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I’ve been using AirPods Max all week and have a lot of ideas. My biggest takeaway is that these headphones are too expensive. I like them a lot for various reasons, but they are 100% expensive. The reasons you would buy this pair of headphones could be quite similar to the same reasons someone buys a pair of shoes over $ 500 – it’s just because they like what they like. And while $ 550 is a lot to ask for, the vast majority of consumers these headphones are marketed to will absolutely enjoy these headphones. This is why.
Design
These headphones are a perfectly Apple product in terms of design. I’m much more curious as to how well the design’s durability will hold up over time with continued use. But I don’t care about the aesthetic choices Apple made. I especially think sky blue and pink colors look very unique and easy on the eyes.
Headphones, in general, provide a nice feeling of durability. But I feel that these should not be in the hands of young children or active little ones. The hinge feels sturdy, but based on my experience using them normally, I wouldn’t trust the AirPods Max with kids who are potentially tough on technology.
Comfort is the most interesting aspect of these headphones. Because the headphones use stainless steel and aluminum materials for construction, they are slightly heavier than some of their bigger Sony and Bose competitors. They do not feel heavy on the head in and of themselves, rather they are very firm. That weight holds the headphones on your head very firmly, so there have been little to no fit or slip issues. To achieve the best personal comfort level, I had to fully extend my arms, but I’m sure this will vary by user.
The Max uses a mesh material for the headphones, which makes me indifferent. In my opinion, it feels no better on the ears than a soft leather material that headphones in this price range are known to have. I think the potential silver lining here is that the earbuds can be easily removed using magnets. I think this will make these headphones better for long time use. And hopefully, a third-party accessory manufacturer can produce magnetic earbuds using leather to replace them. That would be amazing.
Noise Cancellation
Coming from AirPods Pro, noise cancellation is much more effective here on Max. I’m sure the larger drivers and the over-the-ear design have a role to play in that. But it’s substantially more insulating than AirPods Pro. You get a slight hiss from that noise cancellation, but overall, it works great. And one thing Max does much better than AirPods Pro is keep sound clean when ANC is on and combat ambient noise like wind or a moving train. There’s significantly less audio distortion in noise cancellation mode, which is probably my biggest long-term complaint with the AirPods Pro. Noise cancellation on AirPods Max is significantly more powerful than ANC on over-ear headphones at mid-range price? No, but it is definitely an improved AirPods Pro experience.
Transparency mode
The transparency mode in Max is probably the most impressive aspect of these headphones. The nine microphones placed on the headphones are extremely effective in providing a truly transparent audio experience. I can make music play at 75% volume with transparency mode on, and I will still be able to clearly hear my keyboard while typing or my voice while speaking normally. The closer the sound is to the mic, the clearer it sounds, obviously, but it’s a very nice experience.
Wired mode performance
I will say that the wired experience using these headphones is not as limiting as I thought it would be. First of all, in wired mode, transparency and noise cancellation mode work well. And the digital crown can still be used to adjust the volume, but nothing else. You cannot skip or pause tracks and obviously there is no Siri functionality. However, the auto pause and head detection function still works in wired mode, which I didn’t expect it to work in wired mode, but it’s good that it does.
The fact that these headphones use the lighting port, while not surprising, is definitely a missed opportunity. Apple could have used USB-C to improve these headphones. Some kind of USB-C Hi-Fi mode could have been a cool feature not only for users to experience but for Apple to market.
This $ 35 3.5mm Lightning cable is what Apple expects you to use with these headphones for the wired experience. For $ 35, this is absolutely unfortunate. It’s too short, it’s too flimsy, and I just have an accidental drawback of having to buy another. We all know that Apple accessories aren’t meant to last, but for $ 550 they could definitely have included a long, matching braided cable for use with AirPods Max. That would make the cable experience that much better personally.
Battery duration
The battery life on the AirPods Max is good, but it surely isn’t the battery champion compared to other ANC earbuds in various price ranges. I have Audio Technica headphones under $ 200 (with ANC) that can easily outperform Max in the battery department. The AirPods Max hover around the 15-20 hour range in battery life from my tests.
If you are using AirPods Max non-stop all day with noise cancellation turned on; you can definitely get close to killing them. If you are the type of user who only wears hearing aids for an hour a day, they will definitely last a whole week or longer depending on your use. But these are definitely not the best battery-wise at $ 550 or even $ 300. I think they are good enough to be reliable to use intermittently during the work week.
Smart cover
There is absolutely nothing smart in this case in the sense that we know the word “smart” to use in the naming of products. This is a flimsy cover with magnets. There is no charging port or battery inside. Apple could have made the case of these headphones a standout feature. The case is meant to put the headphones into a low-power mode to prevent the battery from draining, but Apple has confirmed that the headphones will do this on their own after 5 minutes of inactivity … So this case really doesn’t have purpose.
They could have implemented a battery to extend battery life or provide connectivity to AirPods Max in a way that provides faster charging capability. But instead, Apple gave us this joke. And while I don’t like the case, I think it still matches the AirPods Max very well aesthetically.
Sound quality
At first glance these don’t sound like $ 550 headphones. I think the AirPods Max do a great job of delivering clean sound overall, both in wired and wireless mode. They can get extremely noisy; you should rarely need to set them to more than 80% volume. And I feel that all frequencies have a clean and constant presence. Are you getting the incredible hi-fi detail you get from Tesla-powered headphones and other audiophile-focused products? Absolutely not. But especially given the way most AirPods users consume audio, they provide an overall enjoyable listening experience. At volumes below 50% the sound experience is still clean, but very boring. You don’t get nearly the same intensity and presence of other headphones in this price range.
The mids and highs are extremely present and moderately clean, but they don’t have the clarity and sharpness that headphones at this price have. The low end is especially boring at lower volumes, but at 80% volume and higher, the bass will literally make the headphones start to rumble depending on the track you’re playing. At those higher volumes, the bass distortion is really minimal, which is something that pleasantly surprised me. Tried using Max with some bass heavy tracks and was very surprised by the bass response.
Wired mode takes this experience a bit further. Depending on the type of device you are connected to, you can definitely achieve a higher maximum volume with these headphones in wired mode. Bass response definitely improves in hardwired mode, and I can hear all the little nuances on certain tracks a bit clearer. It’s not better to the point of feeling like the wireless experience lacks in comparison, but the sound is objectively better in wired mode. In general, for listening to music, these are very nice for me. Sound quality alone doesn’t guarantee a $ 550 purchase, in my opinion, but they do sound great.
Spatial audio and video / movie experience
I think these are some of the most capable wireless headphones I’ve used for general media consumption. Much of that is due to the spatial audio feature. This is something that is found in the other AirPods models. Basically it gives you that surround sound feeling when you watch videos and movies, even content without official Dolby Atmos support. I watched a lot of Dolby Atmos content and some videos with 8D audio. The experience for that type of content is really solid. Watching content with spatial audio enabled can make the experience noticeably more immersive than without it. This feature in combination with active noise cancellation makes these headphones almost perfect for watching an airplane movie.
9to5Mac review
These headphones are priced similarly to headphones made for audiophiles, but they are far from it. In my experience these have the best transparency and noise cancellation modes in their class. But other than that, the AirPods Max aren’t necessarily the best at anything specific. But when you combine all the features these headphones have to offer – from the incredible transparency mode to the spatial audio – you have a very attractive package for Apple users in general.
Is it an experience worth $ 550? In my opinion, no. I think these would be much more justifiable at $ 400 or $ 450. But personally I don’t see myself using any other over-ear hearing aids for most of the things I do now that I have them on hand. I like to use them in general, and I think that anyone who has already invested in the Apple ecosystem should fully enjoy the experience these headphones provide. What do you think of AirPods Max? Sound in the comments below!
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