Review budget wireless headphones TaoTronics Soundliberty 77

If all you’re looking for in budget true wireless earbuds is the sound quality, you should give Taotronics SoundLiberty 77 a try. However, they are not perfect. More on that in our review.

We liked the sound quality of TaoTronics SoundLiberty 77 quite a lot. It’s impressive what you can get at under $50, especially in a true wireless form.

Comfort is great, with stability also exceeding our expectations, despite the bulky design of the earbuds. Finding the right seal, however, is frustrating at times.

Overall construction is good, with earbuds themselves being quite durable and above all also IPX7 water protected.

Touch controls are nice to have, but at times they are too responsive. They offer many commands, so it takes a lot of time to learn each of them.

Comfort & Fit

Star Rating 3.5 Almost Great

For a bulky pair of true wireless earbuds such as SoundLiberty 77, they are very comfortable to wear. It seems TaoTronics put a lot of effort into making these earbuds ergonomically shaped.

Even though these don’t have additional ear fins or ear hooks, the stability is quite good. It does sometimes feel as if they are about to fall out, but surprisingly this never happened.

If you have small ears, the fit may be very tight. As said before, these are quite bulky, and the fit is on point. So much so that it is sometimes difficult to pick them out of your ear.

However, the most annoying thing is finding the optimal seal. It’s almost impossible to find the perfect position on the first try. We recommend that you start the music and then try to find the right spot. We had to gently put them in our ears and twist them a little bit upwards. If the seal is correct, the bass is excellent and deep. Otherwise, the sound can be very bright and flat.

It also doesn’t help that the ear tips are proprietary. They are tiny, so you need to place them at the beginning of your ear canal gently. If you try to push them inside you, don’t get the proper seal.

Noise Isolation

Star Rating 3.5 Almost Great

Because these Bluetooth earbuds require you to place them gently into your ears, the seal and therefore isolation isn’t that great.

Even when you’re playing music, you can still hear certain louder sounds around you. But the isolation is still good enough for commuters, who want to block the sounds from the street or public transport.

Because of the average isolation, the sound quality is noticeably better indoors in a quiet room. When you’re taking them outside for a run, the bass does lose a little bit of power.

Bluetooth

Star Rating 4.0 Great

Bluetooth 5.0 shows good coverage, letting you walk across the house or apartment without any significant issues.

The connection remains stable for at least two brick walls. After that, the sound completely cuts off. No initial distortion or stutter.

Pairing SoundLiberty 77 with your Bluetooth-enabled device is very straightforward. You simply put the earbuds out of the case, and the phone will recognize them instantaneously. They also reconnect every time you put them out, so no additional clicking is required.

Multipoint?

No, unfortunately, you can’t connect these earbuds to 2 devices at the same time.

What Bluetooth Codecs Do They Support?

AAC and SBC. For the asking price of the SoundLiberty 77, this is quite fair, although the lack of aptX is noticeable when it comes to audio delay in videos.

Is Video Delay a Problem?

There is an ever-so-slight delay in the YouTube videos on Android and iOS devices. But it’s so minimal that you don’t even notice it. There are Bluetooth headphones and speakers out there, which are much worse in this category.

Battery

Star Rating 3.5 Good

TaoTronics claims the battery life of 5 hours on a single charge, but our pair lasted at least 6 hours and more. You get an additional 15 hours from the charging case.

The battery seems to be even better than advertised. In our test we let them play at 50% volume and the battery ran out after 6 hours and 10 minutes. This is a really good result, considering that at 50% these are already pretty loud.

You don’t have to worry about taking them on longer trips or walks. The case is also very slim and lightweight so that you can put it in a pocket, ready for emergency charging.

There is no indication of the battery life on the earbuds, except 4 flashing LEDs on the case. Woman’s voice only says that the earbuds are connected and that’s all you get.

Sadly you have to use a micro USB port. In the world where USB-C is one of the most common ports, micro USB seems like a relic from the past.

Durability

Star Rating 4.5 Almost Perfect

They are on the lighter side, but don’t let this fool you into thinking these are fragile. SoundLiberty 77 are built very well, with no major weak points.

The housing of the SoundLiberty 77 is made entirely from plastic. Even though the buds themselves are very light, we are confident that they can survive a couple of drops. Users are saying that their earbuds managed to survive being chewed by a dog.

Another awesome thing is the IPX7 rating. Just like the best waterproof Bluetooth headphones, you can wash them if soaked in sweat.

Thankfully, the 77 uses touch instead of physical controls, so there are no issues with flimsy buttons.

Case’s construction is also really good. It’s still all plastic, but the lid feels solid, and it opens all the way up with a reassuring click. Magnets inside are doing an excellent job grabbing the earbuds into place.

TaoTronics is offering a 12-month warranty on all of their products. There is a possibility to extend the coverage to 18 months when registering the product on their website.

Features

Star Rating 2.5 Average

Touch controls are easy to use but you can’t control volume, and the microphone is somewhat unclear especially in noisier places.

The most important are, of course, touch controls. Physical buttons can be quite annoying to use, so having touch-sensitive earbuds at this price is fantastic. Speaking of sensitivity, though, the SoundLiberty 77 are very responsive. Sometimes even a bit too much.

There is a learning curve to master all the controls accurately. Especially how many taps a specific command requires and how long the presses need to be.

Taotronics logo on the earbuds starts flashing when you are about to pair them to your device. Blinking stops when you start the music.

Another thing work mentioning is that these are capable of insane loudness. Even at 50%, the SoundLiberty 77 are plenty loud, and at 80%, they are pretty much unbearable. We really don’t recommend going to the max.

Sound

Star Rating 4.5 Almost Perfect

Sound quality from Taotronics SoundLiberty 77 is simply amazing. Especially for the price. Users who want more detailed and dynamic sound with quality bass should check these out.

6mm dynamic drivers made from PEEK and PU output reasonable bass quantity. It is nicely extended into the sub-bass region and has good speed and control. It doesn’t rumble like Anker Soundcore Liberty Neo or some other bassy headphones but is still present enough to make the overall sound slightly warm.

There is no denying that the midrange is a bit forward on the SoundLiberty 77. This brings out a lot of details from the instruments and vocals, but it also makes the sound much more intimate. Electric guitars and some female vocals can also become peaky, which forces you to lower the volume.

Treble has decent clarity and air, with no harshness whatsoever.

Because of the midrange forwardness, the soundstage doesn’t have much depth, but thankfully the width is good. This and the decent instrument separation saves the earbuds from sounding too cramped together.