If you're an iOS user who wants to avoid dealing with an auxiliary app, Apple AirPods Pro is your best bet. They have impressive noise cancellation and seamlessly connect to iOS systems. To pair them to your iPhone, just open the charging case. Need to go hands-free? The AirPods will announce your texts to you.

Open-ear earbuds are more comfortable to wear for most, but it used to mean no active noise cancellation — until now.

In California, in the wake of its launch event, Apple told us how the AirPods 4 were designed and what changes have been made to achieve noise cancellation in an open-ear design.

Active noise cancellation is the most significant difference between the two models, but it's far from the only one.