We didn’t see any good price cuts on Apple’s AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation over Black Friday – which is understandable since they only came out in September, but in my AirPods 4 with ANC review, I said their biggest problem is that they don’t look like great value when AirPods Pro 2 are constantly reduced to the same price as them, if not cheaper. But now, this deal fixes that!
You can get the AirPods 4 with ANC for $139 at Amazon, reduced from $179. They fell to $165 over Black Friday, but we didn’t exactly class that as a blockbuster deal… this is the kind of price I think works for these buds, compared to the other AirPods options.
Speaking of, I should mention that AirPods Pro 2 are currently $169 at Amazon, which is $15 more than they cost over Black Friday, but is still $80 lower than MSRP, and I totally recommend them for that price.
Today’s best AirPods deals
You might be wondering where the cheaper AirPods 4 model without ANC is, among all these price cuts. They’re available for $119 from Amazon, a $10 discount, but I’d encourage everyone to spend the extra on the version with ANC.
I enjoyed the AirPods 4 with ANC a lot when I tested them, and it’s amazing how well the noise cancellation works considering they don’t use in-ear tips to create a strong seal against the outside world. And I was very pleasantly surprised when testing their battery life to discover that Apple’s disappointing four-hour quoted battery life was a drastic under-estimate, because I got 6.5 hours of playback with the noise cancellation active.
Comparing the AirPods 4 with ANC directly to the AirPods Pro 2, the Pro 2 definitely have a little extra clarity and expansiveness in their sound, and the in-ear fit means the noise cancellation is stronger. I also really value the UWB location tracking in the case that means your iPhone can literally point you to whichever coat pocket you’ve left them in.
However, the AirPods 4 with ANC’s case is so tiny that I love it, and for $30 cheaper, I can totally see lots of people preferring them – especially if you like the open-ear fit over the in-ear tips. I called the AirPods 4 with ANC “the best open-ear buds for iPhone”, and that’s even more true at $139!