Why You Can Trust CNET This awesome AirPods alternative is back on sale for $50
Normally $80, the Anker Soundcore Liberty Air offers a few key advantages over AirPods.
The Anker Soundcore Liberty Air (shown here in black) sounds at least as good as Apple AirPods, and now for less than one-third the price.
Apple AirPods : nice, but crazy-expensive, and not good at blocking outside noise. That's why we're constantly on the lookout for inexpensive AirPods alternatives. One of our top picks of 2019: The Anker Soundcore Liberty Air , which at $80 are half the price of AirPods and, to some ears, even better sounding.
Now they're even cheaper: For a limited time, and while supplies last, The Anker Soundcore Liberty Air is $49.99 with promo code CnetLA02. That's for the white model only. The black one is still $79. Note that CNET may get a share of revenue from the sale of the products featured on this page.
As you can see, the Liberty Air are kissing cousins to the AirPods, but with one key difference: The former employ noise-isolating rubber ear tips, which create an in-ear seal that also improves bass response. Not everybody likes (or prefers) that kind of design, but if you do, these are "an excellent alternative to the AirPods [at] half the price."
That's from David Carnoy's Soundcore Liberty Air review, which you'll definitely want to read. I also recommend watching Lexy Savvides' in-depth comparison of the AirPods and Liberty Air. Both of these folks were pretty taken with Anker's take on true-wireless earbuds.
One thing to note, however: Anker just introduced a variety of new earbuds, including the Liberty Air 2. For $100 you get better battery life, a charging case that supports both USB-C and Qi charging, AptX support and various other improvements. It goes on sale in October.
Of course, it may be a while before we see the Air 2 drop anywhere near $50. If you want a widely liked AirPods alternative right now, for a very reasonable price, hop on this deal.
This post was previously published last month and has been updated with new pricing and availability info.
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