Apple Airpods 4 with active noise cancellation

Review: Apple Airpods 4 ANC - Makes a Real Difference

An open design, meaning no rubber tips to push into your ear canal, yet really good noise cancellation. And good call sound, that's what Apple's new Airpods offer.

Erik Mörner

Published 10 October 2024 - 11:11 Modified 24 January 2025 - 17:00

The fact is that Apple's AirPods 4 with active noise cancellation, despite their open design which makes it harder to achieve really effective noise cancellation, can compete with closed headphones. That says a lot about how good the noise cancellation here actually is.

With and without noise cancellation - 600 SEK difference

Worth mentioning already now is that the new AirPods 4 come in two different versions. One is released with active noise cancellation and costs 2400 SEK at the time of writing, and the other version without active noise cancellation costs 1800 SEK. It is the version with active noise cancellation that we are testing here. Otherwise, both models have charging via USB-C, but only the more expensive one also supports wireless charging (via a regular wireless charger with Qi standard or via an Apple Watch charger) and has a speaker in the case, so it can emit a beep when you search for it with Apple's Find My app.

When Airpods 4 were introduced, we were told that the fit was refined to suit even more ears even better. Therefore, I feel a bit disappointed when at first try I find the earbuds a bit too much in the ear. It's a new shape, where the angles have been optimized, but that initial feeling quickly fades and I get used to the new fit. The sound quality and especially the noise cancellation help me quickly like the Airpods 4. The fit is good and it allows me to easily use the earbuds when I exercise without being afraid they will fall out of my ears. When I run, sometimes the wind noise can affect the sound when I listen to music, but during calls, the earbuds are surprisingly good at filtering out disturbing background noise and enhancing my voice for the person I'm talking to. This is a feature Apple calls Voice isolation and it works very effectively. Even when I try making calls from right next to the stove fan or other disturbing noises at home, I can be heard well.

The case charges with USB-C, regular wireless, or with an Apple Watch charger

Impressive noise cancellation

The noise cancellation is impressively good for this type of open headphones, without real isolation. Sure, you don't get the extreme shielding that closed headphones with noise cancellation can provide at their best, but Airpods 4 can actually compete with that type of headphones. On airplanes or in public transport, they effectively remove a lot of background noise and allow me to have lower music volume without the surroundings overpowering. It works surprisingly well.

Airpods support the so-called AAC codec, which is also used in Apple Music, so you miss out on truly high-resolution audio, but it sounds good. The sound is well-balanced, and both bass and treble stand out nicely without anything taking over.

The format of the case itself is significantly smaller than, for example, the Airpods Pro, but the headphones themselves have a similar design. You can control music and calls by squeezing the stem of the headphones, but you cannot adjust the volume in any way there. You have to do that on the phone instead.

Airpods 4 case as head and Airpods Pro case as body illustrate the size difference here

If Siri asks a yes or no question, you can at least answer it with gesture control, which is new. You answer, for example, the question "do you want to hear the whole message" by simply shaking your head, nodding for yes and shaking your head for no. As usual, Airpods are also well integrated into Apple's ecosystem so that you connect once and then find the earbuds and connect automatically to even your Apple Watch, Mac computer, and so on as long as you are logged into the same Apple account.

Unlike the iPhone 16, this is a product where it is justified to upgrade, even if you already have a pair of functioning, older Airpods. The differences are that clear.