Apple AirPods 5 Review: Price, Battery, and What's New

The Apple AirPods 5 are now on sale at $129 for the standard model and $149 for the version with a Wireless Charging Case, slotting in as the brand's open-ear earbuds below the AirPods Pro 3. The look and shape carry over from the AirPods 4, but the AirPods 5 pick up several features from Apple's pricier earbuds through the same H2 chip.

Price and models
The AirPods 5 come in two versions: a $129 standard case and a $149 Wireless Charging Case model. The Wireless Charging Case adds swipe gestures for volume control and a built-in speaker that helps locate the case when it's misplaced.

Features borrowed from the AirPods Pro 3
Thanks to the H2 chip, the AirPods 5 add Spatial Audio with head tracking, personalized volume, conversation awareness, auto-pause when the wearer falls asleep, head gestures for calls, and Find My support, all features that previously set the Pro line apart.

Software additions
A three-band EQ is now available through iOS and iPadOS, and the AirPods 5 add Live Translation in beta, covering 11 languages at launch.

Noise cancellation is mixed
The AirPods 5 add Active Noise Cancellation, Transparency mode, and an Adaptive mode that switches between them. Reviewers found the ANC performance inconsistent, with higher frequencies still getting through more than expected for the category.

Battery life
Apple rates the standard model for 4 hours of listening and the case model for 5 hours, with 2 extra hours available when ANC and Transparency are turned off. In testing, the case model ran 5 hours and 11 minutes with ANC on and 7 hours and 29 minutes with it off.

Build and charging
Both the earbuds and the case carry an IP57 rating. The case charges over Qi or an Apple Watch charger, though it skips MagSafe. Audio comes from a custom high-excursion driver and a custom high dynamic range amplifier, paired with Bluetooth 5.3 and AAC support.

Where the AirPods 5 fit
For buyers deciding between the AirPods 5 and the AirPods Pro 3, the open-ear design and the $100 price gap are the main trade-offs. Reviewers see more value in the $149 case model than the $129 standard version, since the extra $20 adds swipe controls and the speaker for finding a lost case.

Protect your new AirPods 5 with a Komodoty case
A pair of earbuds this easy to lose deserves a case built to hold onto them. Komodoty makes cases for the AirPods 5 in materials such as slim wood with a Kevlar core, aramid fiber, and Alcantara, with precise cutouts for the charging port and support for wireless charging through the case. Browse the fitted options in the Komodoty AirPods 5 cases collection.