Anker’s Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro Max earbuds pair a touchscreen charging case with AI transcription, and the outlet Wired separately tested a related model, the Liberty 5 Pro, praising its call quality. Both earbuds carry a Guinness World Record for speech quality, according to The National.
Anker wants its earbuds case to do more than hold a charge. The Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro Max ships with a 1.78-inch Amoled touchscreen built into the lid, and reviewer testing at The National found it operates much like a smartwatch, letting users swipe through media controls, equalizer presets and ambient sound modes. That kind of display isn’t new to the category; the outlet notes JBL and Honor have tried similar screens before. What’s different is what Anker built on top of it.
A Record for Speech Quality, Backed by Guinness
Anker is leaning hard on a specific credential: the Liberty 5 Pro Max holds a Guinness World Record for the highest speech quality score for TWS [true wireless stereo] earbuds
, according to The National’s review. That’s a narrow, technical claim, but it lines up with what a separate reviewer found in a related Anker model.
Wired tested the Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro — a lower-tier sibling without the touchscreen case — and singled out call quality as the standout feature, headlining its review Master of Phone Calls. The reviewer wrote that the earbuds deliver dramatically better call quality
than rivals, enough to make phone calls more enjoyable even amid NYC street noise
, according to Wired. Two separate reviews of two related products point at the same strength: Anker’s microphones and voice-isolation processing outperform where it counts most for everyday use.
The Feature Nobody Else Has: An AI Voice Recorder in the Case
Swipe up on the Liberty 5 Pro Max’s case display and the earbuds’ real selling point appears: AI-powered note-taking. Recordings sync to the Soundcore app, which generates transcripts and offers translation across more than 100 languages, The National reported. The reviewer tested it in four settings — a quiet room, a room with a distant speaker, a mall food court, and a conference hall with panel audio blaring from speakers — and found the first three produced accurate transcripts, while the conference test still pretty much nailed it
despite some audio dropout.
The reviewer called it a genuine upgrade over carrying two phones just to record a conversation, but flagged a real limitation: the device cannot capture audio from phone calls, online meetings or video calls. That caps its usefulness for anyone hoping to transcribe a Zoom call rather than an in-person conversation.
The Subscription Catch: 120 Free Minutes, Then You Pay
Here’s where the pitch gets complicated. The free starter plan included with the Liberty 5 Pro Max gives buyers just 120 minutes of AI transcription a month, for two years, The National reported. Anker’s paid tiers scale up from there.
- Free plan: 120 minutes of transcription monthly, for two years
- Pro plan: 1,200 minutes monthly for Dh59 ($16) a month, Dh257 for six months, or Dh367 annually
- Unlimited plan: Dh880 per year
- Extra minutes can also be purchased separately
The reviewer compared the setup to standalone transcription services such as Otter, but warned that the free allotment might come back to bite you sooner or later
if you rely on it for regular recording. Anker’s base earbud pricing itself isn’t cheap: the Liberty 5 Pro Max lists at Dh899, with a Pro option at Dh699, according to The National.
Sound, Battery and the AirPods Comparison
Both reviews land on similar ground when it comes to sound and fit, even though they’re describing different Anker models. The National found the Liberty 5 Pro Max comfortable across five included ear-tip sizes, from XXS to large, and noted the earbuds never slipped out during testing — apart from what the reviewer called a vertigo-inducing headbang test.
Wired’s take on the Liberty 5 Pro focused more on tuning than fit. Out of the box, the reviewer described the default Soundcore Signature profile as bass-heavy enough that even an untrained ear would notice the bass boost,
especially against Apple or Bose earbuds. Switching to the Soundcore Balance preset or a personalized HearID profile — built from an in-app audio quiz — brought the sound close to, though not quite matching, the detail of the AirPods Pro 3 or Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds, according to Wired. Noise cancellation ranked similarly: strong, but trailing the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds (2nd Gen) and Sony WF-1000XM6.
Battery life is where the Liberty 5 Pro Max shows its one clear weakness against Apple’s flagship. The National rates it at 6.5 hours with active noise cancellation on, plus 22 hours from the case — versus up to eight hours and 24 hours from the case on the AirPods Pro 3.
| Model | Standout feature | Battery (ANC on) |
|---|---|---|
| Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro Max | Touchscreen case, AI transcription | 6.5 hrs + 22 hrs case |
| Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro | Call quality | Not specified in review |
| AirPods Pro 3 (for comparison) | — | 8 hrs + 24 hrs case |
Wired’s bottom line on the Liberty 5 Pro was blunter about value: the reviewer wrote the earbuds cost nearly $100 less than most of my other top recommendations
, calling sound clarity imperfect and the buds “a bit large,” but concluding that the Liberty 5 Pro “might be the best value earbuds you can get.”
Where the Cheaper Soundcore Line Fits In
Anker’s earbuds ambitions don’t stop at the flagship tier. Separately, the budget Soundcore P20i earbuds, normally $40, dropped to $21 during an early Amazon Prime Big Deal Days sale — a 48% cut. Those buds pack 10mm drivers, an app for sound tuning, a Find My Earbuds locator, and AI-based voice isolation for calls, with 10 hours of battery life plus 20 more from the case, according to Gizmodo.
The P20i deal is a different product entirely from the Liberty 5 Pro Max and Liberty 5 Pro — no touchscreen case, no transcription subscription, a fraction of the price. But the throughline across all three Anker products the reviews describe is consistent: voice isolation and call handling keep showing up as the brand’s sharpest edge, whether the earbuds cost $21 or Dh899.
For a shopper deciding between the tiers, the choice comes down to what problem they’re solving. Anyone who needs to record and transcribe in-person meetings gets a feature none of Anker’s rivals currently match, provided they accept the 120-minute free ceiling or the Dh59-a-month upgrade. Anyone who just wants clearer phone calls at a lower price has two cheaper paths already reviewed, and The National’s verdict on the flagship stands as a fair summary: it’s not the most affordable of the lot, but it deserves a good look.