Earlier this month, Anker revealed its new Soundcore Liberty 4 NC earbuds. After getting a first look at them in person, I went home with a pair of the brand’s latest true wireless earbuds and have been daily driving them since. The verdict after a few weeks? These may be some of the more affordable options on the market, but the Soundcore Liberty 4 NC punch well above their weight class and may very well be the best $100 earbuds out there.
Hands-on with the new Anker Soundcore Liberty 4 NC earbuds
The story with Anker’s newest earbuds is all about trade-offs. Its new option somehow arrives with a $100 MSRP, but one listen and you’ll be shocked to hear such balanced sound and such compelling features from a price tag that’s less than half the cost of the competition. The new Anker Soundcore Liberty 4 NC earbuds come in one of five colorways, keeping up with the brand’s tradition of delivering some fun stylings.
But there’s more than the looks to be excited about here. Anker’s latest arrive with 11mm drivers that in my experience, deliver balanced sound. The highs and mids are quite distinct and pair nicely with some bass, but these aren’t going to be rocking your head like some of the other low-heavy offerings out there.
I’m personally not one for personalizing the audio profile during my reviews, but Anker is delivering its HearID 2.0 tech here, which I also got to play around with. The adjustable EQ settings can be tweaked to your liking, or chosen out of 22 presets to help boost the right notes in your music. Anker has some of the best audio customization on the market, and the Soundcore Liberty 4 NC continue that legacy, though I’ve really been enjoying the out-of-the-box sound to the point where tailoring the sound isn’t going to be a must.
Joining the playback itself, Anker is also employing its new Adaptive ANC 2.0 technology. Relying on real-time calculations to adjust just how much background noise to cut out of your hearing, the earbuds have proved to be well equipped to handle NYC commutes without a problem. I wouldn’t say that Anker is delivering Apple-level ANC or anything of the sort, but the noise isolation tech is very formidable.
Anker doesn’t just cover the basics with its new Soundcore Liberty 4 NC either. You’ll find some features that earbuds at far higher price tags opt to ignore making the cut, like ear detection. It’s something that most buds of this caliber ultimately forgo in order to bring the price down, but oh not Anker. It’s delivering that tech despite its affordable nature. I will mention, there’s a bit of a delay between when audio pauses or resumes, but it’s a far better solution than to have to have your finger on the pause button the second you want to take out the earbuds.
Ditching the feature is one of my biggest pain points for reviewing earbuds these days, especially as someone who lives in a major city. I just want to be able to take an earbud out to hear if the subway announcement is going to interrupt my commute, or talk to the barista at the coffee shop for a second without going through a whole ordeal. And thankfully, Anker delivered.
Earlier I mentioned trade-offs, and the Anker Soundcore Liberty 4 NC earbuds are a perfect example of where to make sacrifices. Feature-wise, you’d have no idea that these were $100 earbuds. But feeling the new releases in-hand makes that a little more apparent. The build of both of the charging case and the earbuds themselves are hardly the best out there, with some plastic designs that feel a tad more light than what you’d expect from Apple or Google.
I don’t mean to say that they feel cheap, but that they do physically feel like you’re getting what you’d expect out of a pair of earbuds at this price point. It’s hardly a bad thing, either. The charging case may not have the same heft that some of its competitors do, and the earbuds may have this glossy plastic exterior on the inside, but if going with a more budget-conscious build is what allowed Anker to ship its latest at this price to begin with, then I am so happy they made the call.
While I am talking about the charging case, I have to say that the click to open mechanism is one of my favorite elements of the new Anker buds. It’s such a fun little inclusion that satisfies the parts of me that need to fidget with something throughout the day. The case might be a little bigger than other options out there, but I do adore that the brand gave us something fresh instead of a slightly different take on the same form-factor. It also allows the earbuds to jump up from 10 hours of listening from just the buds to 50 thanks to the added battery reservoir in the case.
Bring home Anker’s latest earbuds now
Now available for purchase, the new Anker Soundcore Liberty 4 NC earbuds arrive at a $99.99 MSRP. They’re available on Amazon as well as direct from Anker, and come in one of five different colors. As a special launch promotion, you can now make these earbuds an even better value, too. That $100 price tag now drops to $79.99 after you’ve clipped the on-page coupon at either retailer, saving you $20 for a limited time.
9to5Toys’ Take
I’ve used and reviewed a lot of earbuds this year so far, and the most matter of fact praise I can give to the new Anker Soundcore Liberty 4 NC is that they’re my favorite releases in 2023 so far. The value here is absolutely unbeatable. Even after I got to the point that I felt comfortable hearing all I needed to for this review, I’ve still found myself reaching for these over some of the other buds in my arsenal.
Back when Anker revealed these in the beginning of June at a press event in Manhattan, the company was talking a big game about the new Liberty 4 NC. Which is of course to be expected, brands have to hype up their latest. But after spending the last few weeks with them, it all feels a lot less like trying to drum up excitement and more like they might have been selling the buds short. I really am that impressed.
Sure, you’ll find earbuds out there with better build qualities. There will be true wireless listening experiences with longer battery life, or maybe even better audio quality. You’ll likely be able to find another pair of earbuds that get closer to dethroning AirPods Pro 2 for delivering the best ANC out there. But any of these contenders are going to be far more expensive than Anker’s latest. That’s really where the new Soundcore Liberty 4 NC shine.
It isn’t even that these buds do so many things well, it’s that the feature set and overall listening experience is achieved for just $100. Throw in that launch discount and there isn’t another pair of earbuds you should consider at this price point. These are easily better than competitors in the $150 price range, too.
Buy the new Anker Soundcore Liberty 4 NC earbuds now
FTC: 9to5Toys is reader supported, we may earn income on affiliate links
Subscribe to the 9to5Toys YouTube Channel for all of the latest videos, reviews, and more!
