In a world where Apple is now selling $ 549 headphones, and big manufacturers like Bose are sure to follow suit with equally expensive devices, it’s refreshing to find a pair of headphones that offer solid noise cancellation, great design and a great price.
The Liberty Air 2 Pros from the Anker Soundcore sub-brand costs $ 130 and comes with a cute little charging case that slides up and exposes a pair of white, black, pink or blue headphones. The buttons last about six hours on a charge and have simple touch controls. You can double-tap to start and stop the song, or go to the next track and hold a finger near the top of the metal part to turn noise canceling on and off.
The sound quality is good. You will not confuse them with high-end headphones. AirPods Pro, for example, have a cleaner presence, while these buttons have a flat, almost monochromatic sound, with an acceptable amount of bass and treble with little pitch at each end. Noise cancellation was good in a plane environment (simulated) and outdoors. I would not recommend these for, say, a long flight – you want headphones for this – but they have eliminated much of the low to medium buzz of most environments. One strange thing that I noticed was that these headphones allowed me to hear the noise of the bed, or the slight hissing sound in some songs that are artifacts from the recording process. In fact, it was surprisingly noticeable, especially in older songs.
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The headphones come with nine different rubber tips, which range from extra small to super large. I replaced the normal size ones with slightly larger ones and got a better fit. You will probably find yourself doing the same. Without a tight fit, these headphones are not as effective in noisy environments, but after you turn them on, they are light and comfortable.
The battery life was great. I got six hours of use without charge and the battery case can handle a few more fills before you need to connect them to a USB-C charger. You can put them safely in your pocket on a daily basis and you will rarely have to worry about a refill if you use them sporadically for calls and listening.
I heard a little bit of everything using the Liberty Air 2 Pros and found that they were more than capable of playing anything from a little Taylor Swift to some Foo Fighters. I wanted a little more separation in the sound and a deeper sound stage – as I mentioned before, the music is in the front and in the center, without much difference between the bass and the treble. Add active noise cancellation and you’ll have a pair of headphones suitable for subway trips and walks in the neighborhood.
I also tried the Soundcore app to “tune” the headphones to my hearing. This included what amounted to a hearing test that made me hear various frequencies at varying levels of volume. The resulting profile looked a little better than the standard configuration, but not much.
A small comical feature of the app is a noise-canceling level dial that, I believe, supposedly reduces certain frequencies. Turning the knob did nothing.
And for $ 130, I wouldn’t expect much more. These small devices work well, fit well and offer excellent noise cancellation. If you’re looking for something that works, sounds good and won’t break the bank, it’s worth taking a look at the Liberty Air 2 Pros.
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- A low-cost alternative to Samsung and Apple’s “Pro” wireless headsets.
- Comfortable and good fit.
- Good audio quality, excellent noise cancellation.