When we reviewed Soundcore’s Liberty Air 2 Pro earbuds, we found that they were “affordably awesome,” and that would be a pretty good tagline for the company itself. Their goal is to go toe-to-toe with the likes of Apple and Beats while charging far less than their big-brand competitors.
That being the case, if you’re in the market for a new pair of true wireless earbuds, but the $200-plus prices have you hesitating to pull the trigger, you may want to take a look at Soundcore’s new Life P3 true wireless earbuds. Announced today, the Bluetooth-enabled buds feature multi-modal active noise cancellation (ANC) technology, wireless charging, and … well … much of what you’d find in a pair of premium headphones — for a far lower price.
Soundcore says that the Life P3’s 11mm dynamic drivers will faithfully reproduce the lowest of lows and the airiest of highs and will churn out this full-range of sound for 35 hours (7 from the buds, plus 28 from the case). If you’re in a rush, Anker Fast Charging technology will allow for 2 hours of earbud use on just a 10-minute charge. Total battery life drops to 30 hours with ANC turned on, but every pair of buds on the market makes this same compromise. And few (if any), offer ANC for under $100.
Speaking of ANC, Life P3 listeners will be able to switch between several ANC settings, depending on their environment: Transport mode offers the strongest ANC and is designed to silence the sounds of transit (airplanes, trains, buses, etc.); Outdoor mode will block the hustle and bustle of a city street, and Indoor mode will hush the types of sounds you might hear in an office or coffee shop (chattering co-workers, the clatter of cups, etc.).
If you want to go in the other direction and let outside noise in, there’s Transparency mode, which will actually enhance ambient noise. If you’re on the train and you want to hear the stop announcements, or you’re running along a busy street and you need to be aware of your surroundings, this mode is ideal.
Rounding out the many modes of these buds are Gaming mode (which enhances in-game sound effects), Sleep mode (which plays white noise when you’re trying to catch some shuteye), and Find Your Earbuds mode, which emits a high-pitched sound so that you can find them when you inevitably misplace them. No? Just us?
If you’re the type to walk and talk, the Life P3 feature six microphones that amplify voices and minimize background noise. When we reviewed the Liberty Air 2 Pro earbuds, we found the call quality lacking, so hopefully, this model will be a step forward in that department.
Additional features include five sets/sizes of silicone ear tips, an IPX5 waterproof rating, customizable touch controls (you can choose which buttons play, pause, skip, etc.), and voice-assistant capability (just Siri for now, but Soundcore says other helpers will follow).
The Life P3’s come in five colors (Black, Navy Blue, Oat White, Sky Blue, and Coral Red) and are set to drop in mid-July. They will carry a suggested retail price of $80 and will be available for pre-order on Soundcore.com from June 10 to July 5, and they’ll start shipping on July 6.
Instagram is making its way to yet another screen, and this time, Apple TV is getting a taste of the Reels rabbit hole. The company has launched a dedicated Instagram app for Apple TV, bringing Reels, longer videos, and live shows to the big screen. So, if watching one quick clip on a phone somehow turns into an hour of scrolling, there's now a much larger screen for that.
Instagram brings Reels and more to Apple TV
Audio-Technica, a brand well known for making some of the best studio and professional headphones on the market, has just come out with the ATH-AWX7000, which the company itself claims to be its "finest headphones ever." The new flagship closed-back headphone has debuted at an eye-watering price of $3,799. It combines hand-finished Japanese woodwork with a newly developed 58mm driver.
The earcups are made from Kiso cypress, a prized wood historically used for Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples. Each housing is finished by hand with traditional Echizen lacquer, which brings out the grain and is expected to darken over time. The frame and sliders are finished in a deep navy kachi-iro shade traditionally associated with samurai.
This post is brought to you in paid partnership with Best Buy.
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