Apple AirPods Max review
Our Verdict
The AirPods Max are exceptional noise-cancelling headphones with a luxurious design, sophisticated soundstage and clever computational features. But the $549 price and anarchistic instance are difficult to overlook.
For
- Luxurious design and feel
- Easy-to-use controls
- Crisp and counterbalanced audio
- Spatial sound is a game-changer
- Fantastic noise cancellation
Confronting
- Expensive
- No on/off switch
- Smart case provides no protection
Tom's Guide Verdict
The AirPods Max are exceptional dissonance-cancelling headphones with a luxurious blueprint, sophisticated soundstage and clever computational features. Simply the $549 price and unconventional instance are difficult to overlook.
Pros
- +
Luxurious design and feel
- +
Easy-to-use controls
- +
Crisp and balanced sound
- +
Spatial audio is a game-changer
- +
Fantastic noise cancellation
Cons
- -
Expensive
- -
No on/off switch
- -
Smart case provides no protection
Are the Apple AirPods Max worth $549? It might seem unlikely given most of the best over-ear headphones are a lot cheaper. And, despite existence both Apple'south most premium pair of headphones nevertheless and capable of using a wired connectedness, the AirPods Max isn't fifty-fifty be compatible with Apple tree Music lossless.
Apple tree AirPods Max specs:
Price: $549
Colors: Space greyness, silver, sky blue, green, pink
Size: 7.4 x six.half dozen x 3.iii inches
Weight: xiii.half-dozen ounces
Battery life: 20 hours
Speakers: 40mm dynamic drivers
Features: ANC, spatial audio, audio sharing, Siri
And yet, our answer is yep: the AirPods Max are worth $549. In fact yous could fairly count them amid the best noise-cancelling headphones and fifty-fifty the best headphones overall. Yes, there are cheaper AirPods Max alternatives, but the design, audio quality and features on offer brand the real thing very tempting indeed.
- How to employ AirPods and AirPods Max: Tips and guides
- Our picks of the best AirPods Max alternatives that cost less
- The best Apple tree AirPods alternatives: Coin-saving earbuds
That said, it'due south certainly no impulse purchase. Then I'll summarize this Apple tree AirPods Max review specifically for those wondering whether they should splurge: They look not bad, they sound better, and they have enough bonus features that even $549 can be worth paying. With Apple's newest headphones y'all actually practice get what you pay for.
1 final note: the AirPods Max has won big in the Tom's Guide Awards 2021 Audio categories. In addition to winning our All-time headphones design laurels overall, Apple's headphones also earned a Highly Recommended nod for the Most innovative headphones award. Y'all can bank check out the main Tom's Guide Awards 2021 Awards hub for more awards and winners.
AirPods Max review: Price and availability
The AirPods Max cost $549 and come in five colors: Space grey, silver, heaven blue, greenish and pink. The ear cushions are magnetic and swappable, with replacement pairs costing $69.
Along with the headphones, in the box you'll go a carrying Smart Case and Lightning-to-USB-C cable, but no power adapter. The AirPods Max also skip on the Lightning-to-three.5mm sound cable, which y'all'll demand to pick up for $35 if you lot want a non-Bluetooth listening pick.
In other words, the AirPods Max is cheaper than true audiophile headphones like the Focal Clear, merely will still price you lot a pretty penny.
AirPods Max review: Design
Unlike the Apple AirPods, which are sheathed in an iconic white plastic, the AirPods Max come in a fun color range that lends itself well to a retro aesthetic. The pink ones I tested remind me of candy, simply not in a childish way. The headband and instance embody Pantone'due south infamous Living Coral hue, while the cans drip rose gold.
Those pivoting ear cups are covered by oval pillows of memory foam that aren't as pulpy as those of the Sony WH-1000XM4, but still create a spongy, secure seal around my ears.
They're connected by a 7.4 x 6.6 x 3.3 inch, stainless steel frame with slim, telescoping arms that expand at the top for a mesh headband. I sense the pressure level relieved by the breathable canopy is what makes the 13.6 ounces experience lighter than they are. That said, the AirPods Max are noticeably heftier than the Sony WH-1000XM4 and Bose 700 headphones, which both weigh just eight.96 ounces.
Apple made a clever move to borrow and enlarge the Apple tree Scout's Digital Crown for the AirPods Max. Similar to how the crown provides navigation for Apple's smartwatch, on the AirPods Max the crown is used for volume control, skipping tracks and playing or pausing audio. It's too a means of summoning Siri and answering or ending phone calls. I'll admit there'southward something satisfying about swivelling the dial, although I did swipe the volume while fussing with my pilus more than once.
The other button on the right earcup is a switch for noise cancellation and transparency style. So where is the AirPods Max power push, you might ask? There isn't 1, which is odd no matter how you frame it. Although they kick into depression-power mode when they're stationary for several minutes or in the magnetic smart example, I still think Apple should've included a fashion to completely power down the AirPods Max.
AirPods Max review: Sound functioning
The AirPods Max's sound starts with a custom-congenital, 40mm dynamic driver in each cup, which are designed to deliver deep bass, accurate mid-range sounds and clean high-frequencies. There's likewise a dual neodymium ring magnet motor that limits harmonic baloney to less than i%, even at max book. When I turned the AirPods Max all the way upward, music sounded balanced as ever, although my Apple Health noise notifications increased.
Apple leverages an H1 chip in each ear, a custom acoustic design, and avant-garde software to achieve computational audio performance that's akin to the computational photography prowess of the iPhone 12. Each of the chips take 10 sound cores that can perform nine billion operations per second, supporting Adaptive EQ for tailored listening and adjusting sound appropriately on the fly.
Now, enough with the technical specs. Every bit wireless headphones, the AirPods Max likely aren't the choice for true audiophiles or audio professionals who crave lossless playback. Apple'south headphones all the same sound high-end, perhaps not as high-end as wired recording equipment, just offer more complexities than most pop headphones models.
The steady bassline in Kendrick's Lamar's "Humble" rang deep, and I could hear the rapper enunciating his words with a crispness I never noticed in the song before. While the WH-1000XM4 are similarly clear, they don't provide the aforementioned caste of definition. Likewise, Alicia Keys sounded more than shine, yet precise in the opening run of "Y'all Don't Know My Name," through the AirPods Max. With both these songs, it felt like I listened from a studio.
For more than of a concert feel, I turned to Aerosmith'south "Sweet Emotion." Tom Hamilton'due south bass guitar vibrated through my ears, while Joe Perry's acoustics were intentional and Steven Tyler's precipitous vocals transported me back to my first alive Aerosmith bear witness at an outdoor Long Island amphitheater. Metallica's "Enter Sandman" supplied a similar outcome; the bass drum boomed through the vocal's signature rumble.
I found something to appreciate about the AirPods Max's soundstage across all my favorite musical genres, but my favorite attribute of testing didn't come from music. Spatial audio, which Apple introduced with the AirPods Pro and helped put them among the best wireless earbuds, is a game-changing listening feature.
Spatial audio is basically environs sound but for a headset. It supports 5.ane, 7.1 and Dolby Atmos video content, and uses built-in head tracking means to brand audio relative to what you lot're seeing on screen while watching video on your iPhone or iPad. For instance, as ships zoomed from the left side of the screen towards the right and downward towards a planet in Star Wars: The Ascent of Skywalker, their buzzes and hums followed with precision from my left ear to my ear one. Spatial audio also recalibrated when I moved my head, which never failed to print me.
AirPods Max review: Dissonance cancellation and transparency mode
Simply a few months agone, I picked up the AirPods Pro to drown out the sounds of screaming babies, noisy appliances and traffic in or around my apartment. They've been a huge help for focusing on work, but boy, the AirPods Max volition make it difficult to become dorsum to earbuds.
Although there'due south only one level of dissonance counterfoil, information technology'southward first-class. If you prefer astute tuning for this feature, the Bose 700 is probably a more than rational fit for you with its 11 levels of racket cancellation. Conversely the AirPods Max offer only one level of transparency, while the Sony WH-1000XM4 take several settings for ambient sound.
The common theme for AirPods Max is that more than options isn't necessarily ameliorate. In side-by-side testing Apple's headphones are cervix-and-neck with the two all-time noise-cancelling headphones in the game. I'd hesitate to phone call AirPods the new ANC king. I don't leave my apartment much these days, so YouTube supplied me with New York City ambience sounds that recreate my rush-hr commuting soundscape. The AirPods Max did a amend job than the Bose 700 at eliminating the low-frequencies of wind and the hum of busy streets, only Bose's headphones excelled with mid- and high-frequency sounds similar honking automobile horns and squeaking tires.
And again, if you lot're keen on customizing your sound (or lack thereof) and so the AirPods Max might not be your ideal headset. But if you're okay giving upwards control to Apple's computational performance powers, you won't be disappointed.
AirPods Max review: Setup, Siri and telephone call quality
Information technology's no surprise that those who ain other Apple devices will be able to make the virtually of their AirPods Max experience. When you pull these headphones out of the case, the H1 flake initiates instantaneous pairing with your iPhone, and shortly yous can control your AirPods Max from your Apple tree Watch or handoff playback between your iPad or HomePod mini.
You'll also get Siri, which isn't my preferred vocalization butler but nonetheless helpful for sending texts and answering calls. You lot can use Apple's AI assistant to control the best HomeKit devices via the AirPods Max, too.
I institute the AirPods Max are meliorate than other AirPods models when it comes to phone telephone call quality, eliminating near groundwork noise per those I called for testing. I noticed I could hear myself speaking, that way I wouldn't end upwards yelling by accident. In fact, in transparency mode the AirPods Max even boost the volume of my ain voice in my ears.
AirPods Max review: Smart instance
I normally wouldn't dedicate an entire section of a review to a device's holster, but the AirPods Max Smart Case has been ridiculed and memed to no end. I'll exist honest, I don't hate it, even if it looks like an ostentatious leather handbag. I'm not opposed to using the headband equally a carrying handle, plus the supple case takes up minimal space when it'southward not in use.
I do have two concerns, though: First, an exposed headband seems similar a germ-magnet. I'm a hygienic human being, merely should I pick up the AirPods Max with whatsoever kind of grime or crumb on my hand... merely, ew. 2d, the Smart Case doesn't provide any sense of protection. I wouldn't toss the AirPods Max in my haversack with the rest of my crap like I would other headphones, including my AirPods Pro.
AirPods Max review: Battery life
In my testing, I found the AirPods Max live upwards to Apple'southward claimed twenty hours of battery life, no thing how much time I spent listening, talking or quieting the globe around me. Over the course of 2 days — including 3 hours of telephone calls, ten hours of music or TV and several hours of uncomplicated silence in between — my AirPods Max nonetheless had virtually 10% of juice left. And overnight, stored in their example, the bombardment barely drained.
Apple planned out this no-ability-button movement pretty well. The depression power modes are effective enough that most people should become several days of battery life out of AirPods Max with normal use. But if a long lasting battery is important to you lot, know you'll get some other ten hours out of the Sony's WH-1000XM4.
Another thing to notation is if you do opt for the lightning to 3.5mm accessory, you even so need to accuse the AirPods Max. The cable only adds a wired listening option and eliminates the possibility of sound latency, merely tin't be used to charge the cans
AirPods Max review: Verdict
The AirPods Max are the best Apple tree headphones, and so it'due south a shame they're non in a more palatable price range. But these headphones round out Apple'southward ecosystem in a style I didn't think I cared about, and now that they're here, I'm having a hard time desiring any other over-ear headphones right now. The combination of cushy comfort, pristine audio quality and killer features similar spatial audio is difficult to trounce.
Besides the fact that they're more compatible for Android users, the Bose 700 and Sony WH-1000XM4 headphones both cost hundreds of dollars less and offer comparable noise counterfoil. Plus, both come with practical cases, a headphone jack and an off switch.
If yous can look by these caveats and have the dough to spend, the AirPods Max are your ticket to listening luxury. You might experience pressured to hop on the train with Apple'due south legion of loyal customers, and I'm hither to tell yous that'south okay. The AirPods Max aren't frivolous — they're exceptional.
- More: Not convinced? Check out the best AirPods Max alternatives
Source: https://www.tomsguide.com/news/airpods-studio-coming-to-battle-the-sony-wh-1000xm4
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