Apple AirPods Max review: Ecosystem-only excellence

Ever since Apple acquired Beats in 2014, it’s been apparent Apple desires to get extra into the buyer audio area. The unique AirPods had been successful regardless of being terrible, however the AirPods Professional are among the many finest true wi-fi earbuds you may get. So naturally, we had been excited but skeptical when the AirPods Max had been introduced.

Is that this simply one other overpriced Apple product, or are they really good?

Who’re the Apple AirPods Max for?

• Folks within the Apple ecosystem will love the AirPods Max.
• Those that love the AirPods Professional however desire a pair of over-ears will get pleasure from lots of the identical software program perks, however in a extra snug kind issue.
• Anybody who desires wonderful noise-cancelling ought to think about the AirPods Max, since they outperform each the Sony WH-1000XM4 and the Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700.

This AirPods Max are a blended bag. Typically they’re improbable, however while you wish to use them in a method Apple doesn’t intend, they’re bizarre. Even simply utilizing them wired requires leaping by way of hoops, however extra on that later.

The AirPods Max have nice noise-cancelling and a transparency mode to allow you to hear your setting, which is helpful while you’re out on a stroll or want to remain conscious of your environment. Quantity and playback controls are on the digital crown on the highest of the fitting ear cup, which ended up being so clean that it’s simple to by chance increase or decrease the quantity when adjusting the headphones. Sensors within the ear cups auto-pause playback while you take off the headphones, and resume as soon as they’re again on.

There’s no energy button to show off the headset, as a substitute, it goes into low energy mode contained in the case. The bizarre case (pictured on the high of this part) just about solely features as an off change, because it doesn’t actually shield the headphones from a lot. When the AirPods Max aren’t within the case, they continue to be on for just a few hours earlier than going to sleep, draining the battery within the course of.

See additionally: Finest AirPods Max instances

The construct high quality is lush, with a stainless-steel headband and aluminum ear cups that really feel sturdy, and plush padding and light-weight cloth throughout the metallic inside. The ear cups really feel amazingly snug, and the padding is replaceable too. The ear cups are deep, which suggests isolating noise is lots simpler for extra folks.

The AirPods Max aren’t waterproof in any respect, so regardless that these are transportable, it is perhaps dangerous to take them outdoors. That is positively a miss on Apple’s half.

The AirPods Max have a very stable connection (on Apple gadgets), and that is because of the H1 chip. A colleague at SoundGuys reported occasional glitches when listening to Spotify from an iPhone SE (2020), and podcast audio not being routed to the AirPods Max regardless of being linked, however that appears to be an remoted challenge.

Just like the AirPods Professional, these use Bluetooth 5.0 with the AAC and SBC Bluetooth codecs. AAC is right for iPhones, however not a lot for Android telephones, since sound high quality can range wildly amongst gadgets utilizing AAC.

The AirPods Max don’t have a 3.5mm headphone jack, so if you wish to use something aside from a Bluetooth machine, you must purchase a $35 Lightning-to-3.5mm audio cable from Apple. In case your machine doesn’t have a headphone jack (like a more moderen iPhone), you will want one other $9 dongle.

Connecting AirPods Max to an iOS machine is tremendous simple, holding the headset about two inches away out of your machine will immediate a card icon to attach the headset, after which will routinely hook up with all gadgets in your iCloud account.

You may also join your AirPods Max to Android gadgets. Merely take away the headphones from the case, maintain down the noise-cancelling button on the high of the fitting ear cup till the LED on the backside of the ear cup blinks white, and hook up with the AirPods Max within the Bluetooth settings of your machine. Simply be warned that you just’ll be lacking lots of options when utilizing these with Android gadgets.

Spatial Audio is Apple’s encompass sound expertise, utilizing gyroscopes and accelerometers within the headset with those in your iPhone or iPad. This detects which route your head is transferring relative to the machine and adjusts the sound accordingly, so that you get an immersive audio expertise. This characteristic doesn’t work on Android gadgets in any respect, solely iOS.

Apple claims the AirPods Max will final you round 20 hours of fixed playback with lively noise-cancelling activates. When testing the headphones over at SoundGuys, the battery lasted near 21 hours at a constant output of 75dB(SPL), and simply over 21 hours with ANC off. This battery life no less than makes up for the truth that you possibly can’t flip them off, however it’s nonetheless unhealthy that they lose battery when not in use, contemplating that extra frequent charging is unhealthy for the longevity of the battery. You may’t simply exchange the batteries within the AirPods Max, so take excellent care of them.

The lively noise-cancelling on the AirPods Max is improbable. That is essential, for the reason that higher you possibly can stop outdoors noise from reaching your ears, the higher your headphones will sound nearly as good as they’ll.

The AirPods Max will cancel out the hiss of a radiator, and appears like music from roommates and typing on the keyboard are considerably quieter. The one annoying factor is you possibly can solely flip off noise-cancelling you probably have an iOS machine. By default, the button on the headphones toggles between transparency mode and lively noise-cancelling.

Take a look at: Headphone shopping for information

The AirPods Max block noise higher than the Sony WH-1000XM4, which is a high performer in noise-cancelling already. Noise discount within the WH-1000XM4 slops off within the bass vary beneath the 150Hz mark, and the AirPods Max holds regular.

The AirPods Max additionally outperform the Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700, which fall a bit brief relating to sounds beneath 100Hz. The AirPods Max block out extra sound on this vary, that are actually low-frequency sounds that you just’ll wish to have blocked. Take a look at our deeper comparability of the AirPods Max and Bose Headphones 700 for extra.

The AirPods Max sound actually good, and have a satisfying sound profile that’ll enchantment to most individuals. The frequency response (cyan line) carefully matches the SoundGuys goal curve (pink line) for essentially the most half, with a little bit of a kick within the sub-bass area. There’s a slight dip within the mids, however vocals are nonetheless very clear. The upper frequency vary additionally sounds good, and also you in all probability gained’t really feel the necessity to mess with any EQ settings.

You gained’t get lossless audio with these since they’re Bluetooth headphones, however utilizing a Lightning dongle will get you fairly shut, although you may be changing the sign from digital to analog, again to digital, and at last to analog once more, which isn’t excellent. However in the event you’re listening over Bluetooth, you’re not getting lossless audio. Apple’s AAC implementation is nice, however you’re nonetheless listening to a compressed sign while you use Bluetooth, so be happy to drop your audio high quality settings while you’re streaming music to avoid wasting vitality and knowledge.

How is the microphone on the Apple AirPods Max?

The microphone high quality on the Apple AirPods Max is absolutely depending on what machine you’re linked to. The sound high quality lack of the microphone is basically depending on how your machine handles wi-fi communication, and it’s not at all times clear which gadgets will deal with it poorly. The perfect outcomes are discovered on a flagship Android or Apple machine. Under is an instance of the microphone in excellent situations.

Apple AirPods Max microphone demo (Best):

Whether or not or not it is best to spend round $549 on a pair of headphones is your name. Objectively, the AirPods Max are a spectacular pair of headphones, with nice options like auto-pause and transparency, phenomenal noise-cancelling, and an amazing construct. However this solely actually applies in the event you’re dedicated to the Apple ecosystem, and in the event you’re undecided that is for you, it in all probability isn’t. Moreover, the shortage of wired connectivity is irritating, and the meager slip case is severely missing. To reply the preliminary query, sure, the AirPods Max are an overpriced pair of headphones, however they’re additionally nice.

In order for you the most effective noise-cancelling round however don’t wish to spend an arm and a leg for the AirPods Max, the Bose Quietcomfort 45 ($329) may go well with you properly. They’ve their points, like a loud treble response, and an incapacity to hear with out ANC or transparency mode, however these may very well be non-issues for the fitting particular person — plus Bose has added an EQ perform to its app, so you possibly can change how the headphones sound. They examine properly in opposition to the AirPods Max and Sony WH-1000XM4. We additionally advocate the years-old Bose Quietcomfort 35 II ($249) for the value, ANC, and sound profile.