Apple's two best in-ear headphones both offer active noise cancellation, but there are some important differences you'll want to consider before making a purchase.

The AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation bridge the gap between the base AirPods and the AirPods Pro. How do they perform?

Open-ear earbuds are more comfortable to wear for most, but it used to mean no active noise cancellation — until now.

The new features make a great value proposition when you look at their prices. The low-cost $129/£129 variant are still packed with those touch panels and Spatial Audio, and the $179/£179 model adds that lovely ANC. They're easy to find as well. You can grab them from the Apple Store and Amazon, amongst other retailers.

Even if you’ve never heard of Apple’s AirPods, there is a very good chance you will have seen them in the ears of passers by. As soon as Apple’s headphones were launched in 2016, these little white sticks became the most recognisable wireless devices on the planet.

Active noise cancellation is the most significant difference between the two models, but it's far from the only one.