The AirPods 5 blew me away, but Android users should beware

I am among those people who just can’t stand the weird feeling of rubber tips blocking their ear canals and creating a pressurized seal. Apple is one of the few remaining brands that didn’t entirely ditch open-ear earbuds, and its latest AirPods 5 caught my eye particularly for one little detail — up to 50% better ANC performance than its predecessor. I wanted to test that claim while also assessing if they are even worth pairing with Android.

The results came out quite shocking, both in good and bad ways. I won’t tease you more than this and get right to what you’re here for.