I tested the AirPods 5 — they're $50 cheaper than the AirPods 4 but 100% better

The AirPods 5 are Apple’s latest iteration of in-ear buds. Starting at just $124, these are the cheapest pair of AirPods… ever. Yes, ever. (The original AirPods launched at $159 in 2016 and, while the 2024 AirPods 4 base model cost $129, they lacked ANC.)

But the AirPods 5 offer ANC, great sound quality, and near-perfect call quality for just $124. Users with an Apple Intelligence-enabled phone also get AI features like Live Translation, though you'll still have to upgrade to the AirPods Pro 3 for the hearing aid and heart rate monitor features.

So, are the AirPods 5 the best earbuds on the market? For iPhone users on a budget, without a doubt. The sound quality is miles better than the AirPods 4, they’re supremely affordable, and the ANC is impressive for non-silicone-tip buds. For the full story, keep reading this Apple AirPods 5 review.

Apple AirPods 5 review: Specs

Apple AirPods 5 review: Price & availability

The AirPods 5 are available in two versions: standard and wireless charging case. I tested the wireless charging case model. The only difference is the charging case, which provides one extra hour of battery and, as you'd expect given the name, wireless charging.

There’s no difference in sound quality, ANC, call quality, or features between the two models. Unlike previous AirPods, both the cheaper model and the pricier model offer active noise cancellation (ANC).

The AirPods 5 are $124 from Amazon U.S., while the wireless charging model is $149 from Amazon U.S. This is markedly cheaper than the AirPods 4 and AirPods 4 ANC, which launched at $129/$179.

I was pleasantly surprised to see the AirPods 5 effectively cheaper than the 4 — you get ANC for $55 less if you choose the standard charging case — so I hope Apple continues this trend.

In terms of overall value, $124/$149 are reasonable prices for AirPods: Samsung’s Galaxy Buds 4 cost $179, the same price as the AirPods 4 ANC. Apple has now undercut this by a whopping $50. Sure, you can get similar-spec earbuds like the EarFun Air Pro 4+ ($99) or CMF by Nothing Buds 2 Pro for less, but $124 for AirPods with ANC is still a great value.

Apple AirPods 5 review: Design

The AirPods 5 are essentially identical to the AirPods 4: shorter stem, no silicone ear tip, tiny charging case. When I say tiny, I mean it. The case is 0.8 inches thick and just under 2 inches wide.

I’m a huge fan of how they look. While they won’t break any design frontiers like the rectangular Status Audio Pro X, they’re inconspicuous and stylish, and that’s what most AirPods users want.

Comfort

As relatively small earbuds, the AirPods 5 are comfortable, even after long periods of wear. I never had to take them out. Due to the lack of silicone ear tips, the nozzle doesn’t irritate my ears. I’d recommend these earbuds for anyone who doesn’t like silicone ear tips, or doesn’t like the feeling of a seal in their ears.

I have really, really tiny ears — I need to use the smallest ear tip size every single time — and I wore the AirPods 5 for around six hours with zero pain.

Controls

So there are a couple of differences here: the standard charging case doesn’t come with a volume swipe control, but the wireless charging case model does. As I tested the $149 wireless case version, I got to play with the volume swipe.

If you’re familiar with the AirPods Pro 2 or Pro 3, you’ll also be familiar with the volume swipe control. It works identically on the AirPods 5 — simply swipe up and down on the stem to control volume. This is genuinely one of my favorite aspects of AirPods overall. Whenever I test other earbuds, I find myself inadvertently swiping up on the stem.

In terms of general controls, the AirPods 5 are identical to the AirPods 4. One squeeze pauses music, two squeezes skip a track, and a long press switches between ANC modes.

Connectivity

I’m sensing a theme here, but as these are AirPods, they boast all the benefits of the Apple ecosystem. If you’ve got an iPhone, Mac, iPad, or anything in between, you’ll get seamless connectivity between devices.

When I listened to music on my iPhone 16 Pro and started playing a YouTube video on my MacBook Pro, the earbuds automatically moved to my laptop.

Unfortunately, though, it’s not all sunshine and rainbows. I can’t believe I’m writing this in the year 2026, but the AirPods 5 still only have Bluetooth 5.3. When Samsung released the Galaxy Buds 4 in March 2026, they came with Bluetooth 6.1 as standard. If Samsung can do it — amongst budget brands like EarFun, by the way — then why can’t Apple?

Bluetooth 5.3 came out five years ago — so it’s nowhere near as future-proofed as Bluetooth 6.1, which was released in 2025. In short, Bluetooth 5.3 has inferior range and reliability, meaning the earbuds will cut out sooner and might suffer from broken connections more regularly.

In reality, I was able to get out of my apartment door and downstairs to the foyer before the earbuds cut out.

New features

Due to the revered H2 chip, the AirPods 5 (and 4) are almost as smart as the AirPods Pro 3 and AirPods Max 2. While the hoo-ha surrounding the H2 chip can feel more like marketing jargon than useful information, its inclusion here brings a few noticeable benefits.

I’m not going to pretend the H2 chip is a newfangled thing — it was also present in 2025’s AirPods 4 and AirPods 4 ANC — but it’s still nice to see on such cheap earbuds. With it, you can access deeper Siri integration (with a compatible iPhone running Apple Intelligence, of course) and AI features like Live Translation. Live Translation works decently well, but still isn’t fast enough for real-life conversations.

Even so, there’s not a huge change between AirPods 4 and AirPods 5.

As you can see, the main difference between the 4 and 5 is “stronger” ANC (more on that later). If you want to unleash the newest health or AI innovations in earbuds, the AirPods 5 are not the buds for you. Don’t get me wrong, they’re much better than the AirPods 4 — but mostly because of the improved sound quality and reduced price.

For cutting-edge features, you’d be better off with the AirPods Pro 3, which can measure your heart rate and act as FDA-approved hearing aids.

Workout features

Even though I use my AirPods for running, I only run 5ks. For a super-thorough analysis, I thought I'd ask our Fitness Managing Editor, Jane McGuire, for her experience using the AirPods 5 on a massive 22-mile run.

"I’ve always had a huge issue with Apple AirPods — they just don’t stay in my ears, which is why I’ve always recommended the AirPods Pro to runners, riders, or anyone who will listen. Yet with the new design features on the AirPods 5, namely the controls, allowing you to swipe up and down to change the volume of your music on the bud itself, and the IP57 water rating, meaning they’ll handle a downpour mid-run, I decided to leave my AirPods Pro at home and wear Apple’s latest release for a 22-mile adventure on the Thames Path.

I was impressed. While they still didn’t hold in place quite as well as other running headphones, they only really moved if I laughed at a podcast or moved my head erratically to see if there was a bike behind me. The ANC isn’t as good as the AirPods Pro 3, but for running outside, this isn’t a bad thing, as it means you can still hear the world around you while also hearing your music or podcast.

The only downside I found during my testing was the battery life — the AirPods 5 have four hours of playback time, but I found that by the time I’d walked the dog and run for three hours, my headphones were making that little noise all AirPods users dread in the final mile of my run. I wouldn’t trust these for a marathon, as I wouldn’t want to carry the case with me and top them up halfway round." — Jane McGuire, Fitness Managing Editor

Apple AirPods 5 review: Sound quality

To test sound quality, I listened to a range of genres on Qobuz, our best music streaming service for audiophiles, as well as Apple Music to test Apple ecosystem integration.

Let me tell you this — I didn’t expect such an improvement in sound quality. I never liked the sound of the AirPods 4. It’s tinny and flat at the best of times, and can even be unpleasant in treble- or bass-heavy genres.

But the AirPods 5 are completely different. Every genre I listened to was rich and detailed, with zero tinniness at the top of the treble and careful, well-controlled mids. Like the AirPods Pro models, bass is balanced rather than propulsive, better for detail listeners.

“Space Cadet” by sim0ne is a heavy hard house track with sped-up female vocals, euphoric ‘90s piano chords, and a squelchy, fast-paced bassline. Every element of this track sounded excellent. The angelic synths and processed vocals melted perfectly together, with zero fighting or battling for dominance. Every note was detailed, balanced, and euphoric. This was a near-perfect listening experience. I’m so much more impressed than I thought I would be.

Afterwards, I switched up the genre to “All Apologies” by Nirvana. Just like the electronic track, this song was immensely expansive and detailed. The layers of violins, guitars, percussion, and vocals sounded both wide and high. Even though the bass was more subdued than the lead guitar, this actually benefitted the track — it was a well-controlled complementary element than a driving force.

Finally, I listened to “Money for Nothing” by Dire Straits, one of the best headphone/earbud-testing tracks. The opening synths were clear and immersive, and I could feel the music enveloping me. The lead vocals were textured — I could hear every tremble, making the song feel more alive — and the backing vocals were just as well-developed.

Audiobooks also sound great. I played a section of “Yesteryear” on Audible. The narrator’s voice was clear and warm, and I could hear every word perfectly.

Truly, I didn’t expect this performance from the AirPods 5. Those who know me will know I was really disappointed by the AirPods 4, but the AirPods 5 have healed that wound.

Apple AirPods 5 review: ANC

The main difference between the AirPods 4 and AirPods 5 is ANC. On the 4 model, you needed to buy the “ANC” version ($179) to get ANC. Thankfully, both versions of the AirPods 5 come with ANC as standard. This is a huge step in the right direction and I’m really impressed with this change.

ANC on the AirPods 5 is good, but it’s not groundbreaking in the same way you’d expect from the AirPods Pro 3, or, heck, even the AirPods Pro 2. I played a city sounds ambient track at 68dB to test ANC (and also wore the earbuds as my general earbuds for two days).

I could still hear some high-frequency sounds like car horns and indistinct chatter, but the earbuds did a pretty decent job. Transparency mode is great, isolating sounds like notifications and speech over music.

When I wore the earbuds as my main earbuds, I could still hear myself typing in the office (I can’t while using the AirPods Pro 3), and I could still hear conversations around me. If you need something that will really cut out every ambient sound, I’d recommend the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds ($179, non-Ultra) or the AirPods Pro 3. But for no ear tips, this is a great ANC performance.

However, I will note that there’s a weird hissing/fizzing noise with ANC enabled but with no music playing. This isn’t audible when listening to music, but might be a little annoying if you use earbuds for ANC and no music in busy rooms.

Apple AirPods 5 review: Call quality

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, but we’ve got to a stage where any earbuds from a big-name brand — Apple, Samsung, Sony, Bose, etc — will have excellent call quality. The AirPods 5 are no different.

To test out the call quality, I wore the earbuds on a work call. One of my colleagues reported he was “surprised by how good they sound”. If you need earbuds for casual and professional calls, you won’t be disappointed by the call quality.

Apple AirPods 5 review: App

While the AirPods 5 don’t have an “app”, if you have an iPhone, you can customize the earbuds directly from your phone settings. Here’s a screenshot of what’s on offer.

As you can see, customization options are pretty thin on the ground, but still decent. You can configure call controls and toggle wear detection, but you can’t customize EQ in the traditional sense.

Apple AirPods 5 review: Battery

I’m as disappointed as you, but the AirPods 5 aren’t innovators in terms of battery life. The standard charging case offers 4 hours, while the wireless charging case offers 5 hours. This is majorly disappointing from such a big-name brand — and for arguably what will become the most popular “cheap” pair of earbuds.

If you want seriously good battery for cheap, I’d recommend the EarFun Air Pro 4+ ($99) or the CMF Buds 2 Pro ($69), both of which last for over 8 hours with ANC (and 11 hours without).

Apple AirPods 5 review: Verdict

I’m seriously blown away by the AirPods 5. The sound quality is much better than the predecessor, with zero tinniness and balanced, controlled bass. Vocals sound faithful, percussion is detailed, and the soundscape is remarkably expansive. On top of that, instrument separation is some of the best you can get for this price.

Of course, quality-of-life features are fantastic, too: crystal-clear call quality, surprisingly impressive ANC, and smart features thanks to the H2 chip. There’s Live Translation and integrated Siri AI — as long as you have an Apple Intelligence-enabled iPhone.

If you’re an AirPods 4 user looking to upgrade or an AirPods newbie wondering if they’re worth the splurge, you will not be disappointed by the AirPods 5. They’re a genuinely worthwhile upgrade, in terms of both functionality and price. Sound quality go up, but price go down? That’s what I like to hear.