AirPods fourth-generation review: AirPods Pro power for everybody

Technically, there are two version of AirPods 4th-generation. There is a $129 version (on sale) that replaces the AirPods 2 and a $179 model (also on sale) that adds ANC, a speaker, and wireless charging.

We've been trying them out the last few weeks alongside our AirPods Pro 2 — our go-to buds. But the open-ear design is quite comfy and is great for extended wear.

We're going to focus primarily on the model with active noise cancellation, but most of the features are shared.

AirPods 4th-generation review: Design & fit

The new AirPods are Apple's smallest yet. The case at least, is downright tiny.

When it's in our pocket, it's hard to even tell they're there. We only notice them when we tried going for a run as they still cause your pockets to swing which gets annoying.

The bottom of the case has a speaker grille, helpful when invoking Find My. Since they're so small, chances are even higher that you'll need to use that.

We've had to use it at least a couple times just during our testing. The sound on that speaker is definitely loud enough, even when they were tucked in a couch cushion.

The other change is that the rear-facing button has been removed. There's no longer a physical button to depress when resetting the AirPods.

A similar change has been made to the status light. It's no longer a small LED that pokes through the front facade.

Rather it's an interior light that shines through the plastic shell. Both of these changes lend themselves towards improving the exterior as it looks nice and clean, but also makes it less likely to break or get dirty.

There's still a button on the earbuds though, you just can't see it. It's a touch-sensitive button just below the hidden LED light.

When you need to put your earbuds into pairing mode, you open the case and double tap just below that LED. It's not as obvious how to do this, but it's still easy to do.

The earbuds themselves slot into the top, just as before, but we found them harder to remove. The lid gets very close to the back of the earbud giving you little room to get a good grip.

The buds also sit down just enough it's hard to twist them out. We did get the hang of it, but they felt fiddly to remove compared to the other sets.

Apple says they spent a considerable amount of time refining the shape on these earbuds. They're a mix between the AirPods third-generation and the AirPods Pro.

They lack any silicone ear tips but the snorkel — the part that goes in your ear — almost seems like it has been flattened out a bit.

Making earbuds that fit everyone's ear is going to be impossible. It's not feasible to fit the vast array of shapes that you'd need to accommodate.

We had no issues with the regular AirPods design nor the AirPods Pro. This style though, feels a little shallow.

It's almost too bulbous out of the gate, preventing it from resting properly in the ear. It stays in and it's extremely comfy while just sitting at the desk, but it won't stay if we were to start jumping around.

Don't let that put you off from buying these though as there were several others that we queried that had no issue with the fit and found it perfectly fine.

Last thing to note on the design is the change in sensors. Unlike with AirPods 3 that used a skin detection sensor, the new AirPods use a normal proximity sensor.

This is the sensor that tells the AirPods whether they are in or out of your ears. If they come out, they can automatically pause your content or switch your audio output.

It feels like a step back because it's very easy for them to get triggered. Setting the earbuds down on the bed in a sheet trick them into thinking they were in our ears.

A similar thing happened when we just tossed the AirPods without a case in our pocket. That made our podcast start playing and we had to go back once we realized it was playing.

AirPods 4th-generation review: Controls

The fourth-generation AirPods use a variety of Apple's Force Stems to control your media or phone calls. You squeeze the stems to play or pause music, adjust ANC, or hang up on a call.

We do like the pressure better than the tapping gesture. The biggest detraction is that it lacks the volume control found on AirPods Pro.

AirPods Pro allow you to slide your finger up or down the stems to adjust the volume. These solely response to the squeezes and volume is a no-go.

That's not a huge loss, especially if you have an Apple Watch. The Digital Crown can control any currently playing media which is what we do most of the time these days.

The other way to control them is with your head. A nod or shake can act as an affirmative or negative response to Siri.

If you have a phone call comes in and Siri asks if you want to answer it, you can nod or shake your head. This lets you respond without having to speak.

AirPods 4th-generation review: Battery & charging

Battery life has been impacted with the new AirPods. Between the new H2 chip for better efficiency, the smaller case cutting the battery size, and active noise cancellation being more power hungry, it was a mixed bag for the battery.

With active noise cancelation turned on, you will get four hours of battery life. If you turn ANC off, it increases to five hours — an hour less than the AirPods 3.

The case will extend your total usage to 20 hours with ANC and 30 hours without. 30 hours is in line with the prior-generation model.

You can charge both pairs of AirPods 4th-generation via USB-C but the ANC-equipped version also supports wireless charging.

They can be placed on any Qi charger or on an Apple Watch charging puck. Since the case has gotten so small, Apple did have to remove the MagSafe magnets.

They can still charge off a MagSafe charger, but they don't have that magnetic hold to keep them attached to a vertical charging stand. They'll have to go on a flat charging pad.

This was surprisingly obnoxious to us. We didn't realize how often we charged our AirPods in the car on our MagSafe vent mount charger and now we can't.

AirPods 4th-generation review: Audio quality & ANC

No matter which version of the AirPods 4th-generation you buy, the audio quality will be the same. The H2 audio processing, the driver, all are unchanged version to version.

These are easily the best open-ear earbuds Apple has ever made. They sound clear and surprisingly punchy on the bass.

There is a little fidelity lost since they're not sealed but that's to be expected. Listening to Tighten Up by The Black Keys you could hear the ongoing high hat hits in front but the bass coming from all around.

We did notice that while the bass is good at the beginning of tracks, it loses some of that when the rest of the track comes in. Almost like there's not enough room to fit it all.

It could be because the sound stage does feel smaller than some other earbuds, especially when we listened to a very expansive song like Bohemian Rhapsody.

Volume was also comfortable. Inside, we easily kept it at about 50% that gave us the impact from our music while not being harsh on our ears.

On the AirPods 4 with active noise cancellation, they had reliable enough results. With ANC on you could tell there was some silencing going on but you could still hear people talking and some noises.

It wasn't nearly as isolating as the AirPods Pro when you turn it on. As soon as music started playing though basically all background noise was gone.

We suppose the battery life hit here is due to them having to work extra hard to overcome the open-ear design. Even when we simulated some very loud plane sounds they cut them almost all out.

AirPods Pro do do better, but hard to compete with those silicone seals.

Both models support Spatial Audio, which is effective and even works with Vision Pro. That H2 chip also enables low latency audio and lossless audio on Vision Pro.

Spatial Audio and Dolby Atmos works across other devices and audio sources. You can hear people talking in front of you while a car drives up from behind.

For Apple Music, it's a bit less impressive. We prefer to use it on movies and TV shows the most.

Finally, the microphones sounded great with new voice isolation. It cuts out a lot of external noise that we tested while standing next to a busy road.

There were time where our voices got clipped but for on-device isolation like this, it was dang impressive.

Ultimately, we'd say you can find better sounding earbuds — these are midrange after all — but they have solid acoustic performance. Combined with their other smart features, they're easy to recommend.

Speaking of said smart features...

AirPods 4th-generation review: Apple-specific features & tricks

One of the reasons AirPods are some compelling is their ease of use, software features, and integration into the larger Apple ecosystem. There's still something magical about opening your AirPods next to your phone and having them almost instantly pair.

They will move between your Apple devices seamlessly too. They can play back music while you're sitting at your Mac but then move to your iPhone as you get up and start watching TikTok.

If you sit down in your living room, with a press of one button you can move your Apple TV to your AirPods too. It's great when all your devices work together like this.

There's also the integration in iOS or iPadOS. You can see the battery life in the battery widget and the controls automatically appear in Control Center when they're connected.

Plus you have hands-free Siri to get answers to all of your questions. These work with other non-Apple devices, but never quite as well.

The version with ANC has more features too. There is adaptive audio that will adjust the amount of ANC based on the environment.

Transparency mode will let in noise from around you, letting you hear cars, other people, and your surroundings while also listening to music or taking a call.

Conversation Awareness will detect when you start speaking and lower your content. This lets you carry out that conversation without having to first adjust the volume or playback of your music.

Many of these features come down from the AirPods Pro 2 but at this lower price point and with the open-ear design.

AirPods 4th-generation review: Should you buy them?

There's very little not to like about the new AirPods 4th-generation. Whether you want the basic version or the ANC version.

Between the two, we'd very much recommend the ANC model. You get a lot more software features alongside the ANC, wireless charging, and the speaker for Find My.

We think that's worth the price differential. If you want to pay less, you probably can still find some AirPods 2 on sale that have gone as low as $69 in the past — before they sell out.

Apple basically nailed these, building out a ton of new features on top of the lackluster AirPods 3rd-generation. They're 90% of the AirPods Pro in this design.

Frankly, the only hold up is the AirPods Pro themselves. Since they're now over a year old, they regularly go on sale.

Recently they've been going as low $169 and will likely continue to be discounted until a new model is released. There's no reason to buy the cheaper earbuds at full price or the superior Pros when marked down.

Between the two, we'd say to buy the AirPods Pro 2. That is, unless you prefer the open design.

Many don't like the seal from in-ear earbuds and find these to be much more comfortable. If that's you — the AirPods 4th-generation are perfect.

Either way, it's hard to go wrong.

AirPods 4th-generation review: Pros

• Smaller, compact design
• Two models at different price points with equally good audio
• ANC models has several pro-level features
• Finally moved the whole lineup to USB-C
• Audio quality is very good for the price range
• ANC is reliable for an open-ear design
• Great integration with Apple ecosystem

AirPods 4th-generation review: Cons

• Naming scheme is confusing
• Priced too similarly to discounted AirPods Pro 2
• Audio quality is good, not great
• Middling battery life

AirPods 4th-generation rating: 4 out of 5

Where to buy AirPods 4

AirPods 4 are on sale right now at Amazon, with the entire range eligible for double-digit instant rebates.

Right now the latest earbuds are marked down to $119, while AirPods 3 are $129. AirPods Pro 2 have the greatest discount, priced at $189.99 at press time. You can browse the best AirPods deals in our dedicated AirPods Price Guide, which is updated throughout the day.

• AirPods 4 without Active Noise Cancellation: $119 ($10 off)
• AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation: $168.99 ($11 off)
• AirPods 3 with Lightning Charging Case: $129.99 ($40 off)
• AirPods Max Over-Ear Headphones with Lightning Charging: $394.95 ($105 off)
• AirPods Max Over-Ear Headphones with USB-C Charging: $498.99 ($51 off)