AirPods 4 are the best pound-for-pound product in Apple’s portfolio. These open-ear buds sound good and pack tremendous tech and software features into a ridiculously diminutive package. But it’s more than just that; AirPods are besides a resilient part of tech and stand up well under the rigors of day-to-day usage. Watch our hands-on AirPods 4 review as we discuss its top features, settings, and more.
Apple sells two versions of the AirPods 4. The base version costs $129 and is excellent for those who want the best wireless headphone experience for Apple devices but don’t want to pay a premium for sound control features.
The upgraded version, AirPods 4 with Active sound Cancellation, costs $179. In addition to the added sound control capabilities, that extra $50 gives you a wireless charging case with a built-in talker for Find My alerts.
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Why choose AirPods 4 over AirPods Pro 2?
AirPods 4 is more or little a somewhat paired down, open-ear version of AirPods Pro 2, which features a closed-ear plan that uses silicone ear tips that mold to your ear to make a sonic seal. Closed-ear buds are large for improving low-end frequency and enhancing noise-cancellation properties, but the silicone tips have been known to origin comfort issues for any users.
I know respective people who cannot usage the AirPods Pro 2 without getting a headache due to the force put on their ears, and that’s the primary reason 1 would choose AirPods 4 over AirPods Pro 2.
The second reason for choosing AirPods 4 is the cost. If you’re looking for the cheapest wireless buds that Apple sells, then the $129 entry-level version is available. However, consider forking over the additional $50 required to acquisition the AirPods 4 with ANC. That inactive makes them $70 cheaper than AirPods Pro 2, though you’ll frequently find Apple’s flagship wireless buds on sale for just $199. It’s likely that we’ll see AirPods 4 go on sale in the future as well.
They just work.
As Apple’s product lineup has grown more complex, it’s easy to make fun of the company’s unofficial “it just works” slogan, which Steve Jobs liked to sling around in Apple keynotes of yesteryear. However, unlike any products in Apple’s portfolio, AirPods mostly live up to that tagline, and the 4th-generation version is no exception.
It begins with the dead-simple pairing process: place your AirPods 4 Charging Case next to your iOS device, open it, and tap Connect. That’s it.
Even better, erstwhile your AirPods 4 are paired, they are automatically linked to all your Apple devices if you’re logged in to the same Apple ID and have enabled two-factor authentication. This lets you enjoy AirPods 4 on your another Apple devices without re-performing the pairing process.
On erstwhile versions of the AirPods, you’ll announcement a setup button on the rear of the case for pairing with non-Apple devices. AirPods 4 is the first version to omit the setup button and alternatively relies on a simple double-tap motion on the front of the case while the lid is open to initiate manual pairing.
In addition to having your AirPods available for all device linked to your Apple ID, they seamlessly control between each device as you start utilizing it. For example, say I’m listening to Apple Music on my iPad Pro, then I choice up my iPhone and start playing music. AirPods 4 will automatically control the playback origin to the iPhone and notify you on the first device that the origin was changed. This isn’t a fresh feature for AirPods 4, but if you’re not careful, you’ll start forgetting that headphones never utilized to work this way in the past. It’s ridiculously convenient.
AirPods 4 Switching between devicesAirPods 4 besides plays good with Apple imagination Pro, thanks to the H2 chip, which yields ultra-low latency audio playback. However, the more awesome amusement integration is with Apple TV, which lets you easy control to AirPods erstwhile you want to watch a movie on the large screen without disturbing others.
Comfort and Fit
AirPods 4 have been designed to accommodate more ear types, which is excellent for those who don’t like the feeling of the in-ear tips utilized with the AirPods Pro 2. utilizing techniques involving laser topography and 3D photogrammetry, Apple has mapped out thousands of ear types and generated 50 million data points to make a one-size-fits-all device. It’s a valiant effort, but Earth has about 8 billion pairs of human ears, so comfort and fit may vary.
Compared to the AirPods 3, the AirPods 4 seem to fit somewhat better in my ears and do a better occupation of staying put. After a week of testing, I think AirPods 4 is the most comfortable iteration, but it falls just short of the fit and stableness provided by the squishy silicon ear tips of AirPods Pro 2.
Control
There are respective ways to control the AirPods 4:
- Automatic ear detection
- Stem force sensor
- Siri
- Siri Interactions
Automatic ear detection pauses playback erstwhile AirPods 4 are removed from your ears. Music playback will resume automatically if you place them back in your ears within 15 seconds.
You can besides control AirPods 4 via the force sensor on its smaller, redesigned stem. A single press will pause or play music, while a double or triple press will skip forward or backward.
Long-pressing the stem’s force sensor cycles between the various sound control modes you have enabled within the AirPods’ settings. You may besides reconfigure the force sensors of either earbud separately, adjusting the available sound control modes or even configuring the stem to invoke Siri instead.
When an incoming call arrives, force-pressing either stem erstwhile answers the call. While on the call, you can configure the stem to toggle mute or end the call via a single or double-press.
Of course, you can besides control your AirPods utilizing Siri. Accessing Siri via AirPods 4 can be done simply by saying “Hey Siri” or just “Siri.” The second is made possible by including the H2 chip, which AirPods 3 didn’t have since it debuted a year later with the release of AirPods Pro 2.
Finally, Siri Interactions is simply a fresh feature launched alongside iOS 18 that lets you respond to Siri announcements utilizing simple head gestures. Users can just motion yes or shake their heads no to respond to Siri announcements, specified as answering or dismissing calls or interacting with messages or notifications.
No contact control
AirPods 4 deficiency contact control, a feature I’ve grown to love on Apple’s pro earbuds. contact control lets you swipe up or down on the AirPods Pro 2 stem to adjust volume. Since the stem on AirPods 4 only includes a force sensor, not a contact sensor, you’ll request to usage Siri to adjust playback volume straight within iOS. It sounds trivial, but swiping to adjust volume is something I do all of the time on AirPods Pro 2, and during my time investigating the AirPods 4, I missed it more than I thought I would.
Charging and Battery Life
It’s beautiful to yet have USB-C on regular AirPods, which might warrant the upgrade for some. However, if you opt for the AirPods 4 with ANC, you receive additional perks related to the charging case.
Despite its tiny size, the more costly AirPods 4 with ANC includes a wireless charging case. This case can be recharged via Qi-certified chargers, Apple Watch chargers, or wired USB-C charging.
The wireless charging case besides comes with a built-in talker that plays sounds erstwhile pairing and charging and receives low battery alerts. The talker can besides emit an audible speech to assist with tracking the case via Find My. Speaking of Find My support, the AirPods 4 wireless charging case lacks the U1 Ultra wideband chip that gives the AirPods Pro 2 case spatially-aware precision-finding capabilities.
With ANC disabled, AirPods 4 are rated for the same battery life as its predecessor: up to 5 hours for the earbuds. Even though the case is 10% smaller in volume, it features the same “up to” 30 hours of full listening time erstwhile utilizing the charging case.
Battery life takes a hit erstwhile ANC is in use; however, with individual buds rated at up to 4 hours – a ~20% simplification and up to 20 hours erstwhile utilized erstwhile utilizing the charging case, a ~40% simplification in battery life. I’ve tested the buds over the last week, and Apple’s battery rating seems conservative based on my experience. I got closer to 5 hours for the individual buds erstwhile utilizing ANC, which I eeked out a rough 35 hours erstwhile utilizing the charging case.
Of course, your mileage may vary depending on how you usage your buds. My test was not scientific, but battery life didn’t seem to be an issue for me based on how I usage my AirPods day to day.
Sound and call quality
Sound quality is highly subjective, but to my ears, AirPods 4 sound discernably better than their predecessors. This shouldn’t be surprising, as they’ve been redesigned with an updated acoustic architecture coupled with a fresh driver and amplifier.
Apple notes that high-frequencies benefit from added clarity, and I agree. Listening to Regina Spektor’s Us sounds sharp and clear through the midrange, and erstwhile she hits the advanced notes right after the violins, it’s peculiarly captivating.
Don’t anticipate the deep bass made possible by in-ear tips on AirPods Pro 2, but the sound quality improvement was besides noticeable with lower-end frequencies. You must guarantee the buds are firmly pressed in your ears to announcement the difference, but it’s there.
AirPods have been around for nearly 8 years, but it shouldn’t be lost on us how awesome these things are from an audio standpoint. Garnering sound quality this good from an acoustic footprint this tiny is inactive a remarkable feat all these years later.
Microphone quality on telephone calls is besides a focus point with AirPods 4, with Apple introducing Voice Isolation support on AirPods directly. Previously available on iPhones, iPads, and Macs, Voice Isolation uses the H2 chip and device learning models to aid remove background sound while naturally boosting voice quality. Those on the another end of your telephone conversations should announcement a marked improvement in call quality erstwhile conversing in noisy areas.
FaceTime calls get any love, too, with AirPods 4. erstwhile you’re on a group FaceTime call, the addition of dynamic head tracking makes conversations feel like you’re in the same area with your friends and family.
Noise Control
Active sound Control in an open-ear bud plan is not new, but this is my first time trying it. I was skeptical about how good it could be, but after experiencing the $179 AirPods 4 with ANC, I’m convinced.
I knew ANC would work with AirPods 4; otherwise, Apple wouldn’t have shipped it. But I didn’t think it would be this good on earbuds without an acoustic seal. The sound cancellation properties of the open-ear AirPods 4 aren’t as powerful as those of the closed-ear AirPods Pro 2, which besides uses the inward-facing microphone to perceive inside your ear for unwanted interior sounds to cancel out, but they’re outstanding.
Despite being 80 degrees outside, I turned on my ceramic space heater and placed it on a table close to my ears. While not overly loud, the space heater produces a distracting drone. Upon enabling the Noise Cancellation mode, I expected the sound to lessen, but I did not anticipate it to get as quiet as it did. I could inactive hear the space heater, but it seemed further distant and little distracting. If I had music playing, I most likely wouldn’t be able to hear it at all. I then disabled ANC, and wow, the sound from the space heater was louder than I realized. That’s the beauty of ANC; you don’t gotta blast music as loud to compensate for a noisy environment.
Noise Cancellation mode is only 1 of the Noise-Control features found in AirPods 4. There’s besides Transparency mode, which lets outside sound in while lessening the strength of loud sounds like ambulance sirens. Transparency is for those times erstwhile you request to be aware of the sounds around you, like erstwhile listening for AirPort or public transportation announcements.
Adaptive mode is like a mix of sound cancellation and transparency. It dynamically allows for external sound or cancels sound based on your environment. You can customize this feature via AirPods settings to favour little or more noise.
ScreenshotPersonalized volume is an excellent feature that dynamically adjusts media volume based on your environment. To test, I started playing a song at 33% volume in a quiet environment. I then fired up the space heater and watched the volume automatically emergence in the Control Center to accommodate the competing sound origin while striving to stay at the comparative volume. The inverse is actual as well. Media volume will lessen if the environment you’re in gets quieter. What’s cool is that the AirPods are smart adequate to know that your voice is not a origin of “noise” that would origin the volume to change.
But Conversation Awareness is specified a feature. erstwhile you begin talking, the media volume is automatically reduced until your conversation ends. Like any of the another features discussed, Conversation Awareness was added to AirPods Pro 2 via a firmware update corresponding with last year’s iOS 17 release. AirPods Pro 2 was released in 2022, and it continued to receive meaningful updates 1 and 2 years after its debut. The AirPods 4 you own present might besides improve over time via akin firmware updates.
Personalized spatial audio
AirPods 4 supports personalized spatial audio, which provides immersive 3D sound. This concept is akin to environment sound home theatre setups, but alternatively of physical fixtures, AirPods can virtually task sound so that it seems to be coming from different directions in 3D space.
Using the TrueDepth camera on your iPhone, setting up personalized spatial audio creates a customized profile utilizing your head’s geometry, providing you with personally tuned acoustics. What’s cool is that you only gotta do this once, as the profile syncs across your devices.
You’ll find many albums on Apple Music that feature Dolby Atmos mixes, which supply a unique listening experience compared to a stereo mix. perceive to Portugal. The Man’s “Feel It Still” in head-tracked Dolby Atmos, and you’ll immediately hear how immersive spatial audio can make the music experience. Apple besides introduced individual Spatial Audio for gaming in iOS 18, which AirPods 4 can use.
Durability
I remember killing a pair of first-generation AirPods erstwhile they got wet from sweat. Subsequent versions improved on durability, but the AirPods 4 are better than the erstwhile 3 generations. AirPods 4 are besides IP54-rated, meaning they defend against dust, water, and sweat. If you sweat as profusely as I do erstwhile working out, then you’ll appreciate the enhancement in this area.
I put my AirPods Pro 2 through the eventual test by accidentally washing and drying them. To my surprise, they inactive worked. That was six months ago, and my AirPods Pro 2 inactive work like new.
AirPods are besides legendary for their overall durability. I haven’t put my AirPods 4 through much punishment yet, but I’ve dropped my AirPods Pro 2 case and earbuds most likely at least a 100 times on various surfaces, including unforgiving driveway concrete. No substance how much abuse my AirPods Pro 2 are put through, they keep going. I fishy AirPods 4 will be the same.
9to5Mac’s Take
The large thing about AirPods is that not only do they just work, not only are the they best wireless earbuds for Apple devices, not only does it include innovative sound control features, but it will likely only get better over time.
Apple has upgraded the AirPods Pro 2 many times with fresh features, and we’re even getting a hearing aid feature via an update soon, although that is an AirPods Pro 2 exclusive. I’m hoping we’ll gain akin upgrades for AirPods 4 over time, and if Apple’s track evidence is to be considered, I think the chance of that is likely.
What are your thoughts on AirPods 4? Sound off in the comments!
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