I use with s8 Bluetooth 5. See my r view here.
Zolo Liberty+ Review
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@keithkitchener I’m not sure which iPhone you’re referring to when you infer they do not support Bluetooth 5(.0); both the iPhone 8 and X are fully BT5.0 compliant, supporting BLE with either 2X speeds or ‘Long Range’ modes (almost doubling range but halving the speed), just like newer Android phones.
As for ‘under performing’, I have had my Liberty+ buds for about 2 months, receiving them from the Kickstarter event, and I own an iPhone 7 and an iPad Air 2 (as well as an older LG and latest Fire HD8 tablets). Both Apples are slightly older devices using BT4.2 with BLE support. My experience with these buds and either the iPhone (iOS 11.2.6) or iPad (still running iOS 10) has been on the better end of the spectrum of user reviews I’ve read, both here, on Amazon and on Kickstarter. Occasionally the left bud will drop for just a half second, and sync back up quickly. I have co-workers with Bose, Anker, Jaybird and Apple true wireless buds and all have similar issues–except the Apple Airpod users. Those things just do not drop connection, but they do not fit my ears worth a dang. I’ll get to Bluetooth frequency issues in a minute…
Sound quality is very good. Not a match for my RHA MA750i wired buds, but darned close. I find that, if I don’t use the Zolo app, and let the buds run without the app’s EQ injection, they sound best. The EQ settings (only 5 presets) are either very mid-heavy and muddy, or are exactly the opposite and tinny and missing mids (even when using the “balanced” setting). They sound so good by themselves that I’ve deleted the app from my iPad, and I only turn on the iPhone app occasionally to look for firmware updates (of which I’ve not seen a single one in two months).
It has not been documented by Anker/Zolo, but with my RHAs the manufacturer begs in the manual to give the buds at least a few days of use (I found that about 8-10 hours were needed) to break in the drivers, before making any permanent decision to return the buds. Zolo needs this added to their manual; I found that the driver really needed to be broken in for about 24 hours of play over the course of a week to break in the driver and make it “smoother”, especially on the bass end. I think this has to do with keeping them warm in the ear canals, which eventually loosens any shipping/manufacturing oils.
But yeah, I’ve not had any complaints about the older Bluetooth 4.2 connection in my iPhone 7 or iPad as far as performance. I normally use Spotify Premium, and I cache files on my iPhone in the highest quality setting because I have a ton of storage (128GB). I also have a few “albums” stored in the Apple Music app, in 384Kbit VBR AAC and Apple Lossless (basically ZIPped FLAC), as they aren’t available in Spotify. No matter what I play, beautiful sound with these buds. I often use the Liberty+ buds and my iPhone 7 when I run or work out on my elliptical, and I’m a sensor junkie. I always run with a Garmin vivosmart HR, a Wahoo TICKR heartrate strap, and a Milestone Pod–all Bluetooth devices. When I ride my bike, I add a Wahoo REFLKT computer and cadence sensors to the mix. All of these devices paired take up a decent amount of bandwidth; adding streaming stereo buds to this is crazy, but they all seem to work together very well, without any degradation of sound quality. And this is all on Bluetooth 4.2, which has a theoretical max of 1Mbit/sec of bandwidth.
Call quality stinks, though, IMHO. Sound levels are way too low, and the choice of right ear for calls is problematic for me, as my left ear is my dominant one for voice frequencies. I’m OK with one bud, but I wish these buds would allow for a choice of which one I can use.
One note on Bluetooth performance: it’s EXTREMELY environment-sensitive! The more congested your local 2.4GHz spectrum is (remember, Bluetooth tap-dances in the 11-channel WiFi range in the US), the more you’re going to notice drops. I note that my left bud will drop far more frequently when I’m at work in the city, than when I’m listening at home in the country where I only have two other radios within range of my house. I’m in IT; I do spectrum analysis and heat maps for clients who are buying our network solution packages (primarily Meraki, Ruckus and Ubiquiti AP installs), and I can definitely see a correlation between 2.4GHz spectrum activity and earbud drops. For a decent overview of how wifi and Bluetooth try to share limited channel availability, see https://www.ecnmag.com/article/2012/03/wi-fi-and-bluetooth-coexistence
So, please try not to troll iPhone users unless you can fill your statements with device-use experience, at the very least. Don’t just go off what your buddies or the latest “hip” Android website throw out there for you to ape. It gets old fast. Just let us know how the Liberty buds work with your devices; that’s all we really want to know here. 
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Were you PAID by zolo to write this review? I was a beta tester. I was a kickstarter backer. In BOTH places Zolo ignored us. I was refunded my money on kickstarter (never asked for it back), just a usable product, how about an update on kickstarter during the campaign (like the 9000 other backers who asked for it)? How about NOT ignoring EVERY SINGLE beta tester? Which Zolo did. How about making a product that doesn’t fail after one week? I received a beta unit. It failed after a week. I wrote to them, they replaced it claiming it was a hardware issue. The second beta version failed as well. No sound out of one of the buds or both, or random cutting out of the sound. Zolo claimed it was due to beta units. Shipped me TWO “production” versions. They BOTH failed after a week.
Have you not read a single review on the Play store on Android? It got a 2.6 average review. The app used to show battery level. A new app was pushed to REMOVE functionality that worked.
There hasn’t been a single firmware update.
Anker/Zolo should be embarrassed by these things. Anyone who buys them deserves to get what they deserve if they believe this review.
These are absolutely garbage.
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While I agree things could have been handled better but those of us who have and do use the liberty+ have had a decent experience with them. I did have the right earbud on mine fail but I was sent a replacement which I’m waiting for now. In any instance I was responded too within any week, most responses were within a day
If we all say we hate them because many others do why would that make sense? I am still enjoying mine after two months and should be able to say so. I don’t really care about the app because I don’t use it.
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How do you figure? Liberty+ was announced prior to Liberty.
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I’m sorry you’ve encountered a bad experience with Liberty+ and the app and its features… It seems you’ve been extremely unlucky compared to others. I will agree that it does seem a little strange for Zolo to retract the battery life feature. Perhaps they were trying to simplify things so that they could make it better overall and up their rating. Thanks for your efforts to help contribute to future versions, though.
If you have more specific feedback (without hating on the product, of course), the Anker Innovations team would surely love to hear!
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Far as I am aware the Liberty+ is version 1 and the Liberty is a cut down version due to the uptake of the Liberty+ and funds raised…so version 2 still to be seen
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Thankfully, I haven’t had any issues with my pair of 'buds. Hopefully, future units will be free of these frequent issues.
So what is the difference between Liberty and Liberty+. I have the former and so far I’m very happy with them and haven’t experienced any of the negative issues several others have claimed. They seem to work fine with my iPhone 6 and I love the music quality. Voice control thru Siri works OK, too, although a bit slow if I want to quickly lower the volume. I’ve yet to take or place any calls while using the buds so can’t comment on that aspect. And yeh, I’m still kinda sorting out the button presses but the functions do work eventually (once I do it properly). 
The only real problem I’ve come across is with the Zolo Life app for the iPhone. No matter what I do, it just refuses to recognize that my earbuds are connected. Really odd since pairing was super simple. Any suggestions?
Ah, I just read that the Zolo Life app does not work with the older Liberty buds. Guess that explains my problem with the app. Oh the trials and tribulations of the early adopter, eh?
The app only works for the liberty+
The main difference is the use of bluetooth 5.0, the app to choose audio profile settings, and distance the earbuds can work due to the bluetooth being used
Oh, no. There are plenty of problems with the app with Liberty+ as well…
In addition to what @elmo41683 mentioned, the Liberty+ has larger drivers, better noise reduction technology with the microphones, 48 hour battery vs 24 with case, and transparency mode (sound isolation).
OK, thanks much for the info on the + model. Unless Zolo is willing to give me a free upgrade (ha!), I guess I’ll have to get by with the original Liberty units. Fortunately it works fine for me and loads better than the freakin’ corded unit that always frustrates me by getting so tangled up.
Just curious, those who were part of the beta testing program, do they let you keep the items? so its essentially free just like when you are in the power user program? thanks in advance
From past experience any beta or non-production items are allowed to be kept but you are still subject to the terms of the NDA you are often asked to sign prior to the item being sent after a direct email offer.
Thanks sir!
good review
Couple of days back I temporarily exchanged my Zolo liberty with a pair of my friend’s Zolo liberty + for testing purpose.
RESULT…;
PROS:
*Official app at Play Store for Liberty plus
*Good Battery (only for the charging case)
*Bit smaller in size
*Voice transparency (I am not impressed)
*Smaller charging case
*Upgraded bt version
*Noice cancellation
CONS:
*Grip/Fit is not good as Liberty
*Range issue while obstacles involves like walls, human bodies etc although having top of the line BT version.
*BT version more then 4.2 is having more radiation especially when there is a triangle of communication involved eg… Right earbud communicate with the phone (causing miner rediation/harm to the user) and at the same time the right bud constantly communicate with the left bud right through the brain (more harmful if the BT ver exceeds from 4.2… Its well explained if you Google for it)
CONCLUSIONS:
*ZOLO should work on advancement of Liberty rather then Liberty +
Zolo may launch a better version of liberty by enhancing and adding more spacs in EXISTING Liberty while keeping the same BT version (4.2) and the size (bigger size of Liberty helps flawless connectivity what I guess)
I will take my liberty back by tomorrow as I am feeling uncomfortable with the PLUS.
The connectivity and health is compromised/MINUS with the LIBERTY PLUS.
Above review is my personal opinion and findings and can be wrong.
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Great in depth review! Had worries about this product but now I am willing to purchase this product now. Your review has clearly helped me to choose the right wireless earphones.
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