When the AirPods Max first came out I thought they were insane. I called them “ludicrous” for their $550 price point. $550 for some AirPods? That’s just stupid. AirPods Pro are good, but you can get better sound quality out of headphones that cost half as much. I didn’t have high hopes. But reviews came in. The AirPods Max sound excellent, they said. They’re actually comfortable despite that weight, they said. After listening to music at home during the pandemic for two years now, I got more comfortable with spending money on good audio experiences. That eventually included AirPods Max.
I figured I could at least laugh at myself a little in the review, right?
As it turns out, these might be the best headphones I own, and I have a fantastic pair of HiFiMan HE4xx planar magnetic headphones that I love. Those sound incredible. And, while it’s a different sound, the AirPods Max actually come close enough to their quality. All of that with Bluetooth, noise cancellation, transparency, and Apple’s ecosystem. I’m still a little floored, but these headphones actually might be worth the price. That doesn’t mean they’re without their problems though.
the tl;dr:
- Pro: Fantastic, detailed, and lively sound
- Pro: Surprisingly great comfort
- Pro: Easy connectivity and jumping between devices
- Con: A bit heavy, hard to look down or up without them slipping, for example
- Con: Need a 3rd party case and perhaps a third party accessory to protect the mesh
- Con: You’re out >$600 for a complete package with cable and case
In This Article:
Sound Quality 9/10
I had been worried that these would basically be large AirPods Pro. The AirPods Pro have acceptable sound. They’re decent for what they are. Some better, music quality-focused in ear headphones sound better, like the Sony WF-1000xm4 (I have to look that name up every time), or wired in-ear monitors, but they’re okay. Where they really shine comes down to the Apple features, noise cancellation, and a transparency mode so good you can almost forget you have your AirPods Pro in while indoors.
But I didn’t want that. I wanted headphones that could compete with high-end headphones. I wanted something that would justify its price tag. Surprisingly, the AirPods Max live up to that.
How I Tested
I’m no audiophile, but I do have pretty sensitive ears. When I actually stop myself and listen, I can pick up a lot about a pair of headphones. My best sounding headphones are a pair of HiFiMan HE-4xx. These are open back headphones with planar magnetic drivers. They sound fantastic, with a wide sound stage, fantastic details in the mids and highs, and some decent bass. I compared my AirPods Pro to them. I tested using Apple’s headphone to Lightning cable, a Dragonfly Black 1.5 USB amp/DAC with my computer, and my record player with a Drop headphone amp. I tested Bluetooth vs wired, as well as transparency mode, noise isolation, and both features turned off.
I always try to compare headphones that feel like competitors. For the Urbanista Miamis, for example, it seemed obvious to me that they were trying to capture a more budget-friendly market point, competing with more expensive noise cancellation headphones like Sony’s, Bose’s, or Apple’s. So I compared them a lot to my AirPods Max. For the AirPods Max, however, I shot higher, my HiFiMan HE4xx became the gold standard I compared to.
I was surprised at just how close the two actually come in terms of quality.
The Results
To put it a little too simply, if the HiFiMan excel with details in the highs and higher mids, the AirPods Max excel with bass and mids. Bass may be slightly over represented compared to the rather tight bass handling of the HiFiMan HE4xx, but it doesn’t feel overdone, to my tastes. Instead, it feels fun and lively. Apple claims they adjust the EQ automatically, and it feels like that. Shifting through genres, from bass-heavy hip-hop or mids and highs-heavy orchestral, you never feel like you’re missing something or need an adjustment. Don’t get me wrong, you can definitely get more out of an EQ, but I found switching from hip hop to metal, two genres that focus on different ends of the audio spectrum, I didn’t need to make adjustments to feel like I was enjoying them to their fullest.
The AirPods Max have a surprising amount of detail in the highs and mids, it’s just more subdued than the bright sounding planar magnetic powerhouse I was comparing these to. That does lend itself to more comfortable, long listening sessions, as too much focus on highs can create a tiring experience. The AirPods Max come through with a lot more bass though. It may feel less detailed in the bass than the HiFiMan I was comparing to, but it certainly carries more weight, more thump. I could even detect some good sub bass when a song included it.
These are closed back headphones. Even with Spatial Audio and Dolby Atmos, they’re not going to have the wide, expansive sound stage that open back headphones allow. Switching between the two, you really notice that open back still just create a larger, wider sound stage. But on the other hand, I can listen to my AirPods Max on the train without disturbing anyone. Transparency mode doesn’t really increase the sound stage, it’s a bit odd feeling, you can hear everything around you, but the sound still feels closer to your ear. It doesn’t actually increase the sound stage, but it feels like it should.
If I were to summarize, they have incredibly detailed sound with more volume emphasis on bass and mids. They’re perfect for general listening. These sounds fantastic with everything I threw at them. Honestly, while listening to an orchestral record, switching back and forth between these and my HiFiMans, I was floored. They were keeping up. I just didn’t think Apple could pull it off, but they were right up there with the heavy hitters.
Of course, for $550, they had better be able to compete with other high-end headphones, especially since you can get the HiFiMan HE4xx for under $200. In fact, as of this writing, they’re on sale for $159! They punch way above their weight class, and I did need to add more padding to the headband, but if you’re just looking for listening sound quality, you could do a lot better than Apple’s offering for half the price.
Microphone Quality
The AirPods Max have a lot my HiFiMan HE4xx lack. Bluetooth, batteries, better comfort out of the box, and, yeah, microphones. I’ve been using these for my Zoom calls and Discord hangs. They’re great at blocking out external sounds like the fan I have pointed at me because my little home office gets warm. I’ve been using them for phone calls too. No one has noticed that I was using anything different. No echos, no background noise. I decided to conduct a test with a few of my headphones. I had my Steelseries Arctis 5 wired gaming headset, my AirPods Max, my AirPods Pro, and my Skullcandy Dimes. The Dimes only use one microphone and just boost voice volume. You can hear all the background noise, but you can also hear the person speaking surprisingly well. The AirPods Max and AirPods Pro are excellent, with the AirPods Max just slightly better at filtering out background noise, perhaps because they literally have a wider microphone array. And the Steelseries Arctis 5 with their boom mic do have the best background noise cancellation, but also pick up hard letters a bit more harshly, due to the proximity of the mic to your mouth (you can adjust it though).
Overall, this is an excellent solution for phone calls, voice memos, gaming, and the like. You’re not going to use your AirPods Max to record your next hit song, but you’re definitely going to reach for them for long phone calls and meetings because they sound great and are comfortable. While my Steelseries may be the best possible for background noise cancellation, I’ll still reach for my wireless AirPods Max, especially since they look more professional for video calls, and let me pace around my apartment for phone calls (I pace a lot). I’ve been using these for all my phone calls, only using my AirPods Pro when I feel like my hair is just not cooperating with over ear headphones.
Noise Cancellation and Transparency 8.5/10
In most scenarios, these provide the best noise cancellation out of any headphones I own. I say in most scenarios because it’s not perfect. When fitted properly on your head, the noise cancellation is incredible. It even edges out the AirPods Pro. However, if you’re wearing glasses, turn your head to the side, or move around, you can create gaps between the cushion and your head. This will let sound in quickly. With the seal, I can barely hear my vacuum cleaner when I’m playing music at a reasonable volume. But as soon as that seal is broken, it’s as though I don’t have noise cancellation at all. Apple could have prevented this with thicker pads, perhaps with a soft memory foam and flexible outer material. Instead, the pads are a bit slim. While that’s not a huge problem for comfort, it certainly gets in the way of perfect noise cancellation.
On the other end of the spectrum is Apple’s legendary transparency mode. This, combined with the comfort of these headphones, can almost make you forget you’re wearing headphones. Apple’s transparency mode is fantastic. It’s a bit better on the AirPods Pro, but it’s still so close to a perfect pass-through sound. I noticed the AirPods Max are more susceptible to movement sound, like wind over the headphones as you walk, if you’re a brisk walker (and, wow, I am a fast walker). Apple’s transparency isn’t great outdoors. It can’t easily help you judge distance outside, because our ears are so sensitive to small changes in volume to detect where something is around us and track it. I was just never able to use my AirPods Pro for commuting because you can’t tell where a car or other bike/personal mobility commuters are coming up from behind you. Transparency just isn’t as good as not having headphones on, but, in an office setting, carrying on a conversation, or during a Zoom call, the transparency on these is so good, you’ll forget you’re wearing AirPods Max.
Controls 9.5/10
I thought taking the controls from the Apple Watch was a little silly, but I could see why Apple would want to do it. After all, they likely already had the parts and tooling. However, the Digital Crown from the Apple Watch is much larger on the AirPods. They’re not re-using anything but the design. So is it any good? Turns out it may be my favorite controls on a headphone ever. I liked the Beats Solo Pro button-based controls. They were intuitive and easy to access without looking. But this? This takes the cake. Quickly adjusting the volume is a breeze, and you can play, pause, go forward, go back, or activate Siri with a single press, double press, triple press, or long press, respectively. It’s just how you’d expect it to work if you used an Apple remote or AirPods in the past.
The only other button is the one to switch between transparency and noise cancellation. If you’re not wearing your headphones, you can press and hold it to activate paring mode to pair with non-Apple products, like an AirFly or Android device. Switching back to your Apple devices afterward is easy.
All of the controls are on the right side. Unfortunately, Apple doesn’t allow you to wear them reversed if you have motor control issues on your right hand. There’s no accessibility option to swap left and right sides on your output. The controls aren’t difficult to access with your left hand, it’s just more awkward.
Apple-Specific Features
I still constantly have to turn off automatic switching on my AirPods. It’s frustratingly useless. The worst part is connecting them to a new device and forgetting to turn Apple’s silly auto switching feature (which has never worked) off. Either you’ll pick up your AirPods Max, expecting them to play your music from your Mac, only to find out they stopped being connected to your Mac, or they’ll stop your media because media is playing on another one of your devices as well. However, I will say that, once you tell them to switch to a new device, they do switch faster than most Bluetooth devices.
More often than not, when I say, “Hey Siri,” I’m talking to my HomePods. I really don’t use Siri out in public. At most, I’ll have Siri read me text messages and even then, it’s more often annoying than helpful. Still, while wandering around my apartment, I’ve occasionally been able to answer texts from my AirPods. It’s just not a feature I’d buy these for. Most of the benefits of the “Apple Ecosystem” come down to just how easy it is to switch between devices. I could be listening to music on my iPhone, turn on my Apple TV, start using my headphones to binge watch an old TV show I’ve seen far too many times, and go back to my iPhone when I want music again. It’s all just a few taps away, and easier than turning a device off, entering paring mode, selecting it, and hoping it connects right. Easy connection is definitely the best part of the Apple ecosystem.
Appearance 10/10
One of my coworkers, a fellow Android developer who likely doesn’t follow Apple news, didn’t know what my headphones were, but called them “cute.” I like that. I did go with the pink and red color after all, after seeing the pink on the iPad Air and deciding I actually kind of like it. I love that Apple’s most high-end headphones come in so many color options. If you look at other high-end headphones, you usually have just one color option, maybe two. It’s frustrating. These are things you’ll be wearing for a great length of time, and you don’t even get to choose the color?
But the AirPods Max excel not only with their color options. These look fantastic. The curved aluminum cans, stainless steel arms with smooth adjustment, and the soft touch frame with mesh canopy just look so unique and cool. It shouts high-end at people from atop your head. It’s a modern design with callbacks to a sort of steampunk aesthetic with exposed metal parts and industrial shapes, all while still keeping everything “Apple simple.” The design is iconic, and it will stand out amongst more traditional and boring headphone designs for years to come.
Fit and Comfort 9/10
I don’t have a great relationship with headphones. Nothing I’ve worn feels right on my head. Either it puts too much pressure on the top of my head because it lacks clamping force, padding, or weight distribution, or there’s too much clamping force. The ear cups are often too small or too shallow. But the AirPods Max are the first headphones I can wear for hours. I may still get some discomfort on the top of my head over time, and I do have some suggestions for improving fit and comfort, but these are, by far, the most comfortable headphones I’ve ever worn.
Which is shocking, considering they’re also quite heavy.
The trick is the way that mesh canopy distributes weight across the top of your head. There’s no pressure points. Along with that, it’s easy to get them adjusted to exactly the right size. With some moderate clamping force, they stay in place and distribute weight well.
What would I change? The ear cups, mostly. I’d make them a bit thicker, with a memory foam padding and soft, flexible covering. The problem I have with these largely comes down to the fact that they don’t always create a perfect seal. The padding just isn’t thick and flexible enough to fit in gaps that you can create towards the bottom of the ear cup by moving around. Turn your head to the side too much and you can completely negate noise cancellation. Throw on a pair of glasses, and these will squeeze them into the side of your head, all while still creating a gap in the noise isolation.
Apple could have given these a bit thicker pads, either away from the headphone drivers themselves or simply a thicker diameter. I’m hoping third parties eventually figure out how to improve upon Apple’s design, rather than simply emulate it.
Battery Life 7/10
Battery life for headphones with active noise cancellation is usually between 20-30 hours. Some can pull off 40 hours, but many, like Sony’s WH-1000XM4 are around 30 hours. Apple’s AirPods Max are around the 20 hour mark. In practice, I’d get between 18-20 hours of listening time. It’s pretty consistent, but a little low for over-ear headphones. Could you drain them entirely in one day? Sure. But in the 4 hours you’re not wearing them, you could also charge them up completely for the next day. Also, what are you doing that you’re listening to music or videos for 20 hours a day?
For me, I listened for a few hours a day, and I’d have to charge them perhaps two to three times a week. When they charge, especially with a 20w charger, it’s pretty quick. I charged them from drained to 50% in under 40 minutes during my testing. It takes about two hours to do a full charge.
I did find that the case will save you perhaps an hour, overall, of battery life. Really, if you’re the kind of person who isn’t listening literally all day, you can simply charge when you’re not listening to anything. I only had one issue with battery discharge. While my AirPods Pro will discharge in the Apple case because they’re trying to do noise cancellation on themselves, these don’t have that problem. However, I did notice that, in my case from Waterfield, they drained rather quickly due to the magnet not being quite where it was needed. The constant attempts to connect drained my battery. So, if you’re using a third party case, you may still want to use the Apple case inside of it. Many are designed to do this specifically to avoid these issues.
Overall, while the battery life is less than the competition, it’s a necessary expense. The headphones are already on the heavy side, due to being made of aluminum and steel. So, rather than make these too heavy or sacrificing materials, Apple chose to reduce the battery life. It’s never really a problem, you just charge after a day or two of heavy listening. It’s not perfect, but it’s enough to get me through multiple days, and that’s enough for me.
Portability 1/10
When Apple first revealed the AirPods Max, I laughed at the case they came with. The case exposed the edges of the cans, the entire headband, buttons, and more. However, it could put the AirPods Max into sleep mode, which can preserve battery life. They’re also more reliable than third party options. Still, the right third party option will give you the versatility to use Apple’s case and offer protection.
These don’t fold up, and take up quite a bit of space. You’ll also need a good third party case to protect it. I went with the Waterfield AirPods Max Shield Case with the vegan friendly “Red Forza” exterior. It’s a large case, but it’s protective. It also adds some space for accessories and cables, which is great when you’re traveling. I really liked that I had all of my chargers in place for a trip I took recently. But it all still comes down to the fact that the AirPods Max are huge. I can’t even fit them in my sling-style bag. If you’re going to travel a lot with these, you’ll need something the size of a laptop bag or backpack to hold them.
Odds and Ends
Analog to Digital: Noise Cancellation and Transparency… With Vinyl
This just floored me. I was trying to compare my HiFiMan HE4xx and my AirPods Max with a new record. I sat down next to my record player, plugged my headphones in, and switched back and forth. I couldn’t believe how quiet the AirPods Max were, so I turned them up.
They turned up.
I wasn’t expecting that. I figured they’d only be as loud as the signal would allow. That’s not the case. As it turns out, while the signal travels over the 3.5mm to Lightning cable entirely analog, your AirPods Max will convert analog back to digital for playback. This allows them to adjust the volume and use noise cancellation or transparency modes. It was a little surreal.
This has its drawbacks. You’re limited to the quality of Apple’s own DAC in the AirPods Max. It also means you can’t really drive the headphones with more power. Throwing a higher rated amp at them would just produce the same sound quality. On one hand, this does mean your quality is consistent, from wired to Bluetooth. On the other hand, it means you’ll listen to everything through a digital filter, 24-bit 48KHz quality, to be exact. It’s not lossless, but it is very good, and most people won’t be able to tell the difference.
Plus it’s pretty cool to have noise cancellation with your vinyl.
It’s a Theft Target
The AirPods Max have such a unique and outstanding design. They’re also expensive. Plus, the case actually makes it obvious what’s in the case. Yeah, it’s a theft target. While I felt comfortable testing my Beats and Audio Technica headphones on the train, the AirPods Max were a different story. At one station, I had one guy obviously watching me. When he finally noticed that I was aware of him, he tried to get close to ask me questions about my bag. I don’t know if it was just a creep trying to chat me up or someone after my headphones (hurray, being a woman in any public space), but it’s something to consider. Think I’ll stick with the AirPods Pro for the train. Don’t know what I can do to stop random street harassment.
I did find that I could fit them under a hoodie well. It’s awkward to have your hoodie up indoors, but if you’re walking outside, it can be a good way to conceal them and protect them from the rain. I only did this once, to test noise cancellation on the train. I can confirm, it’s very good… and I won’t be using it very much.
No 3.5mm Headphone Jack
This is, by far, the dumbest thing. Apple’s 3.5mm to Lightning cable is unidirectional, and carries analog signals. It’s basically a proprietary audio cable. And, no, you can’t just stuff a standard Lightning to 3.5mm dongle on the end of a 3.5mm cable, because that would include a DAC. Apple’s headphone to Lighting cable is unidirectional, and contains no DAC, it’d just analog audio over Lightning. In an effort to ensure their headphones had only one port, Apple put a Lightning cable on there for both charging and analog audio.
I would have preferred two ports. Literally everyone who has ever owned or thought about owning AirPods Max would prefer two ports. What the hell was Apple smoking? Because Apple went with Lightning, which, let’s face it, they’re going to cancel eventually, you may want to stock up on these cables or hope third parties make them for years to come. They’re $35 from Apple. It’s hard to find third party options because Apple didn’t put a headphone jack in their iPhones either, so many of these cables have a DAC because most headphones require it.
Again, what the hell was Apple thinking?
Non-Apple Devices
I synced my AirPods Max to my Android phone and an AirFly. It’s easy. With your headphones off, you press the noise cancellation button until the light on the bottom flashes white. Then just pair like any other set of headphones. It’s quick and easy. You won’t get any additional features though. No controls for volume swipe direction or on-device controls for noise cancellation or transparency. They’ll work on non-Apple devices. However, if you’re not using these primarily for Apple devices, why even buy them? They have great sound and noise cancellation, but so do the Sony WH-1000XM4s, and those have better support on non-Apple devices. If you’re buying these, it’s because you have mostly Apple devices, same as any other AirPods.
Overall 9/10
I kind of hate that I love these so much, especially after mocking them before. They still are expensive for what they are: headphones. You can get some fantastic noise cancelling headphones for half this cost. But can I stand up from my computer where I write this, sit down on my couch, and press a single button on my Apple remote to watch TV with some fancy Sony headphones? No. That’s an AirPods Max thing. I can be listening to music on my Mac, switch to my iPhone as I get started on my work day, then switch the audio to my work computer for a Zoom call. It’s all seamless, it all works perfectly. With the comfort these provide, you don’t mind wearing them all day and for everything that requires speakers. Toss in sound quality that rivals the best headphones I’ve used? I’m hooked.
I love these headphones.
If you’re looking to make an investment on headphones you will use for many years to come, the AirPods Max aren’t a bad choice. If sound quality, noise cancellation, comfort, and connectivity to Apple devices are important factors to you, then these are actually worth the price of admission. Yes, they’re expensive. And, yes, I did feel stupid buying them. But try them out for two weeks and you won’t want to return them.
Plus, wow, they really make it easy to finance everything on an Apple Card these days, don’t they?
These are my favorite headphones now. Make no mistake, I love the incredible detail in my HiFiMan HE4xx. I love the portable noise cancellation my AirPods Pro give me (when they work). I love the reliability of my Skullcandy Dimes for when my AirPods Pro fail me. But these? These are my all-around, do a bit of everything headphones, and I love them for that. That’s why I reach for them for everything from phone calls to music, TV to relaxation. The AirPods Max do everything pretty good, and that makes them an excellent choice.