I love Apple’s AirPods. If you have been reading BGR for the past few years, you probably read an article of mine stating that. I’ve been an AirPods user since day one, and I own every pair of them. When Apple announced its fourth iteration, I was really excited to get my hands on the latest earbuds and try them for the first time.
After all, they would offer ANC without ear tips, have the smallest case ever for AirPods, and sound as good as AirPods Pro 2. Besides that, I love how seamless the experience with these earbuds is, as they feel so light on my ears.
I can’t lie; I love wearing them around. I basically forgot about my AirPods Pro 2 since the AirPods 4 feel more comfortable while I’m walking, working out, or running errands. However, as the weeks passed, I started noticing a few annoying things about these earbuds that I wish I had known about sooner—or how much they would impact my usage.
That said, if you haven’t bought AirPods 4 yet or are thinking about picking them up, you should read this article to see if this would bother you too.
AirPods 4 are great, but definitively a downgrade from AirPods Pro 2
One of the things I like the most about AirPods Pro 2 is the ability to control the volume by sliding my fingers up and down on the stem. I don’t find Siri reliable, and that brief period that the assistant needs to understand my request is just annoying.
While I can play/pause and skip songs with AirPods 4, I really miss the extra functionality available on the Pro models.
Another interesting issue I have with these earbuds is the battery life. I call it “interesting” because, technically, both AirPods have the same 30 hours over multiple charges. However, while I think I need to charge my AirPods Pro 2 less often, I usually find my AirPods 4 with the battery practically drained when I want to use them.
The issue is that the base-model AirPods have five hours of battery life on a single charge, while the Pro model offers six. In a real-life scenario, it feels like AirPods 4 doesn’t hold these five hours, which means I’m often charging them or forgetting they’re almost without a charge when I’m going to use them. That happened while I was traveling from São Paulo to Rio by bus, and eventually, I could only hear my thoughts, as the AirPods’ battery was dead.
Finally, the Find My capabilities available with its charge case are the same as the one on the Siri Remote. It uses Bluetooth range to help you locate your earbuds, not a fancy U1 or second-generation ultrawide band chip. With that, locating misplaced AirPods might be harder.
Wrap up
Below, you can read BGR‘s AirPods 4 review. Like other Apple earbuds, they have pros and cons, and it all depends on your needs. I’ll keep using mine, even though I might switch to AirPods Pro 2 more often from now on.
