Anker earbuds debut Thus AI chip for enhanced voice clarity and AI-powered note-taking

Anker's new earbuds are the first with its AI chip that boosts noise reduction

Anker has announced a new version of its Soundcore Liberty Pro earbuds: the new Liberty 5 Pro. These are the company's first earbuds featuring the Thus AI audio chip Anker announced last month, here being used to bolster noise reduction capabilities and help ensure the user's voice can be clearly heard during calls, even in noisy environments. They're the first new Soundcore Liberty Pro earbuds since the 2024 version that launched with a charging case screen. Joining the Liberty 5 Pro are a new Max version that add AI-powered note-taking capabilities through their charging case. The Liberty 5 Pro are available starting today for $169.99 in blue, white, black, and pink color options. They carry forward the charging case LCD touchscreen functionality of their predecessor, but it's now located on the outside for easier access and is a bit larger at 0.96 inches. The touchscreen can be used to adjust ANC levels or turn on transparency mode. The addition of the Thus chip does result in a small hit to battery life with up to 6.5 hours of listening with ANC turned on that can be boosted to up to 28 hours in total when paired with the charging case. However, the AI chip delivers improvements elsewhere including, Anker claims, with ANC that's 100 percent more effective than the Liberty 4 Pro, improved voice clarity during calls by reducing background noise around you, and faster responses to 20 built-in voice commands. You can adjust volume, control playback, and change ANC modes by just asking. The Liberty 5 Pro Max are also now available, but for $229.99 in black or titanium-gold finishes. They feature the same battery life, IP55 dust and water resistance rating, and support for Apple's Find My network as the Liberty 5 Pro, but with a much larger 1.78-inch AMOLED display on top of the charging case. The screen can be used to adjust settings and control playback of what you're listening to, while the charging case can be used to record conversations and meetings. The recordings are shared to and processed by the Soundcore app on your smartphone that generates transcripts and highlights action items with each speaker identified.

Anker debuts Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro earbuds with its Thus AI chip - Engadget

The Pro Max model offers a touchscreen smart case with an AI note taker. Following the initial tease of its Thus AI chip, Anker announced the first earbuds with the component during its Anker Day event. The Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro and Liberty 5 Pro Max both utilize the chip for what the company calls Whisper Clear voice performance. Of course, the usual earbud features are here -- active noise cancellation (ANC), voice controls and personalized sound -- but there are some unique tools available on these models as well. Those include an AI Note-Taker on the Liberty 5 Pro Max and touchscreen charging cases for both. Let's start with what the Thus chip does on both sets of Liberty 5 Pro earbuds. The silicon is used alongside eight microphones and two bone conduction sensors to ensure optimal voice performance in noisy locations. By also employing an AI model, the system separates the speaker's voice from background noise so they're heard clearly on the other end of calls. Anker says the bone conduction sensors allow the setup to capture the user's voice a lower volumes, so long as they're in "moderately quieter settings." The Thus chip also powers voice commands, offering 20 options for various controls and tasks, with Anker claiming a response time of under a second. Both the Liberty 5 Pro and Liberty 5 Pro Max have Soundcore's Adaptive ANC 4.0 that uses those eight mics to process audio data at up to 384,000 times per second. This action continuously monitors both external noise and any sounds that may enter the ear canal before adjusting the ANC in real time. Anker says its noise-canceling algorithm can combat a broad range of noises -- including human voices. What's more, the company claims the ANC performance on its new earbuds is up to 2x more effective than the Liberty 4 Pro. To customize the sound to your ears, both sets of earbuds offer HearID 5.0. This feature creates a personalized EQ based on a brief hearing test. With the help of AI Sound Enhancement, the earbuds provide audio restoration that can recover up to 65 percent of "the quality" that's typically lost to Bluetooth compression. In terms of battery life, both the Liberty 5 Pro and Pro Max will last up to 6.5 hours on a charge with ANC enabled. When you factor in the charging cases, the total use time is 28 hours for each model. Multipoint Bluetooth connectivity is also onboard both, as is Bluetooth 6.1, Apple Find My and Google Fast Pair compatibility. Plus, both sets of earbuds are IP55 rated for dust and water resistance. There is one main area where the two new models differ is their smart cases. The Liberty 5 Pro case has a 0.96-inch TFT touchscreen on its front edge while the Liberty 5 Pro Max case has a much larger 1.78-inch AMOLED display. The Pro Max is also equipped with an AI Note-Taker that's capable of generating transcripts, including identifying speakers and action items, after meetings in the Soundcore app. This feature isn't available on the Liberty 5 Pro, but Anker does offer AI-based translation on both models. Translation is available on the earbuds with the Liberty 5 Pro, and it's available on both the earbuds and the case with the Liberty 5 Pro Max. Both the Liberty 5 Pro and Liberty 5 Pro Max are available today for $170 and $230 respectively. The Liberty 5 Pro is available in black, blue, pink and white while the Pro Max will come in either black or gold.

Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro and Pro Max earbuds: First impressions, price, where to buy

Meet the Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro Max and 5 Pro. Credit: Bethany Allard / Mashable Soundcore announced two new pairs of earbuds during its Anker Day event on May 21: the Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro and Liberty 5 Pro Max. The earbuds are the first Soundcore products to feature the new THUS AI chip, designed to boost the performance of the earbuds' microphone for call quality, voice activation, and smart features like live translation and AI note-taking. Spoiler alert: the mic performance is no joke on these earbuds. Both the Liberty 5 Pro and Liberty 5 Pro Max are available as of May 21. I've spent a few days trying out both pairs of earbuds -- below you'll find my first impressions, the specs, price, and everything else you need to know about Soundcore's latest audio release. The Liberty 5 Pro is available for $169.99 and comes with the following feature set: I haven't had the chance to test the full range of the Liberty 5 Pro features just yet, but as Soundcore emphasizes the "whisper clear" calls these buds are capable of, I made sure to get in some testing of the microphone, along with the usual suspects of the sound quality (rich and well-varied, from my initial listens) and active noise cancellation. Call quality may seem like a weird feature to brag about, but if you've used earbuds with a crappy microphone, you know how annoying it can be to have to disconnect your earbuds every time you need to take a call. My first test for these earbuds was an informal one. While FaceTiming a friend and wearing these earbuds, another friend in the room with me leaned into the frame of my phone's camera to say hello. My friend on the other end of the call happened to be looking away -- she had no clue the other person in the room with me had spoken at all. Meanwhile, she could hear me without any issue. Whisper clear indeed. I've also been able to hold full conversations with ease while other people are watching TV and chatting in the same room, while the person on the other side of the call has been none the wiser. All this to say, the early results are very promising. So is it really just a matter of matching up a full set of microphones with an AI chip? Not exactly. Soundcore goes the extra mile, adding two bone conduction sensors to detect vibrations in your skull and ensure that only your voice is picked up, even in noisier environments. I nearly jumped out of my skin when someone approached me to say good morning while I was listening to music on these earbuds at about 40 percent volume. Apparently, they'd been trying to get my attention for a good 30 seconds. So that's another informal test, passed. On a more technical note, these earbuds have eight microphones that work together with the THUS chip to provide the best possible noise cancellation. The result is impressive, especially considering their $169.99 price point. While I look forward to testing them out and about in the world more, as far as my home office (and simply existing in a house where seven other people live), these earbuds are more than getting the job done so far. The ear fin/ear tip combo on these earbuds reminds me a lot of the Bose QuietComfort earbuds series. Whenever I'm positively comparing the wear of earbuds to the QC series, that's a very, very good thing, considering the Bose buds are the most comfortable I've tested. While I haven't yet put these through the extended hours of wear needed to see if they deserve the same accolades, I can say that so far, I've experienced no fatigue wearing them in one to two-hour bursts. At the same time, they feel plenty secure and provide a great seal for boosting passive ANC. The charging case for the Liberty 5 Pro features a 0.96-inch mini touchscreen, where you can access settings such as ANC adjustments, equalizer presets, spatial audio, and Bluetooth pairing. Essentially, it reduces the need for a companion app to adjust every feature that isn't playback or volume. Despite the small screen, this was a surprisingly convenient way to use the earbuds -- especially when pairing them to new devices. Though it doesn't feel fragile, I am curious to see how this case holds up once I throw it in a bag and take the earbuds on the go. The Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro Max is available for $229.99, with the following feature set: The Liberty 5 Pro Max earbuds have many of the same features as the 5 Pro, including the same tech for powering noise cancellation, sound quality, and the microphones. They also feature the same earbud shape. There is one notable difference, though, which we'll get into below: The Pro Max earbuds use the same 10-sensor matrix (the microphones and bone conduction sensors) as the 5 Pro earbuds, so it's no surprise that, in combination with the AI chipset, these earbuds also sounded incredible on calls and did a reliable job at blocking out background noise. Living in a house with seven other people means that if I'm not at my desk (and even then), there's at least a 50 percent chance that I'll take a call while someone else is having a conversation around me. For the times that's happened so far, not once did the people on the other side of the call hear the background noise from my end. My next tests will involve taking these earbuds out into the world (for even louder and more distracting environments). The 5 Pro Max has an even bigger touchscreen on the charging case than the 5 Pro, which takes up the entire top of the case. The 1.78-inch AMOLED display allows you to access many of the same features as the smaller 5 Pro case, plus the AI note-taking feature, which uses the case to record the conversation. As a journalist, I'm especially into any easy way to record interviews or conversations, and Soundcore seeks to do just that with its AI note-taker. Basically, it works as the case records the conversation, meeting, talk -- whatever you're trying to get down. Then, it transfers the file to the companion app, and, at your request, can generate a transcript and summary with identified speakers. During the recording, a tap of the flag button creates markers in the recording that become highlighted in the transcription. Before creating the transcription, you can also select the recording type (discussion, presentation, etc.), so the AI can choose the best format for the information. So far, I could see this being an incredibly useful tool, but I'm also interested to see the limitations (it looks like a Pro version for more transcription minutes is available) and how it compares to Apple's built-in voice memo feature. In my testing so far, the noise cancellation and sound quality are basically indistinguishable from the 5 Pro earbuds, which is to say they both sound really good and do a great job of blocking out sound. One hiccup I noticed while testing the adaptive ANC on the 5 Pro Max buds was a soft clicking sound in the left earbud -- it was almost not detectable while audio was playing, but without music, it was definitely present. It could've just been a glitch that a software update will fix, so I'll be keeping my eye on it as I head further into my testing period. As of May 21, you can pick up the Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro for $169.99 and the Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro Max for $229.99 at the following retailers: