Need to upgrade your earbuds, but you don’t want to spend triple digits? Maybe you’re pumped that the AirPods Pro 2 are finally on a real, not-fake sale for $170, but you don’t want to spend that much.
Yet you’re not going to settle for junk that makes all your music sound like an asthmatic singer coughing into a Solo cup that’s connected to your earbuds by a string.
The AirPods 4 are—you guessed it—the fourth generation of Apple’s long-running AirPods earbuds, not counting the premium AirPods Pro that stole their thunder or the over-the-ear AirPods Max.
They pair beautifully with Apple devices, and right now they don’t cost an arm and a leg, since they’re on sale for $99, down from their usual $129.
same chip as the airpods pro 2
Given their entry-level positioning in Apple’s lineup below the AirPods Pro 2, it’s somewhat surprising that the AirPods 4 have the same Apple H2 chip that lends the former its impressive audio quality.
The AirPods 4 fit more like the AirPods of old, as they don’t come with the soft ear tips that the Pros use, though.
Make a mental note that the AirPods 4 I’m highlighting here, the ones on sale for $99, don’t have active noise cancellation. ANC, in its most basic terms, uses software to detect and then cancel out incoming sound waves.
It significantly improves sound blocking when activated, and it also comes with a transparency mode that boosts ambient noise so that you can hear your surroundings better than non-ANC earbuds. It also adds a lot of cost to a pair of earbuds.
Apple does make a version of the AirPods 4 with ANC. I’d say skip ’em, even though they’re on sale right now for $149. For only $21 more, you can pick up the superior AirPods Pro 2 for $170, which are on a good sale at the moment, too.
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