4 Reasons To Skip Buying The AirPods 5

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In early September, Apple announced the AirPods 5, the next generation of its open-ear AirPods. Alongside bringing active noise cancellation to the cheapest option, the AirPods 5 also offer a few other upgrades that users might be tempted by. However, before you go and drop your hard-earned cash on a new pair of AirPods 5, there are a couple of things you'll probably want to keep in mind, especially if you already own a pair of AirPods.

One of the biggest perks of the AirPods 5 is that even the cheapest version offers active noise cancellation (ANC). Affordable earbuds with ANC aren't unheard of, and that feature alone doesn't make the AirPods 5 worth upgrading to, especially if you already own the AirPods 4 with ANC. Overall, the latest version is a minimal upgrade compared to the previous generation of AirPods. Sure, slightly better dust, sweat, and water resistance might be worth it to some, but overall, that isn't going to make a huge difference for most people. Additionally, all of Apple's new Siri AI functionality, as well as Live Translation, is available across the AirPods 4 with ANC and up, so you don't need to upgrade just to get access to those features, either.

If you're on the fence or just looking for some earbuds that offer similar features at a cheaper price point, there are some cheaper alternatives to the AirPods 5 that you may want to go with instead. If you really do have your heart set on the AirPods 5, just be aware of the following things before you finally click that purchase button.

While there are definitely some benefits to going with the AirPods 5, overall they're a fairly minimal upgrade compared to the AirPods 4. Both use the same H2 chip, which means you're going to see very similar performance and support for features. They also both run Bluetooth 5.3, which means no improvement to connection distance or quality. The real difference is going to come into play when you look at whether you have the AirPods 4 with ANC or just the standard cheaper version of the AirPods 4, which didn't come with that active noise cancellation.

That is one thing that Apple has changed with the AirPods 5. Even the cheapest version now offers ANC, which is a huge deal. However, going with that cheaper version does come with some slight costs: you get less battery life and you don't get the wireless charging case that the more expensive version of the AirPods 5 and the AirPods 4 with ANC offer. Additionally, because the AirPods 4 and AirPods 5 use the same driver and overall design, you can expect similar sound and fit from both earbud models.

Ultimately, the biggest difference between the AirPods 5 and the AirPods 4 is going to be the stronger ANC. Apple claims the ANC in the AirPods 5 is up to 1.5 times better than what's found in the AirPods 4 with ANC. The AirPods 5 have seen a water resistance upgrade, being rated at IP57 resistance compared to the IP54 rating on the AirPods 4. The AirPods 5 also have slightly better battery life on paper, with Apple claiming up to 22 hours of battery life with the charging case and five hours of battery life when using active noise cancellation.

Apple's claim that the AirPods 5 offer more active noise cancellation than the AirPods 4 with ANC is a nice upgrade on paper. However, when you start actually looking at how it compares to other headphones and even how it works in real-life scenarios, the story is a bit different.

According to tests from SoundGuys, there was an average ambient noise reduction of around a 59% when using the AirPods 5 with ANC. The publication said that this is the best its testers had seen from open-ear earbuds, and that is worth keeping in mind. However, the tests also showed that the AirPods 5 tend to struggle with any noise below 500 Hz. That means that rumbling car engines and even the sound of airplane engines may still make it through when you're using ANC on the AirPods 5.

That's not a big deal for most people, especially if you don't do a lot of traveling on airplanes or in very loud areas with rumbling engines. Other reports and tests of the AirPods 5 also showed that users could still hear typing and even nearby conversations when using the AirPods 5 with ANC in an office setting. If you want to actually block out the world when you're listening to music, it may be better to go with something like the AirPods Pro 3, which offer an actual sealed ear tip to help keep sound out.

This particular negative is probably going to be less of an issue for most people, but it is still something worth keeping in mind. One of the benefits of AirPods is that they can also offer different health-related features and even some accessibility options, and the entire suite of AirPods supports features such as live translation, which can help you speak with people that don't know your language. Nonetheless, AirPods 5 owners are going to miss out on the Pro-based health features that Apple has been adding to its more expensive AirPods models.

This means features such as heart rate monitoring and even hearing health tools are going to be unavailable if you're using the AirPods 5. This isn't unexpected, as Apple's hearing aid features have only been available on the AirPods Pro lineup in the past. These aren't going to be important features for everyone, of course. But it is something to be aware of, especially if you're looking to purchase these for someone who has hearing-related issues, as they won't be able to take advantage of those features.

If you were hoping that the next generation of AirPods would bring better battery life to the earbuds, we have unfortunate news. The base version of the AirPods 5 still ships with the same four-hour listening time (when using ANC) that the AirPods 4 offered. You can get an additional hour (for a total of five) if you upgrade to the more expensive AirPods 5 with the wireless charging case. That additional $20 will also get you volume controls on the stem, as well as some extra battery time in the charging case.

Considering there are plenty of other great and cheap wireless earbuds that offer more battery life even with ANC, among other features, the AirPods 5 may be a hard sell for some users that are looking for more juice with each charge. If you're hoping for super long-lasting battery life, the AirPods 5 are, unfortunately, not the answer. If you do want to stick with Apple for your earbuds, then the AirPods Pro 3 can often be found on sale for $199 on retail sites such as Amazon.