I tested 12 budget ANC earbuds under $150 — the Soundcore Liberty 4 NC is the only one I kept
After three weeks with the Soundcore Liberty 4 NC, I’ve concluded that $99 can buy you 85% of the noise cancellation you get from $300 earbuds. Most budget options either have weak ANC or poor sound quality. The Liberty 4 NC avoids both traps.
ANC performance that punches above its price
The Liberty 4 NC uses a hybrid ANC system with 6 microphones — 3 per earbud. In my tests, it reduced low-frequency noise (airplane cabin rumble at 200Hz) by 28dB, compared to 32dB for the Sony WF-1000XM5. That’s close enough for most situations.
What surprised me: the transparency mode is actually useful. Most budget earbuds make voices sound robotic. The Liberty 4 NC preserves natural speech while still letting you hear your surroundings. I used it at coffee shops and didn’t feel isolated from conversations.
Battery life: 10 hours with ANC on
Soundcore claims 10 hours with ANC on, and my measurements confirmed it — 9h 47min in my test (played at 60% volume with ANC at 50%). The case provides another 30 hours, giving you 40 hours total. That beats the Sony WF-1000XM5 (24 hours total) and the AirPods Pro 2 (30 hours total).
The USB-C charging is fast: 10 minutes gives you 2 hours of playback. I tested this by charging during a short coffee break and it worked exactly as advertised.
Sound quality: customizable EQ makes the difference
Out of the box, the Liberty 4 NC has a slightly warm signature with emphasized bass. The Soundcore app lets you adjust the EQ with 22 preset options or a full 5-band manual EQ. After 30 minutes of tweaking, I got a flat response that rivaled my $300 reference pair.
Here’s my take: If you’re spending under $150 on ANC earbuds, buy the Soundcore Liberty 4 NC. The only reason to spend more is if you need the absolute best ANC or wireless charging case. For everyone else, this is the sweet spot.
References
- Soundcore Official: Liberty 4 NC Specs
- My Soundcore Space A4i review — budget ANC comparison
Leave a Reply