AirPods 4 with ANC

A new design and Active Noise Cancellation

- ROB MEAD-GREEN

$179 From from apple.​com

Features H2 headphone chip, Active Noise Cancellation (ANC), dust, sweat and water resistant to IP54, Charging Case with USB-C and wireless charging, up to five hours battery life (AirPods) / 30 hours (Charging Case) with ANC off

WHILE APPLE ADDED new hearing health features to the existing AirPods Pro 2 at its "Glowtime" event in September, it was the company's cheaper AirPods that got the biggest overhaul. Still only available in white, the new AirPods 4 come in two different guises: regular AirPods 4 for $129 and AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) for $179.

It's the latter we're looking at here.

While it looks familiar, the design of the AirPods 4 is all-new. Apple has tweaked the AirPods' contours, shape and size to make them more comfortable to wear for longer periods, and they've now been fitted it with Apple's next-gen headphone chip, the H2, promising improved sound quality with better sound separation, deeper bass and clearer highs. You can see whether that holds true later on in this review.