Hi everyone,
I’m thinking about buying the 4th generation AirPods because I found them at a great discount on Amazon. However, I’m not sure which version to choose: the one with Active Noise Cancellation or the one without it.
I currently have the 3rd generation AirPods, and I’ve decided to upgrade mainly because the new model has a USB-C charging port.
For those of you who have tried them, which version would you recommend? Is the Active Noise Cancellation version worth the extra money, or is the regular version a better choice?
I’d really appreciate your advice. Thanks!
Comments
I would recommend the ANC
It's not spectacular, but it's still nice to have. It doesn't block out as much noise as my AirPods Pro 2nd gen or my Bose QuietComfort SC but that's to be expected. And personally I like having multiple pairs of AirPods, one in a bag (usually my work bag) and a pair at home.
AirPods
I personally have the AirPods pro 3, coming from the AirPods 3rd generation. If your looking at the best use for your money, I recommend AirPods 4 ANC version. If I didn't have pro 3, I would get those.
Go with ANC
While the ANC mode won't work as well as sealed earbuds (which is expected), it's nice to have. If you like your EQ to remain mostly untouched when toggling ANC, this is also a good bet. Sometimes when using ANC buds the tone of music and/or TTS is greatly altered. The Airpods 4 ANC have almost no tonal shift.
Admittedly the adaptive NC mode isn't very good. When I used Airpods4 I went either full NC or off/standard listening mode.
Ended up going back to Earpods with USB C because I cannot stand bt latency. lol.
Best of luck.
PS: The Pods 4 case does not have a button for resetting. You tap on the front of the case and do some other stuff I can't remember, but it was pretty straightforward.
Will you use ANC?
I have a pair of each 4th gen airPods. I'm usually listening in a quiet room and I want to be able to hear what is going on around me, so I seldom use ANC. It's not worth buying that feature if you're not going to use it unless the discount is really good. That said, the ANC is quite satisfactory for my purposes, since as I say, I don't want total blockage of surrounding sounds. They would be sufficient to block out road noise if you're riding in a car on the highway.
You'll also want to buy the ANC version if you want to use wireless charging because the ANC version is the only one that comes with the wireless charging case.
Personally, I love the airPods 4th gen. They are good enough for listening to music, which is what I primarily use them for. (I use and prefer airPods gen 2 for listening to audiobooks.) Hope this helps you make a decision.
AP 4 with ANC also have transparency mode
Maybe blocking yourself off isn't important but, for me at least, being aware of what is going on around me is important. The APP 4 with ANC will allow this with transparency mode.