Apple AirPods 5 review: To Pro, or not to Pro

Apple’s September launch event was quite insane if you think about it. We got the very first foldable iPhone, the very first iPhone with a variable aperture lens, an interesting refresh to a few Apple Watches, and also… this guy. The AirPods 5.

Apple literally took like 5 minutes to talk about it from its 1 hour 17 minutes keynote—but after spending some quality time with it for the past month—I really believe this was the most underrated thing Apple announced that night. ‘Cause while every other gadget seems to be getting more and more expensive these days, the AirPods 5 is actually going the opposite way.

That’s right.

So, unlike the two-year-old AirPods 4 (review), where you had to pay extra for noise cancellation, this thing brings ANC on the base model itself. That too at a lower price! Apple is still charging extra for the one with a wireless charging case and a few other upgrades, but this is just… so refreshing to see.

And guess what? I’ve also been testing it alongside the AirPods Pro 3, and let me tell you one thing right away: I think the AirPods 5 is going to be a better pick for some people. Not just due to its cheaper price tag, by the way.

Apple AirPods 5 review: Specifications

• Design: Semi-in-ear fit, No ear tips
• Color options: White
• Dimensions and weight:
  • Earbuds: 18.1 x 18.3 x 30.2 mm, 4.3 grams (each earbud)
  • Charging case: 46.2 x 50.1 x 21.2 mm, 32.3 – 34.7 grams
• Water resistance: IP57 dust/water resistance (earbuds and charging case)
• Connectivity: Bluetooth 5.3 (Auto Switch support)
• Sound driver: Custom high-excursion Apple driver, Custom high dynamic range amplifier
• Audio codecs: AAC, SBC
• Noise cancellation: Yes (with Transparency Mode support)
• Battery:
  • AirPods 5: Up to 4 hours (earbuds only, ANC), Up to 20 hours (with case, ANC)
  • With Wireless Charging Case: Up to 5 hours (earbuds only, ANC), Up to 22 hours (with case, ANC)
• Control: Force and touch (swipe) gesture; Volume swipe only available with Wireless Charging Case

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Apple AirPods 5 Price:

Apple AirPods 5 review:

Before I go into all that, I got a little beef with you, Apple.

Because what do you mean the AirPods 5 has an “open-ear design”? It doesn’t. Nope, it doesn’t. I know the AirPods 5 don’t squeeze your ear canal like its “Pro” sibling that comes with silicone ear tips for a tighter fit, but it’s not “open-ear” at all, Apple. 

Look, this is what you call open-ear headphones since they sit outside your ear and don’t block the ear canal.

Compare that to the AirPods 5, and you can see what I’m saying, right? The AirPods 5 have, what’s more commonly known as a “semi-in-ear” design instead.

Design and comfort

• Semi-in-ear design
• 4.3 grams (each earbud)
• IP57 dust/water resistant (earbuds and case)

Alright.

So, the biggest reason you might wanna consider the AirPods 5 rather than the AirPods Pro 3 is actually that design itself. I’ve rarely had any issue with how silicone ear tips feel in my ears—and I’ve tested well over a hundred pairs of earbuds over the years. But I also know a lot of people who consider them to be a dealbreaker altogether.

• The constant pressure from the tight seal inside your ears can feel uncomfortable.
• Some people can straight-up be allergic to silicone ear tips.
• Whereas for others, it can simply be a matter of personal hygiene as well.

Since sealing the ear canal tends to trap moisture, sweat, and earwax… which can ultimately lead to itchy ears or even ear infections. And if any of that sounds like you, congrats. You’re gonna love the AirPods 5 with its “no ear tips, no fuss” design.

It's way more durable against water damage now!

I also love how Apple made it more durable this time with proper IP57 dust and water resistance like the AirPods Pro 3. That too for both the buds and the charging case. So, not only can you put them on for casually listening to music and all, but the AirPods 5 are more than tough enough to survive your gym sessions as well.

It’s so, so incredibly lightweight, and I find this charging case to be ridiculously compact and pocketable too. They also have the same “force sensor” for controls, although you won’t be able to swipe to adjust volume if you get the base model without the wireless charging case.

But wait a minute.

If you’re cool with in-ear earbuds like the AirPods Pro 3, I don’t think you should be tempted to switch to this guy.

You see, these kinds of earbuds are notoriously hard to design to fit all ear types and sizes. Including my own. My left ear itself has trouble fitting the AirPods 5, and I feel it poking my ear after putting it on for a while. This is totally not a problem with the AirPods Pro since I can simply test out different-sized ear tips for a more secure fit, which is why I want you to really understand how important “comfort” is before you decide between these two.

Sound quality

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

Okay. I wanna talk about the sound next—and my God—does this sound incredible!

Apple says it has redesigned the internal acoustic architecture on the AirPods 5, and this is easily the best-sounding pair of earbuds I’ve listened to. That don’t seal my ears completely. There’s no high-res codec, no multiple speaker drivers, or any of the usual set of tricks you might be expecting, but what I think Apple has done is apply all its software know-how to pull off things that honestly feel like breaking the laws of physics itself sometimes.

First things first, the AirPods 5 isn’t actually “supposed” to deliver deep, punchy bass.

I want to get slightly technical for a moment, so please bear with me. So, this one has a semi-in-ear design, right? And because that doesn’t create a sort of… sealed chamber against your eardrums, the low frequencies—aka the bass—get to escape your ears quite easily.

But guess what? The AirPods 5 have a surprisingly good bass presence than you might think, along with a spacious presentation that gives instruments and vocals plenty of room to breathe. I feel like Apple’s upgraded ”Adaptive EQ” algorithm that tunes the sound in real time according to the shape of my ears is pulling off something magical as well.

How is Apple even doing this?!

And more often than not, I actually preferred the AirPods 5’s sound more. Yep. Especially considering how well it manages to resolve details in the upper mids and treble region.

Take “The Great Gig in the Sky”, for example. This is one of my favorite Pink Floyd songs, and around the 1-minute mark where the song reaches its climax, everything from the cymbal hits to all the little percussive notes in the background and Clare Torry’s shouty vocals sound so… lush and airy here. I was half expecting it to get too sharp, fatiguing, or harsh at some point, but even when I kept the volume to like 80%, that was never the case.

Then again, I’m still recommending the AirPods Pro 3 if you’re all about that bass. It’s got a warmer-leaning sound, and bass hits definitely have more weight to them here. Which was so easy to tell apart, no matter what hip-hop, EDM, or techno song I listened to. Once again, it’s not that the AirPods 5 lack bass, but rather that they fall short when it comes to the physical impact and punch you’d typically expect.

I’ve been listening to Cornershop’s “Topknot” a lot lately, and this turned out to be the perfect litmus test to figure out the audio quality of these two earbuds. It’s a Punjabi folk-fusion song with modern, beat-driven production, where I really enjoyed the clarity and natural timbre of the vocals on the AirPods 5. The AirPods Pro, on the other hand, managed to sell the energetic thumps of the “ढोलक” much nicer for my ears. 

Overall, I’d say the AirPods 5 has a more open, slightly distant presentation compared to the AirPods Pro 3, which goes for a fuller, warmer, and more impactful sound. Things like soundstage also feel a bit more… spacious to me on the AirPods 5 due to its unsealed design.

I almost forgot—I can finally customize the sound of AirPods now!

• Apple has built an extremely basic three-band equalizer with sliders for “low”, “mid”, and “high” frequencies inside of iOS 27.
• And I also would’ve liked to be able to save multiple equalizers at once—but hey—at least it’s a start, right?

Noise cancellation

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

Let me get into its noise cancellation next—and I have some good news and some bad news.

You wanna hear the good news first? Good.

In that case, you’ll be happy to know that the AirPods 5 has the best ANC of any semi-in-ear earbuds I have ever used! Period. I was already pinching myself at how good the noise cancellation was on the AirPods 4, and what’s crazy is that Apple says the AirPods 5 has 50% more effective ANC now. Even though it’s using the same H2 chip as before.

So I took it everywhere with me: from my bus ride to the office to Kathmandu’s busiest streets when I was out grocery shopping, and my office, which can get just as chaotic from time to time. And wow—Apple really wasn’t kidding when it claimed the “best-in-class active noise cancellation” title for itself.

The AirPods 5 almost completely silence the usual low-frequency humming and droning noises around me, but of course, it is no match for the AirPods Pro 3’s noise cancellation.

The AirPods Pro 3 is still the best noise-cancelling earbuds out there.

Its passive seal with the ear tips alone makes it so much more effective against challenging noises as well. Including human voices, the ambient noise in the office or in a café, and such. The AirPods Pro 3 is my favorite pair of noise-cancelling earbuds of all time, and I’d say the AirPods 5 is like… 70% as good.

The biggest difference actually comes down to how I perceive the ANC between these two.

And this is where that “bad news” I was talking about before comes into play.

Remember how I said the AirPods 5 didn’t fit my left ear properly? Well, thanks to that, these earbuds tend to shift out of place in my ear whenever I was walking, running, or travelling on a bumpy road. Or even yawning, chewing my food… basically anything that would alter the shape of my ear canal. My curiosity got the best of me, and I looked to see if there's a specific terminology for this—and turns out—it's called “mandibular movement”. The more you know.

All this meant the noise cancellation on the AirPods 5 was wildly inconsistent for me at times; it kinda felt like someone was constantly pressing the on/off button for ANC. It would be quite one moment, chaotic the next, and then the whole thing would start over.

At least the transparency mode on the AirPods 5 is just as good as the AirPods Pro 3. Maybe even a tad more natural because of its design. And the way Apple’s “Conversation Awareness” mode automatically lowers the media volume when I start speaking works so. freakin’. seamlessly is honestly my favorite thing about these earbuds.

Call quality

• Dual beamforming microphones
• Voice Isolation support

I’m also super happy with the call quality on both of them.

I was kinda worried I’d get complaints from callers about the ambient noise on the AirPods 5 whenever I was someplace noisy, but that never happened. They’re both so, so good at letting my voice come through nice and clear while filtering out most unwanted noise… it’s amazing.

Battery life

• Up to 4/5 hours of music playback (with ANC)
• Wireless charging, USB-C wired charging

The only thing where I’m kinda disappointed with the AirPods 5 is battery life.

Let’s look at the numbers first.

So, Apple says I can only expect up to 4 hours of listening time with noise cancelling enabled on the base model—or an hour more on the one with the wireless charging case. And to Apple’s credit, I actually got a little over 5 hours of playback with ANC enabled and volume set to roughly 80%. But still, since the AirPods Pro 3 literally lasts me like 8.5 hours on average, this was never really a contest, was it?

The more expensive AirPods Pro is also a bit more flexible when I need to fill it up. From wired USB-C charging to wireless charging and even MagSafe wireless charging, it’s got them all. While the AirPods 5 miss out on MagSafe altogether, and you don’t get wireless charging on the more affordable variant either.

Apple AirPods 5 review: Conclusion

Okay. I think that should do it for my review.

Yes, the AirPods 5 has its flaws, but this is one of those rare products that I find so easy to recommend, you know? And like I said in the very beginning, it might actually beat the AirPods Pro 3 for some people—and it’s about more than just saving money.

So,

• if the AirPods Pro 3’s ear tips are a total dealbreaker to you,
• and if you prefer a cleaner, more balanced sound,

it simply doesn’t get better than this guy. Trust me. The AirPods 5 is hands-down the best semi-in-ear earbuds I have used, and I’m especially happy to see what an amazing value it is! Yes, I know battery life is a bit of a concern, but unless you’re someone who travels a lot, stays on phone calls a lot, or listens to music for hours at a time, that shouldn’t be much of an issue.

On the other hand, the AirPods Pro 3 is still the best earbuds that Apple makes.

And if you don’t have any problem with how ear tips feel, you shouldn’t really be checking out the regular AirPods 5. The Pros are expensive for sure, but all that money also gets you much more effective noise cancellation, a more energetic sound with tighter bass, significantly longer battery life, and also a few interesting features. Including being able to use it as a medical-grade hearing aid and track heart rate during workouts.

Songs referenced in the Apple AirPods 5 review:

• Pink Floyd — The Great Gig in the Sky
• Cornershop — Topknot

Apple AirPods 5 review: Pros and cons

• Our video review of Apple AirPods 5 is coming soon