AirPods have now been around for a decade, and in that time I have owned, tried and tested almost every pair released. Although the AirPods Pro and AirPods Max are the top-of-the-line options, my favourite ever AirPods are the current generation AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation – and right now they are discounted to an excellent £139.

These AirPods normally cost £169, so you’re saving £30 here. That’s relatively rare for AirPods, and Apple itself never puts its products on sale. It’s up to retailers such as Amazon to offer out the deals if you want to save some cash on anything with an Apple logo on it.

I’ve had the AirPods 4 with ANC since launch and they have been my everyday go-to when using my iPhone. I don’t like wearing wireless earbuds with in-ear silicon tips for more than an hour or two as I find them uncomfortable, so the AirPods 4’s design is far preferable for me. The open design lets the plastic end sit in the opening of my ear, and they have not once fallen out.

That means I can stay connected to my phone while on calls or listening to music but still hear the world around me when audio isn’t playing. These are the first open design AirPods to offer active noise cancellation, so when I want to dim the ambient sound around me, I can turn it on with a squeeze of one of the buds’ stems.

The ANC is nowhere near as effective as AirPods Pro 3 or most fully in-ear options, but for open buds it’s surprisingly good. They won’t be the best option on a plane or in a loud city, but they’re great for tuning out the sound of office hubbub or traffic outside the window.

You also get Apple’s excellent transparency mode, so you can let sound in if you like, handy so you can still talk to people without removing an AirPod (though is leaving them in a social faux pas?)

VIEW THE AIRPODS 4 WITH ANC HERE

I’ve appreciated these AirPods’ Adaptive Audio mode, which tunes out loud noises when you’re listening to something and turns up the audio slightly. Domestic tech bliss is your podcast audio turning up automatically as the AirPods drown out the sound of your boiling kettle. Other earbuds can do this, but Apple does it best, in my testing.

Paired to an iPhone or iPad, the AirPods 4 with ANC also offer Personalised Spatial Audio, plus they come in a dinky charging case with wireless charging built in. They also offer Live Translation (if your iPhone supports Apple Intelligence), so you can talk to someone who is speaking another language and have the AirPods speak your language back into your ears.

For £139, my favourite AirPods ever are a great deal, and a lot cheaper than AirPods Pro 3.