GoKawiilThe Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro did something I wasn't expecting: It made me call my family more.
Here's my problem: I have aging parents who are losing their hearing, and I like to mumble. That's a bad combination for catching up over the phone during my New York City commute. I almost always have to talk loudly and repeat myself way more often than I would like. It makes the whole conversation feel unnatural, so much so that a little part of me dreads making that phone call.
I've tested over 50 pairs of wireless earbuds in my career as a headphones expert, and none of them have totally solved this problem. That is, until I started reviewing the Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro, with its Guinness World Records claim of “highest speech quality score.” And what sounded like pure marketing at first turned into something else—earbuds that are probably my new daily carry.
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Photograph: Harry Rabinowitz
The Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro has a new design from its predecessor. The buds have a larger, flat pill shape (similar to the second-gen Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds) and are bigger and heavier than stem-shaped buds like Apple AirPods Pro 3. While they are a little big, they are very comfortable—I wore them for multiple hours without any irritation or fatigue. In the box, there are multiple alternative ear tips and wing-tip sizes to find your ideal fit.