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Apple AirPods 4 ANC review: Reliable convenience
Summary
The Apple AirPods 4, now with active noise cancellation, bring the seamless convenience of the ultra-wide band chip with better sound to effectively rival Bose, Marshall and Sony
There is a justifiably strong argument that for mainstream, everyday-use earbuds, good audio quality is only one of many factors that make a pair of earbuds recommendable. It is this that Apple cashed in on with its first ever AirPods—a pair of true-wireless earbuds, in 2016. Three years later, it also delivered commendable audio performance for mainstream earbuds with the first AirPods Pro. Earlier this month, its audio trajectory hit a sweet spot with the Apple AirPods 4, which now comes with active noise cancellation (ANC).
Right at the onset, the earbuds may strike you as too diminutive. The wirelessly charging case, which houses the earbuds, is smaller than that of AirPods 3—making it a super-compact product that doesn’t strike you at first as yet another gadget that you must tend to with utmost care. Like all Apple products, they also pair and work seamlessly with other Apple devices.
These conveniences are underrated, but cannot be emphasised enough. Once paired with an iPhone, the AirPods 4, just like its predecessors, actively switch connection with the active phone, Mac or iPad automatically—no separate pairing required.
Then, there’s ANC. Up until a decade ago, when consumer gadgets were just breaking through in a big way in India, noise cancellation was a feature reserved only for the priciest gadgets. Today, there are ample wireless ANC earbuds in India for as little as ₹1,200. In such a market, should Apple be commended for finally bringing this feature to an earbuds lineup that costs upward of ₹10,000—or criticised for taking so long to do so?
While critics argue over the right answer, for a buyer, what matters is that the feature is here. This means that if you’ve bought into the Apple ecosystem, you won’t have to shell out the top bucks ( ₹24,900 for AirPods Pro 2) if all you wanted were good noise-cancelling earbuds from the brand. But, the AirPods 4 ANC costs ₹17,900—which is still fairly lofty. Even without ANC, the base version of AirPods 4 costs ₹12,900. For reference, the average selling price of earbuds in India, as per market researcher International Data Corp, is just over ₹1,500.
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Nevertheless, for this price, the performance of ANC is reliable and stable. The AirPods 4 render strong-enough noise cancellation to help you focus on work amid the clatter of ambient office noise. Understandably, noisier environments make the ANC seem less effective, but there are absolutely no ‘open’ earbuds that produce complete block-out noise cancellation.
This, in everyday usage, is a good thing—the ‘open’ build of the earbuds means that there are no silicone ear tips on AirPods 4 that completely seal your ear canals. More users over time have complained that completely sealed-off earbuds are more uncomfortable and claustrophobic for prolonged usage, and cause hearing imbalances. On that note, the AirPods 4 get the fit just right, although you may need to keep on adjusting the fit every now and then. The noise cancellation is adequate for most real-world scenarios, and if you need to quickly hear what someone next to you is saying, a simple tap on the exterior of the earbuds turns on ‘transparency mode’.
More than anything else, it is this seamless operation that makes the AirPods 4 great to use as a daily driver.
Finally, there’s audio performance. For those who care about music quality, the AirPods 4 are reliable enough. They evidently emphasise vocals and treble over bass, which means that you might need to set your music app’s equaliser setting to the bass-enhancing ‘rock’ mode to get an optimum balance of sound. The audio delivery is ‘clean’, which means that you don’t feel that the sound is muffled—a factor that typically separate the premium earbuds from inexpensive ones.
Yet, there is an unmissable issue of sibilance. In the AirPods 4, the shrill trebles, or words that pronounce the letter ‘s’ sound a tad too tinny and hissing. This is a risk that trebles-focused sound signature can be exposed to, and may cause annoyance for some. Thankfully, reducing treble in the audio balance and enhancing the bass delivery by a touch makes the AirPods 4 sound better-balanced than its default configuration.
Despite the focus on treble, the AirPods 4 sound warm enough—in audio parlance, ‘warmth’ is typically associated with better bass delivery. In expensive, bespoke audiophile speakers, this is delivered through the quality of timbre used in their construction. Apple does well enough to simulate this quality.
The overall package, thus, means that if you wanted a pair of decent-sounding earbuds with active noise cancellation, you won’t have to look elsewhere beyond Apple.
The AirPods 4 is rivalled by the likes of Bose Ultra Open, Marshall Motif II and Sony LinkBuds S. If audio quality, and particularly the bass delivery in the audio performance, is your priority, each of these brands will likely sound as good as the AirPods 4.
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But, add the seamless connectivity, no-hassle wireless charging, tiny case and reliable noise cancellation into the mix, and the Apple AirPods 4 ANC is likely one of the most well-rounded earbuds under ₹20000 in India right now. It is the no-brainer recommendation for those using Apple products already; for Android users, it is right up there with the best, too.
