Review of the best headphones for watching videos TaoTronics Soundliberty 80

Despite their polarizing design, the TaoTronics Soundliberty 80 are surprisingly well-rounded true wireless earphones.

The charging case and earbuds look almost identical to the Apple AirPods. However, TaoTronics made a few changes to make Soundliberty 80 stand on its own. But you either like it or not.

I’m sure you will definitely enjoy the sound quality. It isn’t mind-blowing but still very airy and relaxing. You quickly start to bang your head to the rhythm of the music.

They also support aptX and mono mode if you only want to use one earbud. There’s even a proximity sensor that pauses the music once you put one bud out of your ear.

Of course, they come with some quirks, like the below-average battery life. Read more in the TaoTronics Soundliberty 80 wireless earbuds review below.

Comfort & Fit

Star Rating 3.5 Almost Great

TaoTronics Soundliberty 80 are comfortable enough to wear for an entire day, but their stability is poor due to earphone fit.

The design is almost identical to Apple AirPods. The rounded head fits nicely into your ears without poking or causing pressure into your ear lobes.

You can easily wear them for hours without having to take a break. Their open-air design with no ear tips lets your ears breathe but can also hurt stability.

If you use them while sitting or walking, they should remain pretty stable. However, running or any other intense workout might launch them right off your ears.

Some people’s ears better grab this type of earbuds. It’s worth trying out some earphones before making a purchase decision.

Also, their glossy plastic is kind of hard to grab on when putting earbuds out of the case.

Noise Isolation

Star Rating 1.5 Meh

You can’t expect good passive isolation from a pair of classic earphones. There’s almost no reduction in background noise whatsoever.

Since nothing blocks your ear canal, you can hear everything around you. As long as you pause the music, you can talk to people loud and clear.

That’s why Soundliberty 80 aren’t the best for commuting since you have to crank up the volume to hear your music better. Of course, the latter can be dangerous to your hearing.

On the other hand, excellent awareness can increase safety when near a busy road.

Also, surprisingly, sound leakage is minimal. Therefore, you can blast them without worrying about others hearing your playlist.

Bluetooth

Star Rating 4.5 Almost Perfect

Earbuds have everything from reliable Bluetooth 5.0 to bonus features like mono mode and support for an aptX codec. Sadly, no multipoint.

I had no issues with the pairing process. You simply put them out of the case, and they immediately start the pairing procedure.

When you connect them with your mobile phone, earbuds can retain the connection until you pass the second brick wall.

Note that they use Bluetooth 5.0 and not Bluetooth 5.1 like some other reviews suggest.

After that, both earbuds start cutting off audio. As soon as you take a step backward, they again reconnect.

Earbuds also work separately, but you have to put the other bud in the case. Otherwise, the proximity sensor will prevent you from using the other earbud.

Multipoint?

Sadly, no. TaoTronics Soundliberty 80 only work on one device at a time. You need to forget the earbuds in one device to connect them to the other.

What Bluetooth Codecs They Use?

They use a standard SBC audio codec and additional AAC and aptX. The latter works only on Android and helps with better sound transmission as well as latency.

Is There a Video Lag?

None whatsoever. Both on Android and iOS, you shouldn’t see any lag, especially when watching YouTube videos.

While gaming is a bit more challenging, and I’m happy to say that I see no lag there either. There might be a tiny one, but it isn’t distracting.

Battery

Star Rating 2.5 Average

TaoTronics promises 4 hours of battery life on a single charge, but you can expect around 2 hours and 43 minutes at 50% volume according to our test. That’s quite low for today’s standards. Fortunately, fast charging quickly adds more juice.

The battery on the true wireless earbuds is nothing to run home about. Even the promised 4 hours isn’t a lot, and we got slightly worse results with a test.

At least a quick charge boosts the playtime for 1 hour in just 5 minutes.

The charging case is small and pocketable, which means it doesn’t hold much power. You get an additional 16 hours from it.

While you can squeeze an entire day out of these, you will constantly need to charge them. It’s something you have to keep in mind.

Durability

Star Rating 4.5 Almost Perfect

Earbuds are made of glossy, rigid plastic that boasts a high IPX8 water resistance rating.

As mentioned above in the review, the design can be polarizing. Earbuds are slightly more elongated than AirPods, with a pointy stem.

While their glossy plastic looks a bit cheap, they feel pretty sturdy. Soundliberty 80 even come with an IPX8, which is the highest water resistance rating in headphones right now.

Be aware that it is more likely for these earbuds to fall out of your ears because of the classic earphone design. Find more best non-in-ear earbuds.

While they will probably survive a couple of drops, you should still be careful not to abuse them too much.

The charging case also has a very familiar look, but it feels different. That’s because the AirPods case is glossy, and the TaoTronics Soundliberty 80’s one has a soft matte finish.

I prefer TaoTronics’s case since it feels better in hand, even though it might get dirty sooner.

Features

Star Rating 4.0 Great

Earbuds connect quickly, have a reliable proximity sensor, offer an aptX codec and voice control, and have excellent call quality.

Lower prices mean making compromises. Maybe Soundliberty 80 lack some of the features that even cheaper earbuds have, but they also bring other goods to the table.

Like quality microphones for taking phone calls, which is something even most premium headphones can’t do well. More on that down below.

They also have a built-in proximity sensor that knows when you wear them or don’t, pausing the music accordingly.

Personally, if there is a change, I like to turn off that sensor since it annoys me. Sadly, TaoTronics Soundliberty 80 don’t have an app, so the automatic pause/play feature is always ON.

Touch controls work along an entire stem and offer basic command for pausing and skipping tracks.

They also support voice activation, where you can use voice commands instead of touch control.

You can even change the volume by swiping up and down, although this feature isn’t that well implemented.

Since earbuds hold to your ears very loosely, it’s hard to swipe up without moving an entire earbud up. You have to be careful when doing this since they can fall out.

Sound

Star Rating 3.5 Almost Great

The sound quality is the mixture of Soundliberty 92 bass and Soundliberty 88 clean mids and treble. Overall, pleasant to listen to in a quiet environment.

Disclaimer: We aren’t able to measure frequency response and make a sound comparison since proximity sensors don’t detect our measuring gear and let us play audio tracks (MiniDSP H.E.A.R.S)

The open-air seal usually means a reduction in bass response. Thankfully, 12 mm drivers inside TaoTronics Soundliberty 80 push just enough low-end to make your songs a bit livelier.

The bass has a decent extension, albeit don’t expect to feel the rumble. It’s punchy and reasonably controlled for all kinds of music genres.

If you want to make the most out of it, try to listen to the earbuds somewhere quiet. Otherwise, you’ll probably only hear midrange and a bit of treble.

Middle frequencies are fairly balanced and don’t have any annoying peaks. The tuning isn’t perfectly natural, especially in the vocals, but it’s nothing too distracting.

The treble has a good presence and is nice and shimmery. Where it lacks details, it makes up with good air, making the overall sound less fatiguing.

Instrument separation is done nicely, but the lack of proper imaging puts everything either left or right or dead-center.

The same goes for the soundstage, which has decent width but almost no depth.

Overall, if you plan to use them at home, they do a fine job in most applications. Whether you want to listen to music, watch videos, or play some games.