Soundcore Liberty 2 Pro Upgraded Version Review

The Liberty 2 Pro Upgraded Version, also known as the Liberty 2 Pro+, are an interesting pair of earbuds from Soundcore. As the name suggests, these earbuds are a slight improvement to their previous Liberty 2 Pro model that features higher quality codec support as well as support for transparency mode.

Video Review

Soundcore
Liberty 2 Pro+

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Design

If you know the design of the Liberty 2 Pro, you’ll already be familiar with the design of the Liberty 2 Pro+ as it is pretty much identical. Don’t worry, I’ll still talk you through the design and let you know my thoughts as there are a couple of differences.

The Liberty 2 Pro+ are only available in one colourway, which features a slate grey and black design with some shiny copper accents for the logo. The earbuds feature a plastic construction which keeps them lightweight, and a matte finish can be found across the earbuds, aside for the bit which goes into your ear which is glossy. Having a matte finish around the main exterior parts of the earbuds will help them last longer as they will be less prone to scratches and scuffs that can show during regular use.

Despite the lightweight build, I do think that the size of the Liberty 2 Pro+ is a little large, especially in comparison to some other earbuds I’ve tested and generally in comparison to other earbuds being released in 2021. This found me needing to use some larger ear tips to be able to get a comfortable and secure fit in the ear as they felt a little loose otherwise, luckily Soundcore does include plenty of different sized ear tips in the box so you can find the best fit, but I’m hoping for a slightly more low-profile design for the Liberty 3 Pro.

Aside from their large size, the earbuds otherwise have a clean looking design. The outer side of the earbuds has a large surface area that features the Soundcore logo as well as a microphone. Despite its size, this surface is not a touch surface – the buttons to interact with the earbuds are found on the top alongside an ear letter indicator. These clicky buttons control track controls, play/pause and your phone’s voice assistant but they can be customised in the Soundcore app to include volume controls if you wish – which is nice.

The bottom of the earbuds has some charging pads which are used for charging the earbuds in their charging case. The earbuds also feature earwings that help hold the earbuds in your ear – if you plan to use these earbuds whilst running or doing sports, this may be handy. The bud part of the earbuds is also at a slight angle which should give the earbuds a more ergonomic fit within the ear.

The overall design of these earbuds is very nice and they are comfortable to wear, although their larger design does make them seem a little behind the times when there are much more compact earbuds on the market – even from Soundcore.

Charging Case

Like the earbuds, the Liberty 2 Pro+’s charging case feels very familiar to the one found on their predecessor, the charging case has a rounded shape and a lid that slides backwards revealing the earbuds inside. I have to say, I still do really like this style of how the lid opens, there’s just something different about it that makes it unique.

The case features a matte grey exterior with a glossy black interior. I’m not sure why the case would feature a glossy black interior as I imagine that this would get easily scratched and scuffed from taking out and putting the earbuds into the charging case.

This form-factor of charging case does make it a bit large, maybe that’s a trend with these earbuds, but I still found it to be easily pocketable and to carry around when needed. The case features a USB Type-C port on the back for charging and supports wireless charging, nice touch, there’s also a button on the back for pairing the earbuds to a new device.

Sound Quality

The Liberty 2 Pro+ feature 11mm drivers which offer a dynamic listening experience for listening to music. Like many Soundcore products, the sound profile of the earbuds can be adjusted in their companion app so you can adjust the earbuds to your preference and to suit what you listen to – but I’ve stuck to the default Soundcore Signature profile for my testing.

The earbuds different bass, mid and treble frequency ranges manage to sit alongside one another quite nicely. The earbuds feature punchy bass that sounds immersive yet controlled, mid frequencies sound nice and over good clarity and smoothness for vocals and instruments. I did find the treble to sound a little sharp at times with instruments such as hi-hats sticking out a little too much when listening, however, I found that the earbuds did sound better in this regard in their LDAC mode, although LDAC is not compatible on all devices – more on that in a bit.

The earbuds feature a wide soundscape and provide good stereo separation which helps you feel immersed in what you’re listening to, this works well for not only music but also if you want to watch a movie or a TV show. I also found the earbuds to offer plenty of volume and didn’t find myself needing to go over 50% volume to listen at a comfortable level.

The earbuds have an overall good sound to them, the bass is rich but the mid and treble is also very clear – it’s well balanced across the board. The sharpness of the treble was not apparent in all the songs I listened to, although it did happen a few times and it can be resolved by adjusting the sound profile in the Soundcore app.

Microphone Quality

The quality of the microphones on the Liberty 2 Pro+ is okay, but there’s nothing too special about them. The microphones managed to pick up my voice clearly and to a decent volume, however it did sound a little muffled. This could be as a result of the noise-cancelling built into the microphones, but they should still be clear enough for making phone calls.

Features

The Liberty 2 Pro+ feature Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity with support for the LDAC, AAC and SBC codecs. LDAC is the big new feature for these earbuds as it will be able to provide a higher-quality listening experience as it can stream high-resolution audio up to 32-bit/96kHz over Bluetooth at up to 990kbps.

If you have an Android device, you should be able to connect to the earbuds with LDAC by selecting the LDAC option in the Soundcore app, although it’s worth double-checking to see if your device is LDAC-compatible. Apple devices don’t support LDAC at all out of the box, so there’s not much benefit to these earbuds over the prior Liberty 2 Pro model, as they still support AAC. So, there’s only a real benefit to these earbuds if you want to use LDAC or transparency mode.

Yes – you heard that right, these earbuds feature transparency mode but interestingly no active noise cancellation. The transparency mode works fairly well and there’s no annoyingly loud hissing noise to be heard when the mode is active, there is a bit of a muffled sound to the mode but it’s a welcome addition to have. The earbuds also feature an IPX4 water resistance rating, making them great for use during exercise as you don’t have to worry about getting a bit of sweat on them.

I’ve mentioned the Soundcore app a few times so far in this review, but I thought it would be worth mentioning what is possible within the app for these earbuds. HearID allows you to create a custom sound profile based on what frequencies your ears are most sensitive to, you can also switch between Soundcore’s EQ profiles as well as profiles from professionals or just make your own. You can also switch between modes, update the firmware of the earbuds as well as change what functions the buttons perform when pressed.

Battery Life

The Liberty 2 Pro+ feature up to 7 hours of playtime on a single charge and up to 26 hours of listening when you take the charging case into account, this can vary depending on your listening conditions and volume, particularly if you choose to enable LDAC, but should be a good amount of listening time to get you through the day.

When it comes to charging the earbuds, they support fast charging which is nice to see, 15 minutes of charging will give you 3 hours of listening. This is certainly handy if you’re running low on battery and need that little bit extra listening time. It’ll take around 2 hours to fully charge the earbuds. The charging case supports both wired and wireless charging, which is an added convenience. Wireless charging is a little slower, taking 3 hours in comparison to 2 hours of charging with a cable.

Conclusion

The Soundcore Liberty 2 Pro+ are in an interesting place as they are a small change from the previous Liberty 2 Pro model as they do show their age in some areas. I do think that the inclusion of LDAC and transparency mode will be beneficial for some users, so if you need those feature’s these earbuds will be great for you – but if you want to save a bit of money, the Liberty 2 Pro’s are still a good option.

The Soundcore Liberty 2 Pro+ (Upgraded Version) are available to purchase on Amazon.