Anker Built Its Own AI Chip for Earbuds, and Claims 150x More ANC Compute Than the Current Soundcore

What it is

Anker Thus is a custom AI audio chip Anker designed in-house, announced in April 2026, and scheduled to ship inside the Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro and Liberty 5 Pro Max on Anker Day, May 21. The architectural differentiator is compute-in-memory: the neural network's parameters live inside NOR Flash memory cells, and the computation is performed in the same silicon location where the weights are stored. This eliminates the power cost of moving weights between memory and compute units.

The first Thus-equipped products are the Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro at $169.99 and Liberty 5 Pro Max at $229.99. Anker has confirmed Thus will eventually land in headphones, speakers, and other Soundcore audio products.

What's interesting

Compute-in-memory is a genuine architectural innovation in consumer AI silicon. Most neural-network accelerators (Apple Neural Engine, Qualcomm Hexagon, Google Edge TPU) use separate memory and compute blocks, which means each inference cycle requires moving weights across the chip. The power cost of that memory movement is roughly 10-100x higher than the compute itself. By embedding the compute into the NOR Flash memory cells, Thus avoids this cost. Notebookcheck characterized the Thus architecture as the globe's pioneering neural-net compute-in-memory AI audio chip.

Anker's 150x AI compute claim is specific to noise cancellation workloads. The previous Soundcore ANC implementations ran small DSP-based filters; Thus runs an 8-microphone-plus-bone-conduction-sensor fusion model with a neural-network voice isolator that operates on device in real time. TechBuzz explained the Clear Calls feature uses this model to isolate the wearer's voice from ambient chaos at volumes and noise levels where most ANC solutions degrade.

The business context is Anker moving from commodity chip reseller to chip designer. Historically Anker sourced Bluetooth and DSP chips from Qualcomm, Airoha, or MediaTek. Shipping a custom chip positions Anker against Apple's H2 chip and Bose's custom SoC, and gives Anker a long-term pricing and feature advantage on its higher-tier Soundcore products.

Bluetooth 6.1 with multipoint is the pairing-layer upgrade that accompanies Thus in the Liberty 5 Pro series. IP55 dust and water resistance is competitive with Apple AirPods Pro 2's IP54 and Sony WF-1000XM5's IPX4.

What's missing or unverified

The chip is not sold separately. Thus is a captive Anker asset used only inside Soundcore products, which means independent testing of the chip is limited to testing the products. Gizmochina's pre-release leaks and Anker's own marketing are the primary sources for technical detail.

150x more AI compute than the previous Soundcore chip is an Anker-internal benchmark. How Thus compares to Apple H2 or Qualcomm's S7 audio platform is not yet independently measured.

The compute-in-memory approach trades flexibility for efficiency. Thus is optimized for audio-specific workloads (ANC filtering, voice isolation, bone-conduction fusion). It is not a general-purpose neural accelerator, which means new AI features (translation, transcription) may require additional silicon or cloud processing.

Ecosystem lock-in is the longer-term concern. Thus-specific features (Clear Calls, Liberty 5 Pro Max's touchscreen) will not work on non-Anker hardware, which reduces mix-and-match flexibility for audio setups.

The first-generation chip is likely to have limitations that later revisions will address. Anker Day pricing is also launch pricing; post-launch discounts are typical for Soundcore products.

Who it's for

Audio-first buyers who prioritize on-device AI processing for ANC and call quality over raw driver quality. Anker ecosystem customers already running multiple Soundcore products who will benefit from tighter integration. Privacy-conscious users who want noise-cancellation and voice-enhancement features that run fully on-device without cloud processing.

Not for: audiophiles who value driver quality over AI features (a Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 4 or Bowers & Wilkins Pi8 are the picks), Apple-ecosystem buyers deeply integrated with AirPods features (Find My, head-tracked Spatial Audio), or buyers who want Android Auto / Fast Pair features that rely on Qualcomm aptX Lossless.

Verdict

Thus is the most interesting custom-silicon announcement Anker has made since the brand's power-bank era. The compute-in-memory architecture is genuine engineering, and the 150x ANC compute claim is the kind of generational leap the earbud category has been overdue for. At $169.99 for the Liberty 5 Pro, this is not premium-tier pricing, which means Thus benefits reach a mainstream buyer who could not afford a Sony WF-1000XM5 or an Apple AirPods Pro 2. Post-May 21 independent reviews will determine whether the chip delivers in practice, but the direction is right.