After buying the AirPods 4 w/ NC for my wife, I was blown away by how comfortable they were relative to my AirPods Pro 2. I had not had the hard-tip AirPods in my ear since the launch of the original AirPods Pro. I forgot how nice it was to not have your ears plugged, and to be less isolated. These were tradeoffs I was OK with in order to get ANC, but once I had the option for both, I took the plunge. Here are my quick thoughts:

• The AP4 are a best of both worlds, but not without compromise. I find them to be about 60% more comfortable than APP2, but ANC is 40% worse. For 90% of use cases, I prefer AP4.

• This may be my boldest feeling, but I think there's a case that the AP4 are better for my mental health. I don't feel as isolated. I can hear my neighborhood more when I go for walks. I have a 10 month old son and feel like when I'm watching him while they are in my ears, I'm more present with him and able to hear more subtle noises he makes. Basically, less in a bubble, for better or worse, but in my opinion, in most cases, for the better.

  • This is all while still cutting out some of life's more annoying sounds quite well (A/C, refrigerator, etc.)

• I went to a public workspace and found myself much more distracted by people talking than I was on the APP2. This is clearly where the seal helps most. This is the 10% where I think I miss my APP2.

• I miss the volume stem control, and it's a shame it's not on there, but it's not a deal breaker.

• Transparency / Adaptive are much better and more natural on the AP4

• Battery life is noticeably worse but I think it's just enough to not actually impact my life. Just notice it getting closer to 20% before I would have charged whereas before the APP2 rarely got that low.

• I think a few firmware updates will help. A few quirks with the ANC in edge cases that need to get ironed out. For instance, when I put away the dishes, it reacts to the little sounds of the dishes very oddly and annoyingly.

Here is where I have netted out: I have a Bose QuiteComforts that previously collected dust. Because I like my AP4 more for most situations, I will use those over the APP2, and my Bose QCs will get some use finally in the rare situations I miss more of that isolated bubble feeling.

I’m actually confused on how the latest brand of AirPods are actually cheaper than an older model. Does that mean that the Pro 2 is actually better hence the higher price?

I’ve used the AirPods Pro 2 before but lost one so just looking to buy a whole new set. My fear with the AirPods 4 is that they won’t fit in my ears because they don’t have the silicone tips on them. Which version is better?

I’m considering the AirPods 4 because it’s newer and somehow cheaper but I’m not sure since I’m more used to the older model. What should I do?