NB: There’s a £20 discount code at the end of this feature!
Thanks Soundcore by Anker for gifting this item to us.
What good is excellent new music without an excellent piece of kit to listen to it on? Fair question, right? We thought so. That’s why we’re changing tact for a moment and bringing you a review of Soundcore by Anker’s Liberty 3 Pro earbuds, a quality piece of hardware to absorb some high quality audio.
Let’s start with the presentation:
The Liberty 3 Pro earbuds look iconic. First off, the pebble case design is striking and it fits neatly in the palm of your hand. There are four choices of colour – white, black, blue-grey and light purple. We chose light purple, potentially brash but the light tone keeps it understated. The top of the pebble case slides satisfyingly back to reveal the smooth, deftly designed earbuds inside. When positioned on the contact points correctly, LEDs beneath the earpieces slowly pulsate to indicate they’re charging, along with three glowing LEDs on the front of the case, showing the power remaining.
Also included in the expertly presented box are four choices of ear tips and four choices of ear wings, designed to give maximum comfort and minimum sound leakage, a USB to USB-C power cable and a quick and clear visual guide to finding the perfect earbud fit.
A beautiful, well presented piece of technology all round.
Now for the sound:
For mid-range quality, the Liberty 3 Pro earbuds sound mightily impressive, delivering a rich, warm, vibrant audio experience. Soundcore by Anker have equipped their product with LDAC codec audio technology to deliver high-resolution audio over a bluetooth connection alongside heavy duty Noise Cancellation boosted by their HearID ANC feature – a built in hearing test on the Soundcore app, to ensure your audio stream is masterfully tailored to your own individual hearing. The Liberty 3 Pro also boasts a very helpful Transparency Mode, easily activated by a long press on your right bud (essential when you want to keep listening to Trampolene at the same time as trying to speak with train station staff when your morning commute rail ticket won’t work – we’ve been there).
In order to have full command over these features, you will need to download the Soundcore app onto your mobile device, but in doing so you’ll also be able to switch on and off Wind Noise Reduction, Wearing Detection – your audio gets put on pause when the device is taken out from your ears, a Fit Test to ensure you’re using the best ear tips, and ear wings for maximum audio quality and noise cancellation as well as being able to adjust the tap and hold controls. The app itself is simple to navigate and an integral piece of the Liberty 3 Pro experience.
Cool tip: if you switch off the LDAC mode you can connect your earbuds to two devices at the same time.
Road Test:
To fully test out this nifty bit of audio tech we gave it a road trip during the commute to and from work on a bustling, elbow to shoulder train from Penarth to Newport. We found that the seepage through of surrounding background noise next to non-existent, with only the quiet low rumble of cars on the main road walk to the station and the faint sound of the tannoy announcing the next train station forcing their way through, not even the rushing sound of the train itself getting in. We also thought, when we stopped at Greggs to order a coffee, that when popping transparency mode on, the surroundings come whooshing back in and it sounds like you’re hearing the world through a very vivid and clear telephone receiver, just right for when you need to interact.
We put Grimes ‘IDORU’ on walking down Commercial Road in Newport, the track’s birdsong, Claire Boucher’s coos and the deep bass all sounding pristine and clear. On the way home we stuck on Oasis’s ‘Morning Glory’ – guitar riffs, drum pound, Liam’s growl and helicopter whirrs all standing out, sounding crisp and strong.
Charging:
The blurb on the box claims the earbuds have a playtime of up to 8 hours and 32 hours with the charging case. We’re yet to find this out, preferring to keep the audio equipment fully juiced. However, on one occasion we didn’t quite position the buds in the case properly and only one charged which bummed us out a little. But slipping them back in the case for five minutes provides enough energy for at least another hour, before the next full-charge opportunity (we found that bit out ourselves). The charging connectors feel magnetic, so the earbuds slip onto them easily but do make sure the charging light is pulsing on both ear tips before closing the case to signal a full charge is underway. It sometimes takes a little wriggling to get it going.
Overall, the Soundcore by Anker Liberty 3 Pro earbuds are a solid, exciting piece of mid-range listening technology from a reliable and innovative brand.
If you want to bless your musical experience with this gorgeous piece of kit, you can buy the Liberty 3 Pro earbuds over on Soundcore by Anker’s website.
Enter EdgeofArcady2023 at checkout for an exclusive £20-off voucher.
