Apple released two new AirPods for the first time at its September event for iPhones: AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancelation (ANC) and AirPods 4 without ANC, priced at $180 and $130, respectively. This is also the company’s debut in providing ANC with an open-ear design. It has previously only offered noise cancelation on the in-ear AirPods Pros.
Apart from ANC, the only two features on the high-end AirPods 4 that are absent on the base model are support for wireless charging and a speaker in the case for Find My alerts. I’m assuming most people will pay the extra $50 for ANC, which is why that’s the most important area these were supposed to ace.
Apple AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation
The more expensive AirPods 4 suffer from poor battery, a loose fit, and underwhelming noise cancelling.
Pros
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ANC is effective with low-end sounds -
Force sensor is easier to navigate than a touch sensor -
Trimmed charging case for easier portability -
Features wireless charging -
Case offers a speaker for Find My alerts
Cons
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ANC isn’t good for high-frequency sounds -
Short battery life -
Fit feels loose -
No onboard volume controls
While they did a great job canceling low-end noise, high-end sounds were barely reduced. Overall, the Pros are far better regarding ANC, owing to their silicone in-ear tips that completely block your ear canals. This isn’t Apple’s fault; it’s just a design feature. But Apple could’ve made up for that by featuring a longer battery life, better onboard controls, and a snugger fit on the AirPods 4.
Apple AirPods 4 With ANC: Design
The first feature I noticed on these was how much the charging case has been trimmed down compared to the 2022 AirPods Pros. Shaving off a few centimeters from both ends, the case is significantly less elongated than before—to the point where it’s very close to being a perfect square. The thickness remains unchanged mainly; if anything, it looks stumpier than before.
Annoyingly enough, the case for the AirPods 4 no longer sports a lanyard loop, which is a weird update. I’m not sure if this is because the trimmed size could no longer accommodate one, but that’s still an unfair omission for consumers who used it.
This is one of those low-key changes that a lot of people didn’t notice, and for some reason, Apple didn’t mention it at the keynote either. The pairing button that was always located behind the case no longer exists. On the AirPods 4, it has been replaced by a touch-capacitive sensor on the front of the case (just under the lid).
It works fine and is easy to locate because of the battery status light that’s triggered every time you open the case. However, I would’ve appreciated the company mentioning it on the product page. I pity consumers who are fiddling with the case and wondering where the hell the pairing button went. I would’ve been the first to protest against replacing a physical button with a touch sensor. But it’s only because pairing is a feature I do not use every day, so I’m okay with the transition.
The underside of the charging case sports a Type-C port to adhere to the EU’s new rules and a speaker for Find My alerts.
The earbuds have also received the same treatment as the case. The stems are stubbier and chunkier, as opposed to the slightly slimmer and longer stems on the Pros. Like the AirPods Pros, they sport an IP54 dust and water rating.
Apple AirPods 4 With ANC: Fit
I unboxed the AirPods 4 on a sidewalk in Tribeca right after my briefing. As soon as I plugged the buds into my ears, one quickly plopped out and got lost on the sidewalk for a brief moment (it felt way longer) until a kind passerby spotted it and handed it to me. That was my first experience with the AirPods 4, and it was very indicative of what was to follow.
They plopped out a couple more times and required constant adjustment throughout my time with them. I remember tightening their fit in my ears before jumping over puddles, holding onto them for dear life, and walking over the Subway vent.
They’d sometimes struggle to catch up to my NYC walking pace and start to get looser slowly, requiring a quick readjustment. Throughout my time with these, I was either fixing their fit or scared they might fall out.
I wasn’t going in with expectations of in-ear buds’ level of snugness on the AirPods 4; it’s obvious that silicone tips that go inside your ear canals will provide a better fit. But the fit on these buds isn’t just relaxed; it’s loose. Apple has always received complaints about its AirPods’ loose fit and the package’s absence of rubber ear tips.
Since fit is ultimately dependent on ear size, I’d recommend testing these in person before you make an online purchase. Folks whose ears completely reject in-ear tips due to discomfort or sensitivity may prefer the on-ear design on these. After all, as Apple said in my briefing, this is the entire point of the AirPods 4: giving consumers who aren’t fans of in-ear tips an open-ear ANC option for the first time.
Apple AirPods 4 With ANC: Controls
Unlike the AirPods Pros, which feature touch sensors, the AirPods 4 have force sensors on their stems. Having a non-touch interface on the stems is great for avoiding accidental taps when you’re just trying to adjust the bud in your ear, which is something you’ll be doing a lot on these AirPods. I also prefer force sensors because of the feedback and tactility they provide. The ‘click’ sound is pretty reassuring, as opposed to a light tap that runs the risk of not being registered.
A single press on either bud handles playback, answering/ending calls, and muting/unmuting the mic. In Settings, you can also assign a double-press to some of these gestures. Pressing and holding on each bud can also be customized; you can pick one bud to activate Siri and the other to cycle between ANC modes. All the gestures are pretty intuitive, and the pressing force is fairly adequate, with a decent response time. However, there are no onboard volume controls, which means you have to reach for your source device (phone, laptop, etc.) to tweak the volume. That often felt inconvenient when my phone was away, and I wanted to turn the volume up or down quickly.
On iOS 18, you can use head gestures to accept or decline calls on the AirPods 4. Nodding your head yes, accept a call, and shaking it no, decline it. When I finally tried it out on my coworker’s phone, it became apparent why I didn’t have a demo of this feature at my briefing. Out of the seven times I called, it only read my gestures around three times, and that too, with extremely aggressive nodding and shaking that I would never do in public.
Apple AirPods 4 With ANC: Sound and ANC
Apple makes a bunch of promises about the sound of the AirPods 4. It has high hopes from its H2 chip that also powers the AirPods Pros. While the sound is good, like it is on the Pros, it isn’t anything especially worth shelling out $180 for. It features the “crisp highs” Apple has been touting, but the “deep lows” aren’t very noticeable. The mids carry sufficient space, but I would’ve liked more separation among the elements if I were going into these solely for their sound. If you’re sure about going for these AirPods, you’ll likely be okay with their sound profile, but this shouldn’t be the only reason you’d buy them. The audio sounds less immersive than on the Pros because of the on-ear design, which is less Apple’s fault and more Physics. Either way, you’ll have to make this tradeoff if you want an on-ear pair of buds.
Spending two days with these AirPods made me realize why my ANC briefing was done with highly low-end airplane white noise. That’s the only thing the buds are good at. Cancelation for the rest of the frequencies is painfully average.
I was impressed by how much they muted car engines and the subway rumbling below. But high-frequency sounds such as car horns or people’s conversations passed through. Most ANC modes are ineffective against high-end sounds such as horns or sirens, but I’ve seen similarly priced or cheaper buds do at least a much better job.
While lunching at Naya, the low-end HVAC system was silenced entirely, but the POS system’s loud, irritating beeps passed through. I cycled between ANC and Transparency modes to compare the noise reduction for the beeping, and there was barely any difference.
Again, the culprit is the on-ear design. Plastic tips resting on the edge of your ear canals will leave gaps for noise to seep through, compared to in-ear silicone tips that completely block the passage. Silicone also absorbs some of the sounds that plastic is unproductive against.
This won’t help placate a customer who paid an extra $50 specifically for ANC, and the fact that the AirPods Pros feature far better ANC for just an extra $10 makes these buds even more worthless. If I don’t care about ANC, I’d go for the $130 variant; if I do, I’d buy the $190 AirPods Pros. I asked Apple about this, and they agreed and said, “The ANC AirPods 4 specifically cater to people looking for noise cancelation on an open-ear design.” Even if that means the ANC is sub-standard.
There’s also a transparency mode that I really like. Transparency modes involve creating some ‘fake noise’, which often makes them sound overdone, with every ambient sound excessively exaggerated. The one on these AirPods is quite decent and helps fulfill its purpose of keeping you aware of your surroundings. The ANC can be set to Adaptive, which means it’ll automatically go up and down to match the volume of your space. You also get Conversation Awareness, meaning your content’s volume will automatically be lowered when you start talking to someone and raise back up as soon as you’re done. It was funny the first time I sang along to a song on these AirPods, and I wondered for 30 seconds why the volume suddenly went down. You can easily turn Conversation Awareness off in Settings, which I ended up doing so I can sing along easily.
Apple AirPods 4 With ANC: Battery Life
The battery life is astonishingly low. You get just four hours with ANC and an extra hour with it off. With the case, the buds total 20 hours with ANC and 30 hours with it off. If I’m shelling out an extra $50 for the ANC variant, it’s a feature I most likely use quite often. So, I’m more concerned about the ‘with ANC on’ scores on these. For context, the $60 CMF Buds Pro 2 lasts 6.5 hours with ANC at a fraction of the AirPods 4’s price. Google’s $200 Pixel Buds Pro, now $140, last seven and 11 hours with ANC on and off, respectively. The $100 OnePlus Buds 3 score is six and 10 hours, respectively, and their charging case can last 28 or 44 hours, depending on ANC.
I fully charged these, used them on and off in the office for around an hour or two, and then during a quick 30-minute lunch at Naya. Upon returning, they were already flashing red. They still squeezed out a little more than an hour after that, but it sucks to see your earbuds on red so soon after you spend just under an hour charging them.
I’m plugged into my earbuds for a good chunk of the day, which involves a mix of music and podcasts and a long, at least one-hour call per day. With this level of usage and ANC, I can imagine these lasting under four hours since talk time drains the earbud battery faster than playtime. This means I will probably plug these into a socket every night, which is the last thing I want from my earbuds.
The ANC variant offers wireless charging, allowing you to use any Apple Watch or Qi charger. The AirPods Pro supported MagSafe charging, which has been removed from AirPods 4. Rumors speculated that the shrunken charging case could no longer facilitate that, but I confirmed with Apple at the private briefing, and they refuted that assumption.
The case uses five minutes of quick charging to provide the buds with enough juice for 45 minutes to an hour, but the case doesn’t offer quick charging capabilities on its own, which is a bummer at this price point.
Apple AirPods 4 With ANC: Verdict
I can’t find a good enough use case for the AirPods 4. If ANC is my top priority, I’d go for the AirPods Pros that do it way better for just an extra $10. If I don’t care about ANC, I’d opt for the $130 non-ANC variant to save my bucks and stay within the Apple ecosystem.
The only way I can justify the AirPods 4 is if you’re specifically looking for ANC that’s effective against low-end noise (airplane’s rumble, washing machine’s/dishwasher’s/window AC’s hum) on an open-ear design. And that’s a pretty specific use case to recommend these. If you’re indifferent to the ear tip design, there’s no reason you should compromise on several features of the AirPods 4.
I appreciate other small adjustments, such as the touch sensors on the Pros being replaced by the force sensors on these, but again, I’m not going to celebrate that when I have bigger issues to worry about, like a case that’s always flashing red because of a four-hour battery life and having to reach for my phone every now and then because there are no onboard volume controls. There are plenty of reasons to not opt for these and very specific reasons to go for them.