Audio review
Soundcore Liberty 4 NC Review: Great on a Train, Poor at a Desk
Two sources found the same blind spot from opposite directions. The noise cancelling barely touches keyboard clatter, and the microphone struggles with it too.
By Paulo GerchonPublished 2 min read
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Soundcore Liberty 4 NC
Good · researched from 3 sources
For the money these are close to unbeatable on transit, where the noise cancelling and the tuning both do their best work. The one thing they are consistently bad at is an office, which two independent sources found from opposite ends of the problem.
- Buy if
- Commuting, flights and public transport · Anyone who wants LDAC and a real equaliser at this price · Listeners who like bass and want the option to dial it back
- Skip if
- Open-plan offices, on the keyboard-noise finding · Swimming or hard training, given IPX4 · Anyone who wants earbuds that disappear visually
We don’t list prices, because Amazon’s change hourly.
The blind spot two sources found separately
Headphone Check ran the noise cancelling against a range of sounds. Traffic went, background voices went, a circular saw went. Keyboard sounds barely moved.
SoundGuys tested the microphone and hit the same wall from the other side, describing it as handling a windy street well and struggling with office keystrokes.
Two different tests, two different labs, the same weakness. Keyboard clatter is short, sharp and sits high enough in frequency that active cancellation has very little to work with, and this is where a passive seal does more than electronics.
The practical version: excellent on a train, disappointing in an open-plan office, in both directions.
The measurement that justifies the price
SoundGuys scored these 4.9 out of 5 for timbre in their MDAQS assessment and noted it is among the highest they have recorded for any wireless earbuds. Immersiveness came in at 4.8, distortion lower at 3.9.
That is flagship territory from a product priced well below flagships, and it is why both scoring sources land on value as the headline.
Headphone Check adds the caveat worth reading. They describe the soundstage as reverberant and slightly tinny through the mid and upper frequencies out of the box, and say running the Hear ID profile improved clarity significantly. Several of the shipped presets are also heavy on bass.
There are 22 presets and a proper eight-band equaliser in the app. Use them.
Battery, from two labs
SoundGuys measured 9 hours 53 minutes with cancelling on. Headphone Check measured 9.5 hours in standard use.
That is close agreement, which is unusual and reassuring.
Headphone Check supplies the number the marketing does not: at maximum noise cancelling it falls to about six hours. With the case, roughly 50 hours in standard use and 30 at maximum.
What LDAC at this price means
LDAC, AAC and SBC. On an Android source that can drive LDAC, these carry substantially more data than the AAC-only earbuds they compete with.
Whether you hear it depends on your source and your ears, and it costs battery. It is still a specification that used to be reserved for far more expensive products.
Multipoint holds two devices, confirmed by Headphone Check, and switches when a call arrives.
The small irritations
They are IPX4. Rain and sweat, yes; a pool, no. SoundGuys says they are not ideal for athletic use.
Tech with Quinn, two months in, found touch gestures sometimes failing to register and the haptic confirmation occasionally not firing. That is a real annoyance and the kind that only shows up over weeks.
Transparency mode carries more background hiss than pricier alternatives, per Headphone Check. The case is chunky, per SoundGuys. And they are visible in the ear, which every source mentions and which is a matter of taste rather than a fault.
How it scored
The overall 8.4 is the weighted average of these five criteria — we never adjust it by hand.
Sound quality
SoundGuys scored 4.9 out of 5 for timbre in their MDAQS assessment, among the highest they have recorded. Headphone Check calls the bass full-bodied but well-defined.
Value
SoundGuys gave 8.2 out of 10 with an Editor's Choice award and Headphone Check 4.63 out of 5, both explicitly on price-to-performance grounds.
Build quality
IPX4 only, so rain and sweat are fine and immersion is not. SoundGuys criticises the chunky case, and the earbuds themselves sit prominently in the ear.
Ease of use
Multipoint for two devices, four to five ear tip sizes and an app with 22 presets plus an eight-band equaliser. Tech with Quinn found the touch controls fired inconsistently.
Noise cancelling
Five manual levels plus adaptive and wind modes. Headphone Check found it strong on low frequencies and voices and weak on keyboard sounds specifically.
Pros and cons
What we liked
- SoundGuys scored timbre 4.9 out of 5, among the highest of any earbuds they have measured
- Around ten hours per charge with noise cancelling on, and roughly fifty with the case
- LDAC support at this price, alongside AAC and SBC
- Multipoint for two devices, confirmed by Headphone Check
- An app with 22 EQ presets and a genuine eight-band equaliser
- Ten minutes of charging returns about four hours of playback
What we didn’t
- Headphone Check found keyboard sounds barely reduced by the noise cancelling
- SoundGuys reports the microphone struggling with office keystrokes as well
- SoundGuys scored comfort 8.1 out of 10, which they class as below average
- Headphone Check calls the transparency mode noticeably noisy
- IPX4 only, and SoundGuys says they are not ideal for athletic use
- Tech with Quinn found touch gestures and haptic feedback firing inconsistently
Specifications
| Battery | 9 h 53 m with ANC per SoundGuys; 9.5 h standard and 6 h at maximum ANC per Headphone Check |
|---|---|
| Battery with case | About 50 hours per SoundGuys; 47 h standard and 30 h at maximum ANC per Headphone Check |
| Quick charge | 10 minutes for about 4 hours |
| Codecs | LDAC, AAC and SBC |
| Water resistance | IPX4 |
| Multipoint | Two devices |
| Ear tips | Four sizes per Headphone Check; Tech with Quinn describes five, from S to XXL |
| Noise cancelling | Adaptive plus five manual levels, wind reduction and a transport mode |
| App | 22 EQ presets, an eight-band equaliser, Hear ID hearing profile and control remapping |
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How we researched this
We have not had this unit on the bench. This review synthesises the manufacturer’s published specifications, independent measurements and owner reports listed below. Every figure on this page comes from one of those sources rather than our own measurement.
3
sources reviewed
SoundGuys supplies the MDAQS sound scores, the measured battery figure, the codec list and the comfort score, and is the only source that measured anything on a rig. Headphone Check supplies the second battery measurement including the maximum-ANC figure, the multipoint confirmation, the call quality assessment and the specific finding about keyboard noise. Tech with Quinn is the long-term account after two months and is the source for the control reliability complaint. The three disagree on the number of ear tip sizes, four against five, and both counts are reported. No source published measured noise cancelling attenuation in decibels for these earbuds, so none is claimed here.
What we read
Common questions
Are the Soundcore Liberty 4 NC good for an office?
How long does the battery last?
Do they sound as good as the score suggests?
Are they comfortable?
What is annoying about them day to day?
The bottom line on the Soundcore Liberty 4 NC
For the money these are close to unbeatable on transit, where the noise cancelling and the tuning both do their best work. The one thing they are consistently bad at is an office, which two independent sources found from opposite ends of the problem.
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