Apple AirPods 4 review: Actually better than AirPods Pro 2?

So alongside the promising — but rather disappointing — iPhone 16 (review) series, Apple also unveiled this little guy a few weeks ago, the AirPods 4. I was expecting the third-gen AirPods Pro to show up as well this time but nope. This is all we got. Then again, I wasn’t expecting that Apple would come up with two versions of the AirPods 4, to be honest.

One with active noise cancellation and one without.

This was a surprise not just since Apple has been reserving ANC on its “Pro” AirPods till now, but also since noise cancellation is quite difficult to do on half in-ear earbuds like these. So as someone who has been daily driving the AirPods Pro 2 (review) for almost two years now, I was super eager to find out how good AirPods 4 is.

And after testing them side by side for all this time, the one thing I’ve realized is that just because the AirPods Pros are more expensive — and just because you can afford them — doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll be the right pick for you. And you might even be better off with the cheaper AirPods 4 instead. Let me explain.

Apple AirPods 4 review: Specifications

• Dimensions and weight:
  • Earbuds: 30.2 x 18.3 x 18.1 mm, 4.3 grams (each earbud)
  • Charging case: 46.2 x 50.1 x 21.2 mm, 34.7 grams
• Water resistance: IP54 dust/water resistance (earbuds and case)
• Connectivity: Bluetooth 5.3
• Sound driver: Custom high-excursion Apple driver, Custom high dynamic range amplifier
• Audio codecs: AAC, SBC
• Noise cancellation: Yes (optional active noise cancellation)
• Battery: Up to 4 hours (earbuds only, ANC), Up to 20 hours (with case, ANC)
• Control: Force sensor on each earbud (no volume control)
• Price in Nepal: NPR 24,999 (standard) | NPR 34,999 (with ANC)
• Check the full specifications of Apple AirPods 4 here
• Buy Apple AirPods 4 here

Apple AirPods 4 review:

So before I start talking about these two, I wanna tell you what’s different between those two versions of AirPods 4 first. ‘Cause other than ANC itself, its base model misses out on a couple of other things too. Like a built-in speaker on the charging case so that you can find it more easily and also wireless charging.

But besides this, both AirPods 4s are the same everywhere else. Including their audio quality, battery life, controls… everything.

Design and comfort

• Half in-ear design
• 4.3 grams (each earbud)
• IP54 dust/water resistant (earbuds and case)

Anyway, so the most obvious way you can tell the AirPods 4 and the AirPods Pro apart is from their design, right? The AirPods Pros are proper in-ear earbuds with silicone tips to make sure the buds fit nice and tight in your ear canals, while the AirPods 4’s half in-ear design means it gets rid of such eartips altogether.

Now, personally, I’ve never had any issue putting on in-ear earbuds.

I’ve tested dozens of such earbuds over the years — of different shapes and sizes — and their in-ear design has never bothered me. But that’s me. And there are a lot of people who don’t like how they fit. At all. Including a bunch of my colleagues who swear that wearing in-ear earbuds feels like stuffing a plunger in their ears since those silicone eartips do generate some pressure to create a good seal. I’ve even had someone tell me that they’ve developed allergies and similar skin irritation issues because of such earbuds.

And if you’re in that crowd, then the AirPods 4 is for you.

There’s no “eartip” to worry about and even then, I’m actually surprised with just how well this thing fits in my ears. I mean… seriously. Apple says it has redesigned the speaker unit a bit for a better fit and that’s clearly working the magic for my ears. The AirPods Pros do fit somewhat better to me still, although I really can’t complain much.

A super duper compact case

Instead, I absolutely love how compact and lightweight the AirPods 4’s charging case is. I always thought the AirPods Pro had the most pocketable case out of other earbuds but man this is something else! So sleek, so easy to carry around… I love it.

And it’s somehow still IP54 dust/splash resistant like the earbuds themselves, so that’s reassuring to see as well.

But like it or not, the AirPods Pro’s case does have a couple of advantages.

• number 1, it has the U1 ultra wideband chip which enables “Precision Finding”.
  • So not only can you ring its case when you accidentally misplace it, but you can even get its approximate location using an iPhone.
• and number 2, it’s also MagSafe compatible. Unlike the AirPods 4 which supports wireless charging but not magnetic wireless charging.

Controls

• Force sensor on each earbud
• No volume control

I guess these compromises are fine considering the price difference although I really don’t like how Apple left out the volume control gesture on the AirPods 4. It’s honestly one of my favorite things about the second-gen AirPods Pro but here, I have to reach my phone every time I want to adjust the volume. Or ask Siri to do it like an idiot.

The AirPods 4 also uses an inferior optical in-ear sensor instead of a skin sensor to automatically pause the music when you take one of the earbuds out. And yeah, it’s definitely not as reliable since it occasionally resumes playback even when I place the earbuds on the table or in my pant pocket for some reason. While the AirPods Pro doesn’t make that mistake.

Sound

• Custom high-excursion Apple driver, Custom high dynamic range amplifier
• AAC, SBC codecs
• Personalized Spatial Audio with dynamic head tracking

Okay. All that talk… but what about the audio quality?

Apple never really specifies the driver type or driver size in any of its audio products so if you look at the specs, it almost feels like Apple is trying to convince you that the AirPods 4 and the AirPods Pro 2 sound the same. Especially since this guy also has the same H2 audio processing chip as the AirPods Pro.

But let me give it to you straight, I’ll take the AirPods Pro’s audio over the AirPods 4 any day of the week. No doubt. I’m definitely not saying that the AirPods 4 sounds terrible or anything ‘cause it actually sounds a lot fuller than I expected it to.

There’s plenty of details to enjoy, the instrument separation is great — so is the soundstage — the midrange is a standout as always, and these earbuds also have just the right amount of sparkle in the treble region.

Whereas the AirPods 4’s got a surprising amount of bass as well.

The bass surprise

I say “surprising” because reproducing the low ends is really not an easy job on half in-ear earbuds like these. Since the lack of a proper seal like on in-ear earbuds usually means there’s a lot of room for bass frequencies to leak out.

But whether I’m listening to pop bangers like Bonnie Tyler’s “Total Eclipse of the Heart” or jamming to some rock tunes like “Whole Lotta Love” by Led Zeppelin, the AirPods 4 does a great job preserving the finer details. All… helped by some warm bass to really add that sense of power and energy to the track.

It’s not all good vibrations though

Ironically enough though, one of my biggest complaints with its sound has to do with bass. Well… sub-bass to be more specific, which is the bass you feel instead of something you hear. It’s typically defined within the 20 – 60 Hz region and I found that the AirPods 4 struggles horribly with literally every song that has sub-bass in the mix.

Be it hip-hop tracks like “redrum” by 21 Savage or even some alt-pop tunes like Lorde’s “Royals”, the bass drop comes off smeared and bloated instead of tight and punchy on this thing. While… the AirPods Pro doesn’t make that mistake.

It doesn’t suffer from sub-bass roll-off like the AirPods 4 and maintains a noticeably tighter bass response. Not just that but the AirPods Pro simply… preserves the dynamics better overall you know? The AirPods 4’s audio isn’t that far off but yeah, like I said before, the AirPods Pro is still Apple’s best-sounding pair of earbuds if you ask me.

Noise cancellation

• Active noise cancellation (ANC)
• Transparency mode, Conversation Awareness
• Powered by Apple H2 chip

Alright, I wanna talk about their active noise cancellation next and — as I mentioned right at the beginning — ANC on half in-ear earbuds is not easy to do.

‘Cause for active noise cancellation to work effectively, you need two things.

• A couple of microphones on the buds that listen to the outside noise and generate an “anti-noise” signal to cancel it out.
  • And that’s easy to implement on the AirPods 4. Great.
• But what’s equally important is that the earbuds should have solid noise isolation too.

Which is just a fancy way of saying that the buds should be able to physically block out the ambient noise as much as possible. And as we all know by now, the AirPods 4’s half in-ear design makes it not so great at that.

So when I first got my hands on these earbuds, I really wasn’t expecting much from them as far as ANC is concerned. But it seems that Apple was ready to impress me through the roof ‘cause the AirPods 4’s active noise cancellation is so… much better than I thought it would be.

Almost instantly shushing all those consistent low-frequency noises around me. Like that humming noise coming from the AC in my office or my colleagues gossiping (and occasionally arguing) in the other room. Or when I’m outside, the AirPods 4 does a convincing enough job of quieting the city traffic or the rumble from the bus engine when I’m headed home.

The best ANC on half in-ear earbuds.

I even compared it with Samsung’s Galaxy Buds 3 — which has the same semi in-ear design — and found AirPods 4’s ANC to be notably better across all types of noises. Not by a whole lot but I could clearly hear the outside a little more effortlessly on the Buds 3 versus this guy.

A…ll this sounds awesome but just like audio, the AirPods Pro is in a different league when it comes to active noise cancellation as well. The AirPods 4 actually competes fantastically against consistent, low-frequency noises I talked about before, but its silicone tips and a tighter seal mean the AirPods Pro is better equipped to deal with things like TV noises, human voices, and all sorts of sudden, high-frequency noises.

And one other important thing you need to know about the AirPods 4’s active noise cancellation is that it may not be consistent at all times either. What I mean is, since it doesn’t fit as firmly as in-ear earbuds, that illusion of a quiet outside can break the moment it dislodges from your ears even by just a little bit. Which happened to me a lot more times than I care to admit.

How about transparency mode?

At least its transparency mode is as good as you’d expect from Apple.

The AirPods have always been my benchmark for the most natural-sounding transparency mode on a pair of earbuds and this thing keeps up that tradition just fine. It does tend to amplify the ambient noise a bit compared to the AirPods Pro but I don’t mind.

There’s also the “Conversation Awareness” thing which automatically lowers the volume of whatever I’m playing whenever I start speaking. And I like how it doesn’t activate when I’m just clearing my throat or something.

Call quality

• Dual beamforming microphones
• Voice Isolation support

Moving on, I’m more than happy with the call quality on the AirPods 4 as well. The one thing in particular that stood out to me is just how well it manages to isolate my voice in windy conditions. Like… how is Apple even doing this on half in-ear earbuds?

The AirPods 4 does struggle in somewhat noisy conditions but I can always turn on “Voice Isolation” to get rid of most of those unwanted noises around me. This isn’t a new feature by the way, but the way it so aggressively processes and filters out most of the background noise is nothing short of amazing.

Battery life

• Up to 4 hours of music playback (with ANC)
• Wireless charging, USB-C wired charging

But you know what isn’t amazing? Its battery life.

I mean… I’ve seen the light on its charging case glow bright orange wayyyyyy too frequently than I’d like. ‘Cause with ANC turned on, the AirPods 4 are only supposed to last 4 hours at best, which is more or less what I was getting on average. Just 3.5 – 4 hours. The case itself is good for 20 hours of listening time with active noise cancellation so that’s something at least.

Apple AirPods 4 review: Conclusion

Okay, I better wrap up my Apple AirPods 4 review now.

And I guess you’ve already figured out that I love it.

This is pretty much a no-brainer to anyone who hates the in-ear design of the AirPods Pros but still wants some of its “pro” features. Like great sound and generous noise cancellation. There’s definitely some room for optimization here — especially with its sub-bass response — but I’m sure Apple will sort it out with a couple of firmware updates.

That being said, if you’re perfectly comfortable with how the AirPods Pros fit, then you shouldn’t be looking into the AirPods 4… at all. From controls to battery life, sound quality, and active noise cancellation, the second-gen AirPods Pro wipes the floor with AirPods 4.

I almost forgot. Remember that hearing health thing Apple mentioned during the keynote? Including the ability to use your AirPods as hearing aids? Yeah… that’s gonna be exclusive to the AirPods Pro 2 as well. And the best part is that you can actually get it at a similar price as the AirPods 4 these days since this guy is over two years old at this point.

Songs referenced in the Apple AirPods 4 review:

• Bonnie Tyler — Total Eclipse of the Heart
• Led Zeppelin — Whole Lotta Love
• 21 Savage — redrum
• Lorde — Royals

Apple AirPods 4 review: Pros and cons

• Watch our video review of Apple AirPods 4