Let me start by saying I am not a sound professional. I know what I like as far as the sounds I want, fit, value, etc. I don’t mind dripping some coin for good earbuds, but when a deal is good, a deal is good. I watched the release of these and ordered my Liberty Air 2 Pro on the same day and watched my email on a daily basis looking forward. The package arrived quickly, and as with the Liberty 2 Pro, I was impressed with the quality of the packaging itself. It may seem like a little thing, but when the packaging feels solid, you feel like the product contained is a solid product as well.
So far so good. Popping out the case, I definitely noticed the feel and texture of the case itself. There’s something about a nice, matte finish that just glides in your hand without slipping that just feels quality, and the sheen of the case gives it a very premium feel (which I can’t say for a LOT of other earbuds that cost twice as much…lookin’ at you, Technic.
So I opened the box, and…
Everything looked great! I have a blue phone so I figured blue would be a theme and plus, who has blue buds? I figured why not have something more fun. Per the usual Soundcore offerings, I dug further and found the usual assortment of cables and eartips, which are quite the assortment though I had my issues (more on this later)
The cover of the case slides up with a rather satisfying click. Immediately, the lights come on and you can see how much charge is in the case itself. A really cool touch, but when you have the buds in there, you can slide the case shut and the indicator lights on the front will tell you if BOTH buds are in the case, or if only ONE of them is and WHICH one is in the case (so if the left side if missing, if you snap the case shut, the right light will blink but the left one will not.) It’s a little thing, but major kudos to Soundcore for that little touch.
Taking out the earbuds, I compared the size to the Apple’s AirPod Pro:
The stems are ever so slightly longer, but they also manage to lay relatively flat against the ear. The AirPod Pros curl in a bit so that helps maintain a slightly tighter profile, but overall, the LA2P do a good job staying closer to the face instead of sticking out.
OVERALL PRESENTATION - 9
So unboxing aside, I updated the firmware, charged 'em up, connected them and then took 'em for a spin.
SOUND**
I’m not gonna lie, I don’t get all fancy with the terminology because the average, everyday listener doesn’t know how to differentiate high-mid and mid-low, no idea what a sound stage is, you get it. The only thing most folks know is if it sounds good to them, if the sound is clear, if a song has any spatial effects then what they would sound like, etc. I can honestly say that I though the sound on these were very, very good. Tones were clear and crisp, I could hear the deeper tones very clearly and rumbly (ever heard The Hu? They got some deep bass there), the higher tones were nice and clean without getting piercing, and the music and voices sounded overall very full. Again, emphasis on CLARITY of sound, no mushiness, no muffled tones, everything sounded clear. I played with the equalizer (and the HearID), and found a setting I liked and I was off and running (not literally). I tested the audio with the following tracks:
The Hu - Wolf Totem (I don’t speak Mongolian, but this track makes me want to run through a wall)
Five Finger Death Punch - Lift Me Up
The Pretty Reckless - Heaven Knows
Wu-Tang Clan - C.R.E.A.M.
Linkin Park - Session
Late NIght Special - Don’t Leave Me Lonely
George Winston - Colors
I also tested the audio with a couple of movies and streaming services and I didn’t see any difference in the timing between on-screen and in-ear. Sound seemed to sync up pretty nicely. Spatially, you can hear sound effects to the left, right, fading in and out, etc. Overall, a good experience and the voices/dialogue was very clear. Basically, the sound on these? Excellent.
OVERALL SOUND - 10
Fit
This is where I have my issues. I understand people have different shaped ears, and I have always struggled to find earbuds that fit in and stay in. I have AirPod Pros, and I have to attach wingtips to make sure they stay in my ear. I have the Jabra Active Elite 75t and they stay in pretty well, all things considered. I also have the Soundcore LIfe Dot 2, and those absolutely stay in as long as I’m using the included wingtips.
My outer ear is somewhat shallow. The Liberty 2 Pros stuck out a lot out of my head. The Bose SoundSport Free made me look like the Frankenstein Monster. If earbuds stick out, they will fall out. These (FOR ME) do not stay in my ear for the life of me. They look like they should, but I can’t shake the feeling that they constantly feel loose and almost hanging out of my ear, almost ready to fall out. I know that they go in, then you turn the stem and they are supposed to “lock”. I turned, twisted, pushed, squeezed, and no matter what I did, they constantly felt loose. I tried every single ear tip provided, and I even tried other eartips and I just had no luck: these did not stay in my ear securely (especially the left side).
I also found that while wearing them, if I was eating and my mouth was moving, they would wiggle and lose the seal. I don’t know that I’ve ever had any earbuds that have ever done that, but this was a first for me. Basically, what this means is that if I’m wearing them, I can’t move my mouth at all.
Ultimately, if I was wearing them and I’m just listening without talking to anyone, not eating, not moving my mouth for whatever reason, and as long as I’m not moving around too much, then they can stay in place. Seems like a lot to ask to for earbuds to just…stay put.
EDIT It should be noted that my experience and fit is HIGHLY subjective. The overall fit of these buds is going to vary from person-to-person. For me, due to the size and depth of my ear as well as the shape of the parts around the ear (see comments below for explanation), this is not going to be a great fit. As a point of reference, the following earbuds do NOT stay in my ears:
- Apple ORIGINAL earpods
- Apple Airpods/Airpods Pro (Can be made to stay through added wingtips)
- Soundcore LIberty Air (original) - They stayed in ONLY if you pressed on the tips as far into your ear canal as possible.
OVERALL FIT - UNDETERMINED DUE TO SUBJECTIVITY OF FIT
Features
The easiest way to write this is in bullet points:
- I had a problem with these features. The tapping motions weren’t always responsive, sometimes resulting in multiple taps, which would play/pause/play/pause/play/pause. Kind of annoying.
- Active Noise Canceling was just…ok. Not great, just…ok. It filtered out a good amount of sound, but again, not great. Just…ok. You do get that ANC “pressurized” feeling, but yet, I found lots of outside sound still found its way in. I tried every adjustment, but yeah, I could most definitely hear sound around me anyway.
- Transparency Mode is terribly unimpressive. My wife was about 5 feet away from me, I had transparency mode on, there was no outside sound at all, and I could barely hear her speaking in her normal voice. My Jabra 75t and my AirPod Pros picked up her sound just fine, but the transparency mode for these earbuds really aren’t very good at all. That’s not to say that you don’t hear ANYTHING, but you certainly don’t hear EVERYTHING, and even less, voices. It’s just got to be louder and fairly close, which sort of defeats the purpose of transparency mode if you can’t really hear everything around you for situational awareness.
- Wireless Charging is AWESOME. Again, a very cool feature that isn’t talked about: if you only put in one earbud and you slide the case closed, the light for the right or left on the front indicator will blink, indicating which bud is in the case and which one isn’t. Is it a “MUST-SEE-THIS-IS-AMAZING” feature? No, but it is a very nice little touch.
OVERALL FEATURES - 5
FINAL VERDICT
I tried to like them, I wanted to like them, but if they don’t stay in my ears, I’m not really sure what good they are to me. The sound is outstanding, but if I can’t hear it because the bud doesn’t stay in, and the transparency mode is doing more blocking than transparenncy-ing, that may not be enough for me to want to keep 'em. It’s too bad because I was really excited about these and again, the sound quality cannot be understated, they really do sound good and CLEAR.
Ultimately, would I say buy these? I guess buy at your own risk. I’m sure these may stay put for many users, but if you’re the kind of person who has trouble with earbuds staying put because your outer ear is somewhat shallow, then these may not be for you. If you are the type whose outer ear is a little deeper, transparency mode isn’t a dealbreaker but a bonus, and you really appreciate good clear sound, then they may work better for you. At the very least, Soundcore has TOP IN CLASS customer service, so you know you can always get support.
Cheers!
I hope they can optimize it more with future updates