Apple AirPods 5 review: Who needs the Pro, anyway?

Apple 's product lineup typically consists of a "regular" product and a pricier, Pro variant that comes with a number of extra features, at least a few of them so good that most people will always go for the Pro version if they can afford it.

Apple's latest AirPods 5 are so good that they flip this dynamic on its head.

They're an improved, yet significantly cheaper version of the AirPods 4 released in 2024.

In many ways, they're as good as the AirPods Pro 3 .

In some ways, they're actually better .

And that's saying a lot given that the AirPods Pro 3 are my favorite earbuds ever.

AirPods 5: Compact yet versatile ANC earbuds A couple of years ago, Apple made a big leap by introducing two versions of the AirPods 4, one with ANC (active noise cancellation) and one without.

I remember the company's briefings on those products, in which they put extra emphasis on how hard their engineers had to work to create proper active noise cancellation on earbuds that don't have an acoustic seal.

That design choice was on purpose: Not everyone likes to have earbuds with foamy seals stuck in their ear canal (that's what the best noise-cancelling earbuds do to get additional passive noise cancellation).

Apple's AirPods 5 are a big upgrade over last year's model, and the price is even better.

Credit: Stan Schroeder/Mashable But the AirPods 4 with ANC cost $179, a significant price hike from the basic version that cost $129 ( and often go on sale for only $99 ).

This year, Apple decided to completely forego that price premium by adding an improved version of ANC to the basic AirPods 5, which still start at $129.

Even better, the premium AirPods 5 with a wireless charging case are actually cheaper than their predecessor at $149, even as Apple raises prices on the rest of its product line .

What's the difference between the two AirPods 5 models? The biggest difference between the $129 and $149 Airpods 5 is the wireless charging case, but Apple also added another "Pro" feature to the AirPods 5 — a special area on the neck of the earbuds that you can swipe on to adjust volume.