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Model: TaoTronics SoundLiberty 95
Price: £39.99 (Currently £34.99 with voucher)
Review Reference: RC020
Manufacturer Specification:
- Brand: TaoTronics
- Model: SoundLiberty 95
- Chipset: Qualcomm QCC3020
- Drivers: 13mm
- Mic: 4, cVc 8.0
- Codecs: SBC, AAC, aptX
- Weight: 4oz
- Case dimensions: 4x3x1.3 in
- Battery Capacity: 300mAh
- Single Use Playtime: 7 hours
- Playtime Total with Case: 28 hours
- Case connection: USB-C
- Bluetooth Version: 5.0
- Bluetooth Protocols: HSP/ HFP/ A2DP/ AVRCP
- Water Resistance: IPX6 (unconfirmed)
Includes:
1 x Pair wireless earbuds
1 x battery charging case
1 x free amazon voucher for 5 star review bribe (not OK)
1 x Type-C USB charging cables
1 x User manual, quick guide, warranty card (18 months if you hand over your data)
Real Life Experience
Taotronics have released several semi-in-ear buds to the market, and despite looking the most promising on paper, the 95 proved to be the most disappointing.
The Unboxing - 5/10
Taotronics are known for their cheap and cheerful packaging and the TT-BH95 are no exception.
Inside the box you get the obligatory 'share your 5 star review for a free Amazon gift card' that is the scourge of the Chi-tech market, a user guide and manual, as well as a small card that allows you to extend the warranty to 18 months by registering the product (giving them your email address so they can spam you)
The Case - 6.5/10
The case is becoming seemingly more and more important as earbuds have evolved. I find myself moving the case around in my palms and scrutinizing stuff like the hinge strength and portability in far more detail than previously. I think it comes down to trying to find faults as earbuds have improved dramatically in the last 12 months.
The TT-95 case is a portable but generic looking case, that fits comfortably in the palm of your hand. Annoyingly, the screen printed logo was wonky! Size-wise, it is slightly larger than the Buds Live and Soundpeats TrueAir2 cases, but unlike them it opens at the top.
This has its benefits and drawbacks. When you open the box, it can pair with your receiver without removing the buds (Hall Switch mode, apparently). However, it isn't always easy to replace the buds and I found them getting stuck in the wrong position at times.
It comes in a fingerprint-magnet piano black gloss finish and is powered by USB-C. The rounded base means it can't stand up, and is a little awkward to charge, especially as it doesn't support Qi.
At 5.5cm high, 4.5cm wide and just over 2cm in depth, it is delightfully portable.
The Ergonomics - 6.5/10
Some good points, some bad. They passed the shake test comfortably, meaning even if you have a shallow concha like me, they will rest reasonably securely, helped in no small part by the deeper 'chin', visible below.
The longer stem augments the call quality, but looks a little unsightly compared with shorter buds like the Soundpeats TrueAir 2.
The screen printed L and R are helpful but look a bit cheap. Also, notice the highly polished finish to the tips - this almost negates the advantage of the deeper neck by being a little slippery on your ear.
However the most annoying thing about the SoundLiberty 95 is the angled edge. Not only is it absent of any countour, the edges are sharp and the plastic rim thick. This makes them awfully uncomfortable for any real period of time, because every time you adjust them, you find them digging into your cartilage. Look at the contrast with the beautifully chamfered Soundpeats TrueAir 2.
Audio Quality - 7/10 (for the price paid), 6/10 (raw score)
The TT-95 are not going to have you dancing around the room. In trying not to sound too tinny, the highs have been more jettisoned than rolled off! Even Ariana Grande sounded like she was singing through a pillow. There is little to no sibilance, but with a fairly flat soundstage it makes for comfortable but somewhat drab, boring listening.
Still, they manage to avoid the problem with many budget buds of screeching vocals from the extreme V-shape signature to sound loud enough to dismiss the background noise, elevated due to the design of semi-in-ears. With their long battery life they are ideally placed for background noise while you work - you won't be fatigued by the sound that's for sure.
Call Quality - Indoors - 8/10, Outdoors - 7/10
The best feature of the TT-95 is the call quality. Whilst a tad robotic, it is clear, albeit a shade muted, and background suppression of all frequencies is well executed. It performed well on both cellular and Zoom.
Outdoors is also acceptable - again, the compression is evident, and it doesn't knock all sounds out, but it's good enough.
Connectivity, Controls and Other Features - 6/10
Connectivity is pretty good. I got as far as I could with my buds live. They have a little go at staying connected then give up.
Controls are good - intuitive and accurate. One bonus is that I did not find myself accidentally touching the controls when adjusting the buds, as they are located right on the top, so you can move them around without fear of skipping tracks.
Double tap plays and pauses, as well as answering calls. Triple tap skips forward and backwards between tracks and rejects calls. You cannot control the volume on the buds touch controls sadly.
Latency is more than acceptable - as expected with aptX.
Semi-in-ear buds rarely offer any spectacular features - app support is rare, so no surprise that these budget buds don't offer anything like the bonus that the FIIL CC2 brings. There is no ANC - not that it works on semi-in-ear anyway, and no wireless charging or BT5.2. What you get is...what you get.
Battery Life - 7/10
For whatever reason, semi-in ear buds never quite hit the heights of silicone buds in the battery department. The TT-95 impress here though - I managed just over 5 hours off a single charge, which took around 1 hour and a half to cycle through. The case gives you an additional three charges, so we are talking around 20-22 hours total. More than acceptable.
Final Comments
Stem-based semi-in-ear have never really been my thing, but getting migraines, probably from feeling like I'm in a submarine for 8 hours a day from the pressurized silicone TWS I've been wearing for work then reviewing has seen me rethink my priorities.
I never expect sound to be as dynamic on semi-in-ear, and that's certainly the case with the TT-95. They've clearly tried everything to NOT sound like the headphones they hand out on flights (remember when we used to get on planes and travel to other countries?!) but at the expense of any kind of sparkle - the sound quality isn't better, it's just EQ'd badly. Well, not badly, just not particularly well.
The TT-95 are inoffensive listening, although I doubt the artists that made the music would say the same! It's comfortable listening though, with screeching kept to a minimum, although with a bland signature and limited soundstage whilst you will never get tired of using them, you'll never get excited either.
Call quality saves the TT-95 - it's more than acceptable, but in a congested market, in which even TaoTronics themselves have two other alternatives, they don't really offer enough for the money you pay.
Price Weighted Score: 70%
Raw Score: 64%
2022 Score: 60%
