Apple AirPods 4 | The Noise Canceling Really Is a Game-Changer



4.4 Star | 1,169+ ratings
$168.99  (was $179) at Amazon
Update on 21/12


"The Apple AirPods 4 are decent for neutral listening. Their always-on Adaptive EQ dynamically adjusts their frequency response, so you'll perceive a similar balance of bass and treble no matter how loud their output is set. If they fit your ears and you place the buds correctly, your audio sounds consistent between wears. They deliver a good amount of bass for a balance of low-end oomph and a natural-sounding mid-range. However, their treble is rather de-emphasized, so depending on your tastes, the details of vocals and cymbals can sound dull. They have a few Apple-specific features like Personalized Spatial Audio (with or without head tracking), but volume controls are lacking, and there are only three EQ presets found in a separate Accessibility settings menu." --rtings.com--

Pros

  • More bass balance than predecessors.
  • Consistent sound if they fit your ears.
  • Spatial Audio with head tracking.
Cons

  • Open-back design doesn't isolate out noise.
  • No volume controls.
  • Limited adjustments for changing the sound.




Features

REBUILT FOR COMFORT — AirPods 4 have been redesigned for exceptional all-day comfort and greater stability. With a refined contour, shorter stem, and quick-press controls for music or calls.

ACTIVE NOISE CANCELLATION — AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation help reduce outside noise before it reaches your ears, so you can immerse yourself in what you’re listening to.*

HEAR THE WORLD AROUND YOU — The powerful H2 chip comes to AirPods 4. Adaptive Audio seamlessly blends ANC and Transparency mode — which lets you comfortably hear and interact with the world around you exactly as it sounds — to provide the best listening experience in any environment.* And when you’re speaking with someone nearby, Conversation Awareness automatically lowers the volume of what’s playing.*

IMPROVED SOUND AND CALL QUALITY — Voice Isolation improves the quality of calls in loud conditions. Using advanced computational audio, it reduces background noise while isolating and clarifying the sound of your voice for whomever you’re speaking to.*

MAGICAL EXPERIENCE — Just say “Siri” or “Hey Siri” to play a song, make a call, or check your schedule.* And with Siri Interactions, now you can respond to Siri by simply nodding your head yes or shaking your head no.* Pair AirPods 4 by simply placing them near your device and tapping Connect on your screen.* Easily share a song or show between two sets of AirPods.* A skin-detecting sensor knows to play audio only when you’re wearing AirPods and pauses when you take them off.

PERSONALIZED SPATIAL AUDIO — Personalized Spatial Audio with dynamic head tracking places sound all around you, creating a theater-like listening experience for music, TV shows, movies, games, and more.*

REDESIGNED CASE — The Charging Case is the smallest in the industry with wireless charging. Charge with an Apple Watch Charger, USB-C Charge Cable, or Qi-certified charger.*

LONG BATTERY LIFE — With Active Noise Cancellation enabled, get up to 4 hours of listening time on a single charge and up to 20 hours using the case. And you can get up to 30 hours of total listening time without ANC enabled.*

DUST, SWEAT AND WATER RESISTANT — AirPods 4 and the Charging Case are rated IP54 dust, sweat, and water resistant, so they’ll withstand rain and heavy workouts.*



Technical Details

Size and Weight
AirPods 4 (each)
- Height: 1.19 inches (30.2 mm)
- Width: 0.72 inch (18.3 mm)
- Depth: 0.71 inch (18.1 mm)
- Weight: 0.15 ounce (4.3 grams)
Charging Case (USB-C)
- Height: 1.82 inches (46.2 mm)
- Width: 1.97 inches (50.1 mm)
- Depth: 0.83 inch (21.2 mm)
- Weight: 1.14 ounces (32.3 grams)


Charging Case

Works with USB-C connector, Apple Watch charger, or Qi‑certified chargers
Includes a speaker for use with Find My proximity view


Battery

AirPods 4
- Up to 4 hours of listening time on a single charge with Active Noise Cancellation enabled
- Up to 5 hours of listening time on a single charge with noise control off
- Up to 4.5 hours of talk time on a single charge


AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation and Charging Case (USB‑C)
- Up to 20 hours of listening time with Active Noise Cancellation enabled
- Up to 30 hours of listening time with noise control off
- Up to 20 hours of talk time
- 5 minutes in the case provides around 1 hour of listening time or around 45 minutes of talk time

Audio Technology

Custom high-excursion Apple driver
Custom high dynamic range amplifier
Active Noise Cancellation
Adaptive Audio
Transparency mode
Conversation Awareness
Voice Isolation
Personalized Spatial Audio with dynamic head tracking
Adaptive EQ
Vent system for pressure equalization

Controls

Press once to play or pause media
Press once to answer a call or mute or unmute
Press twice to end a call
Press twice to skip forward
Press three times to skip back
Press and hold for Siri
Say “Hey Siri” or just “Siri” to do things like play a song, make a call, or get directions
With Siri Interactions, nod your head yes or gently shake your head no when Siri asks if you want to answer an incoming call, hear a text message, manage notifications, and more

Sensors

Dual beamforming microphones
Inward-facing microphone
Optical in-ear sensor
Motion-detecting accelerometer
Speech-detecting accelerometer
Force sensor

Chip

H2 headphone chip

Dust Sweat and Water Resistant

Dust, sweat, and water resistant (IP54)

Connectivity

Bluetooth 5.3 wireless technology

In the Box

AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation
Charging Case (USB-C) with speaker
Documentation
USB-C Charge Cable sold separately

Price and availability





Apple AirPods 4 Wireless Earbuds, Bluetooth Headphones, with Active Noise Cancellation, Adaptive Audio, Transparency Mode, Personalized Spatial Audio, USB-C Charging Case, Wireless Charging, H2 Chip

4.4 Star | 1,169+ ratings
$168.99  (was $179) at Amazon
Update on 21/12


Apple AirPods 4 Wireless Earbuds Videos




Top reviews from the United States

@Shi
5 star | Easy to carry and use, good noise cancellation
Reviewed in the United States on November 22, 2024

It is easy to carry and use the Airpods 4, they are very small. It’s also very comfortable to wear them, I can listen to them for 2 hours without any effort. The noise cancelling is sufficient for daily use. I have used it in car, gym and McDonalds and it can lower most noise in mid frequency, especially people talking.

The sound quality is just listenable, I have listened to many professional headphones and Airpods 4 clearly can’t compete with them. Airpods 4 has good mid-frequency response, the vocal in songs are clear, but the bass is distorted and comes from heavy EQ done by the algorithms. The resolution is ambiguous, background musical instruments are hard to distinguish. The soundstage is good though, I can feel the sound coming from the room instead of from my head. Thanks to adaptive EQ, every song is processed by algorithms before I listen, sometimes it’s a good thing and sometimes it’s bad.

In general, I’m satisfied with Airpods 4. I take it everywhere I go for it’s small size and comfortable wearing. As for sound quality, it’s still the best Airpods I have listened. If you want more, buy a professional headphone.

@Dylan Manzanares
5 star | Exactly as expected! (A subjective review, duh)
Reviewed in the United States on October 21, 2024

I never take the time to write reviews because why spend so much time on something that will ultimately have no effect on my life? Well in this case, these Airpods have met and exceeded every single one of my expectations and I figured that was worth writing about.

Important disclaimers:
- OF COURSE this is a subjective opinion, because that is all a review is. Take it with a grain of salt.
- Different products work better or worse for different people, it's just that simple.
- When talking about noise cancelling headphones, it's important to consider them for what they are, not what we think they SHOULD be.

THE FIT:
OKAY. I am someone who has very small ear cannals. I have spent years trying to find earbuds that fit my ears comfortably. Silicone in-ear tips have always been extremely uncomfortable for me. That being said, I did own the first gen Airpods Pro for a couple of years before buying these Airpods 4. I wanted earbuds that I could exercise with, use for commuting, and use for blocking out sound when I'm at school or on an airplane. The airpods pro fit the bill, but I could only wear them for short periods of time before they would start to seriously hurt. On top of that, they would always slowly come out of my ears. It didn't matter what size of eartips I used. My ears are just NOT made for in-ear silicone tips. BUT THESE AIRPODS 4!!! Holy smokes they are so comfortable. They never fall out. I can wear them for hours at a time and not even notice them. I haven't worn a pair of Airpods this comfortable since the gen 2 Airpods. The 3's didn't work for me either, but somehow apple really cooked up the ideal fit for these Airpods 4.

THE NOISE CANCELLATION:
Okay. Obviously, these are NOT going to have the same level of noise reduction as in-ear earbuds because there is no seal created by any silicone tips. If Airpods Pros and silicone tips have always worked for you, just buy those. However, considering that the noise cancellation in these Airpods is ALL driven by software, I have been extremely impressed with the results. It reduces the white noise of annoying sounds like public trains, airplanes, etc. very effectively. While voices and other louder sounds aren't cancelled completely, when music is playing through the earbuds these noises are quite enough to hardly notice. For me, that's enough. I don't need complete silence, I have my over-ear noise cancelling headphones for that.

THE SOUND QUALITY:
When I say that I was blown away the first time I listened to music on these Airpods, I was NOT kidding. The amount of bass that they managed to pack in to such small, open-eared earbuds is frankly impressive. The sound profile allows for an incredible listening experience no matter what genre of music you listen to (I listen to a wide range of pop, folk, indie, and rap primarily).

THE OVERALL VERDICT:
These Airpods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation are exactly as I expected them to be. They fit extremely well, the ANC is very acceptable for what they are, and they sound amazing. That's not to mention the TINY case that they come in, making them so easy to slip anywhere. I have been looking for a solid pair of earbuds with ANC that work with my ears for the longest time now. I'm happy to say that these are everything I've ever wanted. If you have had issues with silicone ear-tip earbuds fitting you properly, then these are definitely worth a shot!

@Srikanth
5 star | Great Noise cancellation
Reviewed in the United States on December 10, 2024

I’ve been using the Apple AirPods 4, and they’re amazing! The sound is super clear with deep bass, and they make music and calls sound great. The noise cancellation is fantastic for blocking out distractions, but I love that I can switch to Transparency Mode when I need to hear what’s happening around me. They fit really well and are comfortable to wear for long periods, thanks to the lightweight design and adjustable ear tips. The battery life is great too—about 8 hours per charge, with the case adding over 30 hours. Quick charging has been super handy when I’m in a rush. They connect seamlessly with my other Apple devices, and features like spatial audio and hands-free Siri make them so easy to use. Plus, knowing they’re made with eco-friendly materials is a nice bonus. Overall, they’re the best earbuds I’ve ever used!

You might like





Apple AirPods Pro 2 Wireless Earbuds, Active Noise Cancellation, Hearing Aid Feature, Bluetooth Headphones, Transparency, Personalized Spatial Audio, High-Fidelity Sound, H2 Chip, USB-C Charging

4.6 Star | 13,787+ ratings
$189.99  (was $249) at Amazon
Update on 21/12