much juice the case has remaining via that battery indicator. You might think in today’s world of streamlined and minimalist design, that the indicator might be a little aged as a feature – and you’d be wrong.

You have no idea how much we appreciated the ability to know exactly how much charge was left in the case with a simple button push, as opposed to having to connect them to your phone.

It charges pretty quickly via USB-C; just 15 minutes of juice will give you three hours of listening time in a pinch.

Soundcore Liberty Air 2 Pro review: X-Factor

Anker has put a lot of effort into its connected Soundcore app, and it really shows. When you first pull the Liberty Air 2 Pros out the box and stick them in your ears, the app will begin a tip fit test. You get around ten seconds or orchestral music, and then will let you know whether or not they fit perfectly or not.

Elsewhere, you can properly play with the EQ settings of each bud – something that Apple’s headphones are sorely lacking. That means even if you are not totally sold by how these buds sound right out the box, you can tweak them until your inner audiophile is content.

Soundcore Liberty Air 2 Pro review: Verdict

In a world awash with wireless buds, we have to hand it to Anker. They have done very well to carve out a niche for their Liberty Air 2 Pro buds, for having great noise cancellation, decent quality and an enviable price tag.

For those who really care about audio though, it’s the Soundcore app that is really the headphones killer feature. And it’s something we expect some of the bigger names in wireless earbuds to pick up on, very, very soon.

The Anker Soundcore Liberty Air 2 Pro are available right now or AED 529. For more information, go here.