The gap between the AirPods Pro 2 and the AirPods 4 is narrower than ever. However, some key differences make the Pro model a better pick. Here’s a rundown of why you should pick the AirPods Pro 2 over the AirPods 4.
1 Silicone Tips for Better Isolation
If you’re looking for earbuds to provide isolation from your surroundings, the AirPods Pro 2 will forever be the better pick. The silicone tips and overall design allow the earbuds to sit deeper in your ear canal, creating a seal and providing passive noise cancellation.
This is a layer of isolation even before the Active Noise Cancellation feature kicks in—something that the hard plastic ends of the AirPods 4—with or without Active Noise Cancellation (ANC)—cannot provide and a factor that we’ve highly appreciated in our AirPods Pro 2 review.
There are times I’ve used my AirPods Pro without the noise cancellation feature active and still have been pleasantly surprised with how much noise they block out.
2 Better Battery Life
The next advantage that creates a gap between these AirPods models is the battery life. The way you use your AirPods has a considerable impact on how long they’ll last on a single charge.
Apple rates the AirPods Pro 2—with ANC enabled—to last six hours between charges. If you activate head tracking and Spatial Audio, the endurance drops to five and a half hours. Having used the AirPods Pro 2 since they launched in 2022, I feel Apple’s claim is accurate.
Coming to the AirPods 4, the earbuds are rated to last for five hours between charges—four hours if you’ve picked the ANC model and enabled the feature.
If you compare this against the AirPods Pro 2, that’s one more hour of listening than the standard AirPods 4 and two more hours than the AirPods 4 with ANC. This better battery life is well worth the increased price.
All models here are rated for 30 hours of listening when you add the battery capacity of the charging case to the equation. So, there are no comparisons there. However, the AirPods Pro 2 will also provide 15 minutes more listening time with a five-minute charge compared to AirPods 4—one hour on AirPods Pro 2 compared to 45 minutes on AirPods 4 (with or without ANC).
3 Hearing Aid Features
At the “It’s Glowtime” iPhone event, Apple announced several hearing-oriented features for the AirPods Pro 2, expanding what its Pro earbuds can do for its users. There are three new additions: hearing protection, a clinical-grade hearing test, and hearing aid functionality.
Hearing protection uses the H2 chip to more actively reduce loud, intermittent noises—Apple says 48,000 times per second—while the Hearing Test feature will act as an accessible examination to identify if you have a degree of hearing loss. Later, you can also share these reports with your doctor.
Lastly, the AirPods Pro 2 can also act as an over-the-counter hearing aid device for users with mild to moderate hearing loss—this feature has also received FDA approval.
All in all, if you have perceived hearing loss or are often exposed to loud sounds, getting the more expensive model might be more worth it than you’d think.
4 Conversation Boost
Sticking to the point of features that help you hear better, the AirPods Pro 2 also features Conversation Boost—an accessibility feature that has been available since the AirPods Pro 2’s launch.
Apple’s higher-end AirPods Pro 2 can use their beamforming microphones combined with the computational power of the H2 chip to make it easier to hear a person in a face-to-face conversation.
5 You Can Find Them on Sale
Lastly, there’s the price. While the AirPods Pro 2 has an MSRP of $249, they launched in 2022 and were only refreshed with a USB-C port in 2023. As a result, you will often find them on sale. The lowest we’ve seen so far is $190 on Amazon, putting the AirPods Pro 2 at $10 and $60 over the starting price of the AirPods 4 with ANC and standard AirPods 4, respectively.
Yes, the AirPods 4 models will likely go on sale eventually, but at $190, it’s hard to disagree that AirPods Pro 2 offer tremendous value.
When you put these AirPods models next to each other, the similarities are more apparent than you may initially think. Still, the smaller additions on the AirPods Pro 2 add up, making them worth every ounce of consideration and your hard-earned money.
