The Review: The Soundcore Liberty 3 Pro
The Soundcore Liberty 3 Pro is one of the best sounding earbuds I've purchased. I know, bold praises considering I've yet tried other earbuds, such as the Sony WF-1000XM4 and Bose QuietComfort, both highly praised for their sound quality and garnering positive reviews from several publications. But the Liberty 3 Pro comes highly praised and is considered one of the best under $200 earbuds on the market. But does it check the boxes regarding sound quality, design, and features? Are the positive reviews deserving? The Liberty 3 Pro has been in my possession for two weeks, giving me enough time to fully assess the sound quality and features.
The Liberty 3 Pro review, let's get to it.
Design and Comfort
The Liberty 3 Pro has an oval-shaped design similar to the Soundcore Liberty 2 Pro but more refined and sleeker. It's made entirely of silicone/plastic with an IPX4 protection rating against dust and water. In addition, you have a choice between four color variants; Midnight Black, Frost White, Dusk Purple, and Fog Gray.
The noticeable issue with these earbuds is that they protrude out of the ears quite a bit, making them appear uncomfortable in the ears to onlookers. But surprisingly, that's not the case. Instead, it's lightweight and fits comfortably in my ears. Of course, your choice between ear tips and fins plays a significant role in overall comfort. The earbuds come with four different silicone ear tips and stability fins for a suitable and excellent fit. The Liberty 3 Pro fit perfectly in my ears right out of the box. So there was no need to change the tips and fins. But not all ears are the same; some ear canals are significantly bigger than others, so you'll probably need to choose the appropriate fins and tips.
Even though they slightly stick out of the ears, I did not experience ear pain fatigue after prolonged usage, which is not the case with earbuds I've purchased in the past. In addition, an aggressive head movement that includes exercising the Liberty 3 Pro remains in the ears. Overall, the build quality is quite impressive.
Sound and ANC
Admittedly, I'm no audiophile, so my take on sound quality is based solely on my listening experience. However, after listening to several tracks from Spotify, I'm pretty impressed with the overall sound clarity. There are intense highs with punchy bass. Kanye's Hurricane, which is a heavy bass song, sounds phenomenal.
Users can tweak sound using the Soundcore app ( available for Android and iOS). For me, it's one of the most significant selling points with these earbuds. Apps like this are why I'm such a big fan of the Samsung Galaxy Buds, which I also own. It's intuitive with a clean interface. Users can access many valuable features of the Liberty 3 Pro earbuds, including adjusting ANC and Transparency mode settings. The app also allows you to customize on-ear controls and access the eight-band EQ under Sound Effects.
Let's talk about the Liberty 3 Pro; another selling point is ANC (active noise cancellation). The fact that such technology now exists in earbuds is a remarkable feat. The question that begs to be answered is, how is the ANC? Surprisingly, the ANC in these earbuds functions very well ( they also have three different transparency modes). A feature you'll find instrumental is HearID ANC; it analyzes your ears and level of ear pressure tailoring profile, optimizing noise reduction and minimizing sound suitable for your ears. Even in the noisiest environments, such as being on a subway train, the Liberty 3 Pro still delivers optimal ANC.
Case and Battery
The Soundcore Liberty 3 Pro's case has an excellent pebble-shaped sturdy design made of plastic with a matte black color scheme. There are three LED lights in front of the case, indicating battery life.
Regarding battery life, Soundcaire advertises up to 8-hour playtime, 32 hours in total, with a charging case. I got up to only 4.5 hours in my test, but that's with the ANC mode enabled. When I switched it to Normal mode, I got the advertised total 8-hour playtime.
The charging case has Qi wireless technology. A 15-minute quick charge will give you 2 hours of playtime. It's worth noting these are powerful earbuds, and yet even in ANC mode, you still get a decent amount of playtime.
Final Thoughts
So does the Liberty 3 Pro check the boxes regarding design, features, and sound quality? The answer is yes. The earbuds deliver powerful audio and have high-quality active noise cancellation for under $200. Suppose you are looking for premium earbuds but don't want to spend a lot of money. It would be rather difficult for me to recommend any other earbuds but the Liberty 3 Pro.
