theres a lot of hype around the new Galaxy buds… and its with good reason. They’re a really good pair of truly wireless earbuds that perform very well, they fit well, and both the buds themselves and carrying case are pretty small. But most importantly, they only cost $130. But the $80 sound core Liberty Air have also gotten a fair amount of hype. So could these really be a viable alternative for both the Galaxy Buds and AirPods? 

Usually any time you try to save money with third party accessories you have to make some sacrifices. And the first most obvious sacrifice with the Soundcore Liberty Air is the way you charge them. Unfortunately the liberty air charge via a Micro-USB Port. Which means, you most likely wont be able to charge your ear buds and phone with the same cable like you can with the galaxy buds or AirPods. And trust me being able to charge your phone and ear buds with the same cable is a highly under rated connivance. And it also doesn’t hurt that you can charge the galaxy buds wirelessly.

And when it comes to the Liberty Air’s charging case, obviously its very reminiscent to the AirPods charging case, except it’s slightly longer and thicker. But thanks to rounder corners, the liberty air are just as easy to stash in your pocket as the AirPods and Galaxy Buds. And over all, the liberty air’s charging case is on the smaller side compared to a lot of other truly wireless earbuds on the market that aren’t AirPods or galaxy buds. 

And when it comes to battery life, the liberty air really try to match the AirPods the best they can. The liberty air have an advertised battery life to 20 hours of total playback time. The buds themselves can go for 5 straight hours just like the AirPods and the case can supply an additional 3 full charges. And just keep in mind, AirPods have a total playback time of 25 plus hours and the Galaxy Buds have a total playback time of 13 hours.

But now lets talk about the buds… obviously they’re going for an AirPods vibe here as well, but they’re definitely much chunkier. And compared to the galaxy buds they’re huge. But remember they’re only 80 bucks so I guess it evens out. But unlike AirPods, the liberty air’s are in ear ear buds. And over all, they fit well and they do a decent job of passively blocking out ambient noise. 

And just like Galaxy Buds, the Liberty Air are rocking bluetooth 5.0. But unlike Galaxy Buds or AirPods where each ear bud establishes a wireless connection with their phone, the Liberty Air’s are using a Master and Slave set up which is common on a lot of truly wireless earbuds. 

For the most part they have a stable connection that doesn’t cut out and they’re ok for watching videos on your phone. They have like a quarter second delay on both android or iPhone… but if you don’t focus on the delay, you wont notice it that much. 

And regarding the liberty air’s sound quality… over all I would only recommend them if you mostly plan to use them to listen to podcasts or watch videos with. Since these earbuds have a very bright sound signature with very little bass, these earbuds just don’t sound good for listening to music period. And I also found that when you raise the volume on these earbuds they start to sound very distorted. And just to be as straight forward as possible, no the liberty air don’t sound as good or better than AirPods or the galaxy buds. 

And I really want to put an emphasis on only using these earbuds for watching videos cause their microphone just isn’t good for phone calls. Even though phone calls come in through both earbuds which is good to see, I just wouldn’t take phone calls with these cause of their microphone. 

And finally theres the touch pads on the liberty air. Honestly I think I’ve been spoiled by the touch pads found on the galaxy buds. Cause the touch pads on the Liberty air just don’t give you the same amount of control as the galaxy buds. You can really only play or pause your music by double pressing on right ear bud and skip through your music by pressing and holding on either ear bud. And in general the touch pads on the liberty air just don’t have the same accuracy as the galaxy buds, so I just avoid using them. 

So over all, I would only recommend the Soundcore liberty air to a very specific type of consumer… one thats looking for a pair of truly wireless earbuds to mostly listen to podcasts or watch videos with. And just remember, the liberty air do have a bit of latency when watching youtube videos on both and iPhone or android device. Besides their fairly impressive 20 hour battery life, I just wouldn’t recommend the liberty air’s even at their $80 price point. And I wouldn’t consider these as AirPods or Galaxy Buds alternatives.