The honest answer is that the Sony is better in almost every measurable way, and most people should still buy the Anker.
Sony's WF-1000XM6 arrived on 12 February 2026 at a US list price of $329.99, which translates to roughly Ā£300 as an approximate UK street price.
Anker's Soundcore Liberty 5 lists at $129.99, or approximately Ā£110āĀ£130 here.
That gap is about Ā£180. Whether it is money well spent depends almost entirely on where you listen.
The Sony wins on cancellation and calls, the Anker on everything durable
Sony's case is built on its QN3e processor and four microphones per earbud, and it is the deepest cancellation in the category.
On an aircraft or in a deep Underground tunnel, that lead is obvious within seconds.
The Liberty 5 cancels competently rather than remarkably. It softens a bus and takes the edge off a train.
Put it on the Piccadilly line at rush hour and you will hear the gap.
| Sony WF-1000XM6 | Soundcore Liberty 5 | |
|---|---|---|
| Approx. UK street price | ~Ā£300 | ~Ā£110āĀ£130 |
| Battery, ANC on | 8 h buds / 24 h case | 8 h buds / 32 h case |
| Battery, ANC off | Not quoted | 12 h buds / 48 h case |
| Fast charge | Supported | 10 min for 5 h playback |
| Water resistance | IPX4 | IP55 |
| Codecs | LDAC-class hi-res | LDAC, Dolby Audio |
| Multipoint | Yes | Yes |
The battery comparison is more interesting than the headline suggests.
Both quote 8 hours in the buds with cancellation running, which is the number your commute actually uses.
The Anker then pulls ahead on the case, at 32 hours against Sony's 24.
Turn cancellation off and Anker claims 12 hours in the buds and 48 with the case, a figure Sony does not publish an equivalent for.
Buy the Sony for what it removes. Buy the Anker for how little you will worry about it.
Durability is where the cheaper pair is genuinely better
Sony rates the WF-1000XM6 at IPX4 ā splash resistant, no dust rating at all.
The Liberty 5 is rated IP55, which covers dust ingress and low-pressure water jets.
For a running pair, or anything that lives in a coat pocket through a British autumn, that is not a small difference.
There is also the replacement arithmetic. Losing one Ā£300 earbud on a train is a genuinely bad afternoon.
Losing a Ā£120 one is an annoyance.
Both have a real flaw, and they are different flaws
Sony's case is thicker and boxier than the XM5's, which is a strange regression for a product people carry in a trouser pocket.
More importantly, fit and seal on the XM6 vary noticeably by ear shape, and a poor seal undoes exactly the cancellation you paid for.
The Liberty 5's weakness is its touch controls, which are unintuitive enough that owners routinely trigger the wrong thing.
Its cancellation, as noted, falls short of flagship depth on the Tube and on aircraft.
Neither flaw is fatal. Both are the sort of thing you discover in week two rather than in the shop.
See the Liberty 5 on Soundcore UKOfficial Anker Soundcore site ā
Who should pay the extra Ā£180
Take the Sony if you fly often, commute by Underground daily, or take calls in noisy places for a living.
Cancellation depth and microphone quality are the two things money still reliably buys, and you will use both every day.
Take the Anker if you listen mostly at home, on foot, or on a bus, and if your earbuds get wet, dropped and forgotten.
Take the Anker as well if you have never owned noise cancelling earbuds and are not certain you will like them.
And if your ears are awkward ā narrow canals, shallow concha, a history of eartips that will not stay put ā buy whichever pair you can return most easily.
Fit beats specification, and it is the one thing neither company can promise you.
