I gave up on cheap earbuds — then a $60 pair quietly ruined AirPods for me

I spent years buying bad budget earbuds. The Soundcore Liberty 4 NC fixed a part of my day I'd given up on — for a quarter of an AirPods price.…

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Maya Chen · Budget Tech Contributor

The short version (for people who scroll)

Buy these: the Soundcore Liberty 4 NC — genuinely good noise cancelling, real bass, ~$99 and constantly on sale for less. For most people this is the answer.

The short version (for people who scroll)

Buy AirPods instead only if you're all-in on iPhone and want the seamless-switching, hearing-aid, find-my-everything ecosystem — and you're okay paying ~4x for it.

The short version (for people who scroll)

The honest catch: call quality is fine, not amazing, and the app is a little much. Neither one sent me back to the store.

The short version (for people who scroll)

Don't overthink it. Cheap earbuds got *good*. The gap between $60 and $250 is now small enough that most people should just keep the money.

Maya's verdict

Buy the Soundcore Liberty 4 NC. It's the pair I actually use, it fixed a part of my day I'd given up on, and it costs about what a nice lunch-for-two does. Save AirPods for when you're genuinely…

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I gave up on cheap earbuds — then a $60 pair quietly ruined AirPods for me

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