AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation
The AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation bridge the gap between the base AirPods and the AirPods Pro. How do they perform?
Pros
- ANC is actually helpful
- Solid audio quality
- Wireless charging
- Comfortable fit
- Highly portable
Cons
- No volume controls
| Buy From | List Price | Sale Price | |
|---|---|---|---|
 | $179 | $169 | See It |
Apple is diversifying its AirPods lineup a little. Alongside the iPhone 16 series, Apple unveiled the new AirPods 4, which are available in not one, but two different models. There’s the entry-level model, simply called the AirPods 4, but there’s also a slightly more expensive model with more premium features, called the AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation.
I’ve already reviewed the base AirPods 4 and found them to be great-sounding earbuds that offer helpful Apple-focused features at a reasonable price. However, the AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation are a slightly tougher sell. After all, they’re $50 more expensive, meaning that they compete with a whole different array of wireless earbuds. Not only that, but their big differentiator is noise cancellation, and with an open-style design, you might assume that they’re not very good at it.
So, are the AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation worth the cash, or should you go for a different option? Here’s a look.
A new design and more comfortable fit
Note that the AirPods 4 and AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation have slightly different designs than the AirPods 3 before them. Apple says this is a result of millions of ear scans, which resulted in Apple attempting to build earbuds that fit more ears comfortably than ever before. Regardless, the AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation are unmistakably AirPods but have shorter stems and a slightly different bud shape.
I did indeed find the AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation to be very comfortable. I was able to wear them for hours at a time without feeling any discomfort. And while they aren’t as snug as the AirPods Pro, they fit my ears pretty well. That said, they didn’t fit well enough to remain securely lodged during activities like going on a run or other heavy movements. So if you’re looking for earbuds for sports use, these probably aren’t the perfect fit. I do find the AirPods Pro to be excellent running earbuds though.
The AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation have similar controls to other AirPods. The stems have the squeeze controls built into them, so you can squeeze once to play or pause your audio, twice to skip to the next track, or three times to skip back to the previous track. On top of that, if you squeeze and hold, you’ll control the noise modes offered by the earbuds. They’ll cycle between noise cancellation, transparency mode, and adaptive audio. In the settings menu, you can set one of the earbuds, or both of them, to activate Siri when you squeeze and hold instead. If you use Siri a lot, it’s probably doing so for at least one of the earbuds. That way, you can easily access Siri and cycle between noise modes depending on which earbud you use.
While these earbuds have squeeze controls, they don’t have the same swipe controls as the AirPods Pro. That means that you can’t adjust the volume directly from the earbuds themselves. So you’ll have to use your listening device, whether it be an iPhone, a Mac, or something else, to change the volume. It’s a little annoying, and I wish that Apple simply included the full set of touch controls.
The charging case for the AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation is very small and portable. It’s even smaller than the case for the AirPods 3, which already offers one of the smallest charging cases out there. That makes the earbuds very easy to put in your pocket or a bag, which is always nice.
Limited battery but easy charging
Unfortunately, the battery life on the AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation is pretty limited. ANC uses up battery, so it makes sense that these earbuds have a shorter battery life than the standard AirPods 4. But at 4 hours of continuous listening with ANC on, they have among the shortest battery lives of any earbuds I’ve tested recently. To be fair, it’s probably not that common that you’ll wear your earbuds for more than 4 hours at a time. But if you take your earbuds in and out of the case often, they likely won’t be able to fully charge in between uses and will slowly deplete.
The charging case will get the earbuds an additional 16 hours of use with ANC active, bringing the total listening time to 20 hours. That’s fine, but again, not incredible.
Of course, the fact that the earbuds have wireless charging does soften the blow a little. Wireless charging is very convenient for earbuds like this. That said, the AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation cannot be charged with a MagSafe charger, unlike the AirPods 3. That’s actually because the charging case is simply too small for the magnets to align properly. You can still plop them down on any Qi charger that doesn’t rely on magnets to hold a device in place, and they can still charge with an Apple Watch puck. I’m not totally sure how I feel about the lack of MagSafe, as it’s actually one way in which I charge my AirPods Pro quite frequently. But I suppose portability is more important on a product like this anyway.
The Apple-centric features you’re looking for
Of course, the big reason to buy the AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation over the Standard model relates to features. However, there are many features that the two models share.
For example, they both support all the Apple-focused features that you would expect from any pair of AirPods, like automatic switching, which is a feature that I love. They also support personalized spatial audio, making use of head tracking for a more immersive listening experience, if you’re into that kind of thing.
But they support some new features too. For example, there’s a new personalized audio feature that will automatically adjust your audio’s volume depending on how loud your environment is. This probably won’t fit every kind of user, especially those who like to change the volume depending on what they’re listening to. However, you can turn it off if you want. And there’s a new way to interact with Siri. The AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation have an accelerometer built into them, allowing you to nod or shake your head to respond to Siri. It’s not a feature that I found myself using much beyond testing, but it’s nice that it’s there for those times when you don’t want to speak out loud to Siri.
Unlike the base AirPods 4, the AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation also have a speaker built into the charging case. This is to help you more easily find the case when you’re trying to track it down with Find My, but it also emits little sounds to indicate charging, for example.
Active Noise Cancellation (and more)
Last, but certainly not least, is the headline feature for the earbuds over the base model: active noise cancellation. Noise cancellation is just one of the noise modes that these earbuds offer. They also feature Transparency Mode and Adaptive mode, which automatically changes ANC and transparency depending on your environment. I found Adaptive mode to work reasonably well — however, I did find that I had to tweak the settings to let through less noise, as they weren’t quite sensitive enough to noise for my needs. For example, they failed to switch to ANC when the neighbor was using a relatively loud leaf blower, and while the volume of this leaf blower wasn’t necessarily ultra-loud in my home office, it was loud enough to be annoying while trying to listen to audio. Of course, you may also find that adaptive mode isn’t all that helpful in the first place, considering the fact that the open-style design means that, by the laws of physics, the earbuds do still let some outside noise in.
The earbuds also have Conversation Awareness, a feature that turns down the volume and switches to transparency when it detects that you’re speaking. I quite like this feature, though it’s probably best to disable it if you tend to sing along to your music. Generally, I found that it worked reasonably well, kicking in quickly enough when I started speaking. That said, I wish you could have it pause audio instead of lowering it, at least as an option, considering the fact that I am often listening to podcasts or audiobooks rather than music and find myself having to rewind if I missed something. Automatically pausing your audio and switching to transparency mode, then unpausing again when the headphones think you’re done with your conversation, would be very helpful.
The big question, though, is how high quality the noise cancellation is on a pair of open-style earbuds. The answer? Probably better than you expect, but certainly not as good as closed earbuds like the AirPods Pro.
To be clear, you’re still going to be able to hear sounds from your environment, but that’s to be expected. Thankfully, the ANC on these earbuds does have an impact. It can deaden the sound of a plane engine or limit more sporadic sounds decently. In many situations, it’ll be the difference between being annoyed by outside noise, and being able to focus on what you’re listening to — which is the point. But be aware that you will still be able to hear outside noise, and if you want to really isolate yourself from the outside world, you’ll still need to buy actual isolating earbuds.
More well-rounded, natural audio
Apple has done a good job at improving the audio quality on both the AirPods 4 and the AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation. It really is quite a difference. The earbuds offer a deeper bass response and better clarity and detail in the high end, making for a listening experience that’s more exciting and more impactful. The bass response is deeper and more rounded than before, which helps quite a lot. This change means that kick drums will better accent a mix, while bass synths and guitars will sound fuller and deeper.
Not only that, but they sound clearer in the higher frequencies, which helps ensure that music is more exciting and more natural-sounding. It’s particularly helpful for things like cymbals that sizzle more with better high end. But ultimately, it impacts everything from vocals to the string noise on guitars.
Are the AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation the best-sounding earbuds out there? No. But they’re certainly among the best-sounding earbuds in their price range, thanks to the changes that Apple made for this generation.
Conclusions
Apple has done a great job with the AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation. They’re more comfortable, offer more features, and sound better. They’re a meaningful upgrade over the base AirPods 4, considering the addition of wireless charging and ANC. The earbuds do exist in a tricky price bracket, but if you’re looking for Apple-focused earbuds and don’t want to spend the $250 necessary for the AirPods Pro, then the AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation are an excellent way to go.
The competition
At $179, the AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation face tough competition. That said, if you’re considering AirPods, you’re likely looking for earbuds with Apple-centric features like automatic switching and support for Siri. If you want features like that and the ability to interact with Siri by nodding your head, for example, then you need AirPods. And at under $200, these are your best option.
If you don’t really need those Apple-focused features, though, it’s worth considering an alternative like the Nothing Ear earbuds, which are among my favorite wireless earbuds out there and offer better battery life, slightly better audio quality, and a range of other great features for $149.
Should I buy the AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation?
Yes. If you’re looking for AirPods at under $200, these are the best you can get.
