If you're looking for earbuds that'll integrate with your iOS devices but don't jive with an in-ear fit, the Apple AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation offer you the best of both worlds. They feature the unlikely but welcome marriage of an open-back design with a high-performing ANC system. The fit won't suit everyone's ears, though, and a poor fit can impact stability. They also don't form a seal in your ear, like the , so the ANC system does a lot of heavy lifting to ensure the sounds of bus engines and background conversations are effectively blocked out. The noise isolation performance is very solid, especially for open-back buds, and they come with the full gamut of ANC-related features, like 'Transparency mode' and 'Adaptive Audio' (which keeps attenuation levels consistent with three toggleable presets).Their sound profile veers towards sounding warm, as these buds can output a surprising amount of bass, given their open-back design. Kicks and 808s aren't brimming with boom, but they're not insubstantial either. The balanced mid-range helps render vocals and podcast content naturally too, but the roll-off in the treble range won't be to everyone's taste. As with the AirPods Pro (2nd generation), you get access to 'Spatial Audio,' which can introduce some DSP-induced width and dimensionality into your audio. Their 4.5 hours of continuous battery life might be paltry for some, but they charge quickly, and there are an extra four charges from the case. Rounding out the feature set is the H2 chip, which allows for seamless switching between Apple devices., May 15, 2024: A comparison to Beats has been added, the Apple EarPods are now listed in the lineup, and small text edits have been made throughout. Feb 14, 2024: We've made minor changes to improve the text's accuracy and clarity, but our recommendations have remained the same., Headphones The best noise cancelling headphones 2025 PS5 Best PS5 headsets in 2025: the most immersive audio for PlayStation 5 from Sony, SteelSeries and more Headphones The best headphones 2025.