Editor’s choice
Audio
Sony WH-1000XM5
Frequent flyers and open-plan offices that need the quietest cabin available.
$348 as of 9 September 2026
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Anker Soundcore Liberty 4 NC review
The honest answer to whether you need to spend 300 dollars on earbuds. You give up some cancelling depth and some call clarity. You keep the money.
$79 as of 9 September 2026
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Research-based assessment. We have not tested this unit ourselves. This verdict is built from manufacturer specifications, published measurements, and the pattern of owner reports, scored against the same criteria we apply to every product. Read our method.
What works
- Active noise cancelling that works on real commutes, not just on paper
- Multipoint pairing to two devices, which is rare at this price
- App gives real equaliser control rather than three fixed presets
What to consider
- Call microphone struggles in wind compared with premium sets
- Plastic build feels its price in the hand
Who this is for
Anyone who wants most of the flagship experience for roughly a quarter of the money.
We scored the Anker Soundcore Liberty 4 NC against the same eight factors we apply to every product we cover, then wrote down what we found. The verdict above is the short version. The trade-off is in the two columns: what works, and what you give up.
Why we cover this product
Every product is scored out of 100 before we write about it, so our coverage is driven by a published method rather than by whichever commission is highest. This one scores 89 and sits in tier hero.
| Factor | Score |
|---|---|
| Demand signals (25) | 22 |
| Customer rating (15) | 13 |
| Review volume (10) | 9 |
| Price attractiveness (10) | 10 |
| Commission potential (10) | 8 |
| Search demand (15) | 12 |
| Social potential (10) | 10 |
| Problem-solving value (5) | 5 |
| Total | 89 |
Consider instead
If this one is not the right fit, this is the product we would point you to next.
Editor’s choice