0:00 Imagine an earbud that doesn't just play your music. It sits in your next meeting, transcribes the entire thing, summarizes it for you, and recognizes who's talking. That's not a concept video. That's the new Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro Max sitting right here. So, the question isn't whether the tech is cool, it obviously is. The question is whether it actually works the way Soundcore promised, and whether it sounds good enough to live up to the Pro Max name. So, first let's talk specs, and the specs are basically the same as the Liberty 5 Pro on the audio side. We got ACA 4.0 dual dynamic drivers, LDAC Bluetooth 6.1, adaptive ANC 4.0, IP55, the Anker Thus AI chip. The battery is the same in my testing, 12 hours on the buds, 40 hours with the case, half that with ANC and LDAC running. But, the Pro Max gets three things the regular Pro
0:46 don't. The AI note taker, voice print recognition, and what Soundcore calls effortless screen control. That's where the extra money goes, and we're going to find out if it's actually worth it. So, build-wise, you're getting the same premium feel as the Pro. Glossy plastic, solid hinge tension on the case, IP55 rating, no creaks. The touchscreen is a little bit bigger and plays differently with the Pro Max with the screens on top versus the Pro having the touchscreen on the front. Bit smaller on the Pro, little bit bigger on the Pro Max. And again, you can swap ANC modes, EQ profiles, control playback, check battery, all without having to pull, you know, pull your phone out of your pocket. So, ultimately, they they still have that that excellent feel that we'd expect from a flagship coming from Soundcore. Now, when it comes to fit and comfort, for me, no issues. Same form
1:32 factor as the as the Liberty 5 Pro. You know, wore them sitting, walking, gym, head shaking like an idiot, side sleeping, all of that. They stayed put. There's no fatigue after multiple hours for me personally. Now, with that said, everyone's ears are shaped differently. So, if the stock tips don't seal well for you, go ahead and swap out to a pair of the SpinFit Omni first, or even the SpinFit Neos. They definitely fit in the case. I've tested them myself. So, give that a shot if the included ear tips are just not working out for you. Now, let's get into sound quality. First up, let's talk stock, right? Stock EQ. So, these have the same V-shape signature as the Liberty 5 Pro. You got boosted bass, boosted treble, slightly recessed mids. On Solo by Future, the sub-bass has real authority. 30 Day Run by Larry June,
2:17 same story. The low end has texture, not just thump. But, on Boot Up by LMA, that upper treble shimmer is just slightly too hot for me. There's a hint of sibilance on the breathy parts. Now, with custom EQ, this is where the Pro Max really come alive. So, I spent time dialing in a custom EQ that pulls the mids forward, calms down that little bit of upper treble heat, and keeps the sub-bass exactly where it should be for these drivers. If you want to see my personal EQ, go ahead and pause the video right here and take a screenshot so you can try this for yourself. Now, with this EQ dialed in, Fly Me to the Moon by Sinatra suddenly has the warmth and air it deserves. Starboy and Blind Lights by The Weeknd hit with the right balance of low end weight that and that signature synth shimmer right up top without anything getting harsh. And Sabotage by El Chicano, the sound stage
3:05 opens up nicely. Not as wide as like open-back headphones or IEMs, but for a closed earbud, you're getting genuine, you know, front-to-back depth. Now, for volume overall, with stock EQ, again, I'm getting 113.2 dB peak. Custom EQ pushed it to 115.9. Either way, it's dummy loud. Hearing damage territory if you listen to these at max volume for long periods of time, so don't do that. Then, that's going to bring us over to AI upscaling and Dolby Atmos. My honest take is that it works better than I actually expected. So, if you're if you're listening to compressed Spotify music streams, your your music is actually going to get a noticeable boost in clarity and spatial separation. I do like it. It does work. But, in order to turn on the AI upscaling or
3:51 Dolby Atmos features, you have to turn off LDAC. So, you can't have both. So, if I was a Spotify user, personally, I'd run the AI upscaling. If you're using Tidal, Apple Music lossless, Qobuz, stuff like that, just keep stick to LDAC. You don't really need the AI upscaling, and it doesn't really help much at that point. Now, that's going to bring us over to the ANC on the Liberty 5 Pro Max, and I tested these against the Sony WF-1000XM6 and the AirPods Pro 3. With 75 dB of crowd noise, all three of these are excellent. Pro Max is on par with both. The edge still goes to the AirPods Pro 3 for human voice suppression. If your commute is full of people talking and in all of that, that's going to make a difference. Now, when it comes to the 85 dB of airplane cabin noise, these are flat-out impressive. They're right on par with
4:36 the Sony XM6 and the AirPods Pro 3. If you fly often, these are going to have you covered. I was genuinely genuinely surprised. I I had to like keep taking them out and putting them back in. I'm like, I cannot believe that these are actually on par. Like, that blew me away. Now, the third scenario was real-world usage, coffee shops, walks, all that kind of thing. The adaptive ANC actually adapts and modulates smoothly between different environments, and it worked very, very well. Now, that's going to bring us to the transparency mode, and here we've got a natural, non-hissy, um you know, transparency mode. It works quite, quite well. I like I said, I would give it a strong 7.5 out of 10 if anything. Um but, AirPods Pro 3, they they still hold the crown in my personal opinion. They're a 10 out of 10 when it comes to transparency modes. So, this is something that I think Soundcore and many other companies need to continue
5:22 improving. Okay, so now let's talk about the AI note-taker, voiceprint, and screen controls. These are the three features that the regular Pro do not have. So, first, that AI note-taker. This is real. You activate it in the app, it records your meetings, uh you know, overall, and um then it transcribes it and summarizes it. In my testing, it actually worked quite well. It was accurate. It put it through real you know, like I put it through real conversations, different speakers, different speeds, casual cadence, technical jargon, and it kept up. The summaries pulled out actual action items, not just word salad. If you sit in meetings for a living, this could legitimately replace a third-party transcription service. That's not a small thing. Now, secondly, voice print recognition. The earbuds learn your voice, so in a mixed speaker environment, the transcription can
6:08 identify when you were talking versus everyone else. And setup took less than a minute. In my testing, it reliably distinguished my voice from others in the room. Useful? genuinely. If you're processing meetings after or if you're processing meeting notes after the fact, knowing what you said versus what someone else said is the difference between actionable notes and having just a plain old wall of text. Now, third, that's going to be the effortless screen control. And this is a voice control of your paired device, hands-free through the earbuds. And honestly, it works. It works surprisingly well, better than I even expected. You can trigger playback, you can open up apps, you can switch tracks back and forth, raise and lower volume, a bunch of different stuff, all without touching your phone. The voice recognition is accurate and the response time is surprisingly quick. Now, the
6:53 catch here is you have to memorize the exact voice commands. And you know, this isn't a conversational AI where you can say, "Hey, play that song I liked yesterday." and it figures it out. You have to learn the specific phrases Soundcore programmed in. So, there is learning curve there. Once you got the commands locked in, it's genuinely useful, especially when you're driving, cooking, or at the gym with your hands occupied. But if you're not willing to put in the 20 minutes to learn the command list, you'll forget this feature even exist, you know, after a week or two. Now, pro tip here, screenshot the command list from the Soundcore app on day one. And you know, you could either put that on the case as a note or you could put it on your phone. And that way it becomes more like muscle memory. Now, bottom line on this section, the AI note taker alone is doing the heavy lifting. Voice print is the cherry on top. Screen control is the bonus if you put in the work. If you're a working professional,
7:40 this is where the extra money starts to actually make sense. When it comes to battery life for the Liberty 5 Pro Max, the numbers are exactly the same as what I got from the Liberty 5 Pro. 12 hours in the buds, ANC off, AAC with noise cancellation on and LDAC running, it's closer to 6 hours. And the case takes you up to about 40 hours total combined. Now, when it comes to real world math, 3 hours a day, that's about 13 days worth of listening before you're hunting for a charger. We have Qi wireless charging on board as well. You can toss the case on your nightstand charging pad, it'll take care of it. We also have USB-C here, and that can top off the earbuds, you know, in about 90 minutes. At this price point, this is excellent. All the features are covered here. Now, when it comes to controls, we do have touch controls. Tap, double tap, triple tap, hold, all fully
8:26 customizable. The Soundcore app is one of the most feature-rich in the game, and on the Pro Max, you've got the AI Note Taker dashboard as well as the regular app. So, you got Voice Print set up here, ID 5.0 for personalized sound, custom EQ, ANC modes. If you like to tweak, you definitely want to get this app. Now, you don't have to get the app if you don't want to. The earbuds work stop, you know, right out of the box, but if you're buying the Liberty 5 Pro Max for all these added features, you'd be doing yourself a disservice by not using the Soundcore app. Now, are there any deal breakers here? So, first is going to be the LDAC versus AI features trade-off, you know, as the regular Liberty 5 Pro. You either get high-res or you get AI features, not both at once. Not horrible, but a bit annoying. Now, secondly, the touchscreen case is gorgeous and a fingerprint magnet. You
9:11 drop it on concrete and that screen cracks first, and that's a downside. So, you know, this is one of those things where if cases become available for the Liberty 5 Pro or Pro Max, you definitely want to get a case for that. That's not even that's non-negotiable. Now, third, this is the highest price earbuds Soundcore has ever launched at $229. You're paying a $60 premium over the regular Liberty 5 Pro. If you're not going to actually use that AI Note Taker or voice recognition in your real daily usage, that's money wasted. So, that's going to bring us over to the mic test samples. So, definitely check out the samples and let me know what you think down in the comments. All right, and here we have the microphone test for the Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro. So, testing, testing, 1 2 3. As you can see, I'm indoors in a semi-quiet room. So, testing, testing, 1 2 3.
9:56 All right, and here we have the microphone test for the Apple AirPods Pro 3rd generation. So, testing, testing, 1 2 3. As you can see, once again, I'm indoors in a semi-quiet room. So, testing, testing, 1 2 3. All right, and here we have the microphone test for the Sony WF-1000XM6. So, testing, testing, 1 2 3. As you can see, once again, I'm indoors in a semi-quiet room. So, testing, testing, 1 2 3. And here we have the Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro in a simulated crowd noise environment. So, something like a busy bar, a crowded restaurant, or something along those lines. So, testing, testing, 1 2 3. And here we have the Apple AirPods Pro 3 in a simulated crowd noise environment. So, something like a busy bar, a crowded restaurant, or something along those lines. So, testing, testing, 1 2 3.
10:45 And here we have the Sony WF-1000XM6 in a simulated crowd noise environment. So, something like a busy bar, a crowded restaurant, or something along those lines. So, testing, testing, 1 2 3. Now, for the final verdict. You know, I would say, buy these earbuds if you're a working professional who sits in meetings, take notes, processes calls, or runs a team. The AI note taker alone could pay for the price difference in time saved within a month. You want, you know, and also, if you're somebody who wants flagship-tier ANC and sound at, you know, sub-flagship money. You're an Android user with LDAC, or you travel a lot and want airplane-grade noise cancellation in your pocket. Liberty 5 Pro Max going to be an excellent choice for you. But, who should skip these? If you're never going to use the AI note taker, and come on, be honest with
11:31 yourself here. If you don't take meetings, don't process calls, and don't sit through anything that needs transcribing, the regular Liberty 5 Pro at 169 gives you 90% of what the Pro Max gives you for $60 less. Same sound, same ANC, same battery, a very similar touchscreen case, you know, cuz basically you're paying the $60 additional specifically for the AI features. If you'll use them, buy the Pro Max. If you're not going to, buy the Pro and put the $60 towards better kit better ear tips and case cover, you know, something like that. And lastly, as always, dude, wait for discounts. So, Soundcore will definitely be dropping the price on these at some point in the near future. So, if you don't need the latest and greatest right now, your patience will be rewarded. But for everybody else who just needs that latest and greatest right now, knock
12:17 yourselves out. This is an excellent set of earbuds. So, with all of that out of the way and for full disclosure, Soundcore did send over the Liberty 5 Pro Max for testing and review purposes. However, this is not a sponsored video by Soundcore. All of the opinions and everything in this video are my own. Soundcore was not allowed to read my script or see the video prior to N being published. They're watching this at the same time that you are. Now, I say all of this to you because I believe in transparency and honesty with you as the viewer. Please be sure to watch multiple reviews on the Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro Max before you make your final purchase decision. Now, if you want to check out my review of the Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro non-Max, check out the link I'm going to leave for you right up here on the screen. With that said, my name is Heffe and I'm out. Peace.
