Every year I make the same joke that Black Friday has become so bloated, so merged with Cyber Monday, and stretched out into a weeklong orgy of shopping that it’s fast becoming Black November, and every year it garners less of a polite, mild chuckle and more of a grim, knowing nod.
Cyber Monday ended at the close of yesterday, Monday, December 1, and while most of the deals that began the previous week on or ahead of Black Friday have flicked off the lights and faded back to their original retail prices, a few stragglers have stuck around.
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This deal on the Apple AirPods 4 earbuds is one of them. Retailing for $179, frequently on sale for $149, they’re now still on sale for $99. It’s the lowest price they’ve ever been.
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With active noise cancellation (ANC) turned on, you get four hours of play time, plus 15 more hours from its charging case. The AirPods 4 has the same Apple H2 chip as the pricier AirPods Pro 2, so that important part of their sound quality remains the same, although the AirPods 4 lack the silicone ear tips that create a better seal within the ear canal against surrounding environmental noise.
Having trouble deciding whether you should spring for the AirPods Pro 2, which have been succeeded by the AirPods Pro 3 but are now on a killer perma-sale, or just save money and choose the AirPods 4? Check out my comparison here.
While Apple sells a version of the AirPods 4 without ANC, they’re not currently on much of a sale. At $80 (at the time of publishing), they’re not much cheaper than the version with ANC. There’s no reason to buy them. They can’t do anything the ANC version can’t do. If you want the longer battery life of AirPods without ANC enabled, then just toggle ANC off.
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