Which AirPods Should You Buy? Every Model Compared

For most people, the right AirPods are the AirPods 5 at $129, Apple’s cheapest pair, which now has Active Noise Cancellation (ANC), the feature that quiets the sound around you. Spend $20 more, $149 in total, on the AirPods 5 with Wireless Charging Case if you want to change the volume by swiping the stem, one extra hour per charge and a case that charges on a wireless pad.

Step up to the AirPods Pro 3 at $249 if you want Apple’s strongest noise cancelling in an earbud, a sealed fit with ear tips, heart rate tracking during workouts, or Apple’s Hearing Aid feature. The AirPods Max 2 at $549 are the only over-ear headphones in the line-up, with up to 20 hours per charge.

Those four are every model on Apple’s AirPods page, at Apple’s US prices on October 26, 2026. Other stores set their own prices, so check the current price before you buy.

AirPods compared: price, noise cancelling and battery

The noise figures are Apple’s own claims, and each uses a different starting point: both AirPods 5 versions are compared with the AirPods 4 with ANC, the Pro 3 with the AirPods 5, and the Max 2 with the previous-generation AirPods Max. So the Max 2 cannot be ranked against the earbuds from these numbers. What is clear: the Pro 3 cancel up to three times as much noise as the AirPods 5, according to Apple. Battery hours come from Apple’s own tests, and Apple says battery life varies by use.

Best for most people: AirPods 5

The AirPods 5 went on sale September 18, 2026, at $129 for the standard case and $149 for the Wireless Charging Case. They are open-ear AirPods, which means they rest in your ear without a silicone tip that seals it. Apple says they remove “up to 50 percent more external noise compared to AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation.” Both versions are rated IP57 for dust, sweat and water.

Open-ear noise cancelling is milder than a sealed earbud’s. In SoundGuys’ lab measurements, read on October 26, 2026, the AirPods 5 with Wireless Charging Case scored 5.9 out of 10 for noise cancelling. If quiet on a plane or a train is the main reason you are buying, the Pro 3 are the better tool.

Standard case or Wireless Charging Case? The extra $20 buys four things. You get volume control by swiping up or down on the stem, up to five hours per charge with ANC instead of four, and a case that charges on an Apple Watch charger or a Qi wireless pad as well as by USB-C. The wireless case also has a speaker that helps you find it with Find My. Not every reviewer thinks that is worth it: SoundGuys lists the “$20 upcharge for wireless charging and volume swipes” among the AirPods 5’s weak points. The two cases are not interchangeable: Apple says each case works only with its own version of the AirPods 5 earbuds.

• AirPods 5 (standard case): Check price on Amazon
• AirPods 5 with Wireless Charging Case: Check price on Amazon

If you already own a 3-in-1 charging stand, the Wireless Charging Case can use its Apple Watch or Qi pad; see Best 3-in-1 Chargers for iPhone, Apple Watch and AirPods.

Best noise cancelling and fitness: AirPods Pro 3

The AirPods Pro 3 cost $249 and came out in September 2025; they are still the Pro model Apple sells. They seal your ear with silicone tips in five sizes, from XXS to L. Apple says their noise cancelling is “up to 2x more effective than AirPods Pro 2” and up to three times that of the AirPods 5.

Two features are on the Pro 3 and on no other model in Apple’s current AirPods line-up.

• Heart rate during workouts, measured by a light sensor in the earbuds and shown in the Fitness app on iPhone.
• Hearing Test and Hearing Aid: a hearing check that Apple says gives results “from the comfort of their home,” and a mode that amplifies sound, with what Apple calls “improved voice clarity.” Apple says the Hearing Aid feature has FDA authorization and is “intended for people with perceived mild to moderate hearing loss.”

The Pro 3 also have Hearing Protection, where available, which Apple says “helps prevent exposure to loud environmental noise.” The AirPods 5 do not. The Pro 3 and Max 2 both list Loud Sound Reduction, which Apple describes in similar terms.

Battery runs up to 8 hours with ANC on, 6.5 hours with heart rate sensing during a workout, and 24 hours with the case. The case charges by USB-C, snaps onto MagSafe chargers and has a speaker and a lanyard loop. The earbuds and case are rated IP57.

• AirPods Pro 3: Check price on Amazon

To compare the Pro 3 with Sony and Bose earbuds, see the noise-cancelling headphones guide.

Best over-ear headphones: AirPods Max 2

The AirPods Max 2 cost $549 and come in midnight, starlight, orange, purple and blue. They run up to 20 hours per charge with ANC on, and five minutes of charging gives about an hour and a half of listening. Of the four, they are the only pair whose spec sheet lists lossless audio, which they play at 24-bit, 48 kHz when plugged in with the included USB-C cable.

They make sense for long flights, a desk or the couch, and for anyone who finds earbuds uncomfortable. They do not have heart rate sensing, the Hearing Test or the Hearing Aid feature; Apple lists Loud Sound Reduction for noisy places instead.

• AirPods Max 2: Check price on Amazon

Which AirPods features need a newer iPhone?

Every model works as ordinary Bluetooth headphones. The features below need an iPhone, and the newest ones depend on which iPhone, so check the right-hand column before you buy, especially for a gift.

Live Translation works on the AirPods 5 (both versions), AirPods Pro 3 and AirPods Max 2, and also on the older AirPods 4 with ANC and AirPods Pro 2. Apple’s support page lists an iPhone 15 Pro or later on iOS 26 or later, with Apple Intelligence turned on, Apple’s Translate app and the latest AirPods firmware, and the setting is labelled Live Translation (Beta). Apple Intelligence runs on the iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max, every iPhone 16 or later, the iPhone Air and the iPhone Duo, so a standard iPhone 15 or anything older will not translate. Apple lists nine languages for Live Translation with AirPods, in eleven regional versions: Chinese (Mandarin, Simplified and Traditional), English (UK and US), French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese (Brazil) and Spanish (Spain). Simplified Chinese is not available in China mainland, and Apple Intelligence features do not currently work on devices bought in China mainland. Apple also warns that translations “may be inaccurate, unexpected, or offensive,” so check anything important.

Siri AI works hands-free on all AirPods, but it runs on an Apple Intelligence iPhone with iOS 27 and is in beta. Apple’s availability page lists it in English only, and not in China mainland or the European Union. Apple also says “Siri AI is not available to users under 13.”

Hearing Test and Hearing Aid need AirPods Pro 2 or Pro 3 and an iPhone or iPad on iOS 18 or iPadOS 18 or later, according to Apple’s AirPods page and its Hearing Health availability page. Apple’s 2025 Pro 3 announcement gave iOS 26 or iPadOS 26 instead, so an iPhone on iOS 26 or later meets both. Apple says both are regulated health features offered only where they have been approved, and the two lists differ: in Canada, for example, the Hearing Aid feature is listed only for Alberta, British Columbia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Saskatchewan.

Should you buy older AirPods 4 or AirPods Pro 2 on sale?

Apple no longer offers the AirPods 4 or AirPods Pro 2 on its AirPods page. Here is what each one gives up, according to Apple:

• AirPods 4, the version without ANC: no noise cancelling and no Live Translation, which Apple lists only for the AirPods 4 version with ANC. Pass on these unless the price is far below the AirPods 5.
• AirPods 4 with ANC: Live Translation works, but the AirPods 5 cancel up to 1.5 times as much noise.
• AirPods Pro 2: keep Live Translation, the Hearing Test and the Hearing Aid feature, but Apple lists heart rate sensing only for the AirPods Pro 3 and Powerbeats Pro 2, and the Pro 3 cancel up to twice as much noise.

Buying AirPods as a gift

• Not sure what they want? The $129 AirPods 5 are the simplest pick: no ear tips to size, and noise cancelling included. Fit is the risk with any open-ear design; SoundGuys’ verdict starts “Fit decides almost everything with the AirPods 5,” so ask for a gift receipt.
• Buying for a child or teen? Siri AI is not for users under 13, and the Hearing Test and Hearing Aid are for people 18 or older.
• For a runner or gym-goer: the AirPods Pro 3, for the sealed fit and heart rate in the Fitness app.
• For someone who travels a lot: the AirPods Pro 3 for a pocket, or the AirPods Max 2 if they like over-ear headphones.
• Check their phone: Live Translation needs an iPhone 15 Pro or later. With non-Apple devices such as Android phones, Apple says AirPods work as Bluetooth headphones, “but functionality may be limited.”

For more gift ideas, see the tech gifts guide. If the gift is a new iPhone too, see Which iPhone Should You Buy?

How to tell which AirPods you have

On your iPhone, open Settings, tap Bluetooth, then tap the More Info button next to your AirPods to see the model number; if your AirPods are not in the list, pair them first. You can also read it on the underside of each earbud, or behind the left ear cushion on AirPods Max. Then match it here:

Apple’s page lists older models back to the first AirPods from 2016.

Quick answers

Do AirPods 5 have noise cancelling? Yes. Both AirPods 5 versions have Active Noise Cancellation, Transparency mode and Adaptive Audio.

AirPods 5 or AirPods Pro 3? Buy the AirPods 5 if you dislike ear tips or want to spend $129. Buy the Pro 3 for stronger noise cancelling, longer battery, heart rate and the hearing features.

Are AirPods waterproof? No, water resistant, not waterproof: Apple calls the AirPods 5 and AirPods Pro 3 “dust, sweat, and water resistant” and rates them IP57. The AirPods Max 2 spec sheet gives no rating.

What comes in the box? The AirPods Max 2 include a USB-C charge cable. The AirPods 5 box lists the AirPods, the case and documentation, with no charging cable, and Apple says the USB-C charge cable for the AirPods Pro 3 is “sold separately.”

Sources (13)

• apple.com AirPods (lineup and US prices, October 26, 2026)
• apple.com Apple Newsroom: Apple introduces AirPods 5 (Sept 9, 2026)
• apple.com AirPods 5 Technical Specifications
• apple.com AirPods Pro 3 Technical Specifications
• apple.com AirPods Max 2 Technical Specifications
• apple.com Apple Newsroom: Introducing AirPods Pro 3 (Sept 9, 2025)
• apple.com Apple Newsroom: Apple introduces AirPods Max 2 (Mar 16, 2026)
• support.apple.com Apple Support: Use Live Translation with your AirPods
• support.apple.com Apple Support: Get started with the next generation of Apple Intelligence
• apple.com iOS feature availability
• apple.com Hearing Health Feature Availability
• support.apple.com Apple Support: Identify your AirPods
• soundguys.com Apple AirPods 5 with Wireless Charging Case