The AirPods 4 with ANC suits anyone who dislikes silicone tips: published tests put its ANC around 20 dB, comfort earns praise, and the H2 feature stack is deep. Trade-offs are a 4-hour ANC battery, no on-bud volume control, and less isolation than sealed rivals — but iPhone users wanting ANC without ear tips should check it live on Amazon.
— THE VERDICT · JUDGEANY EDITORSWhat the ANC model is (and how it differs)
Apple sells two AirPods 4 variants. The standard pair launched at $129 with a USB-C-only charging case and no noise cancellation. The step-up model — this one, Apple's part MX22AM/A — launched at $179 and adds Active Noise Cancellation, Adaptive Audio, Transparency mode, and Conversation Awareness, plus a wireless charging case that tops up via USB-C, Qi, or an Apple Watch charger and carries a speaker for Find My proximity view. Both share the H2 chip, Personalized Spatial Audio with dynamic head tracking, Voice Isolation for calls, Siri Interactions with head gestures, and an open-ear design with no silicone tips.
How the ANC actually performs
The ANC is the story here. Apple fitted active noise cancellation into an open-ear bud that doesn't seal the ear canal, and reviewers noticed. SoundGuys measured roughly 20 dB of noise reduction in its lab tests — enough to take the edge off traffic and conversation in real use — and noted it runs about half of what sealed rivals manage: in one comparison, the Soundcore Liberty 5 reduced outside noise by an average of 76% against 53% for the AirPods 4 with ANC. Chris Welch, writing for The Verge, found the ANC surprisingly effective for the form factor, best at tackling low-frequency noise like airplane cabins and traffic rumble, and said once music starts playing he could hold volume around 50% without distractions. CNET's David Carnoy put the cancellation at "a little less than half as good" as the AirPods Pro, which also benefit from the passive isolation of ear tips. PC Magazine's Tim Gideon went further, calling it the best ANC he'd experienced in an open-ear design. We run no lab; the scores below are editorial judgments on this published evidence.
Sound, calls, and Apple-only extras
SoundGuys ran its MDAQS listener-preference algorithm on the AirPods 4 with ANC and got an overall mean opinion score of 3.6 out of 5 — slightly positive, with the open design's weak sub-bass as the main drag, though it noted that's typical for the category. What Hi-Fi?, which awarded four stars, found them lighter and more comfortable than the AirPods 3, at 4.3 g per bud, and praised the tapered shape for staying put without ear tips. On calls, Voice Isolation gets consistent praise from reviewers and owners alike for cutting through noisy streets. Beyond that it's all ecosystem: Adaptive Audio blends ANC and Transparency automatically, Conversation Awareness dips volume when you speak, and Siri Interactions let you nod or shake your head to take or decline calls. The gaps are ecosystem-shaped too: no true multipoint, on-bud controls are limited to pinch (no volume swipe, unlike the Pro line), and several features shrink or vanish on Android — SoundGuys flags this as the main caveat for non-Apple users. Bluetooth is 5.3 with AAC and SBC, per Digital Trends.
Battery and charging
Apple's ratings: up to 4 hours of listening per charge with ANC on, 5 hours with noise control off, and 4.5 hours of talk time. The case stretches that to 20 hours of listening with ANC enabled or 30 hours with it off, plus 20 hours of talk time; five minutes in the case adds about an hour of listening or 45 minutes of talk. RTINGS measured 4.5 hours of continuous playback, in line with Apple's ANC-on claim. Charging options are USB-C, Qi wireless, and Apple Watch chargers, and the ANC case's speaker enables Find My proximity view. What's missing: no MagSafe ring and no lanyard loop, both dropped in the smaller case redesign, per hands-on reviews.
Who should buy it
Buy the ANC model if you want noise cancellation but can't stand silicone tips burrowing into your ears — it's the open-ear AirPods with real, working ANC, and every review agrees the cancellation is a genuine help day to day. The standard AirPods 4 makes sense only if you never touch ANC and want to save the $50 launch-price difference. Skip the ANC pair if you need maximum quiet (the AirPods Pro or sealed rivals cancel far more), want longer battery than 4 hours a charge, or live mostly on Android, where many features don't transfer. Either way, check it live on Amazon — street prices move often.