GoKawiilis a senior reviewer covering TVs and audio. He has over 20 years experience in AV, and has previously been on staff at Digital Trends and Reviewed.
It’s almost a guarantee that the new version of a product will be, at best, the same price as the old one, and often (especially in the past couple years) more expensive. But that’s not what Apple did with the AirPods 5. The $149 AirPods 5 with Wireless Charging Case are $30 cheaper than the AirPods 4 with ANC they replace. They have slightly better active noise cancellation, and they’re the first non-Pro AirPods with volume controls on the stem. Apple has never made wireless earbuds that offer as much for so little, and they make the base AirPods 5, which are $20 cheaper but don’t have wireless charging or volume controls, pointless.
The AirPods 5, like all non-Pro AirPods, use an open-ear design, meaning they don’t have silicone ear tips to form a seal in your ear canal. Last generation, Apple offered two versions of the AirPods: one with active noise cancellation and one without. This time around, there are still two models. But both models of the AirPods 5 include active noise cancellation. They both also have adaptive audio and transparency mode, plus live translation with an iPhone 15 Pro or later, and are IP57 rated (up from IP54 on the AirPods 4). The main differences between the $129 AirPods 5 and the $149 AirPods 5 with Wireless Charging Case — aside from the wireless charging case and the annoyingly long name — are the volume controls, battery life, and 20 bucks.
That extra $20 is well worth it. The wireless charging case is nice (it isn’t MagSafe, but it does work with the magnetic Apple Watch charger). But the most important change is that they finally have swipe volume controls. That’s one thing that’s been missing from all non-Pro AirPods until now. Part of the convenience of wireless earbuds is that you can leave your phone in your pocket or bag, and omitting volume control on the earbuds themselves defeats the purpose. With the two models so close in price, I can’t understand why Apple even released the base AirPods 5.
The AirPods 5’s mesh screens are denser than the 4, naturally blocking more ambient sound.
Apple says that both models of the AirPods 5 have up to 50 percent better noise cancellation than the AirPods 4 with ANC, but the company doesn’t provide details about which frequencies are affected (we’ll have to wait for folks like SoundGuys to put them on their measurement rig). While the size and look of the AirPods remains the same, Apple redesigned the internal acoustic architecture, reworked the algorithm, and included denser mesh on the ports for slightly more passive attenuation (naturally reducing ambient noise), which helps achieve that ANC improvement. In my own subjective testing, I could hear minor benefits both with low-end airplane drones and when out at a busy restaurant picking up some burritos to go.
The AirPods 4 with ANC already delivered better noise-canceling than any other open-ear design I’ve heard (particularly clip earbuds), and the AirPods 5 do step that up. But don’t expect the kind of isolation you get from sealed earbuds like the AirPods Pro 3, which are often on sale for only $50 more.
The AirPods 5 (right) share the exterior design as the AirPods 4 (middle), and are inspired by the internal acoustic architecture of the AirPods Pro 3 (left).
Apple has always led the field with its transparency mode, but with the AirPods 5, there’s now barely any perceivable difference between transparency mode and not wearing the earbuds at all. With other earbuds, transparency mode generally boosts high-frequency ambient sounds a little, such as the sibilance of esses. Verge laptop reviewer Antonio Di Benedetto wore the new AirPods on a 5K run and found transparency mode to be preferable to ANC, as it gave great awareness without wind noise. It also never felt like the earbuds were in danger of falling out of his ears.
The redesigned internals also benefit the AirPods 5’s sound. There’s more bass response — something I felt the AirPods 4 were sorely lacking — and vocals have more clarity and aren’t as covered and muted as they were on the 4. Kim Deal’s singing on “Gigantic” by The Pixies is clean and easy to hear amidst the distorted guitars that wash over the chorus, and throughout Surfer Rosa, the separation of instruments and voices across the soundstage impressed me. The AirPods 5 sound better than other open-ear earbuds I’ve heard.
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