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Anker One-Ups AirPods With Its Soundcore Liberty 4 Earbuds Featuring Heart Rate Tracking

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Anker has one-upped Apple by launching new Soundcore Liberty 4 earbuds with in-ear heart rate sensors – a feature that was rumored to be coming to the AirPods Pro 2 but ultimately never made the cut.

soundcore-liberty-4-anker.jpg

Anker's new earbuds feature a stemmed design reminiscent of Apple's AirPods, while the right-hand earbud includes a special sensor that can monitor your heart rate continuously or just when you're working out. The HR data is linked to Anker's Wellness app, which also features tracking options for guided, freestyle, and custom exercise routines.

The Liberty 4 also come with spatial audio support, active noise cancelation, a customizable equalizer, and support for AAC, LDAC, and SBC codecs, but not aptX. The earbuds also include support for multiple connection switching.

Battery life is stated at up to nine hours on a single charge, but this decreases to seven hours with noise canceling enabled, six hours in LDAC mode and no noise cancelation, and five hours with spatial audio on.

The wireless charging case has a USB-C port for wired charging, provides up to 28 hours of battery life, and it can fast charge the earbuds in 15 minutes to provide three hours of playback, or fully charge them in an hour.

Heart_Rate_Sensor_Product_1.jpg

Anker's Soundcore Liberty 4 earbuds cost $149.99 and come in either black or white, with the latter available from today on Soundcore.com. The black earbuds are also coming to Amazon on October 10, while the white set it due to go on sale on October 7 on Soundcore's website and October 17 on Amazon.

As for Apple, it's not clear whether heart rate tracking was a feature the company pulled from its second-generation AirPods Pro or if it's something Apple is developing for future AirPods models. Apple has been rumored to be developing health-monitoring functions for AirPods for some time, with even Apple executives hinting at the possibility.

According to documents seen by The Wall Street Journal, prototypes of AirPods with temperature sensors for monitoring a wearer's core body temperature from inside the ear are being developed by Apple, but which model they are for and when they will make an appearance, if ever, remains unknown.

Article Link: Anker One-Ups AirPods With Its Soundcore Liberty 4 Earbuds Featuring Heart Rate Tracking
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2022/09/30/anker-liberty-4-earbuds-heart-rate-sensors/
I was really hoping this years version had HR monitoring built in. Was really disappointed but like the other poster said I have a watch so it’s not a total loss
 
If its accuracy is that of a chest strap it will be huge. I have continual problems with the HR tracker on the AppleWatch being able to maintain a reading for moderate and intense exercise. Hopefully it is and Apple adds it in the next generation.
 
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All this means is we will have even more accuracy of heart rate in the future.
This is a good thing that they should feel pressure from competitors.:rolleyes:
 
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MacRumors said:


Anker has one-upped Apple by launching new Soundcore Liberty 4 earbuds with in-ear heart rate sensors – a feature that was rumored to be coming to the AirPods Pro 2 but ultimately never made the cut.
Click to expand...

Is anyone surprised by this news? This is how Apple operates with Tim Cook, the CEO who thinks he's still COO. Slow drip features. Maximize margins. No risks. Nothing overly ambitious. And definitely nothing that would be too far of a step forward, i.e. why put something in this update when you can spread it out over the next two or three product releases. Wait for other companies to test out bigger enhancements in the market first. If they seem to be doing well, then Apple *might* release their own version. Rinse and repeat.
 
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MacRumors said:


Anker has one-upped Apple by launching new Soundcore Liberty 4 earbuds with in-ear heart rate sensors – a feature that was rumored to be coming to the AirPods Pro 2 but ultimately never made the cut.

soundcore-liberty-4-anker.jpg

Anker's new earbuds feature a stemmed design reminiscent of Apple's AirPods, while the right-hand earbud includes a special sensor that can monitor your heart rate continuously or just when you're working out. The HR data is linked to Anker's Wellness app, which also features tracking options for guided, freestyle, and custom exercise routines.

The Liberty 4 also come with spatial audio support, active noise cancelation, a customizable equalizer, and support for AAC, LDAC, and SBC codecs, but not aptX. The earbuds also include support for multiple connection switching.

Battery life is stated at up to nine hours on a single charge, but this decreases to seven hours with noise canceling enabled, six hours in LDAC mode and no noise cancelation, and five hours with spatial audio on.

The wireless charging case has a USB-C port for wired charging, provides up to 28 hours of battery life, and it can fast charge the earbuds in 15 minutes to provide three hours of playback, or fully charge them in an hour.

Heart_Rate_Sensor_Product_1.jpg

Anker's Soundcore Liberty 4 earbuds cost $149.99 and come in either black or white, with the latter available from today on Soundcore.com. The black earbuds are also coming to Amazon on October 10, while the white set it due to go on sale on October 7 on Soundcore's website and October 17 on Amazon.

As for Apple, it's not clear whether heart rate tracking was a feature the company pulled from its second-generation AirPods Pro or if it's something Apple is developing for future AirPods models. Apple has been rumored to be developing health-monitoring functions for AirPods for some time, with even Apple executives hinting at the possibility.

According to documents seen by The Wall Street Journal, prototypes of AirPods with temperature sensors for monitoring a wearer's core body temperature from inside the ear are being developed by Apple, but which model they are for and when they will make an appearance, if ever, remains unknown.

Article Link: Anker One-Ups AirPods With Its Soundcore Liberty 4 Earbuds Featuring Heart Rate Tracking
Click to expand...

Not the first company to have done this. Jabra was the first I think and the positioning of the heart sensor was close to the earlobe where it’ll be much more accurate.

Baker needs to do this since they have nothing else that can and serves a different market of users that have no Apple Watch or other fitness watch.
 
I think some of us are missing the point. These buds do everything AirPods do and only cost $149. For people who don't have AirPod money and don't care about not showing the Apple brand, these could be the answer. I have the first-generation AirPods Pro and would consider the Anker buds because I just purchased the Watch Ultra and money is tight.
 
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If this works well then it's a nice feature to add, but honestly it would make zero difference to me since I have an Apple Watch. I suspect most of the AirPod target audience already has an Apple Watch (and if not, many of them likely have another fitness tracker), so it's not terribly surprising that it wouldn't have been a priority for Apple. But for those who want to spend less money and don't care about having something that plays well with other Apple stuff, these could be a nice option if the quality is good.
 
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I was a frequent user of the Soundcore Liberty Air 2's. Great earbuds to be honest. Truly amazing. If you have never used that line and don't have the money for AirPods Pro's, the Anker high end line will go toe to toe with Apple's offering. That said. I wen to the AirPod Pro line because I just like the seamless pairing and such. But no. Legit. Anker makes a good earbud.
 
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TheOldChevy said:
I don't know if it works, if it is reliable, if battery life makes sense, but the design as represented in the second picture is just beautiful. A piece of art.
Click to expand...
Yeah.. shining light through semi-transparent ear tips. Somehow I’m not convinced. 😄
 
The question is, how good do they sound?
When I think of manufacturers of great-sounding headphones and earphones I couldn't even tell you how far down Anker would be on my list of brands to try. In fact it's so far down I didn't even know they made headphones/earphones, though they make every other accessory, so it figures.
 
Anker's Soundcore Liberty 4 earbuds cost $149.99 and come in either black or white, with the latter available from today on Soundcore.com. The black earbuds are also coming to Amazon on October 10, while the white set it due to go on sale on October 7 on Soundcore's website and October 17 on Amazon.
Click to expand...
Which is it, is the white version available starting today (Sep. 30) on Soundcore's website or are they going on sale on Oct. 7 on Soundcore's website?
 
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