Apple AirPods 4 review: Spring for the ANC
Apple has delivered exceptional quality for its base-level earphones, but make sure you pay that bit extra for noise cancellation.
BTTR is independent, but we may earn money when you purchase through links on our site.
Pros
- Impressive audio quality, including spatial
- Noise cancellation works surprisingly well
- Easy setup within Apple ecosystem
Cons
- ANC is so good the base unit shouldn't exist
- Transparency mode still not good enough
- Conversation mode unreliable
Apple did something new with the launch of its AirPods 4 earbuds this year. It split the offering into two different models: One with Active Noise Cancelling, and one without.
Because I’m a little bit lazy, and also because I have no idea what to say specifically about the base model, I’ve decided to combine the review for both products into one here.
They are mostly the same product. If you found one of the earbuds down the side of the sofa, you wouldn’t be able to tell whether it had ANC or not. The only real noticeable difference I can discern is a small speaker on the case of the ANC version.
So, anyway. One review, two slightly different products.
But while the physical differences are minor, the inclusion of ANC in a pair of open-ear AirPods is, frankly, remarkable. It performs way better than it should, even though it’s not the best pair of noise-cancelling earbuds you can buy.
Not only that, but the AirPods 4 throw down the gauntlet for Apple’s next pair of AirPods Pro earbuds because there’s not really enough of a difference in performance between them now. Apple is going to have to do something special to lift its game with the AirPods Pro 3, and that’s exciting.
But for now, let’s see what Apple has done with its entry-level AirPods, shall we?
