A Review of the AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation

There are numerous occasions throughout a day when you might want to consume some sort of media. This could be a song, a podcast, audiobook, or even a movie. If you are perusing social media, you may come across a video that was shared by someone you follow. If you are in a place where it would not disturb others, you might be able to listen using the speakers on your device. However, that is not likely the case. Quite often there are others about and unless they are watching the content on your screen at the same time, you may want to use headphones.

There are a variety of different headphones types, in ear, on ear, and over the ear. The model of headphones ultimately determines the type of headphone. For me, a vast majority of the time I use a pair of Beats Studio Pros to listen to most of my audio content. I use these at home and at work. The Beats Studio Pros are over the ear headphones, so they are a bit bulky, which is fine at home and work, but does not work while I am out and about. Instead, in those instances, like when I am out grocery shopping, or going out for a walk, I use a pair of AirPods.

It is quite possible that you are aware, but in case you are not, Apple has been in the headphone game for a long time. In fact, they created the "iconic" white headphones that many identify as Apple, back in 2001 when they introduced the original iPod. In the intervening 23 years, they have produced a wide variety of different headphones.

From 2001 to 2014, each new version of the headphones released by Apple, excluding the iPhone Bluetooth headset, connected to devices via a wire. For a majority of the time, Apple utilized a standard 3.5mm, or 1/8-inch, headphone jack. In 2016, Apple removed the headphone jack from the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. You could use a pair of Lightning EarPods, which were just Apple's EarPods but with a lightning cable. There was another option, called AirPods.

AirPods History

In 2016, at the same event that Apple introduced the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, Apple introduced a new set of headphones, this time without wires, and they called them AirPods. AirPods are bluetooth headphones that work with any bluetooth-enabled device, but when they are paired with an Apple device they get a few extras. The original AirPods took the shape of the Apple EarPods and basically cut off the wires.

The AirPods offer an easy way to pair the AirPods, which was a tremendous improvement. The pairing was as simple as "Open the Case" and then hit the "Connect" button. Seriously, that was all it took. This was a vast improvement over standard Bluetooth pairing, which may not work that well.

One of the extra features is the fact that your AirPods will appear on ALL of your devices, meaning there is no need to pair your AirPods with each device you wanted to use. Furthermore, you could easily switch between devices by simply using Control Center and selecting the AirPods.

Apple sold the original AirPods until 2019, when they introduced the 2nd generation AirPods. These improved on the previous model by including Siri announcements, provided additional talk time, and even included a wireless charging case that could be purchased.

At the same time that Apple introduced the 2nd generation AirPods, they also introduced a new set of AirPods, the AirPods Pro. The AirPods Pro introduced a new shape, one that went in ear but also created a seal. The reason for this seal was needed was for a new feature, called Active Noise Cancellation.

A mere two years later, in October of 2021, Apple introduced the 3rd generation AirPods. These took inspiration from the AirPods Pro in shape, but did not have active noise cancellation.

In September of 2022, Apple introduced an updated pair of AirPods Pro, the AirPods Pro 2. These had improved battery life, Bluetooth 5.3, and even included a USB-C charging case.

Now, Apple has released a new set of AirPods, the AirPods 4. I bought a pair of AirPods 4 with Noise Cancellation in hopes of having them fit a bit better than the 3rd generation ones. As a note, I will use AirPods 4 with ANC throughout this post, as a shortened form of the official name, "AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation". Let us now get into the actual device, starting with the pairing experience.

Pairing

As is the case with all of Apple's AirPods. pairing your AirPods to an iPhone, iPad, or Mac, is extremely straightforward process. You can simply perform the following steps:

1. Open the case.
2. Watch the popup appear on your iPhone/iPad/Mac.
3. Tap, or Click, on the "Connect" button.

That is it, you are done. Apple has developed all AirPods to make it very very easy to pair your devices. This has always been a nice touch and is so much easier than traditional Bluetooth headphones. It is good to see that the out of box experience for the AirPods has remained the same, because it really is quite elegant. Now, let us move onto the case.

The Case

All AirPods cases have the same general look: a flip top to gain access to the actual AirPods, a charging port at the bottom, a pairing button on the back, and an LED light, on the front or inside, to indicate whether the AirPods are charging. The AirPods 4 with ANC have the same; however, the actual case is a bit smaller, most noticeably in the width. The 3rd generation AirPods case is 2.14 inches (54.40mm) wide. The AirPods 4 with ANC case is 1.97 inches (50.1mm) wide. The height and depth of the two models are very close as well. The 3rd generation AirPods are 1.83 inches tall (46.40mm), and have a depth of 0.84 inches (21.38mm). Comparatively, the AirPods 4 with ANC is 1.82 inches (46.2mm) tall, and has a depth of 0.83 inches (21.2mm). These two are very similar in weight as well. The 3rd generation AirPods case is 1.34 ounces (37.91 grams), and the AirPods 4 with ANC is 1.22 ounces (34.7 grams). This is an 8.5% reduction in weight, which should be somewhat noticeable.

One of the big changes made with the 3rd generation AirPods is the fact that there were two case options. One that allowed you to charge only via a Lightning cable, and another that also offered charging via MagSafe, in addition to Lightning. The MagSafe charging can actually use either any Qi-compatible charger, or you can even use the Apple Watch charger.

The 3rd Generation AirPods that I purchased was a Lightning connection, but it also had the option of charging via MagSafe. However, I almost exclusively used an Apple Lightning Dock for charging. The reason I used this is twofold. First, I already purchased the Lightning Dock, and it was just sitting there. Secondly, I prefer to charge my AirPods overnight, and since I charge my iPhone using a MagSafe adapter, I used the dock for my AirPods.

The AirPods 4 with ANC modify the charging case a tad bit. The first is that you can use a USB-C cable, instead of the previous Lightning cable. The second change is that the MagSafe now supports charging via the Apple Watch Charger. Overall, this is a most welcome change, but it does have one particular downside.

The changes needed to allow the Apple Watch charger to work have made it so that the case for the AirPods 4 with ANC no longer stays in place when you use Apple's MagSafe charging puck. When placed in a horizontal configuration, the AirPods will indeed charge. However, if I put the charging puck vertically, the case does not stay put. This did work with the 3rd generation AirPods.

The fact that the AirPods 4 with ANC supports charging with an Apple Watch charger means that, for me, I will likely be using this method, because for me it is an overall better option. I use the Sleep Tracking features on my Apple Watch, so I do not need the Apple Watch charger overnight; therefore, I should be able to use the Apple Watch Charger instead of needing to plug in the AirPods.

The last feature of the case is the speaker. This is an absolute necessity if you often misplace your AirPods. The reason is that you no longer need to really listen for the sounds when you request that a sound is played within the Find My app. The sound is quite loud and should make it a lot easier to find a pair of missing AirPods. Let us switch gears to look at the actual design of the AirPods themselves.

AirPod Design Changes

When you open up the AirPods 4, you will notice that they look very similar to the 3rd generation AirPods, yet they are subtly different. In fact, they are a mix of the AirPods 2nd Generation and the 3rd generation AirPods. The shape is a bit smaller, but it does still resemble the 3rd generation AirPods.

Another change is the sensor that is used to detect whether the AirPods are in your ears or not. With the 3rd generation AirPods, there was a skin detector. This changes with the AirPods 4 with ANC so that it is now an optical detector. I am sure there are some technical differences between the two, but for all practical purposes, they function the exact same. Therefore, the technology used does not matter all that much.

There are some other changes, like the vents. Instead of being on the back side of the AirPod, as they were on the 3rd generation AirPods, now with the AirPods 4 with ANC, the vents are on the portion of the AirPods that go in your ear, but they do not actually go inside of your ear canal.

These changes are needed because the entire audio system was reworked. Apple's AirPods site states:

Enjoy every note, beat, and vibe. The entirely new acoustic architecture uses an Apple-designed low-distortion driver powered by a custom high dynamic range amplifier. Put simply, you hear music in exceptional detail, with deeper bass and crystal-clear highs.

I can attest that the bass is definitely improved with the new AirPods 4 with ANC. The way that I tested this was by connecting the left AirPod of the AirPods 4 with ANC to my iPhone 16 Pro Max and connecting the right AirPod from my 3rd generation AirPods to my iPhone 15 Pro Max. I then chose a few different songs and listened to them all the way through, completely in sync. The three songs that I chose were:

• "Army" by Lew
• "Ego" by Halsey
• "Midnight City" by M83

In order to make sure everything was the same, I did not use Spatial Audio. I had the audio mode on the AirPods 4 with ANC set to "Off". I could easily hear the new AirPods 4 with ANC more clearly at lower volumes than I could with the 3rd generation AirPods.

Ultimately, the new design really does make an improvement. I also think there was an additional item coming into play with why the AirPods 4 with ANC sounded better, and that is the fit. Let us get a sense of that now.

AirPod Fit

When Apple introduced the 3rd generation AirPods, they mentioned that they took thousands of scans of various ear shapes to be able to create a single shape that fits as many people's ears as possible. All of those scans resulted in the shape seen for the 3rd Generation AirPods.

The 3rd Generation AirPods had a different shape that was designed to have sound go directly into the ear canal. The new shape was designed to fit in more people's ears, but it was not the best fit for everyone. Myself being a prime example. Within my review of the 3rd generation AirPods I stated:

Even though the 3rd generation AirPods do indeed fit in my ears, they do not sit as comfortably as the 2nd generation. The 2nd generation AirPods seem to just have an overall better fit where they rest easily on my ears. Meanwhile, the 3rd generation AirPods tend to stick out a bit more. The 3rd generation still fit in my ears, just not as well. As a tip, be sure to twist them forward after you have put them in your ears; this should help them fit a bit better.

I have been trying to use the 3rd generation AirPods lately, and I will admit that I kept forgetting about the last line in the quote above: "As a tip, be sure to twist them forward after you have put them in your ears; this should help them fit a bit better.". I have been forgetting that you need to twist them forward after you have placed them in your ears. Here is a graphic of what I mean:

Get the right fit with AirPods 3 or AirPods Pro

Now, the AirPods 4 have refined the shape of the AirPods, yet again. If you look at a side-by-side comparison of the 3rd generation AirPods and the AirPods 4 with ANC, you will see that the AirPods 4 have a slightly more narrow shape. Here are the two directly next to each other.

Overall, for me, the AirPods 4 with ANC have a much better fit. If the 3rd generation AirPods did not fit that well for you, it may be worth checking out the AirPods 4 with ANC. Now, let us move to another feature, Siri Announcements.

Siri Announcements

One of the features introduced with the 2nd Generation AirPods was the ability for Siri to announce messages and phone calls. When the feature was introduced, there was no way to indicate what action to take, if any, but now, that changes.

Let us say that you are in a public place and your hands are full and you receive a phone call. Siri will make an announcement saying "Phone call from Johnny Appleseed. Answer it?". When this happens, you have a couple of options. One is to verbally say "No". The second option is to just let it ring and go to voicemail. While you could just let it go to voicemail, this is not the optimal solution. Now, there is another option.

Back in June at Apple's World Wide Developer Conference 24, they announced a new feature coming to the AirPods Pro 2. That feature is the ability to handle a Siri Announcement without looking at your phone, saying anything, or even tapping on your AirPods. You can now make a selection by simply nodding or shaking your head.

When you nod your head, it answers "Yes", similarly, if you shake your head, it means "No". This is made possible through the movement of the accelerometer within the AirPods 4 with ANC. This feature requires an H2 chip, which the AirPods 4 with ANC do indeed have. The AirPods Pro 2 also have this option, and they have an H2 chip.

I do not get that many phone calls, so it is unlikely that I will use this feature often, but for those that do receive a lot of phone calls, this could become an invaluable feature. Let us now hear a bit about the available Audio Modes on the AirPods 4 with ANC.

Audio Modes

Many of Apple's headphones have various types of audio modes that you can use, depending on the audio being played. You can either use Noise Cancellation Mode, Transparency Mode, or even have all audio modes off. There are use cases for each audio mode, so let us hear about each in turn, starting with Active Noise Cancellation.

Active Noise Cancellation

There are many situations where you may want to reduce a lot of background noise in order to hear your audio better. This could be because you are in an office with others, or you may be on an airplane and you want to mask the engine noise, or it could just be that you are out in public and there is a lot of ambient noise. Whatever the reason for wanting to do so, it is there. Many headphones have the ability to block out this noise using a feature called Active Noise Cancellation.

Typically, in order to get Active Noise Cancellation, you need to be able to make a seal with your ear, at least of a seal of some sort. With the Beats Solo Pros and the Beats Studio Pros, a seal can easily be created because these are over-the-ear headphones. The same applies with the AirPods Pro, but because AirPods Pro are in-ear headphones, they are designed to provide you with a good seal. This is done by using the Ear Tip Fit Test, which will help you select the proper tips for your ears so you can get the best seal possible.

Something that you do not generally see is Active Noise Cancellation in an "open-ear" headphone. The AirPods are an open-ear headphone. However, Apple has made this a reality. The way that Active Noise Cancellation functions is by listening to the noise that is outside of your headphones, calculating the exact opposite wavelengths, and then blending both your audio and the cancelled wave into what you are listening to. By doing this, a significant amount of background noise is removed.

The AirPods 4 with ANC are not my first headphones with Noise Cancellation. In fact, they are the third set I have owned. The first two sets were the Beats Solo Pros and the Beats Studio Pros, both of which are "over-the-ear" headphones. The difference with the AirPods 4 with ANC is that they are the first in-ear headphones that I have owned with Noise Cancellation.

One of the issues that I have had with ANC is that when it is enabled, it feels like my head is pressurized. This is quite an uneasy feeling for me, and I cannot handle the sensation for too long. Another issue that I have experienced is that there is a significant hiss when attempting to use ANC. I have experienced the hiss on both of my Beats headphones that have this feature. This may just be an issue with the Beats, because I do not think this is normal behavior. There is one particular time that I actually do enable Noise Cancellation, and that is when I am vacuuming.

When I am vacuuming, I am almost always listening to a podcast or audiobook, but also sometimes music, and the noise from the vacuum can be quite loud. So in order to protect my hearing, I enable noise cancellation. I deal with the pressure issues and the background hiss because it is only for a short time, and I would rather deal with that and protect my hearing than not do so.

I tested out the Noise Cancellation of the AirPods 4 with ANC by vacuuming, and I was pleasantly surprised by the results. The Noise Cancellation on the AirPods 4 with ANC works quite well. The Active Noise Cancellation did block out a vast majority of the noise from the vacuum, very much like when I use my Beats Studio Pros for vacuuming.

Noise Cancellation mode is not the only mode; there is another mode to cover, Transparency Mode.

Transparency Mode

There are those instances when you really do need to be able to hear everything in your surroundings. In fact, you may even want the sound amplified. This is where "Transparency Mode" can be useful. With Transparency Mode, the noise in your surroundings is amplified so you can hear even more noise.

Transparency Mode was not available on my 3rd Generation AirPods, but the feature is available on the Beats headphones that I have owned, so it is not a new feature, but new in the AirPods 4 with ANC. I rarely use Transparency Mode, because there are not that many instances when I need to hear even more around me. Should there ever be an instance when I want to use it, it will be good to have the ability to do so.

While Transparency Mode is not something I will use that often, I can see it being useful for those that do. But, there is another feature that I can say is quite useful, that feature is called Adaptive Audio.

Adaptive Audio

It is quite likely that you have had to adjust the volume of the audio multiple times in a short amount of time. The reason that you may need to adjust the volume is likely due to the ambient noise that is going on around you. What would be great is if your headphones could automatically adjust the audio for you. Guess what, the AirPods 4 with ANC can absolutely do this with a feature called Adaptive Audio.

Adaptive Audio is a feature that you can selectively enable. The way that you enable Adaptive Audio is configured depends on the system. Let us look at the ways to enable it, starting with iPhone or iPad:

iPhone / iPad

1. Connect your AirPods 4 with ANC to your iPhone or iPad
2. Open Settings.
3. Directly beneath your Apple Account, tap on your AirPods 4 with ANC.
4. Tap on the "Adaptive" option to enable Adaptive Audio.

macOS

1. Connect your AirPods 4 with ANC to your Mac.
2. Open System Settings.
3. Scroll down to the bottom and select your AirPods 4 with ANC.
4. Click on the "Noise Control" dropdown.
5. Select the "Adaptive" option to enable Adaptive Audio.

It is entirely understandable that you might be skeptical about just how well Adaptive Audio works, but from my experience, it does work extremely well. As an example, I went out for a walk with my AirPods 4 with ANC, and unbeknownst to me, there was a train going by, but there was. I was not immediately aware of this because I did not hear the train due to the Adaptive Audio removing the noise from the train. It should be noted that it did not remove all noise; if you listened super closely, I was able to hear it. In order to verify that it was working, I slightly pulled out one of my AirPods so I could easily hear the train. I did not remove the AirPod entirely but pulled it just enough to verify that it was working. Now, Active Noise Cancellation could accomplish the same thing.

Later during my walk, I experienced exactly how well adaptive audio was working. I live in a suburban area, so there are constantly cars driving by. When the cars were driving by, the volume of my audio would adjust ever so slightly, and the noise cancellation would kick in to block out most of the sound from the cars. Adaptive Audio does not only function outside your home; it can also work inside your home. As an example, if one of your appliances is loud, say your dishwasher or even your washing machine, you can use Adaptive Audio to filter out that audio and still hear your audio.

I am not sure if I will end up using Adaptive Audio when I am at home because, as previously mentioned, I typically use my Beats Studio Pros, but I will definitely be using Adaptive Audio when I am out and about. There is another feature to discuss. This one is called Conversation Awareness.

Conversation Awareness

There may be situations where you want to be able to interact with others without needing to manually adjust the volume on your AirPods. Now, with Conversational Awareness, this can be done automatically on your behalf. The way that this functions is by recognizing when you are talking to someone, and the audio that you are listening to will automatically duck or be reduced so that you can communicate with the individual, and then your audio will return back to its previous volume.

I do not have many opportunities to test this feature, given that I usually remove my AirPods when I talk to someone, but you can test its functionality by simply talking out loud. The feature does function as expected. One thing to note is that it will take approximately 5 seconds for the audio to return back to its previous volume. It is a good feature, and should I ever be in a situation where it will be needed, it will be a useful feature to have.

Closing Thoughts

The AirPods 4 with ANC blends features of the AirPods 3rd generation with the features of the AirPods Pro. The AirPods 4 with ANC include noise cancellation, which is the first time that the feature has been available in an open-ear headphone from Apple. The Active Noise Cancellation will not be nearly as good as the AirPods Pro, but that is to be expected, since truly excellent Active Noise Cancellation requires a good seal with your ear, and you cannot get that with the AirPods 4 with ANC. Even without a solid seal, the Active Noise Cancellation on the AirPods 4 with ANC is still really good and will be sufficient for most people in many situations.

Beyond the Active Noise Cancellation, the new Adaptive Audio feature works tremendously well. Adaptive Audio will automatically adjust the level of noise cancellation depending on the external noise for where you are. This is done automatically for you, and you do not even need to adjust the volume of the audio, because that will be handled as well, if it is needed.

For many, the 2nd generation AirPods were a fantastic fit in their ears, while the 3rd generation AirPods did not fit well at all. The AirPods 4 with ANC might fit in your ears a bit better. For me, they are not as good as the 2nd generation AirPods, but they are definitely an improvement on the 3rd generation. If you fall into this group, then definitely give the AirPods 4 with ANC a look, because they could be what you are looking for. This shape is made possible because the AirPods 4 with ANC has a new shape, one that blends the shape of the AirPods 2 with that of the 3rd generation AirPods, but in a more svelte shape. This means that the actual portion of the AirPod is a bit smaller and should fit in even more people's ears than the 3rd generation did.

The AirPods themselves are not the only change; the case has received a solid update as well. One of the big changes is the addition of a speaker to the case. Now you can more easily find your AirPods 4 with ANC because the speaker magnifies the sound, and it is very clear and easy to hear. The other changes with the case include USB-C, instead of Lightning. If you prefer to charge your AirPods via MagSafe, the case now also supports charging via both MagSafe as well as by using an Apple Watch charger, which can make it more convenient.

Overall, the AirPods 4 with ANC are just about the perfect mix of the standard AirPods and the AirPods Pro. You get Noise Cancellation in an open-ear design. The new shape improves the bass and overall sound of the AirPods 4. They are a solid choice if you want to upgrade your AirPods, or if you want to purchase AirPods for the first time.