Open-ear earbuds are more comfortable to wear for most, but it used to mean no active noise cancellation — until now.

The new features make a great value proposition when you look at their prices. The low-cost $129/£129 variant are still packed with those touch panels and Spatial Audio, and the $179/£179 model adds that lovely ANC. They're easy to find as well. You can grab them from the Apple Store and Amazon, amongst other retailers.

The AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation bridge the gap between the base AirPods and the AirPods Pro. How do they perform?

In other words, without getting too much into the weeds of things, active noise cancellation works by the device "monitoring" the outside noise and emitting an inverted soundwave, or what Treski calls "the anti phase," to neutralize or negate the external cacophony.

Active noise cancellation is the most significant difference between the two models, but it's far from the only one.

My experience, however, has been an interesting one — and I’m still not entirely sure how I feel about them. Do I love their slate of new features, or do the sonic issues hold