AirPods 5 Quiet More of the Street Without Plugging Your Ears

Apple just put its strongest open-ear noise cancellation on the cheapest AirPods it sells. AirPods 5 start at $129 and include Active Noise Cancellation on both models, a change from last generation when that feature cost $179. The $149 version adds a wireless charging case, an extra hour of listening, and a volume swipe on the stem. Pre-orders opened today, September 9, 2026, with store availability on September 18.

Both pairs have the same open-ear design as the AirPods 4, with no fancy canal-sealing features. Apple claims that these new earphones provide the best ANC of any earbuds that simply sit on your ear rather than being fully inserted into your ear canal. They claim that the upgraded multiport acoustic hardware and updated computational audio combine to eliminate up to 50% more outside noise than AirPods 4 with ANC. Transparency mode sounds much more natural in these new earphones; voices / traffic from close don’t sound like they’re speaking through a tin can, and there’s no hollow or muffled feel like with the others. Adaptive Audio performs a nice job of switching between the two settings when you travel from room to sidewalk and back again. Meanwhile, Conversation Awareness just reduces the level on whatever you’re listening to the moment someone starts yapping at you next to you.

Apple took a few cues from the AirPods Pro 3 and redesigned the driver configuration to improve fit for all ear shapes. Next-generation Adaptive EQ and Personalized Spatial Audio are designed to make the experience richer and more immersive, and H2 handles all of the processing. If you’re out and about having a conversation with someone who doesn’t speak your language, Live Translation has you covered. Powered by Apple’s ever-useful Intelligence, simply press both stems, ask Siri, or press the iPhone Action button, and you can listen to the conversation in your native language later. Head nods and shakes communicate a silent yes or no to Siri, with no beeps or buzzers to disrupt. Those software pieces are now accessible throughout the whole AirPods lineup, but you can get them here for the lowest price Apple has ever asked for.

Battery life is divided into two separate SKUs. With ANC on, your regular AirPods 5 will last approximately four hours, while the USB-C case will last 20 hours. If you’re prepared to spend an extra $20, the new battery inside the wireless case model will last five hours listening with ANC turned on and 22 hours overall. Five minutes of charging, either way, will give you an additional hour of juice. And the $149 wireless case can be charged from an Apple Watch puck, a Qi pad or a USB-C cable, and it’s got a small speaker concealed in there for Find My. The only gesture available on this model is the stem swipe for volume, which is the first time Apple has included that feature on an open-ear pair.

Durability is better than ever, with both earbuds being rated IP57 for dust, sweat, and water, up from IP54 on the AirPods 4. That’s good for a little more dust and a brief immersion in water rather than just a splash. Cases and buds use slightly more recycled material, as the wireless case is 70% recycled plastic and the battery is 100% recycled cobalt, but the packaging is still entirely fiber-based and recyclable at home.

The one thing that caught us off guard was the pricing, as Apple kept the non-ANC AirPods 4 at $129 while adding better cancellation, new drivers, Live Translation, and a harsher rating. The wireless model costs $30 less than last year’s $179 ANC pair. Anyone who wanted open-ear comfort plus real noise control no longer has to spend Pro money or accept a weaker first-gen open-ear system. Stores will receive them in nine days.