Quick review
The good
The not-so-good
Another compact take on noise cancellation, the AirPods 5 shouldn’t work as well as they do. The fact that they’re a pair of earbuds that handles noise is just one of the things that makes them worth checking out.
Five generations into the AirPods, you may have an expectation about how Apple’s truly wireless take on the EarPods are supposed to look.
Incredibly, we are 14 years into the life of the EarPods, and while Apple doesn’t really do the wired-only models anymore, there’s little doubting that many of us grew up with these earbuds. Some of us, begrudgingly so.
And yet five generations in, Apple still has a few tricks up its sleeve.
It has new features, finding ways to block the sound of the world when earbuds don’t normally do that. It has water resistance and spatial audio, features not every earbud would venture to cover.
And perhaps more interestingly, it has a design that can cover more ears. So those of us who begrudgingly wore these buds until anything better came along might have a reason to consider them once again. They might even find this new model… comfortable.
Apple’s AirPods 5 aren’t like those earbuds from years ago. No, they appeal to a wider audience, as Apple strives to find the middle ground between buds and phones, and ends up with a pair of surprising pair you’ll probably end up liking more than you’re prepared to admit.
Design and features
A new generation of AirPods the fifth-gen may be, but they do not look a whole lot different. If you’ve seen these before, they’re largely Apple’s EarPods without the cords and a stem, albeit a much shorter stem than the original first couple of generations.
The previous effort changed a lot, and in version five, there are also more changes again. The look is similar, but with some subtle difference in design, while the inside sees new architecture.
Apple has left the H2 chip, but improved the driver architecture, resulting in something that is entirely new and made for purpose, covering changes in the music and sound rendition.
That has also led to changes in the active noise cancellation, which now boasts roughly 1.5 times the performance compared with its predecessor, though still doesn’t hold a candle to the AirPods Pro 3, which rate as some of the world’s best noise cancellation, even when placed next to Bose’s best, no less.
There are changes in more places, such as with the IP rating getting better (IP57 vs IP54), plus a jump in battery life.
But from the first glance, the AirPods 5 look like the AirPods 4 with active noise cancellation. The only major difference now is that you get noise cancellation regardless of the model you pick, and you’re choosing between whether you want better controls on the buds and wireless charging in the case, or weaker controls and no wireless charging.
In-use
With technically two types of AirPods 5, there are technically also two types of ways you can control the buds: either using the phone or watch to control the volume — which is how you’ll need to control volume if you opt for the model with no volume swipe on the stem — or that and swiping the volume on the AirPods 5 with the wireless charge case.
The choice is basically squeezing the stem to control things on both, with only one pair supporting volume control, as well. Both will let you squeeze the stem once for pause and play, twice to go forward a track, and three times to go back a track, whole holding down the squeeze action will turn noise cancellation on and off.
It’s more or less the same control Apple uses on its AirPods Pro models, minus the ear tips, because these don’t have those.
That does make control easy across the line-up, though also means the volume swipe-equipped models are the best you can find out of the bunch.
Both do support adaptive modes, however, meaning when you start talking, the earbuds can work out you want transparency mode on and let you hear through them. This part is hit and miss, but fortunately you can override it by simply holding the stem down. It’s the same shortcut, you’re just looking past the automatic ANC.
Performance
Whether noise cancellation is on or off, you’ll likely be treated to the same way sound is rendered, which is a combination of parts working underneath the hard glossy white plastic of the AirPods 5. An assortment of chips and drivers and architecture make these AirPods work, which brings us to what is arguably the most important part of our review: how they sound.
After all, it hardly matters how they look or work if a pair of earbuds doesn’t sound amazing. So do the AirPods 5 deliver?
If you’ve made it this far into the review, you’ll be delighted to know that yes, they definitely do, and our experience testing the AirPods 5 with the Pickr Sound Test definitely proves it.
That starts with electronic, delivering a surprisingly large and deep drop for the bass, evident when Tycho’s “Glider” well and truly kicks in, or you’re listening to the punch of the bass drum in Daft Punk’s “Contact”. There are we things we look for, and the tracks starting this soundtrack come off warmer than expected, at least from the get-go.
It continued across spectrums, with heftier low-end than expected, punching hard on the likes of Ariana Grande and Carly Rae Jepsen, and delivering a lot of space on the Atoms-remastered tracks, such as the version of Marvin Gaye’s “Ain’t No Mountain” Apple Music served up, at least compared to the high-res stereo offering we normally hear.
In fact, most of what we were treated to was just that: mostly balanced with a little more warmth in the kitty. The lows are particularly bouncy, while some mixes surprised with more brightness. Rage Against the Machine’s Atmos mix of “Take the Power Back” definitely qualifies for that.
Regardless of what you listen to, the AirPods 5 seem to shine. Some tracks are definitely better than others, but in stereo they deliver.
That said, the sound is definitely different from prior models, with some tracks delivering a deeper bass than expected. Apple’s newly designed architecture is definitely more obvious than we anticipated.
Noise cancellation
An area that earbuds aren’t known for, the AirPods 5 includes the ability to cancel out background sound almost in a physics defying way. You see earbuds don’t block the ear canal the way earphones or headphones do. Rather, they rest outside and so lack the sort of passive noise cancellation features of other audio gadgets.
Technically they shouldn’t work for noise cancellation, and companies have tried. Huawei tried years ago, and the result wasn’t great. Samsung tried previously, and it too wasn’t fantastic.
But in the AirPods 4, Apple nailed it. The technology worked, almost to a point where it doesn’t make sense. The AirPods 4 ANC are a surprising standout pair for noise cancellation and portability.
Here in version five, you get noise cancellation whether you want to use it or not. You can turn it off, but ANC is here for the ride. The only difference between the AirPods 5 models is whether your stem has controls and whether the case can be charged. That’s it.
In terms of how they deliver noise cancellation, and whether it delivers, let’s tackle it backwards: yes, they really work, providing more cancellation, but not of everything. It’s really just a focus on hums and engines and the buzz of life. This isn’t total cancellation. For that, Apple clearly wants to shift your attention to other offerings, such as the AirPods Pro 3 or the AirPods Max 2.
Rather, the AirPods 5 shuts out the repeatable sounds you may not realise you’re living with. The sound of the train engine on the daily commute, the background sound of cars and wind as you walk, and so on.
Low voices are also quelled slightly, but higher voices become slightly muffled and still get in. The train’s whistling and rumble can still get in.
The AirPods 5 are better at noise cancellation than they have any right to be, but they’re not a total isolation, and don’t leave you cut off from the world. They simply get you some of the way there. Enough to matter, really.
Spatial audio
Apple also gives you access to spatial audio on the AirPods 5, something that isn’t a surprise given Apple limits the tech to its own earbuds and headphones connecting to its devices, and also to Apple Music.
If you have the AirPods 5, an iPhone or iPad, and Apple Music, you’ll hear a spatial sound with support for head-tracking. And if you have Spotify and the rest of the hardware, you won’t. But you still might hear spatial in movies and TV shows played through iPhone and iPad, because that is supported here.
Regardless of how you hear spatial audio, if you do at all, the experience is similar to how it is on bigger Apple headphones such as the AirPods Max 2: delightful fun when your head is tracked left and right, giving you a more immersive take on some of what you hear.
You can, of course, turn it off, and that may end up being preferable to some of the remasters and remakes of tracks. But it’s a bonus we’re happy to see, and one that gets the proper Dolby Atmos track compared with what happens when you use earbuds without support the same track on Android with music services.
Battery
With noise cancellation switched on and the sound pumping, Apple’s AirPods 5 don’t quite achieve the same battery life as every other earbud or earphone, typically covering a max of 5 hours of runtime before sticking them back into the case.
Just like every other pair of truly wireless earphones you can find, the case is where you’ll need to charge, and you’ll find a good 22 hours in total, or roughly three and a bit more full charges. That said, unless you push the five hour maximum to its limits, you’ll likely be able to see a few more charges before needing to plug the case in.
Overall, five hours isn’t a staggering amount of battery life, barely hitting one hour more than its predecessor. That said, it’s more than enough for most, and should give your ears a minor break if you need space for charging on a long journey of sorts.
We’ve certainly seen better battery life, but the effort isn’t bad here.
Value
On the positive side, the value actually works out really well, either the AirPods 5 managing to be less expensive than their predecessor.
Now that’s something you don’t see every day: a price falling.
In the age where AI is driving prices higher, we definitely didn’t have a lower tag on our bingo card, and yet that is precisely what Apple has offered. Whereas the AirPods 4 cost $279 for the noise cancelling model, the AirPods 5 starts at $219 provided you don’t want the wireless charge case or volume swiping controls. Add those and it goes up to $249, a price tag that still manages to fit below its predecessor.
That is actually great value, especially for a pair of buds made by Apple.
While it’s true there are noise cancelling earphones that cost less, iPhone owners will see this as a good deal. Anker’s recent Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro are arguably a better deal offering excellent noise cancellation and controls on the case, but miss out on the proper spatial audio and Apple integration.
If you live and breathe Apple, the next closest ear choice is the $330 Beats Powerbeats Fit, and on the other side, the $130 Beats Solo Buds, and that last one isn’t in the same ballpark, missing noise cancellation and spatial support.
The AirPods 5 are well worth the money.
What needs work?
There’s a lot Apple gets right in the AirPods 5, not least of which includes the price, or even the ability to make these types of buds play better with ears that normally dislike earbuds.
You won’t find hearing aid support here, though, with Apple leaving that for the AirPods Pro models, likely because of their cancellation technology. Nor will you find MagSafe’s wireless charging, largely because the size of the case is too small. You can use the Apple Watch charger if you have one.
However needing a choice between having volume controls on the stem and not having volume controls is an odd decision. It’s the sort of choice someone in marketing thought would be clever: why not force the obvious upsell to get people to spend more for something that should have been included.
As it is, the price difference between the two is thirty dollars, which in tech is hardly anything. For $219, you get the same buds with a marginally different battery life, no volume swiping, and a case that misses out on wireless charging, and for $249, you get all of those features. Apple should really have just cut the middleman out and made it $249 regardless.
This looks and feels like an unnecessary upsell.
What we love
Despite the fact that the buds need only one model, the AirPods 5 are a success because of what they can do: convince even the most ardent stalwart who doesn’t like earbuds that earbuds can be worth using.
This reviewer has never really preferred earbuds. He’ll review them and use them, but he’ll always pick earphones and headphones over earbuds. The AirPods 4 were the first pair to change his mind, and the AirPods 5 are yet more of that.
While earphones and headphones offer undoubtedly better noise cancellation, the AirPods 5 have something neither form-factor nails as well: compact convenience.
They’re small. They’re pocketable. They’re easy. They’re properly convenient, and easy to use and wear.
Frankly, they’re difficult to complain about.
Final thoughts (TLDR)
Between the slightly lower price and the slightly better noise cancellation, it’s difficult to complain about the AirPods 5. We expected a new model, but we didn’t expect to be surprised.
These surprise in just about every way. They’re priced better, feel better, sound better, and are generally just better overall.
While they won’t be an upgrade for anyone with the AirPods 4, if you happen to have an old model lying around and are keen to keep what you love about the AirPods, while still get something new, they’re hard to pass up. And if you normally aren’t a fan of earbuds, these are also worth a look in.
We’d still preface these as iPhone only, because the software and experience is clearly focused on iDevices and the Mac. If that’s you, they’re definitely worth checking out. Recommended.
