Anker’s new earbuds have a MacBook-like ‘touch bar’ on the case to tweak controls – and some serious sound design
Anker’s brand new ANC earbuds offer an impressive spec and a fancy case for a knock-out price
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The new Soundcore Liberty 4 Pro earbuds are here to take on theAirPods Pro 2– and they have a veryApple-esque feature that the AirPods lack: a touch bar. Where Apple limited its touch bar to laptops and has since stopped using it,Anker’s version is on its earbuds' charging case and hopefully has more staying power.
Anker isn’t the first firm to put a screen in its earbud charging case – as we’ve written previously,JBL has converted usfrom cynics to enthusiastic charge-case screen supporters on theJBL Live Beam 3– but its approach is nice and elegant: the screen itself isn’t a touchscreen (it’s actually inside the case but visible on the outside) but it’s designed to work in conjunction with a slim touch-sensitive bar on the front of the case.
The screen is fun, but of course, thebest earbudsare about more than fancy features. And the specs here look impressive.
Anker Soundcore Liberty Pro 4: key features and pricing
The Liberty 4 Pro earbuds haveactive noise cancellationcourtesy of six microphones and a barometric pressure sensor to capture and isolate audio. The algorithm for the ANC is the third generation of Anker’s audio tech and promises to adapt to your audio environment three times per second. Switching between noise cancellation and transparency can be done on the case’s touch bar.
There’s Bluetooth 5.3 with Fast Pair, support for the higher-quality LDAC codec, and the buds also offer multi-mode spatial audio.
Playtime is up from the previous version to 10 hours / 40 hours with ANC off; with ANC on the buds still deliver 7.5 hours solo and 30 via the charging case, which is very competitive against thebest noise cancelling earbuds.
As before, the bulk of the configuration is handled in the Soundcore app, which offers a new version of HearID to tailor the sound to your ears and an 8-band customizable EQ with multiple presets.
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In ourAnker Liberty 3 Pro review, we liked the battery life and the ANC but weren’t so keen on the fit or the touch controls; the new case should address the latter and hopefully the fit has been improved too.
The new Liberty 4 Pro comes in Glossy Light Blue, Glossy Black and White and will be available starting today onAmazon.com,Soundcore.com, and from select retailers for $129.99 in the US and £129.99 in the UK. Additional availability throughout Europe will be announced at a later date, and we don’t have confirmation of an Australian launch at this time.
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Writer, broadcaster, musician and kitchen gadget obsessive Carrie Marshall has been writing about tech since 1998, contributing sage advice and odd opinions to all kinds of magazines and websites as well as writing more than a dozen books. Her memoir,Carrie Kills A Man, is on sale now and her next book, about pop music, is out in 2025. She is the singer in Glaswegian rock bandUnquiet Mind.
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