hey folks. I've been testing out the AirPods 4 for the last few days, and I'm ready to tell you what I think about both the entry-level model and the step-up noise-canceling version. So, let's go review these [Music] guys. Now, most of you probably know this already, but the AirPods 4 are the fourth generation of Apple's original true wireless earbuds that have an open design, which means no silicone ear tips and no noise-isolating design like the AirPods Pro 2. There are still a lot of people out there that don't like having ear tips jammed in their ears and find open earbuds more comfortable, and the AirPods 4 are made for the anti-e-tips crowd. Starting at $129 for the entry-level model and $179 for the A&C model, the AirPods 4 replaced both the AirPods 2 and AirPods 3 in Apple's AirPods lineup. And in terms of their design

there's sort of a cross between the AirPods 2 and the AirPods 3. By that, I mean they're slightly smaller than the AirPods 3 but also slightly larger than the AirPods 2. Apple's hoping the new design is a better fit for a wider range of ears, and yeah, they did fit my ears slightly better than the AirPods 3, though I sometimes had to adjust the angle of the buds to feel like they were really secure in my ears. Everybody's ears are different, of course, and sometimes your left ear is a little different from your right. So, I'm going to get some reactions from a few of my colleagues a little later in this video, but before I do that, I'm going to go through the similarities and differences between the two models, as well as what upgrades you're getting from the AirPods 3. To be clear, both new AirPods 4 have the same design, same sound quality, and same voice calling performance, and they

both have Apple's H2 chip with Bluetooth 5.3. That's the same chip found in the AirPods Pro 2. Apple has upgraded both buds with a new acoustic architecture and slightly changed the angle of how the drivers are pointed into your ears, which is supposed to improve sound quality. And yeah, thanks to the combination of those new drivers and the upgraded digital processing power of the H2 chip for Apple's adaptive EQ feature for optimizing sound quality, the AirPods 4 sound better than the AirPods 3. And needless to say, because these are open earbuds, the sound does have an open quality to it. Overall, the sound is a little cleaner, and you get a little more bass, so there's a little bit more depth and richness to the sound, and just a little bit overall fuller sound. The sound isn't quite as good as the AirPods Pro 2s, but it's not that far off, and these are easily among the best-sounding open earbuds out there. You're still not

going to get as much bass as you do with the AirPods Pro 2, but the gap has narrowed, and I didn't feel as if I was making that big a sacrifice in terms of sound quality with these compared to the AirPods Pro 2. Of course, if you're in a noisy environment, these buds still do let sound in your ear, which impacts sound quality, but things get interesting with the addition of noise cancelling. So, let's get into that key difference between the two models and what you get with the entry-level AirPods 4 versus the AirPods 4 A and C. First, I should note that you're paying $50 more for not only noise cancelling but a few other small extras. For instance, while the charging cases are the same size and look nearly identical, the step-up A&C model's case has a speaker integrated into it, like the case for the AirPods Pro 2. That speaker emits a chirp when you use the Find My feature with proximity finding, making it easier to

locate the case if it gets hidden behind something or stuck in your couch cushions. Also, the entry-level model's case doesn't have wireless charging, while the model's case does. Note that neither model has the more advanced Precision finding of the AirPods Pro 2, which have a U1 chip in their case. The AirPods 4's charging case is a little bit smaller than the AirPods 3's charging case. There's one other difference: there's no longer a physical button on the AirPods 4's charging case for activating Bluetooth and pairing the buds with non-Apple devices. Instead, you double-tap on the case to initiate pairing and double-tap three times to initiate reset. Both the buds themselves and the case have an IP54 rating, which means they're splash-proof, dust-proof, and sweat-resistant. All right, I'm in the streets of New York City here testing the noise-canceling. I have the transparency mode on. I'm going to now click on the noise-canceling by

pinching the earbud just kicked in, and you really do notice the difference. It's not as good as the AirPods Pro 2's noise cancelling, but it cuts out maybe 50% to 40% of what the AirPods Pro do. I can still hear the cars going by, still hear beeps, horns, the subway down below. Here the reality is that it's not that great compared to what you get with the AirPods Pro 2 and top noise cancelling earbuds like the Bose Quiet Comfort Ultra earbuds or the Sony WF-1000X Mark 5 earbuds. But that it works at all and is reasonably effective is kind of wild because noise cancelling and open earbuds usually aren't a good mix. For instance, Samsung says its Galaxy Buds 3 have noise cancelling, but I just couldn't really hear a difference when I turned the noise cancelling on. But with these, you really hear the difference. You feel a kick on, and there is a certain degree of muffling of ambient sound that

lets you hear your music better in noisy environments. The AirPods 4's noise cancelling is more adept at tamping down low frequencies and was able to cut down the engine noise level by about 40% when I wore them on a plane. They were also somewhat effective when I wore them in the streets of New York City and on the subway. I'd say the noise cancelling is a little less than half as good as what you get with the AirPods Pro 2, which also provides some passive noise isolation with their ear tips. But again, that the noise cancelling worked as well as it did seems like a pretty big technological feat. Not even Bose tried it with its Ultra open earbuds. But let's see what some of my colleagues thought about both the fit of the buds and the noise cancelling. All right, so I've got both the AirPods 3 and the new AirPods 4 here, and we're just going to do a little fit test because the AirPods 4 are a

little bit smaller than AirPods 3. Let's try on this old tech. Okay, they're in. They're definitely not secure, but they're in. It's like the first time you run with earbuds, and you think you're getting comfortable with them, and you think, Oh, they're going to fall out, but you just got to trust the process that they don't. These won't. They're a little loose, yeah. They're like too big that they'll fall out if they're not falling out. It's just that fear because you feel it's kind of large. Are you sure they're in? But okay, they do feel kind of loose for me. The other one I could take out real easily, but this one was a little more of a struggle. Is it noise-cancelling? I can feel something just changed a little bit. This feels better. Are they bigger, smaller? They're smaller, but oh yes, obviously a lot more fitting to my tiny ears. See, see, I'm still a

little paranoid, but maybe that's just. Maybe I got to get over my fears and give it a try, but uh, is not falling. We got some kind of airplane noise going in the background. Oh yeah, that did a lot. Like it is very muted. Oh, that's like a stark difference. Before it was a and now it's like a. Yeah, totally muffled it. I mean, I still know that there is sound in the room and then hearing yourself talk feels weird because you're also canceled a little bit. If I take them off, clear as day. But if I take them off, it's like, yeah, wow. But how does it do with uh, noise cancellation of uh, kids playing really loudly in the living room while you're trying to work? Is that a thing? Something a little stronger for that. Okay, I just have a few more things to talk about. I do want to clarify what features the entry-level model has and doesn't have because Apple's introduced some new features with iOS 18 and there's a bit of confusion about which model has what. Both models have

personalized spatial audio, quick pairing, and auto-switching for Apple devices, as well as always-on Siri, so you just have to say the Wake word to issue voice commands. Both models have the same four sensors in the stems with pin controls to control playback. Last but not least, the H2 chip allows for Siri interactions, which are gesture controls that allow you to nod or shake your head to dismiss or answer calls or engage with or dismiss notifications and messages. The two features you get with the noise-canceling AirPods 4 are conversation awareness and adaptive audio. Because those features require noise cancellation and transparency modes to work, the AirPods 4C have the AirPod Pro 2's extra microphones to enable those modes. When conversation awareness is activated, as soon as you speak, your music pauses, and transparency mode kicks in so you can have a conversation. Sony pioneered the feature with its speak-to-chat option, and now Apple has it with the AirPods Pro 2 and the AirPods 4C. Apple is also touting a new voice

isolation feature that's part of iOS 18 and helps with call quality. Both buds have the feature, and so do the AirPods Pro. It basically helps callers hear your voice better while reducing background noise. I did some test calls, and callers said they could hear my voice well with almost no background noise, which was impressive. The AirPods have always delivered one of the best voice calling experiences, and the AirPods 4 don't disappoint. Here's a sample of a call I made with a fellow editor. All right, I'm in the streets of New York City doing a test call with my video editor, Numei Numi. I've got a lot of stuff going on in the background here. I've got cars going by, kids talking. How do I sound overall? You sound super clear, and I don't hear any of the outside noise whatsoever. I do hear some other people talking, which is interesting. That may have been passing you, but yeah. Yeah, all right. I'll finish up with something that's a tad

disappointing. Apple wasn't able to improve on the battery life numbers for these earbuds, and it's actually slightly worse than what you get with the AirPods 3. You can get up to 5 hours of battery life with noise cancelling off, and 4 hours with it on. The case gives you an additional 25 hours with it off, and 16 hours with it on. In the end, the way to look at these two earbuds is that the standard AirPods 4 are slightly smaller versions of the AirPods 3, with better sound quality and the benefits of the more powerful H2 chip. Going forward, the AirPods 4 with active noise cancelling are essentially the AirPods Pro 2 with an open earbud design. However, only the AirPods Pro 2, not the AirPods 4, are getting Apple's hearing aid feature. If you're looking for basic AirPods, the standard AirPods 4 certainly have their appeal and should cost closer to $100 during flash sales, especially

Around the holidays, they may not be quite as cheap or as small as the AirPods 2, but they sound a lot better and have a lot more features. All that said, the AirPods 4 ANC are simply more special. As I said, they're the first open buds that I've tried that have active noise cancelling that actually works, and that makes them the first noise-hilling earbuds for people who don't like having ear tips jammed in their ears. That's pretty cool and probably worth the extra $50 if you can afford it. But I want to know what you think about the two AirPods 4 models. Give me your two cents in the comment section below. I'm David Carr for cat.com. Thanks for watching.

AirPods 4 Review: Noise Cancelling Changes the Game

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