AirPods 5 Review Roundup: Big ANC Upgrade and Great Sound at a Surprisingly Low Starting Price, Critics Say

Apple's newest AirPods have drawn some of the most positive reviews the standard AirPods lineup has received in years, with critics across multiple outlets praising the AirPods 5 for delivering meaningfully improved active noise cancellation and sound quality at a starting price lower than any previous AirPods generation, even as the earbuds' open-ear design means the overall experience still depends heavily on how well they fit an individual listener's ears.

The AirPods 5 look nearly identical to the previous AirPods 4, retaining a short plastic stem, no silicone ear tips, and a compact charging case roughly the size of a small pack of gum. But according to Engadget, Apple made several meaningful upgrades under the hood, crediting the improvements in part to "a new multiport acoustic architecture," alongside refinements to the company's active noise cancellation algorithms and Adaptive EQ processing. The result, according to Apple's own claims cited by Engadget, is noise cancellation that blocks 50% more sound than the AirPods 4 delivered, along with "richer, more detailed sound."

Reviewers largely found those claims held up in testing. Cult of Mac's review noted that the previous AirPods 4 offered what the reviewer described at the time as "ANC Lite," reducing ambient noise rather than truly blocking it. Testing the AirPods 5, the same reviewer found Apple's promised improvement to be real rather than exaggerated, reporting the earbuds stayed securely in place through hours of wear around the house and on several long bike rides.

Tom's Guide offered similarly strong praise, calling the AirPods 5 "the upgrade we deserved" and highlighting the sound quality and noise cancellation as "majorly impressive" given the earbuds' starting price of just $124, the lowest launch price of any AirPods model to date, undercutting even the original 2016 AirPods, which launched at $159. CNN Underscored echoed that assessment, describing the AirPods 5 as "one of the best values that Apple's ever offered," pointing to the combination of strong sound quality, effective noise cancellation and useful features including live language translation, despite the earbuds notably lacking "Pro" branding.

Not every reviewer found the AirPods 5 a universally comfortable fit. SoundGuys, which tested the earbuds over a four-day period, emphasized that because the AirPods 5 do not seal the ear canal the way silicone-tipped earbuds like the AirPods Pro do, an individual's ear shape plays an outsized role in determining nearly every aspect of the listening experience, including how effective the noise cancellation and sound quality actually feel in practice. AppleInsider offered a similar caveat, noting that while the reviewer personally found the........

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