There’s more than meets the eye (or ear) with the AirPods 5

Apple has announced the AirPods 5 – that, you obviously know – and they’re coming with Active Noise Cancellation as standard.

Now, while I’d say there’s still some debate to be had over the designation of ANC in an open-ear design, this type of feature in an open-ear design has gone from a rarity to becoming more widespread.

And with the cheapest version of the AirPods 5 at £119 / $129, that’s made ANC open-ear a fairly affordable proposition for iOS owners. And given the AirPods sell like hotcakes, it’ll likely give Apple even more dominance in the headphone market. Impressive, considering they’re a device brand first and less a ‘traditional’ headphone brand.

But I’m beginning to monologue. The inclusion of ANC in an AirPods model at such an affordable price is a good thing, and I reckon it’s all to do with your hearing health.

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Is it actually ANC?

I think it’s odd that Apple has designated this feature as Active Noise Cancellation (ANC). While I risk making myself look like a fool against the mighty Apple, the way ANC works is by using a feedforward mic – an external microphone that detects noise before it reaches your ear, and a feedback mic – one that sits close, if not in your ear, that analyses the noise in that region.

The open-design, where it nestles in your earlobe rather than in your ear proper, doesn’t seem close enough for that ANC system to work. Noise Reduction seems like a better way to describe it, but it’s certainly not as attractive to people who think it will cancel noise completely.

Apple says it’ll cancel up to 50% more noise than the AirPods 4 with ANC did, which sounds impressive; and Apple says the Transparency mode will sound more natural, but that’s a laughable claim to me. If you want to hear what’s around you, just turn the ANC off. A Transparency mode seems a needless feature for a headphone that’s primarily designed to let you hear what’s around you.

That’s my scepticism detailed for you, but truly, I think the inclusion of (cough) Noise Reduction is a good thing. It’s featured on several products before, and I alluded to it towards the end of 2025 when I wrote about the continuing progress of open-earbuds.

Shokz is the name most widely associated with the open-ear design, and its OpenFit Pro added Noise Reduction earlier this year, but I think even they have been caught off guard – gazumped, you might say – by Apple pricing the AirPods 5 so low; a low price will bring this technology to more people.

Noise Reduction takes open-ears to another level

Whenever I test open-ear designs, my ears take a battering in noisy environments. I’ve recently tested a new pair in terms of call quality, and while the person on the other end heard me fine, I could not hear a thing they were saying when I was walking on a street or in a restaurant waiting for an order. All I could hear was a cacophony of sound.

And that isn’t good for your ears. We’re always subjected to loud noises wherever we go, and life at times can seem louder than ever, but wearing headphones can shield you from that noise, and open-ear designs have never been particularly good at that.

With noise reduction, you can take the edge off the noise. On a plane, on the Underground (or subway), in a loud indoor environment (pubs make my ears want to explode), headphones can subdue and save your ears from being pelted by the racket around you. I wear headphones on public transport and whenever I fly – I feel like my ears are better for it.

Apple makes no mention of hearing health in its press release, which surprises me a little given they’re so focused on health in other areas, but regardless, the addition of noise reduction at this price means more people will be able to get this type of experience – and it could help your hearing health in the long term.