# Apple AirPods 4 with ANC

- Source: https://stierproducts.com/products/apple-airpods-4-with-anc
- Category board: https://stierproducts.com/categories/earbuds
- Placement: #22 of 24 in Earbuds, F tier
- Brand: Apple
- LP on this board: 172
- Last researched: 2026-09-10T04:56:35.081Z
- Method: https://stierproducts.com/methodology
- Dataset: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22062813 - every board at once, one dated snapshot per release, same licence, prices and photographs left out
- Reuse: Text, rankings, tier assignments, LP values and verdicts are free to quote and reuse with attribution to stierproducts and a link to the source URL (CC BY 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Product photographs are not covered: they belong to their respective owners and are reproduced to illustrate the product being reviewed. Do not redistribute them under this licence.

## Verdict

The marketing-push pick: weak ANC measured by TechGearLab, a mediocre opinion score from SoundGuys, and a short battery per Tom's Guide. The AirPods Pro 3 is the Apple buy that actually holds up.

## For

- Strong sound
- The best ANC in an open-ear design
- A legitimate alternative for buyers who cannot tolerate in-ear tips
- A real cross-shop, listed among PCMag's tested picks
- A decent product overall

## Against

- ANC reduces ambient noise by only about 10 decibels across the mid-bass to high-mid range
- Mediocre mean opinion score of 3.6 from SoundGuys
- Five-hour battery life is not great per Tom's Guide's long-term testing
- Outclassed by the AirPods Pro 3 for ANC and battery life
- ANC is weak by in-ear standards

## Flagged as one to avoid

This product entered 3 of 7 runs as one buyers cross-shop but should not buy, rather than as a pick. It is published here rather than dropped.

## Evidence

Consolidated from 6 cited sources across 5 outlets

| Outlet | Said by | Stance | Link | Link status |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| CNET | - | - | https://www.cnet.com/tech/mobile/airpods-pro-3-vs-airpods-4-which-apple-earbuds-should-you-get/ | fetched and confirmed |
| SoundGuys | - | C | https://www.soundguys.com/apple-airpods-4-with-active-noise-cancellation-review-124137/ | fetched and confirmed |
| PCMag | - | C | https://uk.pcmag.com/headphones/160276/airpods-pro-3-vs-airpods-4-with-active-noise-cancellation-the-choice-is-easy | fetched and confirmed |
| PCMag | - | B | https://uk.pcmag.com/headphones/4371/the-best-earbuds-in-ear-headphones | fetched and confirmed |
| TechGearLab | - | D | https://www.techgearlab.com/reviews/audio/wireless-earbuds/apple-airpods-4-anc | fetched and confirmed |
| Tom's Guide | - | D | https://www.tomsguide.com/audio/headphones/i-tested-the-new-airpods-4-with-noise-canceling-for-a-week-here-are-my-pros-and-cons | fetched and confirmed |

## Nearest alternatives on this board

| Rank | Product | Tier | Page |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | Sony WF-1000XM6 | S | https://stierproducts.com/products/sony-wf-1000xm6 |
| 2 | Apple AirPods Pro 3 | S | https://stierproducts.com/products/apple-airpods-pro-3 |
| 3 | Technics EAH-AZ100 | S | https://stierproducts.com/products/technics-eah-az100 |
| 17 | Anker Soundcore Space A40 | C | https://stierproducts.com/products/anker-soundcore-space-a40 |
| 18 | Bowers & Wilkins Pi8 | D | https://stierproducts.com/products/bowers-wilkins-pi8 |
| 19 | Sennheiser MOMENTUM True Wireless 4 | D | https://stierproducts.com/products/sennheiser-momentum-true-wireless-4 |
| 20 | Sony WF-1000XM5 | D | https://stierproducts.com/products/sony-wf-1000xm5 |
| 21 | Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro | F | https://stierproducts.com/products/samsung-galaxy-buds-3-pro |
| 23 | JLab JBuds Mini | F | https://stierproducts.com/products/jlab-jbuds-mini |
| 24 | Jabra Elite 10 Gen 2 | F | https://stierproducts.com/products/jabra-elite-10-gen-2 |

The full board is at https://stierproducts.com/categories/earbuds.

## What this tier means

- F: Avoid. The evidence points you elsewhere.

## How to read this

- Each category is researched in four independent runs, one per lens (expert consensus, value, reliability, community pulse). Every run ranks a board of candidates that deliberately includes products buyers cross-shop but should avoid. Placements score on a ranked ladder (LP), and tiers are derived from LP, so no tier is ever assigned by hand.
- LP is this product's points on its own category ladder. It is comparable within a category and not across categories.
- Link status reports what our pre-publication link check found when it fetched the cited URL. It says nothing about the quality of the review.
- A citation with no usable link is listed rather than dropped, and is excluded from the counted total above.

## Image

https://stspimgdevmfyk46r5vwkay.blob.core.windows.net/images/products/apple-airpods-4-with-anc.webp

Product photographs are not covered: they belong to their respective owners and are reproduced to illustrate the product being reviewed. Do not redistribute them under this licence.