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These new Anker earbuds use AI to fix the worst part of wireless earbuds

Liberty 5 Pro series lean hard into practical AI features

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Soundcore earbuds
Anker Soundcore

Anker has added two new earbuds to its audio lineup called the Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro and Liberty 5 Pro Max. The regular Liberty 5 already made a strong impression in our review, where we praised Soundcore for getting most of the basics right, even if pricing left it under pressure from cheaper rivals.

Now, Anker is pushing the Liberty 5 line into more AI-focused territory, with the Thus AI chip powering clearer calls, smarter noise cancellation, voice commands, translation, transcripts, and meeting summaries.

Anker is using AI to clean up calls

The main upgrade is Anker’s new Thus AI chip, which appears in both Liberty 5 Pro models. It works with eight microphones and two bone-conduction sensors, along with an AI model, to separate the wearer’s voice from traffic, wind, office chatter, and other background noise.

Soundcore says the Liberty 5 Pro earned a Guinness World Records certification in April 2026 for the highest speech quality score for true wireless earbuds. The Liberty 5 Pro Max uses the same earbud units, so call performance should be similar across both models.

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The same AI system also improves noise cancelling. Both earbuds use Adaptive ANC 4.0, which processes noise data up to 384,000 times per second and adjusts in real time. Soundcore says it can reduce noise from streets, subways, and offices. The Thus chip also enables 20 built-in voice commands, allowing users to adjust playback, volume, and ANC modes without using a phone.

The Pro Max case doubles as an AI note-taker

The Liberty 5 Pro Max gets the bigger case upgrade. It has a 1.78-inch AMOLED display and an AI Note-Taker that can record meetings and conversations. The Soundcore app can then generate transcripts, summaries, speaker labels, and action items.

Both models also support translation in more than 100 languages. On the Liberty 5 Pro, translation works through the earbuds, while the Liberty 5 Pro Max adds translation through both the earbuds and the case.

The regular Liberty 5 Pro has a smaller 0.96-inch TFT touchscreen for switching ANC modes, using transparency controls, activating Dolby Atmos, and adjusting EQ settings. Both models also support HearID 5.0, which creates a custom EQ profile after a short hearing test.

Core specs include 9.2mm wool-paper diaphragm drivers, Bluetooth 6.1, LDAC support, three-device pairing, Google Fast Pair, Apple Find My, IP55 dust and water resistance, wireless charging, and up to 6.5 hours of battery life with ANC on, or 28 hours with the case. The Liberty 5 Pro costs $169.99, while the Liberty 5 Pro Max is priced at $229.99.

Sudhanshu Kumar Mangalam
I’ve got about 4 years of experience, mostly covering gaming, PC hardware, and smartphones. In my free time, I like…
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