Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro Max review
When I was a child my mom would point out that I often entered moments of deep thought. This was manifested by pacing around the house for a good half hour. I admit I didn’t think too much about it, but it was true. As a child I would pace around the home, thinking about — well, things that kids normally imagine. From playing story scenarios of my favorite Disney cartoons to later on imagining content for my Dune fan fiction that I would put into my Wordstar 6 word processor … you get the drift.
This habit never left me. I would intentionally park farther away from a work event as time passed, leaving me with st least a one kilometer walk. An event in Palanca or Rufino street in Makati made me park in One Ayala so I can walk through SM Makati, Glorieta, and Greenbelt. An event in Podium defaults me to park closer to Shangri-La Mall because it’s also closer to the EDSA exit. Crazy right?
But these moments are spent lost in thought, letting meetings and brainstorms percolate and marinate in my head. It has been scientifically proven that taking strolls helps the brain decompress and ideate. A Stanford study in 2014 cites an increase in brain creativity by as much as 60% on average when walking. Call me an early adopter.
New and note-worthy
Before the digital age, I would often take a small Veco notebook and Bic ballpen that fit in my pocket to take notes. When the PDA (personal digital assistant) became a thing, I would use my Palm m515’s notepad app to take notes and use the hotsync cable to connect my notes to my G3 series iBook. Today I use Viber’s note feature or whatever phone brand’s notes app for this same purpose. But something didn’t feel natural. The process of taking out my phone and typing down a eureka moment would often stop my train of thought. Now, with the debut of AI, I can just speak into my in-ears and it can take note of all my brain farts.
When Soundcore released the Liberty 5 Pro Max, I found one feature that made it worth the P12,995 price tag. Sure you can get other great sounding TWS in-ears for less, but none of them have a built-in AI note taker. Let me be clear — this isn’t just a voice recorder. Anker’s Soundcore Liberty 5 series is based on a proprietary Thus AI chip platform, a neural-net AI chip that makes the tech possible to fit inside these tiny in-ears. Not only is it small, it also contextualizes your voice, making it easy to recognize and record your voice in noisy environments.
The end result is that instead of me pulling out my phone to take notes, I can simply press the record button on the Liberty 5’s Tx case and talk to myself! When I get back to my desk, I can sync back all the audio recordings and use the in-app AI (it’s powered by ChatGPT) to transcribe the full text or create an AI summary of my ramblings.
These notes — from ideas on how to start an article, or how to execute a particular media partnership, will always sound fresh once I sync and summarize using AI. No more senior moments for me (at least not yet — har har).
One thing I appreciate about the Liberty 5’s ecosystem is that it doesn’t have cloud storage which means all my data is saved locally in the app, which is great for security. It means that Soundcore isn’t using its customer’s data to train its AI.
Anker’s workflow temporarily uploads the files for AI transcription and summary, then deletes them. This is a great feature for privacy. Since Anker’s system is pretty much open, I can copy, paste, and even export audio (in MP3 format) to my Android or iOS device’s native storage.
What’s in the box
The Liberty 5 Pro Max comes with a pair of TWS earbuds in a charging case with a fairly large 1,78 inch AMOLED touchscreen. The screen allows you to free yourself from your phone, with dedicated functions for music control, mode switching from active noise cancelling to transparency mode for safety. Like I mentioned previously, it also acts as the control for the AI transcription recorder.
The Liberty 5 Pro Max also comes with an AI translation feature, allowing one on one translation from English, Filipino, Chinese, Italian, and other languages. The case and in-ears act as output and mic for translating conversations, which can be useful for tourists. There is a limited offer for free real time translation feature, as well as a limited trial for a Calm.com subscription for those that use these meditation apps. Of note, the Liberty 5 Pro Max comes with some of the best white noise personalization options, allowing three combinations of 109 different ambient sounds from ducks, to rain, to beach waves, and a whistling kettle. The app also supports tinnitus and snore masking, which is a boon to lower anxiety levels when sleeping or idle.
Out of the box, the device comes with five different sized silicon ear tips for maximum enjoyment. The device itself has support for Apple Find My, Google Fast Pair, and has IP55 dust and water resistance. With the charging case, the buds come with over 28 hours of battery. Without the case, you get around 12 hours.
Promo and Availability
The Liberty 5 Pro Max retails for P12,995 and will be available in Midnight Black and TitaniumGold. Meanwhile, the Liberty 5 Pro retails for P9,995 and comes in Pearl Blue, Midnight Black,Pearl White and Rose Gold.
Customers who purchase the Liberty 5 Pro Series from May 23 to June 23, 2026 through Ankerstores nationwide will receive an extended warranty of up to 24 months. The products will alsobe available through authorized dealers soon and online via soundcore Philippines and AnkerGlobal on Shopee, Lazada and TikTok Shop.
