Design and Specs
The Liberty 4 earbuds feature a sturdy and lightweight plastic body, which houses a special ACAA 3.0 Coaxial Acoustic System that uses two dynamic drivers placed on the same axis to produce high-res sound output. The company claims that it can deliver three times the clarity when used in LDAC mode.
The body of the earbuds has been designed to fit perfectly in the human ear and maintain a proper audio seal even under constant movement. There are no physical or capacitive buttons located on the earbuds themselves, so you will have to control all the features using the Soundcore app.
While there is multi-device connectivity available thanks to the inclusion of Bluetooth 5.2, we do not recommend using it as it restricts you from using the LDAC mode. Another big caveat is the lack of any IP rating for dust or water resistance. This is a must-have feature in wireless earphones these days, and not having it in this model might make it a potential dealbreaker for some fitness enthusiasts.
HearID ANC
The earbuds feature 6 strategically placed microphones to enable voice calling and ANC functions. One thing to keep in mind is that what you get is not regularly active noise cancellation but rather a HearID Adaptive Noise Cancellation system. It uses the microphones to constantly monitor the surrounding noise levels and adjust the noise cancelling features accordingly.
The system does this with the help of a special AI noise reduction filter to make it easier to hear and speak in noisy environments. The AI algorithm also enables transparency and white noise modes for more usability in office and outdoor settings. Over time, this AI algorithm will start to understand your surroundings and create specific equalizer profiles for specific types of environments.
Similarly, you will also be able to create unique profiles for different types of content, such as Music and Movie Modes, which will be tuned to present the respective content in the best possible settings.
Spatial Audio
To provide a much more immersive experience when listening to music and movie audio, the earbuds also feature spatial audio capabilities. This is a hardware-based system which uses a gyroscope to keep track of your head movements. This way, the system knows exactly what direction you are facing and can automatically adjust the soundstage to reflect the change. The company is calling it dynamic head tracking, and it works seamlessly with all sorts of audio input streamed through the Soundcore app.
Heart Rate Monitoring
There is a special heart rate sensor located on top of the right earbud. The sensor is hidden beneath special dual-layer flexible eartips, which have been kept transparent to allow light to reach the sensor for easy visibility and proper functionality.
In order to use the sensor, you must first activate it through the Soundcore app. A red light located on the sensor will light up to let you know when it is active and functioning. You can use the sensor to check not only your heart rate but also measure your blood oxygen levels.
The results will be displayed in the app itself, which can be used to keep a record of your testing. Although, the company has already included a disclaimer that these functions are meant only for general health and fitness use. So, don't expect them to deliver medical-grade accuracy.
Battery Life
The in-built battery can deliver up to 9 hours of non-stop listening on a single charge. This time can be bumped up to 28 hours with the inclusion of the wireless charging case. However, if you activate any of the special features, these figures go down drastically. For example, simply turning on the HeadID ANC drops the battery life to 7 hours, while including the spatial audio features brings it down to barely 5 hours.
While we don't know how much battery is used by the heart rate sensors, chances are it will have some impact if you use it at a high frequency. Thankfully, you can easily charge up the earbuds back to full, with support for USB-C-based fast charging, which lets you get up to 3 hours of listening time in just 15 minutes.
Price and Availability
The Liberty 4 earbuds are available in Midnight Black and Cloud White colours and can be purchased from the Soundcore website for a starting price of around $150.
