The Apple AirPods 4 with ANC brings active noise cancelation to Apple’s standard earbud lineup for $179 USD. The H2 chip powers new features like Adaptive Audio, head-gesture controls, and conversation awareness while the redesigned housing delivers better comfort for long listening sessions. How well do all these features work, and how compatible are the AirPods 4 with non-Apple devices? Let’s find out.
Key Specifications
Type: True Wireless earbuds
Driver Type: Custom high-excursion Apple driver, Custom high dynamic range amplifier
Chipset: Apple H2
Weight: 43.3g (earbuds and charging case), 4.3g (single earbud), 34.7g (charging case)
Frequency Response: Not stated
Connection: Bluetooth 5.3
Codec Support: SBC, AAC
Battery: Size not stated. 4h playback with ANC enabled, 5h with ANC disabled. Charging case provides 20h playback with ANC enabled, 30h with ANC disabled
Charging Method: USB-C, Qi wireless
Microphone: Yes, dual beamforming microphones
Weather Resistance: IP54 (dust, sweat, and water resistant)
In the Box
- Apple AirPods 4 with ANC
- Charging case
- Manual
Design & Comfort
The earbuds themselves show a thoughtful but subtle evolution in design. The stems measure roughly 2 centimeters, striking a balance between functionality and aesthetics. The IP54 rating means the AirPods 4 handles dust, sweat, and light rain without issues. The matte-finish stems house force sensors for playback control, which work well enough and provide solid haptic feedback when pressed.
Comfort is absolutely excellent. For context, previous AirPods and EarPods would never fit well in my ear, always falling out easily or never having good contact with my ear canal, leading to a poor audio experience. The AirPods 4 stay solidly in my ear, when both running and walking, and maintain excellent contact with my ear. Apple’s claim that they altered the design compared to previous generations to be more compatible with more ear types holds true in my opinion. As a result of this ergonomic design, when you have the AirPods 4 in your ears it almost feels like they are not even there, they feel that light and comfortable.
The charging case feels incredibly refined, measuring a pocket-friendly 50mm in width. I love how the LED indicator stays hidden until needed, maintaining the clean aesthetic. Apple cleverly integrated speakers for Find My tracking, while being compatible with both Qi wireless charging and Apple Watch chargers. There’s also a USB-C connector for wired charging, which is my preferred method of charging since I always have a USB-C cable and charger around.
Features
iOS Features
The AirPods 4’s integration with Apple devices feels almost magical, instantly pairing across all devices linked to your Apple ID. During my testing, switching between an iPad Pro, Mac Mini, and Apple TV happened seamlessly, though occasionally taking an extra second longer than expected.
The Conversation Awareness feature quickly became my favorite addition. It intelligently lowers the volume and enables transparency mode when you start speaking, even if audio is currently playing. It’s smart enough to detect when another person’s voice starts talking after yours stops and then waits to see if you start talking again. It sounds cumbersome, but in practice ,it works very fluidly. On non-apple devices, this feature only works when no audio is currently playing.
The H2 chip’s Voice Isolation also impresses during calls in noisy environments. Everyone I talked to with it said I sounded clear and there were no issues with dropouts or static. Sadly, this feature also only works when being used with an Apple device.
Active Noise Cancellation
What does work when used with any device is the active noise cancellation. The AirPods 4 has four different ANC settings: Off, Transparency, Adaptive, and Noise Cancellation. They all work exactly as their names suggest, and can be toggled through either by using your Apple device’s settings, or by long pressing the right stem (can also be configured to trigger Siri instead).
Given that the AirPods 4 do not seal against your ear and are essentially open-back earbuds, you would think that ANC would be a useless and wasted feature here. Instead, I was pleasantly surprised at how much noise the ANC blocks and filters out. Even at home in my home office, where I can usually hear wind, traffic noise, construction noise, all that gets blocked by the ANC. Keyboard clicks not so much, though the sharpness of the key presses gets toned down (especially if you use a mechanical keyboard). It filters out enough outside noise so that when you are listening to music or a podcast, you feel immersed, just when using something like the AirPods Pro 2 or Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 4.
Overall, the ANC works really well but isn’t a substitute for ANC earbuds that seal against your ear. In most cases for me, it was more than enough though.
Controls & Customization
The force sensors provide familiar controls that any previous AirPods owner would be familiar with:
Head gestures add a fun twist, and nodding or shaking responds to Siri’s questions about calls and messages. To me, it still feels like a gimmick, but I could see how some would have use cases for such a feature to be worthwhile.
As well, the AirPods 4 also has personalized spatial audio with dynamic head tracking. The personalized spatial audio can only be configured from an iOS device, but the spatial audio and dynamic head tracking work on any supported device (for Android, support for this started with Android 13, so it will depend on your device).
Battery Life
The battery life exceeded Apple’s claims in my testing. I consistently got 5 hours of playback with ANC enabled, while the case provided five additional charges for about 25 hours total (all with ANC enabled).
The Optimized Charging feature helps preserve battery health by holding at 80% until needed. This is particularly useful for overnight charging, and it worked well enough that I didn’t ever encounter a situation where the AirPods were not charged to 100% afterward.
Sound Quality
Sources used for this review:
- 2020 iPad Pro
- Samsung Galaxy Fold 5
- Apple TV 4K (1st gen)
- Sony NW-ZX707
- Microsoft Surface Laptop 7
Music playlist used for the majority of testing: https://music.apple.com/ca/playlist/hifi-oasis-audio-testing/pl.u-lKWlcjy04xp
The AirPods 4 brings Apple’s new acoustic architecture, pairing a custom high dynamic range amplifier with a low-distortion driver, paired with Apple’s H2 chip for DSP. The result is a very balanced and clear sound. In fact, I’d say they sound as good as any number of highly regarded IEMs that I’ve reviewed and listened to lately, especially when ANC is enabled to block out the majority of outside noise. The frequency response follows a slight V-shape, which is typical for Apple, and most TWS earbuds.
The bass performance is actually great, especially considering these earbuds do not seal against your ear. There’s definitely a sub-bass roll-off here. Mid-bass is where you will notice the majority of sound here, and it’s very clean and has plenty of quantity. You won’t get the deeper rumble for those tracks that emphasize sub-bass, but that’s to be expected. Still, the bass overall is well-defined and even enjoyable. Not what I expected, so I’m pleasantly surprised here.
The midrange, while being slightly recessed, sounds pretty good overall. I like how the vocals and guitar are placed. They aren’t emphasized but they’re clear and detailed. Instruments lean towards a natural sound, which helps balance out the V-shaped sound profile nicely.
The treble, well, it also sounds really good. Cymbal hits are clear and natural sounding, but not sharp or sibilant. The upper treble is well-extended and quite clear and detailed. I think Apple’s DSP is really being maximized here.
Soundstage, Imaging, and Spatial Audio
The soundstage is above average for an earbud/IEM, undoubtedly helped by the open-back nature of the AirPods 4. It’s not the most accurate, but it’s spacious and immersive. Imaging performance is good as well. I’m not really a fan of Spatial Audio for music, but my go-to test tracks from Pink Floyd and Daft Punk sound as intended here. Movies with Atmos though, sound and perform great.
Call Quality
The AAC-ELD codec delivers notably clear calls, which is helped by the H2 chip. The microphone system leverages processing on Apple devices to filter background noise, though I noticed Voice Isolation struggled occasionally in very windy conditions. Still, call quality remained consistently better than previous AirPods generations, especially in noisy environments.
Final Thoughts
The Apple AirPods 4 with ANC spent six weeks in my daily rotation, replacing my trusty AirPods Pro 1st gen and Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 4 for everything from commutes to workout sessions to just sitting at home working. The $179 USD price tag feels right, especially considering the ANC performance and H2 chip capabilities that punch above their weight class.
Sound quality surprised me across most genres, though bass heads might want to look elsewhere. The ergonomic design changes are appreciated, I often forgot I was wearing them. That 5-hour battery life proved more than enough for my daily use, and the case is small and pocketable.
Of all the features, Conversation Awareness has been my favorite and most used, making it so I almost never have to take out the earbuds or manually pause audio.
The AirPods 4 with ANC delivers great value if you’re in the Apple ecosystem, and alright value otherwise. They have a very accessible and enjoyable sound, solid ANC performance, and great battery life. Just don’t expect them to replace your audiophile IEMs.
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HiFi Oasis Verdict
HiFi Oasis Verdict-
Design & Comfort8/10 Very good
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Sound8/10 Very good
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Features8/10 Very good
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Value7/10 Good
Pros
- Excellent ergonomics and comfort
- Overall balanced and pleasing sound profile
- ANC performance is decent despite open-back design
- Pocketable charging case
- Great battery life
- Conversation Awareness works really well
Cons
- Some features are locked to the Apple ecosystem
- Volume must be controlled from connected device
- Not great value for non Apple ecosystem users