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Anker Zolo Liberty totally wireless earphone review

I’ve reviewed three pairs of what is called “totally wireless earbuds,” so I’m now fairly comfortable with them and know what to expect for the money. The affordable  E’NOD Mini Ring buds are okay, but not great—lacking in bass and lackluster call quality. The much more expensive Nuheara iQbuds also do much more. They have an amazing call quality,  and a jaw-dropping ability to isolate individual voices in a noisy environment. But they had long-term comfort issues. Now, we have the Anker’s Zolo Liberty totally wireless earphones. Has Anker managed to make Liberty earphones unique in an increasingly crowded market? Let’s find out.

What is it?

Anker makes some really good computer and smarphone accessories. Zolo is their new spinoff company that specializes in audio. Liberty is Zolo’s first product(s). There are actually two models—Liberty and Liberty+. Liberty+ is identical to Liberty, but has better battery life, built-in toggle sound isolation and (of course) costs more. I’m reviewing the standard Liberty.

Liberty is a totally wireless earphone. This simply means there are no wires connecting the two earphones to each other. This has advantages and disadvantages. The advantage is no constraints when moving around. However, this also makes them easy to lose. Have fun replacing just one bud if lost.

Liberty is great for exercising and are IPX5 rated—water and sweat proof. So no worries if you’re caught jogging in the rain.

Hardware specs

Liberty is a dynamic-styled earphone. Dynamic speakers look just like tiny versions of regular speakers. The big difference with Liberty is that the speakers are graphene-coated. This makes the speakers more rigid without adding any weight. Speaker rigidity makes the speaker “snap back” after handling a sound vibration. The result is less muddiness to the audio and more detailed and impactful music. Note that this improvement is more subtle as opposed to an OMG moment.

 

Battery life is 3.5 hours of playtime at reasonable volume. The included case adds 24 hours playtime. The earphones are automatically recharged while seated into the hard, protective case. Lights on the earphones and case indicate how much battery life is left. Seating the earphones into the case is easy and secure. The case is hinged for a tight and secure closure. The Liberty earphones come with silicone jackets that have an included molded gripper locking them securely into the ear. It works great—but the jackets make it more difficult to properly seat the earphones into the case. It can be done—it’s just a hassle.

When battery life is low, Liberty will beep every few minutes as a warning until they give out completely with a “turning off” sound and need to be recharged.

Liberty comes with what Zolo calls Smart Control. Tapping the earphones performs various functions. Tap once and music pauses music or a phone call is answered. Tap and hold will either replay (left bud) or forward (right bud) a song. Double tapping will activate your smartphone’s AI—in my case, Siri. I didn’t even have to say “Hey, Siri.” It just connected. Nice.

Bluetooth is 4.2 (Liberty+ has the newer Bluetooth 5.0). I had no issues initially pairing and connections have been solid with (so far) no drop outs. Later however, sometimes if only one earbud was paired, I had issues getting the other bud to pair and match its twin. In extreme cases, I’ve had to take them out, place them in the case and start over. It can be a pain, especially if the case is not nearby. I’ve had this issue with other brands, so it’s not unique to Zolo. It happens rarely, but it is something to consider if you’re looking for wireless ear buds. Once the tech matures, this issue should hopefully disappear.

Call quality is good. It amazes me how a mic in the ear can pick up a voice as well as it does. People I’ve talked to say they can hear me just fine, with a hint of echo. Callers are only heard by me in the right ear bud—the opposite of most wired earphones with the mic attached to the left wire. I’m left handed and prefer my left ear for calls, so this takes getting used to. I wish Liberty could be set up for either the left or right ear.

Specs

  • Drivers
  • 2 * 5.5mm Graphene Dynamic
  • Frequency Response
  • 20Hz~20kHz
  • Audio Codec
  • AAC, SBC
  • Bluetooth
  • 4.2
  • Microphone (right earphone only)
  • MEMS with CVC noise reduction
  • Battery
  • Earphones: up to 3.5hrs audio playback
  • Charge case: 24+hrs additional audio playback
  • Water Resistant / Sweat Proof
  • Sweat Proof: IPX5
  • Power Source
  • Micro USB 5V/1.5A

What’s in the box?

  • Liberty Total-Wireless earphones
  • Charging case
  • 4  silicone jackets
  • 3  silicone ear tips
  • Micro-USB charging cable
  • 12-month warranty

Design and features

Liberty earphones are solidly built. When in the ear, they look like most other wireless buds. The Zolo logo is printed on the exterior in white letters. The teardrop shape fits well and the supplied ear tips provide a good seal. They are comfortable for a couple of hours, but then my ears begin to hurt a bit. In fairness to Zolo, I haven’t yet found a long-term comfortable pair of totally wireless ear buds yet.

I also haven’t yet found a pair of wireless ear buds that sound as good as comparably priced wired earphones. No surprises there. As good as Bluetooth has become over the years, wired connections are still better sounding. Having said that, many times the convenience factor outweighs minor audio improvements.

Listening to music with Liberty reminds me of earphones tuned more towards modern music than classic rock or jazz. Bass is prominent, but not overpowering. Middle frequencies (where most vocals lie) are recessed a bit, but vocal performances are not hindered. On certain songs, treble can be a too bright, but that’s rare with music I prefer.

What I like

  • Solid build
  • Wireless freedom
  • East pairing
  • Music sounds good

What needs to be improved

  • Overall comfort

Final Thoughts

All in all, I like the Zolo Liberty totally wireless earphones. Music sounds good and they work great while watching movies on my iPhone—as long as the movie isn’t longer than 3.5 hours! They have their quirks, but it seems all wireless ear buds do. Liberty is appropriately named—it allows you to cut all the wires and gain the freedom of going truly wireless.

Price: $99.99
Where to buy: Amazon
Source: The sample of this product was provided by Zolo.

Keep your pet’s water fresh and pure with this fountain

My dog, Teddy, is picky.  He will only eat from certain bowls, and he likes fresh, cold, clean water in his water bowl at all times.  Sometimes he’ll refuse to drink his water because he sees something in it – usually his own hair from his constantly shedding body.  The Water Purifying Pet Fountain could take care of keeping his water hair-free for me.

The pet fountain has a “three-stage carbon filtration system that eliminates the impurities found in common tap water”, and its pump constantly recirculates the water into the basin while a mesh screen removes larger physical impurities – like pet hair.  It’s made from food-grade HDPE, so it doesn’t introduce anything into the water itself.

The filters last about four weeks in normal mode, but there is a smart mode, which reduces noise and saves energy, that prolongs the filter life to about 12 weeks.  The Water Purifying Pet Fountain is $69.95 and replacement filters are $19.95.  It’s available from Hammacher Schlemmer.

Lightning port charge your iPhone (even in a case) easily with minimalist Hoverdock

Now that Qi charging is totally a thing in the Appleverse, is anyone still paying attention to Lightning docks? Heck, I am! Until my company springs for an upgrade (not holding my breath), I’m still rocking my iPhone 6 Plus—no Qi for me. But I’ll tell ya’, I love a good dock. One that allow me to dock and undock quickly and easily and with a case on my iPhone. That’s why the Just Mobile Hoverdock caught my eye. It appears to be very simple to set up and effectively allows one-hand docking and undocking, even with your iPhone encased in a case—just install the special little clip and you’re good to go. Hoverdock has a satin-finish aluminum body with grippy rubber feet, plus it allows you to coil up and hide your excess Lightning dock cable inside its body when you assemble it.  Hoverdock retails for $34.95. Visit JustMobile.com for more info or to order.

WaterField’s new Via wallet retains it sleek profile even when loaded

You’ve pared your EDC kit down, but did you remember your wallet?  If you need to lighten your wallet and slim it down, check out the new Via wallet from WaterField Designs.  The Via is designed to carry some cash and up to eight cards.  There are two front pockets to hold your most frequently used cards, one back pocket holds cash, and one back pocket holds a few other important cards.  You could even hold a membership or employee ID card in that back pocket so it can be read through the leather without removing it from the wallet.

Via is made from distressed premium full-grain leather that will only improve with use.  It’s 4.12″ x 3.25″ and weighs 1.7 ounces.  Even loaded up, it will stay slim and thin.  It’s available in grizzly leather with black leather accents, gray leather with grizzly leather accents, or black leather with red leather accents.  The Via is $59; order now from WaterField and it will ship on February 8th.

5 awesome gadgets for your kids that they won’t outgrow too quickly

Children are rapidly growing up which implies they can get bored quickly with any toy or gadget. Because of that, it is an awesome plan to get them a toy which can keep them involved for a long time. If you plan to search for that sort of toy, search for something that will empower their little brains. I have discovered a bunch of toys that will occupy them and I am certain your loved ones will love:

Jimu DIY Robot Buzzbot & Muttbot Robotics Kit

I wanted to find the perfect present for future mechanical architects and I have found it. It is a DIY robot. I am almost certain you and your son will play with it with for hours. When you a building a robot you will be proud to see that the robot can walk, move its hands and even hops. You can download the directions on your mobile phone to make the robot. When you make sense of the procedure feel free to make something without directions. Creativity is the key! You can find this kit for $137.27 on Amazon.

Cognitoys Dino

The innovation has made some amazing progress since we were children and I trust that we should exploit it. I am not discussing computer games, I am discussing toys which can educate our children and this delightful green dinosaur is one of them. It is a toy for kids 5-9 years and it can make talk with your kid, answer questions and make jokes. It is an incredible device to enhance social interaction and it is completely safe for your child. You can find it for $39.99 on Amazon.

Code-a-Pillar

Code-a-Pillar is a toy like Jimu DIY Robots, however for more youthful children. It is a caterpillar you can program to influence it to go where you need it to go. All aspects of the caterpillar have one request on it; turn right, stop, turn left… When you want the caterpillar to go right, you need to fix that piece of the caterpillar on the head et cetera. The caterpillar is additionally an instructive toy and it practices critical thinking and sensible intuition which are imperative for your child’s advancement. This kit is $30.85 on Amazon.

R2-D2 App-Enabled Droid

R2-D2 is the best droid in the Galaxy and it should have its own toy. The droid will make you speechless because it resembles the real R2D2 in so many details! Bonus feature: You will hear the most famous R2-D2 beep sound. You can download the application for the droid on your mobile phone so you don’t need to have the joystick to control the droid. You can find one for $115.99 on Amazon.

Classic Foosball Match

The Classic Foosball Match is an awesome combination of virtual and real foosball for all children. The device is really a small foosball table for iPad with legs, bars and scoring system. It looks and acts like the genuine foosball table. But, to make it work you need to have an iPad because you use the iPad as the playing field. Basically, you are turning the poles on the foosball table and they are turning in the application. I am absolutely certain your grandkids will be impressed with this application/gadget and they will play it for hours. This iPad accessory is only $8 on Amazon right now!