Can open-ear headphones really cancel noise? Apple’s AirPods 4 surprised me

For years, the biggest feature separating Apple’s entry-level AirPods from the AirPods Pro has been active noise cancellation, also known as ANC. When I learned that Apple might outfit a version of its new AirPods 4 earbuds with ANC, I was skeptical. Open-ear designs, which don’t fully obstruct your ear canal, make it pretty tough to seal out noise. But now that I’ve had a chance to hear the open-ear AirPods 4 in action, I must admit, I’m surprised at how effective they are.

You may also want to reconsider if you tend to dismiss the idea of active noise canceling in an open-ear earbud.

For clarity, while Apple refers the AirPods 4 as “open-ear” AirPods, we consider them and other non-silicone-tipped earbuds to be “semi-open,” while designs that sit outside the ear (like the Shokz OpenFit, Bose Ultra Open, and Oladance OWS Pro) are considered open-ear. We classify models that use silicone tips to fully seal the ear canal (like the AirPods Pro) as “closed-fit.”

During a demonstration held as part of a briefing at Apple Park following Apple’s “It’s Glowtime!” event, faux airplane noise was piped into the room via hidden speakers while I wore the AirPods 4 with the ANC engaged. I toggled the ANC feature on and off by cycling through transparency and adaptive audio modes. I also removed the earbuds entirely to hear what the airplane noise sounded like without any interference from the AirPods 4, and to get a read on just how loud it was.

My curiosity about just how loud the airplane noise actually was resulted from just how loud it wasn’t while wearing the buds with the ANC feature turned on. I admit, I was stunned.

I went into that room toting a healthy bit of skepticism. Because the AirPods are a so-called “open-ear” design, wherein there is very little passive noise isolation because the ear canal is not completely blocked, I had a hard time imagining the active noise-canceling – which works by blasting sound that’s 180-degrees out of phase with the noise around you – being all that effective. I just imagined too much of the source noise bleeding through.

And it’s worth reiterating that these are not new AirPods Pro, which didn’t get a refresh, but are getting some exciting new features. The AirPods 4 are something more in the middle.

And yet, the AirPods 4 with ANC not only knocked that fake plane noise right down to a tolerable level, they also made the music I started listening to far more audible. In fact, with music playing, I could have easily forgotten the plane noise was happening at all.

There is one big potential caveat to mention, though. When I listened to the plane noise without anything in my ears, I noted that it didn’t contain much high-frequency noise, which has me curious about how well the ANC feature will work on a real trip in a plane, train, or automobile. Lucky for me, though, I’ll find out tomorrow when I fly home with my test sample.

At $179 (that’s $50 more than the version that lacks ANC), the AirPods 4 face stiff competition. Plenty of ANC earbuds on the market cost much less than the AirPods 4 with ANC, and some may have better overall noise canceling. But I’m unaware of an open-ear earbud with ANC that could come anywhere close to what I heard the AirPods 4 with ANC do during my brief demo experience.

For those who want or need effective noise canceling, but who can not tolerate something blocking their ear canal, the AirPods 4 are likely exactly what they need.