Another Zolo Liberty+ Review!

#1

I know there have already been countless reviews of the Zolo Liberty+ truly wireless earbuds here on the forums, but I thought I’d share my experiences after a couple weeks of usage.

Sound Quality
These earbuds sound better than any I’ve never had (by far), which isn’t necessarily surprising since I’ve never owned earbuds that retail for more than $100. I switched the EQ settings from pop (default) to balanced. The graphene technology gets a :thumbsup: from me.
Rating: 9/10 Stars

Connection
These earbuds feature Bluetooth 5.0, and Liberty+ is Anker’s only product across all of their sister brands to feature the latest version of Bluetooth. With that being said these aren’t flawless. Occasionally they will cut out for a split second for no apparent reason, and the left earbud always starts playing after the right (intended). There also seems to be slightly more latency than usual, although it’s generally OK when watching videos if you’re not too picky.
Rating: 7/10 Stars

Don’t mind a few hiccups in connectivity here and there? Not so fast… Don’t click buy on Amazon just yet.

Fit
Zolo claims these include groundbreaking GripFit technology, but whatever it is, it does not work… they just do not fit my ears and grip to them. In fact far from that experience. If you start to walk, these will fall out. Don’t even think about jogging. If you sit for long enough, these will eventually fall out. Your mileage may vary, but I believe this has been a consistent theme across most reviews.
Rating: 2/10 Stars

Other
The transparency did not impress me, and I found myself disabling it for the majority of the time. It takes some time to get used to the various different button presses, but I think I’ve finally gotten a better handle on them.

Conclusion
Without the proper fit, these are more or less worthless for me. One way to fix this may be to design them more like AirPods so that they don’t stick out as much, and therefore less wait is tipping them out (which would also help them out aesthetic-wise)… If Zolo finds a way to fix these, they’ve got a very solid pair of earbuds that will sell well. But until then, unfortunately, I cannot recommend Zolo Liberty+ based on my experience with them.

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#2

Nice review, one thing I noticed for me was when I insert them all I have to do is rotate them and they lock into my ears. Not sure if you have tried that but it works great for me, I use mine while at work and have not had it fall out once …well at first it did until I rotated them and they held in my ear better

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Idea: Zolo bone conduction headset
#3

I appreciate the review! I haven’t seen many reviews listing fit as an issue. Most I’ve seen say that after experimenting with the included gripfit jackets and nubs they were able to find a secure fit, I’ve seen people doing pull ups, running, weight lifting, and other exercises with no issues, but as you say, mileage may vary.

I’ve read that most issues others have is with bad connection issues, which is unfortunate. Hopefully, your pair will be free from some of the other issues reported such as lower volume in one bud for whatever reason, extreme latency, etc.

Thanks!

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#4

I’ve tried everything… twisting, turning, different sizes. They always fall out, even if it takes a few minutes.

Glad it worked for you, though!

#5

Yeah, I haven’t had too many issues with connection, just the buttons get a little frustrating.

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#6

None of the combination in-ear and the “wings” in any combination worked?

So for those interested why, can see the problem here which is person specific.

The “cymba conchae” is different between people, in some it slopes down and the Helix is forward as in the above, so any kind of hook is impossible.

Contrast with this slightly different ear below

Here that same ear part the Cavum Conchae has a slop upwards and a more pronounced Helix, so there is a place for the hook to get into.

So some ears are impossible to make a good fit, its genetics. More guaranteed to work in any ear is a narrow lightweight bud and can select the tip diameter to fit the canal diameter and then use the low downward force of a light bud’s gravity resisted by friction. Or in other words, something like the Anker Soundbuds Life/Lite will tend to fall out less due to gravity, the Slim/Slim+ would tend to fall out less due to friction as its a longer canal section.

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#7

Leave it to @nigelhealy to break out the indepth explanation!

I have ears more like the second picture, so I’m optimistic that mine will fit.

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#8

You say that what your Tragus vs Antitrugus. That is the “cup” under the bud to hold it up and in. You see my problem:

18lro3319hvdhjpg.jpg800×600 51.9 KB

See how there is no Tragus.

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#9

Nope. None of the wings or tips worked.

I have never had a problem with SoundBuds Slim/+, but with the awkward design of Liberty, and how it sticks out so far and is heavy, it falls out.

That’s why I think a design like AirPods might fair better.

You can see the difference.

Anker-Zolo-Liberty-plus-5.jpg1366×1012 36.5 KB

maxresdefault.jpg1280×720 26.1 KB

I do not have AirPods though so can’t say for sure.

#10

It’s weird the Zolo’s stay in my ear fine but the Airpods never could, in fact any headphone with that style eartips wouldn’t stay in my ear.

So as @Nigel said it all depends on genetics and ear type

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#11

Yeah, I’m in the same camp as @elmo41683 I can’t get airpods/earpods or anything similar to that to stay in my ears Lol.

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#12

Ok the Airpods are held up by the Tragus - Antitragus. Just look simply at this photo

What the Airpods do is they drop the bud into that Antitragus-Tragus “cup” and drop the hard stem below below that “cup”.

Some ears do not have an Antitragus so such an Airbud would fall out to the rear and and then out. Some ears do not have the Tragus so they fall forwards then out.

Personally I think a basic of a small light bud will stick into more ears. That future product, without any wires, has yet to be made in the consumer audio market. But, they do exist in those with hearing impairment, they are made much smaller and different types for different ears. It is challenging obviously for Anker.

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#13

This is about “cups”.

The tragus - antritragus “cup” helps keep buds in the canal from below the canal.

The “wings” going above the canal hooks into an assumed upward slope in the Cymba conchae and that the Helix is protruding to the rear to then pull the bud up.

You need both or one of them. Each ear is different. The “hook” from above in some ears will not work, the “cup” from below will not work in some area. Some ears will work with both.

BTW my Tragus is very pronounced as my Cymba conchae, but my Antitragus is small so I know I cannot keep in a heavy bud, it would simply push past the weak Antitragus and fall out the rear and then, because the Cavum conchae is pointing rear, then any “wing” there would not help it avoid that rearwards slide, and so the bud falls out to the rear and out my rear.

Most Anker audio products are in the $20 range but the issue with Zolo Liberty+ is the $150 price. Given the genetic diversity of humans, to pay $150 where it simply falls out, is going to be an issue.

#14

Nice ratings, and sorry to hear the “Fit” problem.

To create an instant, rock-solid fit we developed GripFit technology; exclusively for Liberty. With its innovatively designed casing, Liberty slide in then twist to create an exceedingly secure yet comfortable hold.

Meanwhile, we have prepared different sizes of eartips and jackets to ensure everyone has a perfect listening experience.

I see you have tried all the tips and jackets in the box. :joy:

I’m really sorry about the problem. I have reported your case to our product manager, hoping that we can make some possible improvements for the future.

Your support is well appreciated. :slight_smile:

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#15

I never gave much thought to the differences is ear shape but learned a lot thanks for the lesson @nigelhealy

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#16

Excellent review and points there @joshuad11 , another plus one here on the fitting…could not get them to fit well in any combination, apart from with no wing tips at all, which held for several minutes until my jaw moved a few times and out they popped…they certainly would not survive my normal workout test for earbuds :smile:

Shame as the audio quality is quite decent, not the best I’ve ever heard but still good. Will keep rocking my ‘budget’ Life and Curve models for the near future :grin:

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#17

Thanks for the honest review @joshuad11. I have the AirPods and find that they fit me better then most earbuds I’ve tried and own. And the best part is, they don’t give me an earache after some time. The only time that I’ve had the AirPods fall out of my ears is when I forgot I had it on and went to take off my sweater.

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#18

I don’t have the Liberty+ but I have the AirPods, and I can tell you that the fit it’s very personal. Depends on the ear, my brother can run with the AirPods but I can only stay calm, if I walk or move a little faster they lost the grip and fall down. For this reason I use the AirPods only at the office for phone calls, they are great because I can switch from Mac to the iPhone in an instant.

#19

I’m having the same issue with regards to the fit. Disappointing as I’m now sat with a set of earphones which I don’t really use.

#20

A really good review.

Just wondering have you tried super glue? I’m sure that would solve the problem but MAY lead to further issues so I wouldn’t really recommend it as a fix.
All jokes aside I’ve had similar issues before with in ear buds falling out and not fitting properly, but I do have to say the wings that some come with are great and solved that problem for me atleast anyway.