Sony INZONE Buds vs Anker soundcore Liberty 4 NC

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INZONE Buds compared with Liberty 4 NC

	SonyINZONE Buds	Anker soundcoreLiberty 4 NC
Overview
Released
Released	October 2023	June 2023
Sound
Type
Type	In-ear	In-ear
Noise cancelling
Noise cancelling	Yes	Yes
Transparency mode
Transparency mode	Yes	Yes
Driver size
Driver size	8.4 mm	11 mm
Bluetooth codecs
Bluetooth codecs	LC3	SBC, AAC and LDAC
Chip
Chip	Sony L1	–
Drivers
Drivers	8.4 mm Dynamic Driver X with different diaphragm dome and edge materials	11 mm custom-tuned drivers with a curved design
Noise cancelling detail
Noise cancelling detail	–	Adaptive ANC 2.0 responds to ear fit and surroundings; manual cancellation, transportation modes and wind-noise reduction. The UK page's unlabelled specification cards instead describe an open-ear model; the exact Liberty 4 NC description, comparison column and FAQ control
Audio features
Audio features	INZONE Hub for Windows provides equaliser, 360 Spatial Sound for Gaming, sound-field personalisation from ear photographs and sound-tone personalisation using test tones and feedback microphones; compatible with PS5 Tempest 3D AudioTech	HearID 2.0, 22 presets and adjustable EQ; SBC and AAC are confirmed by SoundGuys and Tom's Guide. Low-latency gaming mode and 3D Surround Sound are described by the reviews
Hearing health
Hearing health	–	Safe Volume monitoring and an optional limit in the soundcore app (SoundGuys)
Battery
Listening time (maker's claim)
Listening time (maker's claim)	Up to 11 hours	Up to 8 hours
With the case
With the case	–	Up to 40 hours
Wireless charging
Wireless charging	–	Yes
Battery life detail
Battery life detail	USB-transceiver playback up to 11 hours with noise cancellation on or 12 hours off. Bluetooth LE Audio playback up to 18 hours with noise cancellation on or 24 hours off. Total with case is published only with noise cancellation off, up to 24 hours through the USB transceiver or 48 hours through LE Audio; no ANC-on case total is inferred.	Up to eight hours with ANC or Transparency, 40 including the case; Normal mode gives ten and 50 hours. LDAC with ANC gives five and 25 hours, or six and 30 without ANC. Maker testing uses 50% volume; SoundGuys lists a June 2023 release
Charging case
Charging case	–	USB-C and wireless charging; earbuds take around 1.5 hours to recharge, case around three hours by cable or 3.5 wirelessly
Fast charging
Fast charging	Approximately two hours to charge the earbuds fully; Sony states five minutes charging provides approximately one hour of use	Ten minutes of charging provides up to four hours of playback
Design
Weight (each earbud)
Weight (each earbud)	6.5 g	–
Water and sweat resistance
Water and sweat resistance	IPX4	IPX4
Bluetooth
Bluetooth	5.3	5.3
Two devices at once
Two devices at once	–	Yes
Controls
Controls	Customisable touch controls for volume, microphone mute and other functions; available assignments vary with connection mode and device	Customisable taps and long presses with wearing detection for automatic playback pause/resume; case pairing button
Microphones
Microphones	Built-in microphones with AI-based voice noise reduction	Six beamforming microphones with AI call-noise reduction
Fit and ear tips
Fit and ear tips	Four ear-tip sizes; Sony's white and black earbuds weigh approximately 6.5 g each including medium tips, while Glass Purple weighs approximately 6.7 g each	Four sizes of silicone ear tips and app Fit Test; SoundGuys lists 5.7 g for each earbud, while the current UK maker page publishes no weight
Case weight
Case weight	–	1.53 ounces according to Tom's Guide
Water resistance detail
Water resistance detail	IPX4 applies to the earbuds	IPX4 applies to the earbuds; no case water-resistance rating is published
Works with
Works with	USB-C 2.4 GHz transceiver with PC and PS5/mobile modes; Sony claims below 30 ms transceiver latency. Bluetooth 5.3 LE Audio with LC3 only, without Bluetooth Classic; Sony states iPhone and iPad do not support direct Bluetooth connection. Compatible phone app support was added on 3 April 2024, requires updated firmware and LE Audio, and is unavailable over the USB transceiver; firmware updates use INZONE Hub on PC.	Two-device Bluetooth, disabled when LDAC is enabled; LDAC requires Android 8.0 or later and a firmware update. Google Fast Pair on Android (SoundGuys)
Colours
Colours	White, black or Glass Purple; colour variants remain configurations of the same model	Velvet Black, Clear White, Navy Blue, Pastel Pink and Light Blue
In the box
In the box	Earbuds, charging case, USB-C transceiver, USB charging cable and ear tips	Earbuds, charging case, four ear-tip sizes and USB-A to USB-C cable (SoundGuys)