The AirPods 4 & 4: Which is Your Favorite Regular Airpods? Comparison of Apple’s Best, Lowest, and Most Lowest Prices

The AirPods 4 and AirPods 4 with Active Noise Canceling look identical to each other and so similar to the older model that friends and family have asked me which is which when presented with them side by side. (The tell is how much smaller the sensor in the middle of the earbud is on the latest pairs, as you can see below.)

These are Apple’s best regular AirPods yet. The overall sound signature hasn’t changed much from the AirPods 3, but the AirPods 4 provide a thicker layer of bass than their predecessors; I’ve noticed greater instrument separation when listening to songs like “Tiny Moves” by Bleachers; there’s more finesse and clarity to the upper range / treble. I wouldn’t have issues living with the AirPods 4 since the pro maintains a leg up when it comes to fidelity. The ANC and regular models are the same.

Apple’s basic AirPods are my least favorite tech product, and I see them everywhere. They’re not good earbuds in either specs or design anymore, and even with a new H2 chip and noise canceling added to the higher end of the AirPods 4, they’re still not great.

Battery life is rated at four hours of playback time with noise cancellation or five hours with it off. Add in the charging case and you get a total of 20 and 30 hours, respectively. (The cheaper AirPods 4 obviously get the longer numbers since there’s no ANC.) I haven’t done much to verify them, but they seem to be on point so far. Sadly, Apple still hasn’t made repairability a priority with the AirPods 4, so inevitably, there will come a time when that endurance starts to wane.

ANC vs. Apple: How much Bluetooth is included in the AirPods 4 and what I’ve been learning in the last 10 years

On top of these new features, you get the usual slew of Apple ecosystem tie-ins like audio sharing, automatic switching between devices, hands-free “Hey Siri” commands, Apple TV integration, and more. The decision to leave it out is not going to change at this point, I still think that Apple should include multi point support so you could pair to two products at the same time.

Head gestures are a new capability you get with both sets of the AirPods 4. When toggled on, you can respond to Siri by nodding your head up and down to engage with notifications or answer a call; shaking your head side to side will also dismiss them. I’m not someone who likes having my earbuds pester me with notifications, but in my brief tests, my head movements were detected accurately, even when they were fairly small. Some people might like this method of dealing with Siri but I will keep using the traditional methods.

I still have to be intentional and twist these AirPods into my ears just right if I want them to stay put. Even when I go down the subway stairs to catch a train, they are snug. I can just cram them in without thinking about it. I have to concede that the headphones are more comfortable during long listening sessions.

The AirPods 4 with ANC ($179) have wireless charging in the case and a speaker for Apple’s Find My tech, meaning you can use your iPhone to find the case if it’s misplaced. You can’t tell whether the $129 AirPods 4 is better or worse, because those features are not available.

The first AirPods were the pioneer of wireless earbuds that worked, and previous models from various other brands were plagued by connection issues. (The AirPods, it’s worth noting, solved a problem Apple itself created by removing the headphone jack, but the company did solve it well enough.)

The tipless design had many flaws but one benefit—you didn’t need to remove earbuds to chat with people, because they didn’t seal out the world. There was an issue with transparency with newer wireless earbuds, they have fixed it. The ear tips, noise canceling and transparency modes are all included in the $60 Jbuds ANC and Apple’s own AirPods Pro.