While other devices overcomplicate and push prices ever higher, the AirPods 5 do the key things well while remaining affordable. Audio quality is excellent. Battery life is excellent. The design is great and the fit comfortable and decently secure. And while the ANC doesn’t match that of costlier alternatives, having ANC at all on both tiers is a huge step forward. Deeply impressive.
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With an iconic look, smart design, and massive commercial success, the AirPods are one of the finest Apple products to launch in the Tim Cook era. And unlike some Apple hardware I could mention, these neat wireless earbuds just keep getting better and better, making worthwhile steps forward in the 2nd- (wireless charging), 3rd- (improved design and sound quality), and 4th- (ANC) generation models. What’s Apple got in store for the AirPods 5? Plenty.
Launched alongside the iPhone Duo and Apple Watch Series 12, this year’s AirPods have five main attractions, running the gamut from improved ANC (active noise cancellation) on both models to a truly unexpected price cut. All signs point to another home run.
But do the AirPods 5 live up to the hype? I spent three weeks testing them thoroughly to find out. From battery performance to sound quality, my in-depth review has everything you need to decide if these are the earbuds for you. Should you upgrade from a set of AirPods 3 or 4? Are these a better choice than the AirPods Pro 3? How do they compare to earbuds from rival companies? Don’t worry, I’m here to help.
For broader advice, check out our guides to the best AirPods and the best wireless earbuds.
David Price / Foundry
The AirPods 5 have the same external design as the previous generation, and largely the same design as every AirPods model going back to 2016: the stems have got shorter over the years, but the classic shape and shiny white finish remain instantly recognizable. They look great, in short, but don’t expect anything radically new.
But there are a couple of minor changes to the design which are worth mentioning. One is that the new earbuds (and their case) are rated as significantly more water-resistant than the previous model, with the IP rating bumped from IP54 to IP57. The second number refers to liquid ingress, and in this case indicates that whereas the AirPods 4 were protected against jets of water, the AirPods 5 can handle immersion up to 1m for 30 minutes… although I wouldn’t recommend testing this out. More of a peace-of-mind type of upgrade.
A change you’re more likely to notice if you opt to spend an extra $20 on the model with the wireless charging case is the addition of a volume swipe function to the force sensor on both stems: swipe up to increase the volume, swipe down to decrease it. It’s odd that this feature isn’t available on the cheapest AirPods 5, but neither AirPods 4 model got it, and in principle this is a handy addition to your controls. An unexpectedly loud track starts playing on shuffle? No need to dig out your iPhone, you can simply lower the volume with a swipe. The only issue is that it’s a little awkward to use because the AirPods 5 fit quite loosely; trying to swipe the control sometimes just makes the earbuds move in the ear. The AirPods Pro, by comparison, have a firmer fit which makes it easier to use their swipe control.
David Price / Foundry
So let’s talk fit. Unlike the AirPods Pro, which come with detachable eartips in a range of sizes and can be further customised by using aftermarket foam tips, the AirPods 5 continue to use an integrated earbud in the same material as the rest of the device. That means you’re stuck with a single, standard shape and size. If it doesn’t fit, you’re out of luck.
That might sound unappealing, and it’s true that the range of interchangeable eartips means that (once you’ve put in the work experimenting with different sizes and potentially shopping around for third-party alternatives) the AirPods Pro will deliver a better fit and superior passive sound isolation. But in my experience the standard AirPods generally offer a good, secure, and comfortable fit. My AirPods 5 move around a little more than my AirPods Pro 3, hence the issues with the swipe control, but this very rarely causes any other problems.
I was skeptical when the time came to do an exercise test. As I’ve written elsewhere, I rarely feel comfortable wearing earbuds during exercise unless they have ear hooks, fins, or a neck band, but the AirPods 5 held up surprisingly well. Once I broke a sweat, they started to feel slippery and precarious, and a few specific activities–kneeling dumbbell rows, getting off the stationary bike–did make them fall out. Most of the time, however, they stayed in… including, triumphantly, the full duration of a 40-minute treadmill session.
I’d still prefer to have one pair of headphones for general listening, and another specialised set (more secure in the ear, perhaps more bass-focused, but above all cheaper) for sports. But in a pinch, and preferably indoors rather than in an environment with gutters and puddles, these can fill in reasonably effectively as exercise buds.
While we’re on the subject of eartips vs. integrated earbuds, bear in mind that the latter approach is better in other ways. Integrated earbuds don’t penetrate so far into the ear canal; some people don’t like the feel of silicone eartips and find them oddly intrusive, whereas you hardly know the AirPods 5 are there. This design also takes up less room in the case, which means the AirPods 5 case is smaller and noticeably more comfortable in the pocket than that of the AirPods Pro 3. There are no worries about an eartip detaching and getting lost. And the AirPods 5 are both easier to clean and (this is disgusting, but there’s no other way to say it) less prone to collecting earwax than versions with a detachable eartip.
David Price / Foundry
So for me these get two thumbs up for both fit and design. But ear canals vary, and the one-size-fits-all nature of the AirPods 5 makes it essential that you either try before you buy, or ensure that you can return them afterwards if you find that the shape is not suitable for you.
As with the fit, I was pleasantly surprised by the sound quality delivered by the AirPods 5 while being conscious that the Pro model does sound noticeably better.
I spent a while obsessively playing the same Pink Floyd track (“The Great Gig in the Sky”) alternating between the AirPods 5 and AirPods Pro 3 to spot the differences. After close comparison, these were obvious: there’s a deeper, richer, and more immersive sound on the AirPods Pro, and the bass hits harder and more bodily when the vocals come in. But that doesn’t mean the AirPods 5 are bad. On the contrary, they delivered a warm, clear sound with plenty of detail and the ability to hit higher volumes without any distortion. And on my first play, before I’d given the Pros a go, I thought they were pretty great. Comparison is the thief of joy, as they say.
Keen to explore the disparity in bass performance, I next turned to some pulsing disco (“Supernature” by Cerrone) for a proper test. The AirPods 5 did manage to deliver decent bass once I cranked up the volume. But it just doesn’t compare to the AirPods Pro 3. What I was missing was that kinetic, almost hostile bass kick that you feel in the back of the head. (That’s about all you can expect from even a good pair of in-ears. The visceral body blow is the domain of high-end over-ears.) When I went back to the AirPods 5 for a second attempt, they felt polite by comparison. The AirPods 5 did fine, but if you love dance, disco, or anything that depends on heavy bass, an upgrade to the Pro model will be worth the money.
Away from the most bass-dependent musical genres, the AirPods 5 consistently delivered beautifully warm, clear, and faithful audio. A baroque piano piece was handled with sensitivity to the texture and atmosphere of the recording; the fine details and discernible muttering put me in the room with the musician. A 1950s jazz track was rich and smoky and exhilarating. And when I fancied a bit of art-pop, I could hear the crackling fire at the start of “Horse And I” by Bat for Lashes just as easily as its soaring multilayered vocals.
I really like the sound quality of the AirPods 5. It’s not as good as that of the AirPods Pro 3, particularly on bass-heavy tracks, but let’s remember that the Pro models cost $249, whereas these start at $129. For a set of affordable in-ears without the benefit of detachable eartips, these are fantastic.
David Price / Foundry
While we’re talking audio, it’s worth discussing active noise cancellation (ANC). For the uninitiated, this feature involves the headphones monitoring ambient audio and then playing the opposite sound wave directly into your ear, cancelling it out. (Passive noise isolation, by contrast, simply involves a snug-fitting earbud blocking out unwanted sounds.) It’s a clever and often very effective way to escape background conversation, traffic sounds, commuter hustle and bustle, and so on.
ANC is key to the AirPods 5 for two reasons. First, Apple claims to have improved this feature significantly from the AirPods 4 (specifically, that this product delivers “up to 1.5x more,” however that’s measured). And second, the feature is now available on both versions of the AirPods 5, whereas the AirPods 4 were split into ANC and non-ANC tiers.
Getting ANC at all for $129 is very nice indeed. But even with the “1.5x” improvement, I have to say that it’s not the best example of the tech I’ve ever tested. I put on some YouTube videos while wearing the AirPods 5 (with nothing playing, just the ANC doing its thing) and was still able to keep up with what was being said fairly easily. It was just muted. When I repeated the test with the AirPods Pro 3, the conversations became very difficult to follow, which is exactly what I’m looking for while commuting.
I had similar results when using the AirPods 5 to keep down the volume of visiting children in the next room: I could still hear their laughing and clapping all too clearly. And while the background hubbub on a train was dampened fairly well, spoken announcements came through clearly. You might think that’s a good thing, but there’s a specific mode (adaptive audio, which I found very effective) designed to allow through some sounds but filter out others, and when I’ve got ANC on, I’d prefer to eliminate almost everything.
Of course, much of the time you’ll be combining ANC with audio of some kind: music, a podcast, an audiobook. The combination of the two should drastically reduce the distraction and annoyance of inconsiderate fellow passengers. But I’m quite fond of silence, and the AirPods 5 alone may struggle to achieve this.
David Price / Foundry
Aside from ANC, Apple is keen to talk up the AirPods 5 for their AI features. My experiences with this were rather mixed.
To start with, I used the Live Translation feature to navigate a conversation in French (specifically a “real French conversation” I found on YouTube, with all the messiness and grammatical irregularity one would expect in real life), and the results were incomprehensible. When I switched to one labelled “super easy,” the AI managed much better, but there were still torturous pauses after each phrase. This may be an impressive proof of concept and a glimpse of a multilingual future, but for now it doesn’t strike me as useful.
Note that Live Translation is not a new feature; it was announced in September last year and is also available on the AirPods 4 with ANC. But Apple again hyped it up in the press release for this product, so I thought it was important to give it a try.
The AirPods 5 are also compatible with Siri AI, the improved version of Apple’s Siri voice assistant. But again, this isn’t a latest-gen exclusive; the AirPods 4 with ANC and the last two generations of AirPods Pro have the same feature. And while I was impressed with Siri AI’s accuracy and feature set–I asked about an upcoming social engagement using rather careless natural language, for example, and it tracked down the correct details in my calendar–the responses were a little slow, to the extent that I wasn’t always sure if the system had heard me.
There are also some concerns with device overlap. For one thing, I’m not convinced that I need my headphones to have Siri AI, when my iPhone, iPad, and MacBook all have it already. There are situations when it makes sense and is more convenient to access Siri AI via the AirPods, but quite a few of those involve me looking like I’m talking to myself. That impression can be lessened, admittedly, by the ability to respond to Siri AI by nodding or shaking your head, but the initial query still needs to be spoken out loud.
On one occasion I said, “Hey Siri” to ask a question, my HomePod (which has Siri but not Siri AI) responded that it couldn’t answer that, and then the AirPods kicked in and took charge, seemingly unaware another device had already taken a swing. It just doesn’t feel like a completely seamless system at this stage.
David Price / Foundry
For the AirPods I tested (the ones which come with a wireless charging case), Apple estimates a battery life of up to five hours with ANC enabled. That’s an improvement on the previous generation, whose equivalent model was capable of just 4 hours with ANC. If you’re prepared to do without ANC, you should be able to squeeze out an extra two hours per charge.
In testing, those numbers proved accurate, if you keep the words “up to” in mind: my test unit died after 4 hours and 43 minutes of continuous music playback at medium volume with ANC enabled. Technically, they soldiered on with one surviving earbud for another 10 minutes, but that won’t do you much good.
The real convenience and joy of AirPods, of course, is the fact that putting them away in their slim case charges them from its larger battery. Apple estimates that, if you start with fully charged earbuds and a fully charged case, you’ll be able to get around 22 hours of total playback. I think that’s fair. Based on my tests, the case is capable of roughly four full charges, which means five complete rundowns (and somewhere between 22 and 25 hours of playback) before you need to plug it in.
David Price / Foundry
Charging in the case is conveniently speedy, particularly at low levels. Apple boasts that just five minutes of charging will give you around an hour of playback, and while my testing suggested this is slightly optimistic (my AirPods 5 lasted for 51 minutes after their micro-charge), it’s still impressive. A full charge from 0 to 100 percent took me 103 minutes, but a big chunk of that time is spent mopping up the last few percentage points; just half an hour in the case got me to 75 percent.
While the non-linear charging speeds might seem strange to those of us who aren’t battery scientists, it’s really the best way for things to work out. When speed isn’t an issue, you can just pop the AirPods in their case and leave them overnight, and get the value of a full charge the next day. But in an audio emergency, when for example you’ve been hammering album after album on an international flight, and they just can’t take it any more, a short break will be enough for several more hours of playback.
Pricing is slightly complicated by the fact that there are two models.
Throughout this review, I’ve been testing the AirPods 5 with Wireless Charging Case, which cost $149/£139. But there’s also a cheaper model for $129/£119; these are just referred to as “AirPods 5” on Apple’s website, which could be confusing. Make sure you know what you’re getting if you see a deal from a third-party retailer.
We’d recommend that you spend the extra $20/£20 because the upmarket model doesn’t just get a better charging case. It also gets an additional volume swipe gesture and longer estimated battery life (five hours away from the case, compared to just four for the cheaper model). And being able to charge the case wirelessly is a handy option.
It’s worth pointing out, however, that one major reason to pay for the costlier model is no longer a factor. The AirPods 4 cost $179/£179 with ANC or $129/£129 without, whereas both versions of the AirPods 5 get this feature. So not only has the top-line price dropped by $30/£40, but the entry point for ANC has dropped by $50/£60. That really is a terrific price for a solid set of ANC earbuds, fancy case or not.
David Price / Foundry
Of Apple’s September announcements, the AirPods 5 have to be my favorite. While other devices overcomplicate and push prices ever higher, these do the key things well while remaining affordable.
Audio quality is excellent. Battery life is excellent. The design is excellent (that neat little charging case is one of the great designs of our era), and while the fit can’t compare to headphones with detachable eartips like the AirPods Pro, it’s comfortable and decently secure. You could find better ANC elsewhere, admittedly, but you’ll pay more for it; the fact that ANC of even middling quality is now on both tiers of standard AirPods is a huge step forward. And the price of the higher-tier model (and the price of the lower-tier model too, if you’re in the U.K.) has gone down from the previous generation.
I have a few quibbles, such as the volume swipe not quite working on earbuds of this design and Live Translation… well, completely dropping the ball, I’m afraid. So it’s not a perfect 5-star score. But I’m deeply impressed with the AirPods 5, and would recommend them almost without reservation to anyone who currently has a set of AirPods 3 or earlier, and maybe even the non-ANC version of the AirPods 4. In fact, for any Apple fan looking for a set of affordable ANC earbuds, these would be a great choice.
