My favorite earbuds of the year just got an open-ear makeover, as this top cheap headphone brand debuts 7 new models

Anker sub-brand Soundcore unveils 7 new headphones at IFA New wireless open-ears, over-ears and in-ears, as well as sleep buds These include Aerofit 2, taking features from some top options released earlier in the year Released in May, the Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro are my favorite earbuds of 2026 so far, leading to a glowing 4.5-star review... and now Soundcore has taken that DNA, and given it a little twist.

I'm talking about the Soundcore Aeroclip 2, which have just been unveiled at IFA 2026 .

On the surface, they seem like simple successors to the original Aeroclip , and an odd comparison for the aforementioned in-ear buds.

But it's all about the feature set.

You see, the Aeroclip 2 come with Anker's Thus chip, the firm's very own internal AI chipset, used in the Liberty 5 Pro.

This brings a suite of advantages that other earbuds of this design simply don't have, including clearer call quality, optimized battery life and a listening test.

The new buds are due to cost $169.99 / £159.99 (about AU$320) and go on sale on September 22.

Another point of comparison is that both the Liberty 5 Pro and Aeroclip 2 also now have an advanced model: the 5 Pro Max and Aeroclip 2 Pro respectively.

In the latter case, as in the former, the big upgrade is a control panel on the charging case, as well as a note-taking and transcription tool which uses the actual case to take notes.

The advanced model is due to cost $229.99 (about £200, AU$400) but has no set release date just yet.

Not all of the Thus chip's features are present: I loved its noise cancellation capabilities, but since clip-style earbuds are designed to not cancel noise, naturally that won't show its face here.

But if I want ANC, I have plenty of other options...

A busy IFA for Anker (Image credit: Future) Anker's Soundcore sub-brand had plenty of other devices at IFA.

First up, there's the Soundcore Space 2 Pro, over-ear headphones which build on the Space 2 we saw earlier this year.