Apple AirPods 4 Review — The $129 Earbuds That Changed My Mind

I'll be honest: when Apple announced the AirPods 4, I rolled my eyes. Another tier of AirPods? But after two weeks with these in my ears through commutes, gym sessions, office grind, and lazy Sundays, I get it now. The AirPods 4 aren't trying to be the best-sounding earbuds money can buy. They're trying to be the earbuds you forget you're wearing. And they nail that brief harder than anything else at this price.

The Open-Ear Experience

There are no silicone tips here. These are an open-ear design — they sit in your ears rather than plugging them. The first time you put them in, you'll probably think something is wrong. Where's the seal? Why can I still hear everything? That's the point. After ten minutes, the feeling shifts from "these are weirdly loose" to "oh, this is just comfortable." No suction. No pressure build-up. No sensation of a foreign object lodged in your ear canal. You're also hearing the world around you naturally — not through a transparency mode with latency and digital processing, but actually, acoustically hearing it. Cars approaching. Someone calling your name. The barista asking if you want room. It's one of those quality-of-life things that makes the AirPods 4 feel less like a gadget and more like a natural extension of your senses.

Office, Gym, Walking

In an open-plan office, these are ideal. Because they don't seal your ears, you stay approachable. A colleague can walk up without you jumping out of your skin. I wore them for a full eight-hour workday without taking them out once — something I absolutely cannot do with the Pros, which start bothering my ear canals after two hours.

Walking is where they absolutely shine. City walking, dog walking, grocery store podcasts — you get your audio and full awareness of your surroundings, with no wind noise issues. At the gym, the IPX4 sweat resistance holds up fine; I ran 5K on a treadmill dripping sweat and they didn't skip a beat. For outdoor running, the open-ear design is actually a safety feature — you hear traffic and cyclists. The one place they struggle is a loud gym where the house speakers compete with your audio. You can turn the volume up and it's usable, but it's not ideal.

Why $129 Is So Competitive

The AirPods Pro 3 cost $249. The Max cost $549. The AirPods 4 cost $129 and deliver probably 85% of the core experience for half the price. What are you actually losing by saving $120? ANC, silicone tips, and slightly bassier sound. That's about it. You're getting the same H2 chip, the same Adaptive EQ that adjusts frequency response 240 times per second, the same seamless Apple ecosystem — one-tap pairing, auto device switching, force-sensor stems, IPX4 rating, USB-C charging.

I A/B-tested a few tracks between these and the Pros. The difference was smaller than I expected. The Pros have deeper bass because of the seal, but the mids and highs on the AirPods 4 are genuinely clear and well-defined with none of the harshness you get from cheaper open-ear buds. At $129, these undercut the Pixel Buds Pro ($199), Galaxy Buds3 ($179), and even Sony's WF-C700N. Apple basically built the best value in wireless audio, and it works seamlessly with every Apple device you own.

The ANC Question

The question I kept getting from friends: "No ANC? Isn't that a dealbreaker?" My honest answer: it depends entirely on where you spend your time. If you commute on a loud train, work in a noisy open office and need to zone out, or fly frequently — yes, you'll miss ANC. Get the Pros. But if your daily life looks more like mine — a mix of home office, coffee shops, walking, and the occasional open-plan desk day — then the lack of ANC is barely a downside. The open-ear design gives you natural situational awareness that ANC buds can only approximate with transparency mode. I actually prefer these for walking and errands because I don't have to fiddle with modes. Apple made the right call leaving ANC out. It keeps the price down and the form factor thin. If you need ANC, you know who you are. Everyone else can save $120 and smile.

Spatial Audio on the Non-Pro

I've always been a little skeptical of Spatial Audio — it felt like a gimmick when Apple first launched it. But the AirPods 4 implement it genuinely well. Personalized Spatial Audio — the kind that maps your ear geometry using the TrueDepth camera — is fully supported, and it works identically to the Pros. Turn your head and the soundstage stays anchored to your phone. It's eerie, like the music is coming from a speaker in front of you.

Movies are where this really shines. I watched the opening of Dune: Part Two and the Hans Zimmer score swelled in a way that felt genuinely cinematic. For music, it's more mixed — newer pop and orchestral tracks sound beautifully wide, while older recordings can feel hollow with distant vocals. But you can toggle it off with a single Control Center tap. The key point: the non-Pro AirPods 4 don't feel gimped here. Full Spatial Audio with dynamic head tracking at $129 is a big deal.

Comfort Over Long Periods

If I had to pick one defining quality of the AirPods 4, it's long-term comfort. I've worn these for entire workdays, long walks, afternoon gaming sessions — I even fell asleep wearing them on a Sunday couch nap. Every single time, I forgot they were there. That's not true of any other earbuds I've tested. The Pros bother me after two hours. Sony's WF-1000XM5 still create that plugged sensation. Nothing's Ear range gets noticeable after three hours. The AirPods 4 are the only earbuds where I've checked my ears to make sure they hadn't fallen out.

Part of it is the weight — about 4.8 grams per bud. Part of it is the shape, iterated over enough generations to feel almost anthropomorphic. And part of it is simply that they don't go in your ear canal. No pressure. No suction. Just a light, secure hold. If you have sensitive ears, these might genuinely be the most comfortable wireless earbuds on the market right now. I'd buy them for comfort alone.

The Verdict

The AirPods 4 are not the best-sounding earbuds I've ever used. They're not the most feature-packed. But they might be the smartest purchase in wireless audio right now. Apple took everything that matters — seamless pairing, all-day comfort, ecosystem integration, Spatial Audio — and delivered it at a price that undercuts the competition by a mile. You lose ANC and the silicone tip seal. For some, that's a dealbreaker. But for most people — people who want earbuds they can wear all day, everywhere, without thinking about them — the AirPods 4 are the best recommendation I can make at any price.