TaoTronics SoundLiberty 94 Bluetooth 5.1 ANC TWS Earbuds
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Model: TaoTronics SoundLiberty 94
Price: MSRP $58.99
Vendor Website: Here
Review Reference: RC027
Manufacturer Specification:
1 x Pair Wireless headphones
1 x USB Type-C Charge Case
1 x USB Type-C Charge Cable
6 x Silicone Tips (3 pairs)
1 x User manual, quick guide, warranty card, gift voucher (booooo)
Real Life Experience
This is about the tenth set of Taotronics earbuds I've reviewed. Taotronics is the brand name the SunValley group use for OEM/ODM and distribution of earbuds that are typically manufactured by smaller vendors with less reach than Tao, who have become highly established here in Europe and the US for both audio products and a whole host of other electronics, from dehumidifiers to wireless mesh systems.
Anyone reading got a middle child? They listen to everything negative you say to them and ignore all the positives. Tao are a little like that when it comes to my reviews. They ignore the good reviews and are quickly all over me when I give a bad one, and thus, these earbuds were sent free of charge to me soon after a negative review of the TT-BH095.
Amusingly they gave me a load of flannel about giving feedback to their engineers, which I had to tell them not to bother since I knew they were ODM Edifier TWS200. And the same is the case here - the SoundLiberty 94 look familiar because they have gone under about 5 different releases now - the Dyplay Shield, Tozo NC9 and 20Decebel ANC Pro are, to name but a few, the different guises these earbuds have adopted over the course of their lifetime.
The Unboxing - 6/10
If you've read any of my past reviews on old Tao earbuds - well, you'll know my thoughts. Very basic. Small case with the bare minimum packaging.
A warranty card signs you up to their mailing list, the quick start guide is straightforward and the user guide is in English, French, German, Spanish, Italian and Chinese, using a mixture of graphics and text to get the message across.
Unfortunately Tao included a gift card in exchange for a review (which they nudge should be 5 stars) with this model. This is malpractice that I don't like to see, and neither did Amazon - they've since banned them from selling on their site.
The Case - 8/10
OK, it's pretty generic looking, but not too much negative to say here. It's pill shaped, with a Tao logo on the top. Not quite as nice as the SL 79, and larger, but it's got some nice features. Four lights on the front denote how much charge the buds have, and the buds will also flash with a white light when they are charging inside the case.
The case weighs in at just under 50g - one of the heavier cases around, and longer than the FIIL T1 Pro, Boltune BT-BH024 and other long-ish cases. It's also one of the taller cases at just over 3cm - not in the league of the QCY T10 or Alien Secret QCC010, but rather tall anyway.
Still, it's portable, and provides an additional 3-4 charges.
The Ergonomics - 8/10, Build Quality - 7.5/10
At just under 5g, the 94 are one of the heavier earbuds around, but not by much - the average is around 4.5g, so nothing major going on with the weight.
Examining their size against similar models reveals why - they are not quite custom-IEM style, but they are ergonomically shaped in order to provide a comfortable fit and snug seal.
This is further reinforced with close examination. They are taller than the FIIL, and also wider, and yet they still stay in your ear quite majestically - far better than the Soundpeats Sonic, for example.
They also protrude far less than the Sonic and their ilk, and this helps the passive isolation. At 19.4mm at their widest, they spread the weight nicely, and feel far less button-like than many on the market. This is at the expense of a flat surface area for controls, but is a welcome development.
They are plastic throughout, but well enginered, and are supposedly IPX5 water-resistant, making them suitable for workouts, but no showering. The LED pictured above goes out once a source starts to provide something for them to do.
Audio Quality - 7/10 (for the price paid), 8/10 (raw score)
A pleasant surprise. Frequency response is solid, and like the 95's, the low mids are elevated with a notch at around 800Hz. As a result, vocals are not overpowering for RnB, opera and soul, which gives bassy tracks a rich feel. Whilst the high mids are nice and flat, with a big dip at around 6KHz, female vocals can sound a little lispy around rolled off high hats - St Etienne's 'She's On The Phone' exposed this, but no worse than many others on the market and certainly not a deal breaker.
Whilst playing Tears For Fears "Songs From The Big Chair" album, instrument separation was surprisingly good, with a more airy sound stage than I had expected, but like most TWS the soundstage is rather bland.
Note - I noticed a discernible improvement when balanced through Wavelet, choosing the default template from the 95's.
ANC - 7.5/10
The big surprise package! The ANC is far better than I expected, almost certainly in no small part thanks to the excellent fit, which adds to the sound isolation. Whilst not as strong as something like the Tronsmart Apollo Bold, they held their own against the Edifier TWS NB2 and mute out most low frequency sounds, and even conversation is dulled nearby.
Considering they are frequently on sale at around £39.99, it is hard to argue with the bang for buck here. It does slightly change the sound signature, but again, that is to be expected.
Calls - 6.5/10 (Indoors), 6/10 (Outdoors)
The poorest feature of the buds. Like other Airoha sets I've tested, the mic sounds hollow and echoey, which, whilst acceptable for indoor calls, is not not ideal.
It gets worse outdoors - there's over-compression going on throughout, and aside from the Whizzer E3, I've tested few that distorted your voice as badly as these. A shame as improving this area would have made them great all-rounders.
Connectivity - 8/10
I haven't put it through its paces too much, but connectivity is the standard 10-15m LOS. They apparently support Bluetooth 5.1, and paired without issue to Windows 10, Android and IOS.
Controls and Other Features - 7/10
No issues here. Nice and easy - they support volume control, ANC and answering rejecting calls.
The 94 support single mode, and whilst there is no low-latency setting, the Airoha chipset is known for being low-power and delivering low-latency OOTB. Supporting SBC and AAC only, the manufacturer has worked at getting this right, reducing the bitpool in their AAC implementation - latency on IOS was acceptable, and YouTube is relatively pain-free. Latency on Windows 10 measured 185Ms, defaulting to SBC. On Android and IOS it was far better.
They also have ambient mode - a decent addition at this price - although it isn't fantastic. With no QI charging, no app support and other handy features, the sale price is probably closer to their feature set than the MSRP.
Battery Life - 7/10
ANC definitely affects battery life, but at around 20 hours, which is pro rata what I experienced, this is pretty good overall, and acceptable for a day's usage. The 32 hour battery life from the case is good, but there is no quick charge nor wireless charging facility.
Final Comments
The SoundLiberty 94 are comfortable in-ear buds that, whilst they do thud when exercising, have a nice snug fit providing superb isolation and good ANC for the money. They were released in October last year, and the TWS market moves fast, so some degree of acknowledgement has to be made in lieu of this.
Sound is pleasant - not too bassy and not too raspy, but with Wavelet on Android, the bumps can be notched to give a very nice experience.
Only the poor mic spoils a very decent release, with good battery life, a portable case and IPX5 water resistance all adding to a generous package as one of the lowest-cost ANC releases out there.
Price Weighted Score: 76%
Raw Score: 74%
Model: TaoTronics SoundLiberty 94
Price: MSRP $58.99
Vendor Website: Here
Review Reference: RC027
Manufacturer Specification:
- Brand: Taotronics
- Model: SoundLiberty 94
- Driver: 9.2mm Dynamic Drivers
- Chipset: Airoha
- Mic: 4
- ANC: Yes, up to 35dB
- Volume Control: Yes
- Codecs: AAC, SBC
- Earbud Weight: 4.94g
- Gross Case & Buds Weight: 49.2g
- Case Dimensions: 73 x 43 x 34 cm
- Full Charge Time: 2 hours
- Quick Charge: No
- Wireless Charging: No
- Single Use Playtime: Up to 8 hours
- Playtime with Charge Case: Up to 32 hours
- App Support: Yes (Android only)
- Bluetooth Range: 10m advertised
- Bluetooth: Bluetooth® 5.1
- Bluetooth Protocols: HSP/ HFP/ A2DP/ AVRCP
- Water Resistance: IPX5
1 x Pair Wireless headphones
1 x USB Type-C Charge Case
1 x USB Type-C Charge Cable
6 x Silicone Tips (3 pairs)
1 x User manual, quick guide, warranty card, gift voucher (booooo)
Real Life Experience
This is about the tenth set of Taotronics earbuds I've reviewed. Taotronics is the brand name the SunValley group use for OEM/ODM and distribution of earbuds that are typically manufactured by smaller vendors with less reach than Tao, who have become highly established here in Europe and the US for both audio products and a whole host of other electronics, from dehumidifiers to wireless mesh systems.
Anyone reading got a middle child? They listen to everything negative you say to them and ignore all the positives. Tao are a little like that when it comes to my reviews. They ignore the good reviews and are quickly all over me when I give a bad one, and thus, these earbuds were sent free of charge to me soon after a negative review of the TT-BH095.
Amusingly they gave me a load of flannel about giving feedback to their engineers, which I had to tell them not to bother since I knew they were ODM Edifier TWS200. And the same is the case here - the SoundLiberty 94 look familiar because they have gone under about 5 different releases now - the Dyplay Shield, Tozo NC9 and 20Decebel ANC Pro are, to name but a few, the different guises these earbuds have adopted over the course of their lifetime.
The Unboxing - 6/10
If you've read any of my past reviews on old Tao earbuds - well, you'll know my thoughts. Very basic. Small case with the bare minimum packaging.
A warranty card signs you up to their mailing list, the quick start guide is straightforward and the user guide is in English, French, German, Spanish, Italian and Chinese, using a mixture of graphics and text to get the message across.
Unfortunately Tao included a gift card in exchange for a review (which they nudge should be 5 stars) with this model. This is malpractice that I don't like to see, and neither did Amazon - they've since banned them from selling on their site.
The Case - 8/10
OK, it's pretty generic looking, but not too much negative to say here. It's pill shaped, with a Tao logo on the top. Not quite as nice as the SL 79, and larger, but it's got some nice features. Four lights on the front denote how much charge the buds have, and the buds will also flash with a white light when they are charging inside the case.
The case weighs in at just under 50g - one of the heavier cases around, and longer than the FIIL T1 Pro, Boltune BT-BH024 and other long-ish cases. It's also one of the taller cases at just over 3cm - not in the league of the QCY T10 or Alien Secret QCC010, but rather tall anyway.
Still, it's portable, and provides an additional 3-4 charges.
The Ergonomics - 8/10, Build Quality - 7.5/10
At just under 5g, the 94 are one of the heavier earbuds around, but not by much - the average is around 4.5g, so nothing major going on with the weight.
Examining their size against similar models reveals why - they are not quite custom-IEM style, but they are ergonomically shaped in order to provide a comfortable fit and snug seal.
This is further reinforced with close examination. They are taller than the FIIL, and also wider, and yet they still stay in your ear quite majestically - far better than the Soundpeats Sonic, for example.
They also protrude far less than the Sonic and their ilk, and this helps the passive isolation. At 19.4mm at their widest, they spread the weight nicely, and feel far less button-like than many on the market. This is at the expense of a flat surface area for controls, but is a welcome development.
They are plastic throughout, but well enginered, and are supposedly IPX5 water-resistant, making them suitable for workouts, but no showering. The LED pictured above goes out once a source starts to provide something for them to do.
Audio Quality - 7/10 (for the price paid), 8/10 (raw score)
A pleasant surprise. Frequency response is solid, and like the 95's, the low mids are elevated with a notch at around 800Hz. As a result, vocals are not overpowering for RnB, opera and soul, which gives bassy tracks a rich feel. Whilst the high mids are nice and flat, with a big dip at around 6KHz, female vocals can sound a little lispy around rolled off high hats - St Etienne's 'She's On The Phone' exposed this, but no worse than many others on the market and certainly not a deal breaker.
Whilst playing Tears For Fears "Songs From The Big Chair" album, instrument separation was surprisingly good, with a more airy sound stage than I had expected, but like most TWS the soundstage is rather bland.
Note - I noticed a discernible improvement when balanced through Wavelet, choosing the default template from the 95's.
ANC - 7.5/10
The big surprise package! The ANC is far better than I expected, almost certainly in no small part thanks to the excellent fit, which adds to the sound isolation. Whilst not as strong as something like the Tronsmart Apollo Bold, they held their own against the Edifier TWS NB2 and mute out most low frequency sounds, and even conversation is dulled nearby.
Considering they are frequently on sale at around £39.99, it is hard to argue with the bang for buck here. It does slightly change the sound signature, but again, that is to be expected.
Calls - 6.5/10 (Indoors), 6/10 (Outdoors)
The poorest feature of the buds. Like other Airoha sets I've tested, the mic sounds hollow and echoey, which, whilst acceptable for indoor calls, is not not ideal.
It gets worse outdoors - there's over-compression going on throughout, and aside from the Whizzer E3, I've tested few that distorted your voice as badly as these. A shame as improving this area would have made them great all-rounders.
Connectivity - 8/10
I haven't put it through its paces too much, but connectivity is the standard 10-15m LOS. They apparently support Bluetooth 5.1, and paired without issue to Windows 10, Android and IOS.
Controls and Other Features - 7/10
No issues here. Nice and easy - they support volume control, ANC and answering rejecting calls.
The 94 support single mode, and whilst there is no low-latency setting, the Airoha chipset is known for being low-power and delivering low-latency OOTB. Supporting SBC and AAC only, the manufacturer has worked at getting this right, reducing the bitpool in their AAC implementation - latency on IOS was acceptable, and YouTube is relatively pain-free. Latency on Windows 10 measured 185Ms, defaulting to SBC. On Android and IOS it was far better.
They also have ambient mode - a decent addition at this price - although it isn't fantastic. With no QI charging, no app support and other handy features, the sale price is probably closer to their feature set than the MSRP.
Battery Life - 7/10
ANC definitely affects battery life, but at around 20 hours, which is pro rata what I experienced, this is pretty good overall, and acceptable for a day's usage. The 32 hour battery life from the case is good, but there is no quick charge nor wireless charging facility.
Final Comments
The SoundLiberty 94 are comfortable in-ear buds that, whilst they do thud when exercising, have a nice snug fit providing superb isolation and good ANC for the money. They were released in October last year, and the TWS market moves fast, so some degree of acknowledgement has to be made in lieu of this.
Sound is pleasant - not too bassy and not too raspy, but with Wavelet on Android, the bumps can be notched to give a very nice experience.
Only the poor mic spoils a very decent release, with good battery life, a portable case and IPX5 water resistance all adding to a generous package as one of the lowest-cost ANC releases out there.
Price Weighted Score: 76%
Raw Score: 74%
