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Soundcore Liberty 5 vs Apple AirPods 4: The choice isn't easy
May 15, 2025
The Apple AirPods 4 and Anker Soundcore Liberty 5 both land at $129, but they approach the wireless earbud experience from very different angles. One sticks closely to Apple’s seamless ecosystem strategy, while the other throws the kitchen sink at value-driven customization. I tested both earbuds extensively and here’s how they compare across every key category.
This article was updated on May 15, 2025, to include our video comparison of the Liberty 5 vs AirPods 4.
What’s it like to use the Liberty 5 compared to the AirPods 4?
The AirPods 4 experience is heavily dependent on how well the one-size-fits-all design fits in your ears. These are some of the most lightweight earbuds I’ve worn, and if they fit your ears well, they basically disappear during use. The open design is a blessing for situational awareness but a curse in noisy environments. If they don’t fit the shape of your ears, you’ll be stuck dealing with bad sound quality and potentially even the earbuds falling out while working out.
In contrast, the Soundcore Liberty 5 offer a more traditional in-ear fit with six sizes of silicone ear tips, which makes them far more versatile for different ear shapes. I had no trouble wearing them for hours. Their snug seal provides not just comfort but also enhances audio quality and isolation—key for commuting or gym use. The Liberty 5 have an IP55 rating, slightly more durable than the IP54 water-resistance of the AirPods 4.
You can pinch the stem of the Liberty 5 earbuds to control playback.
| Input | Left earbud | Right earbud |
|---|---|---|
| Input Single press | Left earbud Play/pause, answer call | Right earbud Play/pause, answer call |
| Input Double press | Left earbud Previous track | Right earbud Next track |
| Input Triple press | Left earbud None | Right earbud None |
| Input Long press | Left earbud Ambient sound, reject call | Right earbud Ambient sound, reject call |
In addition to pinch controls, the AirPods 4 offer Siri voice controls or even head nod gestures.
| Action (stems) | Either earbud |
|---|---|
One tap | Play/pause |
Two taps | Skip forward |
Three taps | Previous track |
Press and hold | Siri |
"Hey Siri" | Change volume, request directions, playback control, receive messages, and more |
Nod or shake | Answer "yes" or "no" to Siri |
Do the Liberty 5 or AirPods 4 have more features?
The Liberty 5 are feature-packed and platform-agnostic via the Soundcore app. You get customizable controls, an 8-band EQ, HearID sound personalization, and Dolby Sound presets. The companion app is one of the most comprehensive I’ve used, with settings like low-latency gaming mode, adaptive sound leakage compensation, and safe volume limiting.
Apple users get a nice suite of iOS-only features with the AirPods 4, like Personalized Spatial Audio and Siri integration via head gestures. There’s also adaptive volume, Dolby Atmos support with Apple Music, and optimized battery charging. While there is an Adaptive EQ, there’s no customizable EQ, so you’re pretty much stuck with how the AirPods sound out of the box.
How do the Liberty 5 and AirPods 4 connect?
The AirPods 4 pair instantly with Apple devices using the H2 chip and Bluetooth 5.3 with AAC. Integration across iPhone, iPad, and Mac is seamless—audio sharing and auto-switching work as advertised. But if you use Android, these are just expensive earbuds with no extra perks.
Meanwhile, the Liberty 5 use Bluetooth 5.4 with support for AAC, SBC, and LDAC, making them ideal for both iPhone and Android users. Bluetooth multipoint works reliably, and I never experienced dropouts during testing. They’re more versatile if you split your time between ecosystems.
Is battery life better on the Liberty 5 or AirPods 4?
According to our testing, the AirPods 4 last 6 hours and 21 minutes per charge, with a total of up to 30 hours using the case. A 5-minute charge gives you about an hour of use, and you can only charge the case via USB-C—no wireless charging here.
The Liberty 5 crush that with 7 hours and 8 minutes of use with ANC on, and up to 48 hours with the case if you turn ANC off. You also get wireless charging and a 10-minute quick charge that gives you up to 5 hours of playback. That kind of flexibility makes a big difference for frequent travelers or long workdays.
Do the Liberty 5 or AirPods 4 block noise better?
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The Liberty 5 win this category by a mile. With ANC and a sealed fit, they reduce noise by up to 76% in our lab tests, including up to 40dB of high-frequency and 25dB of low-frequency sounds. In daily use, I found them effective at dulling city noise and office chatter. If you want to stay aware of your surroundings, you can always enable the transparency mode on the Liberty 5.
The regular AirPods 4 do not have noise canceling, but you can upgrade to the AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation for an extra $50. Since the regular AirPods 4 have no ANC and no ear tip seal, they are not ideal if you live in a noisy city. You’re always hearing your surroundings, which could be a pro or con depending on context. For me, it meant turning up the volume to overpower traffic—something I’d rather avoid.
Do the Liberty 5 sound better than the AirPods 4?
The AirPods 4 sound surprisingly decent for open earbuds, with balanced mids and detailed highs, but they can’t overcome the limitations of their unsealed design, namely a lack of sub-bass. In contrast, the Liberty 5 lean into bass and treble in the default tuning, but you can tweak them significantly through the app. I found the Soundcore Signature preset too intense, but a quick EQ adjustment fixed that. Both earbuds offer spatial audio features, but Apple’s implementation is more robust with head-tracking.
Multi-Dimensional Audio Quality Scores (MDAQS)
The Liberty 5 earn a strong Overall MDAQS score of 4.7, with 4.8 for Timbre, 4.6 for Immersiveness, and 3.5 for Distortion. The AirPods 4, meanwhile, score a more modest 3.6 Overall, with 3.7 Timbre, 3.8 Immersiveness, and 3.5 for Distortion. In practice, the sound quality of the AirPods 4 will vary significantly depending on how well the earbuds fit in your ears, since there are no ear tips to ensure a good seal.
- Timbre (MOS-T) represents how faithfully the headphones reproduce the frequency spectrum and temporal resolution (timing information).
- Distortion (MOS-D) represents non-linearities and added noise: higher scores mean cleaner reproduction.
- Immersiveness (MOS-I) represents perceived source width and positioning: how well virtual sound sources are defined in three-dimensional space.
Objective Measurements
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The Liberty 5 default tuning pushes sub-bass and upper treble hard compared to the SoundGuys Preference Curve. Thankfully, you can fine-tune this using the custom equalizer. The AirPods 4, on the other hand, use Apple’s Adaptive EQ to adjust based on fit, but they lack sub-bass below 100Hz, and have an under-emphasis around 3-6kHz. If you prefer hearing detail in the mids, you’ll like the AirPods 4 more, while if you prefer bass and treble detail, you’ll likely enjoy the Liberty 5 more out of the box.
Do the Liberty 5 or AirPods 4 have a better microphone?
The AirPods 4 use the AAC-ELD codec and AI-enhanced noise filtering when paired with an iPhone. Voice quality is good across environments, with decent clarity and background noise rejection. In calls, people had no trouble understanding me—even on windy walks.
The Liberty 5 also use multiple mics and apply environmental noise reduction. They performed well in our tests, even in challenging conditions like city streets. Let us know which you think sounds best.
Liberty 5 microphone demo (Ideal conditions):
AirPods 4 microphone demo (Ideal conditions):
Liberty 5 microphone demo (Street conditions):
AirPods 4 microphone demo (Street conditions):
Which microphone sounds better to you?
Liberty 5 vs AirPods 4: Price and availability
Both earbuds are available now and retail for $129. The AirPods are slightly older so you might be able to find them on sale for less, though Apple is not well-known for having big sales. If you want noise canceling, you can check out the AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation ($149.99 at Amazon).
Should you get the Liberty 5 or AirPods 4?
If you’re deep into the Apple ecosystem and want unsealed earbuds for casual listening, the AirPods 4 make sense. But for everyone else—especially Android users—the Anker Soundcore Liberty 5 offer more comfort, affordable noise canceling, and far more customization. That said, neither of these are my first choice for the best affordable wireless earbuds.
Affordable
Bluetooth 5.4 with LDAC
Companion app
What should you get instead of the Liberty 5 or AirPods 4?
The Liberty 5 aren’t the only wireless earbuds from Soundcore. Make sure to check out the Liberty 4 Pro ($129.99 at Amazon) and the Liberty 4 NC ($99.99 at Amazon), both of which offer a similar experience to the Liberty 5.
Around this price, you have a lot of great options from other brands to check out as well. The Nothing Ear have a ton of features for ($149 at Amazon). If you want the best sound quality, consider the Creative Aurvana Ace Mimi (on the product's website), which have innovative xMEMS drivers.