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Anker’s Soundcore Liberty 4 true wireless earbuds are the brand’s most feature-rich to date. The stem-toting product brings a host of upgrades over the audio maker’s excellent Liberty Air 2 Pro earbuds at the same agreeable price point. The Liberty 4 starts below $150 before other deals and discounts.
The substantial Liberty 4 upgrades include a sleeker design, improved ergonomics, longer battery life, and upgraded audio hardware with support for spatial audio and Hi-Res audio streaming, to name a few. The last-mentioned bits were unavailable on the Liberty Air 2 Pro, making the sequel particularly exciting.
With the Soundcore Liberty Air 2 Pro being among our favorite earbuds since their early 2021 debut, I put the Liberty 4 through its paces for several weeks to discover if it is a worthy follow-up. Here’s everything you need to know about the buds’ design and performance.
SCORES
Sound: 8/10
Comfort: 9/10
Design: 8/10
Battery Performance: 8/10
Overall Score: 8/10
Soundcore Liberty 4 at a Glance
- Great sound that’s tailored to your hearing
- Sleek and easy to use
- Up to 9 hours of battery life
- IPX4 water-resistant
SOUNDS: 8/10
Sound-wise, the Liberty 4 earbuds deliver the best experience for the money (and slightly beyond). Each bud packs a pair of finely tuned dynamic audio drivers. Combined with support for the audiophile-grade LDAC audio codec, the last-mentioned setup allows the Liberty 4 to produce a sonic experience with incredible fidelity.
The Soundcore app, as usual, offers many tools for customizing the sonic experience. Those range from a double-digit amount of presets for various music styles and other audio content types to creating your profile via a graphic equalizer. The default Soundcore Signature setting will treat you to an entertaining sound with a slightly boosted low range.
A standout feature of the Soundcore Liberty 2 Air Pro earbuds, HearID is unsurprisingly available on the Liberty 4. You can tailor the earbuds’ sound to your exact hearing by completing a quick and easy test in the Soundcore app.
Unlike countless rivals in their price range, the Liberty 4 earbuds can also deliver an immersive spatial audio experience, courtesy of an onboard algorithm and integrated gyroscopes for dynamic head tracking. The functionality has music and video modes — you can toggle between them in the companion app.
Enabling spatial audio on the Liberty 4 is fun, especially in video mode. However, the experience is no match for what Apple’s AirPods Pro and the Beats Fit Pro earbuds can offer in this department.
The LDAC codec mentioned above is available on Android phones, and you need to enable it in the Soundcore app. While testing the Liberty 4 with a Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra and a Sony Xperia 5 IV, I had the feature permanently on. The levels of detail I heard in my go-to test tracks — from classical with elaborate instrumentals to bass-heavy downtempo — constantly made me feel like I was rocking out with pricier earbuds.
Unless you are willing to part with considerably more cash on a set of Sony earbuds such as the WF-1000XM4 or the LinkBuds S, to name a couple of noteworthy products, you’ll be hard-pressed to experience more detail-rich sound than the Liberty 4’s.
The noise cancellation of the Liberty 4 is efficient and excellent for an under-$150 product, but not on the same level as the silence generated by the likes of the AirPods Pro and the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II, to name a couple of more expensive big-name rivals. The earbuds successfully removed the traffic din from the nearby 5th Avenue during outdoor work sessions in Central Park. In my large open office, the Liberty 4 helped me focus by tuning out the keyboard clatter and the fan noise in the space.
The performance of the Liberty 4 earbuds was stellar during telephone, FaceTime, and Zoom calls. Six microphones and an AI-powered algorithm helped participants hear me clearly during rush-hour outdoor calls. Bluetooth 5.3 — the most up-to-date version of the connectivity standard — allowed the Liberty 4 earbuds to reliably maintain simultaneous links with multiple phones and a MacBook Pro.
COMFORT: 9/10
The Soundcore Liberty 4 earbuds are lightweight and exceptionally comfy. Their proprietary dual-layer ear tips are just as impressive. I spent hours with the earphones without feeling tired from wearing them.
I tip my hat to Anker for ditching the finicky touch controls for more reliable squeezable stems in the Liberty 4 earbuds. The textured finish of the discreet buttons makes controlling the audio playback, adjusting the volume, and taking calls easy, including during workout sessions. The app-customizable setup is one of the best in the business.
DESIGN: 8/10
The Soundcore Liberty 4 earbuds have a similar shape as the Liberty Air 2 Pro, but a more compact build. The buds’ stems have a glossy finish, giving them a sleeker, more high-tech look. You can order the product in black, white, blue, and red with a matching storage case.
An industry-wide IPX4 rating for water resistance makes the Liberty 4 earbuds suitable for exercising like most rivals.
What puzzles me most about the design of the Soundcore Liberty 4 earbuds is their built-in heart rate sensor which requires creating an Anker account to function. I’ve been using the earbuds for months and didn’t feel the need to tap into this functionality. My Apple Watch — or any other fitness tracker — will be better and more useful for this.
Other than because it simply could, I can’t think of another reason Anker added this feature to the earphones. I would have preferred that the tech giant skipped it to make the Liberty 4 even more affordable.
BATTERY PERFORMANCE: 8/10
You can expect up to 7 hours of battery life from the Soundcore Liberty 4 with noise cancellation. On the other hand, the additional processing that the spatial audio requires will need a charging session after about 5 hours. Disabling both features bumps up the buds’ battery life to 9 hours.
The compact storage case of the earbuds holds a little over two additional full charges for up to 28 hours of wireless sound. The accessory is compatible with wireless chargers.
WRAP-UP: 8/10
The Soundcore Liberty 4 earbuds are convincingly among the best for the money. If you are shopping for stem earbuds on a sub-$200 budget, you need to have the product on your shortlist of options, especially if you have an Android phone. The earbuds’ design, high-fidelity sound, and solid battery life are worth investing in.
If you are an iPhone user wondering if you should pick the Liberty 4 over the third-generation AirPods, remember that the former will get you noise cancellation and longer battery life while being easier on your wallet. The AirPods are a better option if you use your earbuds with multiple Apple devices (e.g., iPhone, iPad, Mac, etc.).
Stefan is the senior technology editor for BestProducts.com, where he’s been covering the tech industry and testing the latest gadgets since 2015. He has more than a decade of experience covering consumer tech products, especially smartphones, tablets, laptops, and audio gear. He was previously the US editor for GSMArena.com; his work can also be found on Popular Mechanics and other Hearst publications.In the rare moments when he’s not playing with a new gadget, Stefan likes to watch live Premier League games or hang out with his cat and rabbit. He’s also an espresso snob.
