I didn’t realize this review was going to be this detailed when I started writing it, but I hope some people will find it helpful.
OK, I gave these five stars based on the value for the money paid. In that regard, these are excellent true wireless earbuds. I’m not an audiophile, so my opinion about sound quality shouldn’t mean much to anyone interested in that. I usually only listen to podcasts and audiobooks, so the sound quality for music just doesn’t matter to me. But I do have a pair of Airpods2, (not the Airpods Pro, I have no experience with those) and I can compare them to those, which I hope will give people an idea of what to expect vs Airpods, which I would imagine almost everyone knows someone who has Airpods and could get a little hands on experience with them from a friend.
So how do they compare? Surprisingly well, actually.
Noise cancelling:
This is the only reason I even purchased the Liberty Neo’s. Airpods have no noise cancelation whatsoever and I wanted some earbuds that would allow me to listen to my podcasts and audiobooks while mowing the lawn and doing other various chores. To be fair, I don’t think Airpods are designed for this, so it isn’t a knock against them, but they are useless for things like mowing, none the less. You can crank the volume of the Airpods to the max, and while no doubt doing damage to your hearing, you still can’t make out what’s being said in the podcast. With the Neo’s, I barely had to turn them up a little louder than my normal listening volume and was able to hear perfectly while running a leaf blower full blast pretty close to my face for testing purposes. They feel like the block out a lot of the external sounds, and it doesn’t feel like I’m doing any damage to my hearing. Advantage: The Neo’s win this category and it isn’t close.
Sound quality:
As I said earlier, I’m not the best judge of this category, and rarely listen to music through either pair, but when I do, I would say the Airpods sound slightly better.
Advantage: Airpods, slightly.
Call quality:
The Airpods work really well for this, I’ve owned this pair for about 9 months now, and had other pairs previously, and I don’t think I’ve ever had anyone complain that they couldn’t hear me or I sounded far off etc. and I can actually hear whoever I’m talking to better than I could using the phone normally holding up to your ear like a normal phone. With the Neo’s, I haven’t had them nearly as long, but my experience with the phone calls has been that I can hear the person I’m talking to ok, but have been asked several times to speak up, or repeat myself. Advantage: solidly to the Airpods
Battery Life:
The Airpods last about 3 – 4 hours of normal podcasts listenting while I’m at work. The Neo’s lasted 4-5. The Neo’s case also seems to be able to go longer between charging. Advantage: Neo’s
Design/ useful features:
The Airpods are very well thought out, and have a lot of useful features. Like being able to just say hey siri, auto ear sensing, to that music pauses when you remove an earbud, and the list goes on and I think is pretty well known by everyone. The Neo’s can do a lot of these things like pause music with a tap of right ear, and skip to next song with some combination of taps to the left ear etc. But they don’t have the auto ear sensing, and it just doesn’t flow as seamlessly as Airpod’s but they also are less than a third of Airpod’s price. Advantage: Airpods
Ability to use either bud by itself:
This could have gone under the useful features section, but I felt it was important enough for it’s own category. It’s amazing to me the number of true wireless earbuds, many of them that cost as much and even more than the Airpods that don’t have this feature. For people like me, who just use one ear at a time and listen to podcasts and audiobooks, this is the feature. With my Airpods, I could theoretically listen for a couple of days straight, by charging one bud in the case while listening to the other. Many other brands will allow you to listen to only the right earbud for instance, but not only the left earbud, so you can’t charge the right one while listening to the left. And this is the main reason I chose my Airpods through 3 pairs of them now. And Airpods do it flawlessly; you can switch back and forth between each earbud, and only have to tap the new one to start the podcast back up. You can switch between them while on a phone call, if one starts to run down, and the person you’re talking to never even knows it happened. You just add the second earbud to your other ear, wait until the sound starts coming through it too, and then remove the one that has the low battery and put it in the charging case. Never even a slight interruption of the call. I bought the Neo’s planning to only use them for when I wanted noise cancelling so this feature didn’t matter to me at all when I purchased these. But was pleasantly surprised to find out they do it as well. Amazing that a product at this price point can do things that Bose, Samsung, and Sennheiser among others can’t (at least according to what I’ve read about them, haven’t tried any of these in person, but considered them all when shopping for my 3rd pair of Airpods and would have bought one of them if they could have done this). Now, they don’t do it nearly as seamlessly as Airpods, in fact, it’s sort of a pain, but they can do it. And again, they are less than 1/3 the price of the Airpods. For those interested, in order to do it, when you pair these, the right one actually pairs with your phone, and the left one then pairs with the right one. So you can use just the right one without doing anything. Just take it out of the case and use it. To use just the left one, you have to put both of them in the case, take out just the left one, hold down the button until it turns off (light flashes red), then push the button again to turn it on, on your phone you should now see Liberty Neo L, pair this with your phone and now you can use just the left one. If you just had to do this once, then no big deal, but unfortunately, you have to do it every time you want to use just the left one. Advantage: Airpods, but at least the Neo’s can do it
Customer Service:
Apple is well known for their excellent customer service and warranty support. If you live in or near a decent sized city, then you most likely have access to an Apple store complete with genius bar, for instant or same day at least, support. I’ve had many iPhones, iPads, and 3 pairs of Airpods, and have never had a bad customer service experience with Apple. So they’ve set a pretty high bar for Anker to have to reach in a comparison. But in my opinion, they have done it. I have several Anker products as well, and all of them have been high quality. I was going through charging cables like crazy until I found Anker. I bought 4 of theirs, 1 for the car, 2 for the house, 1 small one to use with the battery, and haven’t had to buy another in 3 years. I also had one of their external batteries for charging my phone. It worked great for over a year, but began to not charge as it should. It was still under warranty, I contacted customer service and they sent me a new one with no hassles, and no need to return the old one. Since I’ve had the Neo’s, I’ve talked to Sunny in customer service and told her that I was wanting to use these for mowing, and was wanting to know what size of the comply foam tips I should order from comply. She patiently talked to me through several emails back and forth, and offered me the ones they had on hand, the only problem was they were size xs, since I’m an average sized guy, I figured they’d be too small. But she offered to send me two pairs for only $5, which is much cheaper than buying through comply, and when I got them, they worked great. I don’t think they block out the sound any better than the silicone tips that came with the Neo’s, but they do it just as good, and to me are more comfortable. Advantage: Tie, they are both very good.
Quality:
In comparing the Airpods 2 to the Neo’s, for now, I’d say it’s pretty equal. Both seem well made and have worked as they are supposed to so far. I’ve only had the Airpods 2, for about nine months now, and the Neo’s for a couple of weeks. With both of them, so far so good. But if I were comparing to the original Airpods I would probably give the advantage to the Neo’s, if they hold up for a year. The reason for this, and the reason I’ve had 3 pairs of Airpods, is I bought the originals as soon as they came out for all of the reasons mentioned in the comparison/ review above. But after about 6 months, the left Airpod starting losing it’s volume. Apple replaced with the great warranty and customer service mentioned above, but then about a month later the right one started doing the same thing. Apple replaced it too. So now that would be my second pair. After about six to nine months, this pair started doing the same thing, and of course the warranty was no longer in effect. I decided their quality just wasn’t deserving of the $160 price tag, and shopped around for other brands, but as mentioned above, none of them would allow you to listen to either ear by itself. By this time Apple had come out with the Airpods 2, so , hoping that they had fixed the flaw with my first two pairs. I shelled out another $160 and bought those. So far so good, the flaw does seem to be fixed. But I will update if either of these have problems. Advantage: Tie, for now, but time will tell and I will update this if anything changes with either set.
And the winner is:
For me this is a close one. Obviously, the Airpods have a lot of advantages, and if the price were even close to the same, then the Airpods would be the winner. But the price isn’t close; the Airpods are more than 3 times more expensive. So are the Airpods better then the Neo’s? Absolutely. Are they 3 times better? That’s a question people would have to judge for themselves. For me, the answer is no. If I had found these before I bought the Airpods2, I wouldn’t have bought the Airpods2. There just wouldn’t be enough need for me to justify it. If I was someone who had to use them for phone calls for my business or something like that, then yeah, I think the Airpods are worth the extra money in that case. Thanks for reading, I hope you found this helpful.
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Product Description
Features To Go Further
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Graphene-Enhanced SoundUtilizing the unique strength and lightness of graphene, Liberty Neo reproduces music with astonishing clarity. Audio is presented in ultra-fine resolution to reveal details that ordinary earphones are simply unable to achieve. |
Extended Playtime3.5 hours of non-stop music is extended to 12 hours with the charging case. Recharge Liberty Neo even when you’re on the road. |
Bluetooth 5Using satellite technology (LDS antenna) Liberty Neo maintains a super-strong Bluetooth connection. Get flawless, skip-free audio up to 33 ft. |
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IPX7 Water ResistantThanks to a precision-designed casing, Liberty Neo prevents water and sweat from penetrating and damaging its sensitive components. |
Stereo Handsfree CallsUnlike ordinary truly-wireless earphones that deliver calls through a single earpiece, Liberty Neo provides in-call stereo sound. |
Mini Charging CaseNo larger than a car key, the charging case slides effortlessly into any pocket or bag. |
Compare with similar items
This Item  Soundcore Upgraded, Anker Liberty Neo True Wireless Earbuds, Pumping Bass, IPX7 Waterproof, Secure Fit, Bluetooth 5 Headphones, Stereo Calls, Noise Isolation, One Step Pairing, Sports, Work Out |  |  |  |  |  | |
| Price | Currently unavailable. | $49.99 | -13% $69.99 List: $79.99 | -28% $35.99 New Price: $49.99 | -28% $42.99 New Price: $59.99 | $29.99 |
| Delivery | — | Get it as soon as Thursday, May 16 | Get it as soon as Thursday, May 16 | Get it as soon as Thursday, May 16 | Get it as soon as Thursday, May 16 | Get it as soon as Thursday, May 16 |
| Customer Ratings | ||||||
| Battery life | ||||||
| Sound quality | ||||||
| Noise cancellation | ||||||
| Value for money | ||||||
| Comfort | ||||||
| Sold By | — | AnkerDirect | AnkerDirect | AnkerDirect | AnkerDirect | AnkerDirect |
| connectivity tech | Bluetooth 5.0 | Wireless | Wireless | Wireless | Wireless | Wireless |
| headphones form factor | In Ear | In Ear | In Ear | In Ear | In Ear | In Ear |
| connector type | Ture Wireless Bluetooth Connection | usb | wireless | wireless | wireless | usb-c,wireless |
| noise control | sound isolation | active noise cancellation | active noise cancellation | active noise cancellation | active noise cancellation | — |
| headphones jack | Wireless | 3.5 mm Jack | 3.5 mm Jack | — | — | USB |
| cable feature | Without Cable | Without Cable | Without Cable | Without Cable | Without Cable | Without Cable |
Videos
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Soundcore Liberty Neo Review by TechyEdgy YouTube Channel
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These are the best earbuds on the market for this reason!
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A Critical Review of the Anker Soundcore Liberty Neo earbuds.
Will
Reviews with images
Custom Fitastic!
I have 5 sets of bluetooth headphones in the house. Some with a wire between them, others without. These are the best and here's why.1. Custom Fit. Anker gives you a few more accessories to taylor the fit to your ear than the other guys. It is really nice to have two "medium sizes". I found that I preferred the smaller of the two. The little tuck tabs also work great and again, you have many options here as well.2. The sound is great. It's a very good balanced sound and it is clear enough to hear any imperfections in our digital music. I'm a music guy, so sound quality is important to me. I gave it a 5/5 stars but temper your expectations. I found it to have more than enough bass, and mids and highs were crisp and detailed. I gave it 5/5 as I'm comparing it against other wireless bluetooth earbuds. Comparing these to audiophile plugged-in headphones is unfair.3. Noise Cancellation. It cancels noise because it plugs your ear canal. That's it. These should even have a noise cancellation rating as I think that should be reserved strictly for Active Noise Cancellation.4. At the Gym. These are the buds you're looking for. I am retiring "the other best selling Amazon (MPOW Bluetooth wire connected earbuds)" for these Anker Soundcore's. I am so sick of the wiring pulling on one side or the other. These buds give you the freedom to move your head around and do all of those Crossfit or HIIT workouts without risk of the buds coming out.5. So far the battery life seems to be as promised. I haven't done a full load to full drain time test, and I probably won't. I'm really good about plugging my stuff in and keeping it charged, but even if you're not, the case charges the buds a couple times for you. I'm sure if you have a desk job, the "case charging" will come in handy.6. Connectivity. Instant. Bluetooth 5.0 is really nice. Pull them out and they are paired. Since I use these at the gym, I have them paired with my Apple Watch. I have no phone on me. That is sweet sweet freedom.7. Charging. Plug it in using Micro USB. Charge away. The lights tell you charging status. USB-C would have been nice but for one Ulysses Grant, I'm not complaining.8. Build. Seems to be solid. Case snaps open and closed firmly. The buds are strong, nothing flimsy about them. If Anker were smart, they would offer various colored "tuck" bands for these as it would allow people to have a more customized look.9. The Case. It's a lot smaller in person than what you see on YouTube videos. I call that a plus. It also doesn't look like a dental floss container or cost 2 bones.10. What's Odd? The logo. It looks nice, and someone obviously spent a little bit of time thinking about it, but for a product called the Anker Soundcore Liberty Neo, you would think it would have been an "S" logo for Soundcore, or a Liberty Neo logo. Instead they just grabbed a random letter in the middle of the word Soundcore for their branding of these. So enjoy putting the "d" in your ears. ;-)I was impressed enough by these buds that I wrote this review almost immediately after receiving them. I also took all of my custom silicone parts off and put on smaller ones just so my wife could try them. She was impressed as well, which means I will probably have to buy these again... hmmm... Mother's Day is coming up...If I lost these, or needed another set, I wouldn't hesitate to buy them again. Well done Anker. Also, I didn't receive these as a promotion and I am in no way associated with Anker. I'm just a happy customer who received a product that was better than expected.
Top reviews from other countries
Rupert Pupkin
Great sound quality, far better than I initially expected from reading the Reviews
Reviewed in Canada on July 27, 2019Luca
Buon rapporto QUALITÀ - PREZZO
Reviewed in Italy on May 8, 2020
Luca
Reviewed in Italy on May 8, 2020
PRO:
- Ci mette abbastanza a scaricarsi e poco a caricarsi
- Ottimo fit del padiglione, inoltre con i gommini per lo "sport" è davvero impossible perderle
- Per quanto costano si sento bene, bassi non eccessivamente pronunciati e tutto sommato una buona equalizzazione sonora
- Pairing veloce e pratico
- Case di buona manifattura
CONTRO:
- Nonostante la buona manifattura il case è un po' grosso
- Il tasto non è touch ma fisico (ci sono un sacco di gesture) però a volte può dare un pelo fastidio la pressione sull'orecchio
Il bilancio alla fine è POSITIVO e queste cuffie le consiglio a chi non cerca una qualità audio esageratamente alta, ma piuttosto comfort, comodità e praticità. In particolare se fate sport come me vi renderete conto di quanto siano stabili sull'orecchio.
Images in this review
