Excellent Open-Style Earbuds

Apple has unveiled the AirPods 4, its latest open-ear earbuds that now come with Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) for the first time.

Apple has made subtle changes to the AirPods 4 design to fit a broader range of ear shapes.

They fit comfortably and stay secure enough for daily activities, but could be snugger. The earbuds come with force sensors on the stems for controlling playback and switching between modes, but adjusting the volume remains exclusive to the AirPods Pro.

For open-style earbuds, the AirPods 4 with ANC delivers surprisingly good noise cancellation.

It's not perfect, but it's effective enough to make noisy environments manageable. While it won't silence everything around you, I found that even in moderately noisy settings, the ANC made a significant difference.

For example, it managed to mute the hum of a nearby air cooler to a near whisper.

The AirPods 4 with ANC also includes other premium features like Transparency mode, Adaptive Audio, and Conversation Awareness, all carried over from the AirPods Pro. Transparency mode works beautifully with the open-ear design, allowing outside sounds to come through naturally. Adaptive Audio balances environmental sounds by lowering the volume of loud noises while maintaining awareness of your surroundings.

Conversation Awareness also works well, automatically lowering your volume when you start speaking.