The Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) of the New AirPods 4 certainly is praiseworthy, however, it cannot be compared to that of the Air Pods Pro 2. Since the air-tips design has a certain hardness, there can be some small gaps which permit some surface noise. The ANC can diminish the ambient sound remarkably well but does not offer total silence from outside which sounds more like a sound suppression. It can be especially useful in environments that are relatively noisy such as a train or airplane.