AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation review: Clear sound in an updated package

After spending just under a week with the AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation, I can say the earbuds are a success in two important ways. First—and most importantly—they raise the bar for fit, features, and audio quality on Apple’s non-pro earbuds. Second, they make Apple’s earbud lineup easier to understand. Instead of having to decide between multiple generations of earbuds with radically different designs, you can pick the AirPods 4, AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation (same design with that one added feature and a more advanced charging case), or the AirPods Pro 2. We put the AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation to the test, listening on the busy streets of New York City and around the house in suburbia, and have generally come away very impressed with what Apple has been able to accomplish.

AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation

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Overview

• Apple’s newest noise earbuds will be released on September 20 for $179.
• The earbuds feature an updated physical design, new case, and audio improvements.
• Active noise cancellation will be available on non-Pro AirPods for the first time.

Pros

• Easy setup and connectivity with Apple devices thanks to the new chip
• Comfortable and secure fit
• Consistently good audio quality
• Smaller charging case

Cons

• Active noise cancellation quality is limited compared to AirPods Pro and competitors

The build

The AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation distinguish themselves from their predecessors with a new design that looks similar, but changes enough to sit differently in the ear. Shape is crucial with these hard-shell earbuds since they don’t have gummy tips like the AirPods Pro to create a tight seal and keep them firmly in place. A subpar fit requires constant adjustments and persistent concern that one or both buds might fall out.

Apple addressed this during the AirPods 4’s introduction by explaining it mapped and analyzed thousands of ear shapes to create more than 50 million data points it could reference during the design process. Having tested both the original and third-generation AirPods, I can safely say these are the most comfortable (and stable-feeling) non-Pro earbuds Apple has ever made. Their curvature helps them fit securely in my ear canal, and they don’t wobble or loosen when walking around normally. They even survived through a stress test (aka headbanging). Similarly, the plastic Apple used for these earbuds was soft enough that the earbuds didn’t irritate the inside of my ears after hours of listening over consecutive days.

I still prefer gummy-tipped earbuds, but I can’t fault the AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation for their fit and build quality. Apple didn’t dramatically change the AirPods’ design—they still have longer stalks that protrude downward—but the refinements they made do make a difference. Like with the AirPods Pro 2, the AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation now offer force sensors built into the stalk of each bud, which allow you to pause and play music with a quick squeeze. If you’re receiving a call, you can use these controls to answer and end calls or mute yourself.

Squeezing either stalk for multiple seconds can either summon Siri or change your listening mode (Transparency, Adaptive, Noise Cancellation) based on your preferences, which can be adjusted in the AirPods section of your device’s Settings app. However, you can’t change the volume of your music by swiping up or down on the stalks, which is a feature exclusive to the AirPods Pro 2, which have touch control rather than just a force sensor.

The design refresh for this generation of AirPods extends from the earbuds themselves to the case they’re in. The AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation come in a case that’s smaller than previous AirPods and the current-generation AirPods Pro. The size reduction doesn’t come with lower battery capacity (it still extends the earbuds’ life up to 30 hours total), and Apple still managed to fit a speaker into the case for the first time in its non-Pro earbuds. This feature allows you to locate the earbuds more easily using the Find My app on your Apple device or through iCloud on the web by requesting the case play a sound.

The setup

I tested the AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation with an iPhone, iPad, and Mac, so setting up the earbuds only took a matter of seconds. Flipping the earbuds’ case open prompted my iPhone to ask whether I’d like to pair them with my device. Upon their first connection, the AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation were immediately recognized by any of my nearby Apple devices. I could begin listening to a podcast on my iPhone, pause it, start watching a video on my iPad, pause it, and start listening to music on my Mac in rapid succession without the earbuds getting confused. If you’re using a computer running Windows, or a smartphone or tablet running on Android, the AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation will be recognized as a regular pair of Bluetooth earbuds, and you won’t be able to move between devices as quickly.

Hopping rapidly between devices may not be part of your daily listening experience, but the sophisticated form of multipoint pairing Apple is able to accomplish does make its earbuds stand out. I never had to worry about whether the earbuds would connect to my current device or stay connected to one I’d used previously, which can be awkward if you’re in public. Nobody wants to be the person accidentally blasting a YouTube video in a café.

Setting up the AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation was straightforward, but Apple presented me with several optional settings that allowed me to personalise them based on my preferences. I could disable features like Personalized Volume (adjusts the volume of what one’s listening too based on your environment) and Conversation Awareness (lowers the volume of media when you’re talking), enable Head Gestures (nodding my head up and down or side to side to answer yes and no questions). The setup process also helps configure Personalized Spatial Audio for the pervasive surround sound effect.

Spatial Audio setup requires you to move your head from side to side a few times to scan your face. Once enabled, Personalized Spatial Audio can improve the quality of head tracking when listening to music or video soundtracks with a Dolby Atmos mix. Futzing around with these features may increase your total setup time from under a minute to 10 minutes, but it’s worth poking around to make the AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation suit your needs best, or to at least understand what they’re capable of.

The sound

The AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation continue Apple’s streak of making great-sounding earbuds that do justice to any musical genre. While my taste hews heavily toward classic and indie rock, any jazz, classical, or pop I listened to didn’t sound out of place. I generally prefer gummy-tipped earbuds for their ability to seal off outside noise and create a controlled acoustic experience. But, the AirPods 4 still provided ample detail and audio balance despite their lack of in-ear tips. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to some of my favorite tunes, from 1978’s “In The Crowd” by The Jam, to the entirety of Oasis’ debut album “Definitely Maybe,” soaking up sonic nuances like backing vocals and the interplay between the rhythm section on tracks like “Columbia.”

Bass is area in which the AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation lag behjnd when compared with gummy tipped earbuds. That physical seal is critical for making low frequencies truly pop. I could still clearly hear the bass in tracks I listened to, but I always had the feeling like it could be a little more defined when I listened critically. This wasn’t the case when listening to instruments or vocals in the midrange or high frequency ranges though, and no sonic distortion like sibilance or ear-fatiguing treble was detected. I was able to comfortably listen to music at volume levels up to 80% for extended periods of time without discomfort—your mileage will vary based on your ear sensitivity and how the music you like has been mastered.

Apple doesn’t go into detail about the exact nature of the audio components inside the AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation beyond calling out a “custom high-excursion Apple driver” and “custom high dynamic range amplifier.” Apple has developed its own hardware rather than using off-the-shelf pieces in order to optimize audio quality for the earbuds’ exact size and shape. It’s used this same approach with the microphone system in the AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation, which enable its namesake feature.

Active noise cancellation

Getting active noise cancellation to work in a pair of hardshell earbuds is difficult because they offer no passive noise cancellation. Silicon-tipped earbuds create a tight seal around your ear, a literal barrier that prevents sounds from leaking in. The AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation create no such seal, but I was nonetheless pleased with their noise cancellation performance given this constraint. These earbuds can’t hold a candle to the active noise cancellation performance of Apple’s AirPods Pro 2, much less Bose’s excellent QuietComfort Ultra earbuds, but did greatly reduce common sounds like motors from idling cars, or typing on keycaps.

When listening to music at a volume level of 80%, most common home noises—a dishwasher, washing machine, or even footsteps were completely eliminated. Sharper, sudden sounds like car honks, however, can still cut through. Active noise cancellation isn’t a feature that’s found in hardshell earbuds for this exact purpose, but Apple has done a commendable job here. It’s better to have the option to enable okay active noise cancellation than stubbornly cranking your music volume to 100% to drown it out. Just be mindful that enabling active noise cancellation will reduce the AirPods’ battery life from roughly five to four hours.

The conclusion

The AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation feel like a new foundation for Apple’s non-pro headphones. By bringing new features and a refined design to its entry-level earbuds, Apple has meaningfully improved the experience of using the AirPods. The improvements in fit and audio quality alone make the AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation a must-have upgrade for anyone still using a first or second-generation pair of Apple’s earbuds. However, the introduction of Active Noise Cancellation is enough that third-generation AirPods user should give them a look. The world of sub-$200 earbuds is vast, but there’s nothing quite like the AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation for listeners who find gummy-tipped earbuds uncomfortable, but don’t want to give up ANC.