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Just a few earbuds with charging instances that had expanded options dropped in 2024. Some had been gimmicky, whereas others clearly put some thought into making issues sensible.
The Liberty 4 Professional is the latter, and never solely do they sound good, however in addition they provide you with some useful controls to your earbuds if you’re in Zoom conferences or simply listening from the desktop and need to management your sound.
Listed below are my full ideas on the Soundcore Liberty 4 Professional.
Soundcore Liberty 4 Professional: Value and availability
The Soundcore Liberty 4 Professional can be found from soundcore.com and Amazon for $130. You possibly can choose up a pair in Shiny Black, White, and Shiny Mild Blue.
The Liberty 4 NC went on sale fairly often, and the Liberty 4 Professional did see a $30 worth drop in the course of the vacation season, so it’s affordable to suppose you’d have the ability to get a greater deal in case you’re affected person.
|
Class |
Soundcore Liberty 4 Professional |
|---|---|
|
Connectivity |
Bluetooth 5.3 |
|
Codec assist |
SBC, AAC, LDAC |
|
Audio system |
10.5mm bass drivers, 4.6mm titanium-coated tweeters |
|
Noise management |
ANC, Transparency |
|
Battery life |
~7.5 hours (ANC on); ~4 with LDAC (ANC on) |
|
Charging |
USB-C, Qi wi-fi; Quick charging: 5-minutes = 4 hours |
|
Sturdiness |
IP55 (no case ranking) |
|
Sensors |
Barometric strain |
|
Ear suggestions |
XXS/XS/S/M/L/XL (medium pre-installed) |
Soundcore Liberty 4 Professional: What I like
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Let’s get proper to it! The sound produced by the Liberty 4 Execs is highly effective! You get a soundstage with headroom to spare, boomy bass, punchy mids, and output that has you hardly ever needing to lift the supply quantity increased than round 65% of max.
Although not the best sturdiness ranking, the Liberty 4 Professional ought to have the ability to deal with no matter exercises you throw at them with an IP55 ranking for water and mud ingress. They ship with Bluetooth 5.3 and LDAC codec assist for hi-res wi-fi audio, together with Spatial Audio assist. You get Straightforward Chat, which is an audio ducking function that “hears” dialog and lowers the audio quantity so you possibly can keep it up a dialog.
There are quite a bit of customization choices on board right here, together with 5 further earbud suggestions within the field, not together with the medium ear suggestions which might be put in by default. The remaining wealth of choices could be discovered within the app. Extra on that in a second.
Making a case for the “Professional” moniker
The large advertising push with this newest iteration of the Liberty from Anker’s Soundcore model is the case. It has some cool options which might be expanded if you use the app. The default is that if you take the earbuds out of their case, you’ll robotically see the battery standing, after which the display screen transitions to controlling ANC.
This isn’t a contact display screen possible as a result of it’s so tiny that your finger would cowl nearly all of the display screen actual property. As an alternative, you get a contact bar under the display screen to regulate the ANC slider.
Going into the app and the Charging Case Settings menu, you possibly can activate spatial audio controls, atmospheric ANC standing show, a Discover Machine function that means that you can ring the case and earbuds independently in case you can’t discover them, and a distant digital camera shutter perform in case your cellphone helps it. My Pixel 9 did assist it and labored flawlessly so long as the digital camera was launched first on the cellphone.
My solely gripe is that with the clear lid shut, you possibly can solely management the default setting, ANC. When activated from the app, all different choices can solely be accessed with the lid within the open place.
I ponder how many individuals will use the case, although, as a result of you possibly can entry ANC and spatial audio choices from Android and iOS widgets. The Discover Machine performance is probably going the one case perform that’s value pulling the case out for most individuals.
I believe that the case capabilities will likely be most helpful as a desktop distant extension of the app like a smartwatch is, to an amazing diploma, a helpful extension of your cellphone. In contrast to your cellphone, you don’t must unlock the case to entry the default options or these you add to it through the app. So, the case sitting in your desktop whilst you’re doing work is the best use case for the contact bar and good show.
Sound, app, and battery life
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Because the Liberty 4 NC did, the Liberty Professional offers you a variety of options for an inexpensive worth. Battery life is slightly below six hours in my testing at 65% of max quantity on my Google Pixel 9. The good factor is which you could get 4 hours of playback time with simply 5 minutes contained in the charging case.
The battery isn’t the one facet that has juice! The facility output is fantastic. On a Pixel 9 and iPhone 16 Professional Max, I hardly ever needed to have the quantity increased than 65%. A pet peeve of mine is Bluetooth earbuds that require me to crank the quantity to the utmost to get sturdy audio.
For a $130 pair of earbuds and in true Soundcore type, the Liberty 4 Execs punch above their weight. They’re positively tuned for standard music, however their readability and sub-bass extension are pleasant.
Listening to Charles Mingus’ “Moanin’,” you get a really clear sonic image of the fantastically layered instrumentation. The horns are crisp, the upright bass is thumping with a deep resonance, and the sparse vocals which might be layered considerably within the background are simply audible.
Nevertheless, there’s extra moanin’ available. Artwork Blakey’s model of “Moanin’” is the place you get a way of simply how brilliant the Liberty 4 Professional could be because the horns on that composition develop into fatiguing after a bit. As entertaining because the sound profile is, it doesn’t sacrifice something on the increased frequencies.
Listening to different tracks just like the “Sikiliza Kwa Wahenga” from the “Get Out” soundtrack and “Violin Duel” from the “Chevalier” soundtrack showcase the large soundstage of those mid-level Bluetooth earbuds.
Soundcore Liberty 4 Professional: What I do not like
The Liberty 4 Professional is certainly a strong performer, however nothing is ideal. As intriguing because the Sensible Show and its performance are, I’m not an enormous fan of the truth that you’ll should open the case for something apart from the ANC slider choice. You possibly can see by way of the case, so why should open it for different capabilities?
Relating to sound high quality, the 4 Execs is usually a bit brilliant, so relying on the style, your listening session could develop into a tad fatiguing. Fortunately, if that’s the case, there are EQ choices to assist tamp down that prime finish a bit.
And you may positively need to play with the totally different sound profiles a bit. Out of the field, the Liberty 4 Professional is certainly tuned for standard music, so the sonics are heavier on the low finish and a tad lighter with regards to nuance.
The earlier technology Liberty 4 NC has higher noise canceling, so in case you’re asking in case you ought to improve to those, I’d say “no.” ANC isn’t considerably higher with the 4 NC, however it’s sufficient of a distinction, with no vital distinction in sound high quality, that an improve is much from obligatory.
Final, relying on the match of your ears, the earbud quantity controls might be a little bit of an annoyance. You employ a sliding movement on the stems to extend or lower quantity. It really works fairly effectively, as do the entire different controls, however sliding on the stem might dislodge the earbuds a bit.
Soundcore Liberty 4 Professional: Competitors
We noticed some improbable rivals emerge in 2024 within the mid-range noise-canceling earbuds market, so you have got some strong alternate options right here. First, I’d check out each Nothing earbuds, the Nothing Ear (a) and Nothing Ear 2024. The latter totally competes on options with the Liberty 4 Professional, although its case isn’t as “good.” They do have higher EQ settings with the flexibility to regulate frequency bandwidth, however it should value you roughly $20 extra.
You even have ‘buds just like the OnePlus Buds Professional 3, the JBL Stay Professional 2 TWS, and a shrewd purchase in case you choose up one in every of Jabra’s “finish of life” Elite 10 (gen 1) or Elite 8 Lively earbuds. All are strong rivals to the Liberty 4 Professional, although in case you favor the stem type, you’ll need to skip Jabra’s merchandise.
Soundcore Liberty 4 Professional: Must you purchase them?
You can purchase Soundcore’s Liberty 4 Professional if…
- Tremendous quick charging
- You need Hello-Res Wi-fi Audio assist
- You desire a case that helps some earbud controls
You should not purchase Soundcore’s Liberty 4 Professional if…
- High-tier noise canceling is mission-critical
- You aren’t a fan of stem-based contact controls
The Liberty 4 Professional offers you a case that’s bigger than the earlier technology Liberty 4 NC, however you’ll should determine if its options are definitely worth the improve in measurement. In each different metric, the expertise you get is kind of good for earbuds within the mid-range market, particularly contemplating that you simply’ll save round $30 in comparison with some rivals.
For strong music copy, nice name high quality, and the flexibility to make use of the case as a desktop extension for controls, it’s best to positively check out Soundcore’s Liberty 4 Professional in case you’re available in the market for mid-range Bluetooth earbuds.
Sensible case, good worth
The Anker Soundcore Liberty 4 Professional encompasses a good charging case, however its comparatively low value and strong sound are the celebs of the present. For those who already personal the Liberty 4 NC, it is not time to improve, however different, older earbuds could also be motive sufficient.
