AirPods 4 Are Almost Better Than the AirPods Pro 2

Apple’s new AirPods 4 are dramatically better than the last generation, and in some ways, they even beat the AirPods Pro.

Apple’s AirPods are hands-down the best wireless earbuds—for people already using Apple products. No matter which model you choose, you get automatic switching, Siri integration, deep integration with your Mac, iPhone, and iPad, and Apple’s growing augmented reality features. But now, the entry-level pods get one of the Pros’ greatest features—active noise canceling or ANC. So, how do these new pods stack up against their Pro sibling?

“The AirPods Pro 2 still has an edge for fitness enthusiasts. Their secure fit and water resistance make them ideal for intense workouts. Plus, the spatial audio with dynamic head tracking is a game-changer for immersive entertainment on the go,” Milly Barker, a tech entrepreneur and managing editor at RemorePad, told Lifewire via email.

Canceled

First, about that ANC. This has been the big difference between the regular AirPods and AirPods Pro, but no longer. If you opt for the more expensive of the new AirPods 4 (confusingly, there are two models, one with ANC and a MagSafe charging case with a Find-My speaker, and one without), they come with the active part of Apple’s amazing noise-canceling tech, and also its transparency mode, where some ambient sound gets mixed in.

The difference is in the silicone ear tips. The AirPods Pro comes with a small range of tips that let you seal them into your ears, and this cuts out a lot of passive noise. This can make a huge difference to the background noise levels, and it’s how all earplugs and over-the-head earmuffs work. If they’re good enough for construction workers, they’re clearly good enough for you.

“The AirPods Pro 2 stands out for its superior fit, thanks to the silicone ear tips that offer a more secure and comfortable seal. This improved fit leads to more effective active noise cancellation, which can be a big factor if you often find yourself in noisy environments,” engineer and QC expert Habib Rkha, an engineer and the Managing Director at QCADVISOR, told Lifewire via email.

Despite the lack of an audio seal, early reports say that the AirPods 4 are surprisingly good at canceling noise, especially low-end drones, like engine and plane noise.

Thanks to this ANC tech, the higher-end regular AirPods 4 (see, it really is confusing) also get transparency mode—less useful when audio is already allowed to leak in—and adaptive audio, including conversation awareness. This detects human speakers in some languages and lowers the volume of whatever you’re listening to.

But as we’re about to see, the AirPods Pro 2 still offers some significant advantages.

Time Bomb

Let’s start with Spatial Audio, which may or may not be a gimmick. I dig it, and I love how it makes music sound. It really adds a lot of space and depth to movies and TV shows, but the head-tracking part I can take or leave. And with the non-Pro pods, you have to leave all of it.

What I’d find a lot harder to go without are the Pro’s stem gestures. The low-end models have the squeeze gestures to invoke Siri, play/pause audio, etc., but they do not have the Pro’s volume control, which lets you stroke the shaft to change levels. I use that all the time now.

And then there are all the new hearing health features coming to the AirPods Pro that will not come to the AirPods 4. If you want to use your AirPods as over-the-counter hearing aids, you will have to go Pro.

And finally, there is one 'feature' that all AirPods share—the lack of a user-replaceable battery. While rivals like the Fairbuds manage to use standard batteries that can be swapped by the user in a minute or two, Apple—the world’s premier technology design company—cannot manage to make a pair of wireless AirPods with any kind of easily replaceable battery. Even the charging case, which is hardly a complex, miniaturized design, has to be cut open to get to a glued-in battery. Apple does offer a battery replacement program, but as far as I can tell they just replace the pods, not the batteries inside them.

“The battery issue goes beyond replaceability. It's about the entire lifecycle. The AirPods' compact design makes recycling challenging. I'd love to see Apple introduce a trade-in program where old AirPods become raw materials for new ones,” says Barker.

Apple doesn’t mention battery replacement in its promotional materials for the new AirPods 4, so we’re not holding out much hope for an improvement in this new model. But neither have we seen iFixit’s AirPods teardown, which will reveal the truth, and tell us if Apple has made any internal improvements that let you replace batteries. Otherwise, they remain the same amazing-but-disposable gadget as ever.