Hall's babbler is the species most often confused with the white-browed babbler because of their similarity in size, the two can best be distinguished by comparing the supercilium. Hall's babbler has a narrow and very dark brown crown-stripe with a much broader, vivid white supercilium. Secondly, Hall's babbler does not have a ‘fading’ eye-stripe towards the rear of the head where there is more chestnut brown colouration. Individuals will have vivid colouration on the face and will never have a white dot under the eye which is sometimes present in the white-browed babbler. The tail will also have a square edge rather than a round edge which the white-browed babbler would have, however this feature is sometimes not as reliable in juveniles.