Expert’s Rating
Pros
Cons
Our Verdict
Despite offering extraordinary battery liveliness , the Zolo Liberty+ ’s less than stellar audio performance and modest - but - frequent connectivity issues make them difficult to recommend .
Anker has been making high-pitched quality mobile accessories and selling them at a sane cost for years . Their audio brand , Zolo , is in on this action too : The fellowship ’s first truly wireless headphones , the $ 150Zolo Liberty+ , are indeed reasonably priced . You ’ll get the tenacious lasting battery life of any unfeignedly wireless earphones that I ’ve tested so far . However , connectivity issues and fair sound mean you might not want to listen for too long .
Design
In - ear headphone plan does n’t deviate much — the things have to be form to fit into a user ’s ear , after all — but Zolo did well in this expanse . The Liberty+ comfortably suit into my auricle right out of the box , and even if it had n’t , Zolo includes three different capitulum tip sizes and four distich of ‘ Grip Fit ’ sleeves to create a good seal and keep the earphones in topographic point .
Multifunction buttons are built into the back of each earbud . Tapping both while the earbuds are in their battery case begins the pairing process with your euphony source . One couple , the clit are used to resume or pause music , accept or reject a call , or interact with your machine ’s practical help .
The earphones have an IPX rating of 5 , making them more or less stew insubordinate . I tire them in the cascade to test this — and they survived the waterspout . While I do n’t urge repeating my experiment as a regular practice session , the Liberty+ does seem well - made and should fatigue well if properly cared for .
The Liberty+ ’s barrage fire case is swathed in a silken , Al shell — a gracious upgrade from the distinctive moldable font I see . The fount ’s exceedingly slippery exterior takes away from some of its luster , however . I also found that while the cause firmly put in the earphone , ensuring that they charge correctly , take away the earbuds from their provenience is difficult .
For shelling living , Anker leverage its know - how from its USB power bank patronage when designing the Liberty+ ’s case : It can provide the earbuds with a sensational 48 hours worth of full playtime . unluckily , though , the national battery inside of the earbuds only allow for around three hours of function between charges . In my review ofSony ’s $ 199 WF-1000x earpiece , I criticize the earpiece for precisely the same reason . However , for a band that costs tight to $ 50 less than the Sony ones do , it ’s a defect that ’s a little easier to swallow .
Listening Experience
According to Zolo , the Liberty+ features 6 millimeter Graphene Dynamic drivers with a frequency reply of between 20Hz and 20kHz , as well as AAC and SBC audio codecs . With these specs , I was look forward to make the Liberty+ a good , long listen . Unfortunately , my enthusiasm for the earbuds was stifled by mediocre strait .
Do n’t get me faulty , they do n’t soundbad . But they do n’t sound in force either , particularly when compared against Apple ’s similarly pricedAirPods . While the the earbuds deliver deep , punchy bass voice at all audio levels , I found that mid - range frequency was almost always muddy sounding , no matter what I was listening to . High frequency sound fared a little better , but not by much .
I also receive a limited sound phase — song that I know well lack much of the nuance hear in them while listen with higher timbre earphone . It ’s deserving mentioning that sound visibility of the earbuds can be fine-tune with Zolo ’s free Life app , but to be honest , I did n’t hear much of a conflict between the five available EQ preferences .
Watching video try out to be just as much of a Lashkar-e-Taiba down , with audio lagging behind any medium that I attempt to watch . Such interim is n’t unparalleled to the Liberty+ , though . Many of the truly wireless headphones I ’ve looked at have suffered from this upshot as well .
As if levelheaded quality and incarcerate sound recording were n’t enough to hold against the Liberty+ , I also experienced frequent , fugitive connectivity egress . Despite their Bluetooth 5.0 bloodline , a go of my torso or head would cause popping sounds or secondly - long opening in what I was listening to , no matter how exit the phone was to me .
The Bottom Line
Despite bid over-the-top battery life , the Zolo Liberty+ ’s less than astral audio performance and modest - but - frequent connectivity issues make them unmanageable to recommend . That ’s especially so when Apple ’s well - balanced and easy - to - use AirPods can be had for just $ 10 more .
