The most effective AirPods for 2025

Learn our full AirPods Pro 2 review

Battery life: 6 hours, as much as 30 hours with charging case | Water resistance: IP54 | Noise cancellation: Sure | Automated Switching: Sure

Merely put, the Apple AirPods Pro 2 are the very best AirPods possibility as a result of they provide the total suite of Apple’s present audio know-how. Due to their silicone suggestions, the AirPods Professional 2 provide a safer match and higher noise isolation than open-ear fashions. As a 2nd-generation mannequin, they construct on the earlier model with significant upgrades in sound high quality, ANC efficiency, and total performance. 

Powered by the H2 chip, the earbuds provide you with entry to superior options like Adaptive Audio, Dialog Consciousness, Voice Isolation, Personalised Quantity, Adaptive EQ and Personalised Spatial Audio with dynamic head monitoring. After all, you’ll additionally get “pro-level” energetic noise cancellation (ANC), which supplies as much as twice as a lot distraction blocking because the first-gen AirPods Professional or the AirPods 4 with energetic noise cancellation.

Along with Voice Isolation, essentially the most natural-sounding Transparency mode you’ll discover on a set of earbuds is offered on the AirPods Professional 2. This pair of options makes this mannequin price shopping for if you would like the most suitable choice for calls in Apple’s lineup. You’ll additionally get the comfort of onboard quantity controls that different AirPods choices (earbuds) don’t provide. The case now options USB-C charging, permitting for common compatibility with different Apple gadgets just like the iPhone 15 and iPad. It additionally fees wirelessly by way of MagSafe or Qi-certified equipment and Automated Switching shortly jumps to your telephone out of your MacBook or different iCloud-synced Apple gadgets whenever you want it to take action.

AirPods Professional 2 additionally presents Apple’s listening to take a look at, listening to support and listening to safety options, which arrived as a part of iOS 18.1. In about 5 minutes, you possibly can take a clinically-validated listening to take a look at with nothing greater than your iPhone and these earbuds. Outcomes can be found instantly, and if you happen to exhibit gentle to average listening to loss, the AirPods Professional 2 can perform as a listening to support (with customizable settings). What’s extra, these earbuds can provide strong listening to safety in opposition to sustained noise beneath 110 dB. Listening to safety is enabled throughout all noise modes, which embody Transparency, Adaptive and ANC.

Learn our full AirPods 4 review

Battery life: 5 hours, as much as 30 hours with charging case | Water resistance: IP54 | Noise cancellation: No | Automated Switching: Sure

Apple gave its “common” earbuds a giant overhaul in 2024, most notably including ANC to its open-wear design for the primary time. After all, the addition of noise cancellation raises the worth, so the non-ANC model of the AirPods 4 is essentially the most inexpensive possibility in Apple’s ecosystem. This mannequin nonetheless packs Apple’s H2 audio chip although for enhanced audio efficiency, so you possibly can count on a number of of the corporate’s most up-to-date options onboard.

H2-powered instruments on the AirPods 4 embody Voice Isolation, Personalised Spatial Audio with dynamic head monitoring, Personalised Quantity and Adaptive EQ. They lack Dialog Consciousness, Adaptive Audio and Transparency mode from the core specs on the AirPods 4 with ANC and AirPods Professional 2. In contrast to these different two fashions, the AirPods 4 charging case doesn’t provide MagSafe or Qi-compatible wi-fi charging, nor does the accent have a built-in speaker for Discover My. Nevertheless, they now function USB-C charging, bringing them consistent with Apple’s newest gadget lineup.

You’ll get all the advantages of a refined form on the AirPods 4, which presents a safer and comfy match. Just like the third-gen AirPods, this mannequin nonetheless doesn’t have contact controls for quantity, however as an alternative presents pressure contact choices for playback controls, noise modes and taking calls. A key draw back to the open design is that you just received’t get entry to Apple’s listening to well being instruments. For the reason that AirPods 4 don’t seal off your ear canal or have the requisite ANC, the corporate’s listening to take a look at wouldn’t be correct, listening to support wouldn’t be useful and listening to safety wouldn’t satisfactory protection in loud environments.

Learn our full AirPods Max review

Battery life: 20 hours | Water resistance: None | Noise cancellation: Sure | Automated Switching: Sure

Should you favor over-ear noise-canceling headphones to earbuds, there’s just one possibility for you in Apple’s lineup. The AirPods Max debuted in 2020 and the corporate supplied a minimal replace in September 2024 that swapped the Lightning port for USB-C (and added 5 new colours). Whereas the design nonetheless feels present, the tech inside this mannequin has been a technology behind because the AirPods Professional 2 arrived in 2022. The AirPods Max are nonetheless powered by the H1 chip, which implies Apple’s extra superior audio options aren’t out there right here.

For the reason that Max doesn’t have the newer H2 silicon, options like Adaptive Audio, Personalised Quantity, Dialog Consciousness and Voice Isolation aren’t out there on these headphones. Nevertheless, you possibly can nonetheless count on hands-free entry to Siri, Personalised Spatial Audio with dynamic head monitoring, Adaptive EQ and a really natural-sounding Transparency mode. Noise cancellation works properly with most sources of fixed noise, however like plenty of headphones, it struggles with human voices. Automated Switching is right here as properly, so you possibly can count on the Max to swap between iCloud-connected gadgets shortly.

After which there’s the design. The AirPods Max really feel light-weight and comfy, regardless that the ear cups really feel a bit skinny after hours of fixed use. Bodily controls for playback, quantity and noise modes focus on a rotating crown akin to what’s on the Apple Watch and a single button – each located on the suitable aspect. That glorious Transparency mode retains you from getting shouty on calls, and the voice pickup is sweet sufficient so that you can use them throughout necessary digital conferences with out concern of audio high quality points.