Anker Soundcore Liberty 4 NC: Best budget noise-canceling earbuds?

We're take a look at the Anker Soundcore Liberty 4 NC: a pair of noise-canceling earbuds for less than $100. Are these any good? How do they compare to flagship earbuds like the Sony WF-1000XM5? Find out in our first impressions video!

[Affiliate Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.]

Follow us:

00:00 Introduction
00:36 Unboxing
00:53 Design and build quality
01:30 Battery life
01:51 Connectivity
02:43 Noise cancelation and fit/comfort first impressions
03:54 Sound quality first impressions
05:27 Soundcore app
07:34 Microphone test and first impressions
08:30 How does it compare to the Sony WF-1000XM5?

Sony WF-1000XM5 vs. Anker Soundcore Liberty 4 NC

[SoundGuys]

🛒

Let us know if you have any questions! We're here to help.

[Affiliate Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.]

[NRobbo]

Love mine. Sounds is great out of the box, but once EQ is set then they are outstanding, especially given the price. Easy recommend.

[Wesjapa]

First time on this channel and I think this guy looks very funny and charismatic. )

I’ve been using them for almost 2 weeks now and below is my experience so far, hope to help those who are thinking about whether to buy them or not:

1. They didn’t fit me well on the first days (not talking about the ear tips but the buds themselves), now I feel a little bit better but I cannot say that they are super comfortable;
2. I must say that this is my 1st experience with ANC earbuds but I thought the ANC was only to reduce the noises, which in that case, to me doesn’t make much difference, to be honest (I guess that is for ALL earbuds in general). But in fact, when the ANC is ON, it makes the sound quality considerably better. However, last days I’ve been feeling a bit of a buzzing in my ears and I really hope it is not related to their ANC;
3. They sound pretty good and loud but I quickly noticed that the sounds (instruments but especially the voices) were oscillating a lot and then I realised that it was due to the Sound Leak Compensation function that was ON, which is weird as without this function ON, the sound quality is slightly inferior;
4. The Dual Connections function works pretty well;
5. The Fit Test function does not work: it doesn’t matter if the fit is good or if you change the ear tips, it always says you should try different ones and adjust the buds in your ears;
6. On the 2nd or 3rd day, I took both of them from the case at the same time and the Right one wouldn’t connect. I had to put it back in the case for a few seconds and then it connected again. About a week later, the same happened with the Left one. In addition, it seems that one side always uncharges faster than the other, even though I take both from the case at the same time and always use both of them together. Really weird!
7. The soundcore APP gives you 22 types of EQs, but to me, less than a ¼ of them are actually good, so you are better off customising your own;
8. The HearID Sound is not bad but I prefer my customised EQ.

Conclusion:
I paid €62 for them on Amazon, so I would say it is a good deal overall. However, they might not fit everyone’s ears and I haven’t decided whether to return them or not, I’ll test them for 2-3 weeks more and see how it goes.

[msquirrel]

Liberty Pros are the most underrated earbuds. Sure they are big ( the Liberty 3 Pros) but the sound is unmatched and have yet to find an earbud that compares. Glad that you used an Android device for the LDAC.

Edit: Suggestion: mic test with background noise.

[Mimay]

Bought mine 2wks ago. So pretty in pink & white colours. Yes, bigger box, bigger buds than I expected, but a very good upgrade. It's my second time purchasing a soundcore. My 1st was SpaceA40, got them a few months ago.
Good sound, good ANC, and a lot of extra features like those expensive Jabra, Sennheiser, Sony buds, etc. 👍🏻

[jGRite]

To be clear, the Liberty 4 NC should have a fully customizable button selection. I have the Liberty Pro 3, and I can't purchase any other pair of true wireless buds because other buds don't do this. I have every button press set up to just what I want it to be. I only wish long pressing with volume control could slowly bring the volume up (or down) while holding a press. They also don't interrupt music playback with notifications which 2 of my listening Sony products do. I literally keep my Sony speaker plugged in all the time because it will get to 20% within a day of listen to YouTube videos, and it will let me know that it is at 20%. Soundcore is living up to their name, and if there are other headsets that do these things then I'll check them out. With that said I'm waiting on the Liberty Pro 4 because I don't like the look of stems in my ear.

[stevestevoh]

Sooo.... I bought a pair of Anker Liberty nc4.
I like them, they are in overall better than Bose quiet comfort 2.
For the price they are quite good.
Better fit, can wear for hours on end, no wind noise when walking, the app works every time, ANC is just as average as the Bose, I've found the battery time a bit less than stated, touch control is good, sound quality is not as good as Bose but I can easily live with it, they do drop out from time to time but not as much as the Bose.
I recommend these earbuds 👍👍👍

[themadatheist]

Owned the Oneodio F2 and bought the SC Life P2 mini because one of the drivers failed and I can't find them new at a reasonable price. I'm not a fan of the touch controls on the P2s and they have a lower max volume. Looking to get the 4 NCs for the multi device support and hopefully they're nice and loud.

[jayc]

I returned mine due to the case design, it was not well thought out for one hand use. Bought Liberty 4 $79.00 with free Q20i thrown in, Black Friday sale Perfectly happy now.

[hybridangel]

Just got the 1 more evo buds. I have these. They are good but my 1 mores do what I need. Amazingly.

[BasJon]

Just ordered myself a set, they are coming tomorrow, I shall use them on my pc for gaming and occasionally on my iphone if they work on iphones of

[epsy]

Hello, where can i find your custom EQ to get the most precice sound ? Thanks

[meshpotato]

I'm still keeping my Liberty 3 Pro... After using it for more than 18 months the only issue are the batteries which doesn't hold it's charge any longer at the end of the 18 month warranty. Had them reported to the Anker support few days shy of the end of the warranty period and they sent back a brand new set within 1 week.


I'm happily using it now and hopefully can withstand another 18 months. Good stuff.

[NamIess]

I did get to know Soundcore by the overhead Life Q35s. The sound signature is amazing, the battery life is great, the app is good. The ANC is not that good but I use it mostly with my laptop at home or occasionally with my phone so it is fine. The wear detection is kinda bad though. Overall I was also surprised how good they are.

[rasheedbedri]

Just got mine 2 days ago. Fantastic sound etc but the battery life is poor.

[sammyocean]

These also work with MS teams flawlessly. The liberty 4’s don’t however

[gudlutripathy]

Soundcore liberty 4nc...galaxy buds2...which is better...

[memepotato]

What about these vs the galaxy buds fe?

[AlejandroBelloRD]

Thank God Anker comes to the rescue. And, to boot, just charging a third of over-hyped Fony.
Sony just ripped me off for the last time with their defective Link Buds S, which worked OK for exactly 11 months. Right until their deadly Firmware 4.0.0 last November overcharged their infamously defective ZeniPower 3.85V batteries to the point that they failed to hold a charge of no more than a useless 5–10 minutes of usage. 150 dollars down the drain. Never again, Fony!

[josedelgado]

Could you do a comparison between these and the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro please?