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Credit: Illustration by Ian Moore and product image courtesy of Amazon.
Before Apple’s event this September, any Apple user who wanted to get active noise-canceling (ANC) AirPods had to shell out $250 for the AirPods Pro. With the release of the new ANC AirPods 4, currently at $138.99 (originally $179), that’s no longer the case. The current price tag is a new record-low price, according to price-tracking tools. Apple also has a more budget-friendly version without ANC, currently for $119 (originally $129). While these discounts aren’t mind-blowing, the fact we’re seeing any discount on newly released AirPods can be considered a good deal, relative to Apple.
The new AirPods 4 finally have USB-C charging, so you can use the same chargers you use for your other Apple products. Both are powered by Apple’s H2 chip, so you’ll get Personalized Spatial Audio (your head and ears are measured so you can hear sounds coming from different directions as you move your head), and the ability to use head gestures to tell Siri “yes” or “no” (this also works for answering or denying calls).
If you’re willing to pay more for the ANC AirPods 4 (which you should—it’s just a $20 difference right now), you’ll get a charging case with a built-in speaker, which you can use with Find My to locate if you lose them. You’ll also get other features like Conversation Awareness, which lowers your music volume when your AirPods detect that you’re having a conversation; Transparency Mode, which lets you hear your surroundings; and Adaptive Audio (combines ANC and Transparency mode to adjust ANC levels based on the noise around you). Keep in mind that since these are open-style earbuds, there is no silicone that isolates noise, so the ANC will not be as good as what you can get from AirPods Pro.
Both versions will get IP54 for dust and water resistance, up to five hours of listening per charge (30 hours with the charging case), and automatic switching with your other Apple devices. You can read more about the non-ANC AirPods on PCMag’s “excellent” review. and more about the ANC AirPods on PCMag’s “outstanding” review here.