Apple AirPods 4 Review: Is Noise Cancellation Worth The Bigger Price?

Not all that long ago, we were laughing at Apple's AirPods. These days, they're the benchmark for the wireless earbud segment, a status which has arguably allowed Apple to coast a little when it comes to features rivals feel obliged to include. For 2024, though, and the AirPods 4, the fourth-generation adds one such feature, with Active Noise Cancellation finally no longer the preserve of the AirPods Pro alone.

ANC — where background noise isn't just blocked by the presence of the earbud in your ear alone, but by analyzing the ambient sound and then delivering the specific frequencies to counter it — isn't new, but it can still feel like magic. It'll also cost you: the regular, non-ANC AirPods 4 are $129, whereas AirPods 4 with Noise Cancellation are $179. A $70 delta with the AirPods Pro 2, certainly, though not necessarily enough to make them an instant-buy.

With a long haul flight on the calendar, and both sets of AirPods 4 in my bag (along with my current go-to earbuds and headphones), it seemed the ideal time for not only a test of Apple's latest, but a showdown to see if Noise Cancellation is worth the $50 premium.

If you were put off by the loosey-goosey fit of the early AirPods design, and how they dangled — sometimes pretty precariously — from the ear, AirPods 4 might surprise you. There's still no protruding ear-tip, Apple saving that for AirPods Pro, but the seedpod-shaped housing and shorter stem made for a more stable fit (and I was one of those people that struggled with the original design). In some ways, the absence of that ear-tip is an advantage: extended wear of that style of earbud can prove aggravating if you have sensitive ears.

There's a touch sensor in the stem, which responds to squeezes (though not volume swipes; that requires a second sensor, and is thus saved for AirPods Pro alone). The H2 chip allows for Siri Interactions, too, like nod-for-yes and shake-for-no to answer or reject calls. Unlike Beats — which has done an admirable job of embracing non-iPhone owners, despite its Apple ownership — the Android AirPods experience is still pretty underwhelming. AirPods 4 still definitely feels like an ecosystem play, as familiar (and useful) features like synchronized pairing across all devices logged into the same Apple account makes clear.

The case is near-identical for both ANC and non-ANC versions. It's actually Apple's smallest AirPods case so far, with USB-C charging, up to 30 hours of battery life total, and up to five hours of playback per bud. That's assuming noise cancellation is off, mind; switch it on, and you lose an hour of earbud playback, and total battery life dips to a still-acceptable 20 hours.

Musically, Apple's familiar sound profile makes itself known. Though they may not look much different from the AirPods 3 on the outside, inside the fourth-gen buds have a new amp and a new transducer, the latter of which is larger and positioned at a different angle. The result, Apple says, is audio that's better piped directly into your ear, as well as more high-end clarity.

It's all eminently listenable. More expensive headphones will deliver better separation and a wider soundstage, but AirPods 4 are no slouch there, and there's a decent stab of bass on top of what their predecessors provided. The downside here is that, if you're not so much a fan of Apple's tuning, the possibilities for EQ adjustment are fairly limited. Still, even with the defaults, AirPods 4 suit a wide variety of musical styles.

That goes for both sets, since the audio hardware is the same regardless of whether you paid for ANC or not. Both versions of AirPods 4 also get Voice Isolation — which does a darned impressive job of cutting out background noise from your speech during a call — but only the AirPods 4 with Noise Cancellation have Adaptive Audio, Conversation Awareness, and Transparency, to blend your music and the real world depending on volume levels or whether you're talking.

Minutes into side-by-side testing on the plane, my mind was pretty much made up. Active noise cancellation makes all the difference to the AirPods 4 experience, near-instantly making the extra outlay worthwhile.

Despite having no silicone ear-tip to make a snug seal with the ear canal, Apple has managed to deliver an astonishing degree of isolation. It's noticeable as soon as you put the AirPods 4 in, a general curtain of hush brought down over background noise like cafe chatter or airplane engines. No, it's not that magical silence that the best ANC earbuds provide, but it's impressive given the way the AirPods 4 fit.

Start playing some music, meanwhile, and there's more clarity at lower volumes, because your songs aren't competing so much with ambient noise leaking in. I could keep the volume several notches lower on AirPods 4 with Noise Cancellation, which should help both longer-term listening comfort and battery life.

Even cranked up, with the background noise of the plane, music played through the standard AirPods 4 lost bass emphasis and the high-end was weak. Vocals were far clearer and more enjoyable to listen to — and the overall musical balance much greater across the frequency range — with ANC switched on.

Can they best a set of earbuds with sealing tips, or indeed ANC headphones? Unsurprisingly, no, though it's not such a clear-cut thing as you might expect. My go-to earbuds are Beats Fit Pro, because their rubber ear fin works nicely with my recalcitrant ears that many rival sets struggle to stay in. Their passive isolation is better than AirPods 4, certainly, but the ANC experience itself isn't far off from the Apple-branded set.

Headphones, of course, have the benefit of covering more of the ear: a better seal makes for better isolation. A set of Sonos Ace held at bay sounds that the AirPods 4 with Noise Cancellation allowed through, but then again we're talking a very different form factor — and a very different price tag.

Not everyone is a frequent flyer, of course, though ANC's worth isn't just saved for when you're above the clouds. If you wear your earbuds while you're working in the library or office, while you're commuting, or just at home for a veneer of privacy amid the family hubbub (or simply a loud cat) then the experience of AirPods 4 with Noise Cancellation is markedly improved over the non-ANC set.

While they may look much the same, I feel like anybody opting for the cheaper, non-ANC AirPods 4 is succumbing to a false economy. The noise cancellation isn't just impressive, but has a noticeable impact on music playback quality: you no longer have to contest a looser fit in the ear with more volume.

Then there are the little extras, that the more expensive earbuds get you. Their case has a speaker, to yell when you're using "Find My" to unearth them from the couch cushions, and there's a separate Bluetooth LE radio in the case, so that it can be tracked down independently from the earbuds themselves. Only the AirPods 4 with Noise Cancellation case has wireless charging, too. That works with a regular Qi charger, and with the Apple Watch's magnetic charger.

You pay more, then, but you also get more, and Apple's additions feel targeted and relevant. Certainly, the AirPods Pro will get you better noise cancellation, and clever features like the upcoming hearing aid functionality. Nonetheless it's still clear why AirPods are the standard by which wireless earbuds are measured, and AirPods 4 with Noise Cancellation are a capable upgrade for those who don't want, or need, the pros and cons that an ear-tip model brings.