AirPods 4 deliver two significantly different types of value -- one with ANC, one without. Is one worth the extra cash?

In other words, without getting too much into the weeds of things, active noise cancellation works by the device "monitoring" the outside noise and emitting an inverted soundwave, or what Treski calls "the anti phase," to neutralize or negate the external cacophony.

There's no feeling quite like the anticipation of a new tech product that promises to do something pretty wildly different, and then having that anticipation paid off by the product actually delivering the goods.