Apple AirPods Max review | Laptop Mag
Our Verdict
Apple tree'southward AirPods Max headphones combine beautiful design with powerful tech for great audio quality and best-in-course ANC.
For
- Gorgeous blueprint
- Slap-up audio quality
- Powerful ANC
- Seamless integration with Apple devices
Laptop Mag Verdict
Apple's AirPods Max headphones combine beautiful blueprint with powerful tech for bully sound quality and all-time-in-class ANC.
Pros
- +
Gorgeous design
- +
Nifty audio quality
- +
Powerful ANC
- +
Seamless integration with Apple devices
If you had told me that someday I'd be reviewing a pair of Apple headphones that cost $549 and admittedly love them, I'd tell y'all nigh an NFT of the Brooklyn Bridge. Only here we are, and folks, let me tell you, the AirPods Max alive upwards to the hype. The headphones are gorgeous, sporting that sleek, minimalist design that's become synonymous with the brand.
Simply hiding backside those captivating good looks is the visitor's powerful H1 fries, 9 microphones, 40mm drivers and a gaggle of sensors. It doesn't look like much on paper, but when you lot actually requite them a heed, yous have robust, warm sound with active dissonance cancelling that rivals heavy hitters in the space. And while I'thou not the biggest fan of Apple tree's solution for power management, information technology's a minor quibble in the thou scheme of things. The price even so, not so much.
Still, the Apple AirPods Max are a cracking pair of cans and have earned their way onto our best wireless headphones and best noise cancelling headphones pages.
Apple AirPods Max pricing and configurations
Whew! If you don't believe in the Apple tree revenue enhancement, allow me to present you with the AirPods Max. Priced at $549, the Max are some of the nearly expensive mainstream consumer headphones I've reviewed. They make the $329 Bose Dissonance Cancelling Headphones 700 and the $349 Sony WH-1000-xM4 headphones await positively affordable.
Apple AirPods Max design
One reason why the AirPods Max are probably so expensive is the design. These cans bring all the things nosotros look from an Apple-designed product: bold, clean lines and premium materials. It'south minimalist chic showtime with some funky, off-the-wall pattern quirk. The offset thing you'll notice well-nigh the AirPods Max when y'all open the box is that the earcups are nestled in a soft-touch rubberized Smart Example that makes the headphones look like a weird clutch purse. The cover even has a small divot for the Lightning port. The Smart Case closes with a magnet which, when it comes into contact with the earcaps, places the headphones into a low-power residual country.
Once y'all go over the case and unsheathe the AirPods Max, get ready to "ooh" and "ahh." The headphones are bursting at the seams with premium materials. The earcaps are made out of a shimmery anodized aluminum while the extenders gleam a silver stainless steel color. Instead of leather or leather-like products, the headband is fabricated of stainless steel wrapped in the same rubberized textile equally the case.
However, the majority of the band is made of a knit mesh that's mimicked on the memory-foam earcups. Each earcup has an integrated optical sensor that detects when the headphones aren't on your head and pauses the music until you're ready to put them back on. Over time, those textile earcups are bound to go a little grody. When it happens, you tin buy replacements for $69 a pair, or get another color to add a footling customization to your cans.
The headphones take a number of interesting ports, buttons and... ports. While both earcaps have a mesh-lined port forth the top, the right earcap is where you'll discover the acme-mounted digital crown, noise control buttons. I was hoping Apple tree would finally run into the low-cal and give usa a USB Type-C port, but no, the company is still stuck on Lightning for charging every bit evidenced by the port on the bottom.
And while the headphones' build is pretty snazzy, the colors are what really draw the eye. I can't take my optics off the Heaven Blue cans I'm reviewing, as they remind me of an old-school iMac. Simply the AirPods Max are as well available in Pink and Green. And if you're looking for something a bit more understated, there's Black and Space Greyness.
The AirPods weigh in at 13.vi ounces and measure 7.4 x 6.vi x 3.iii inches. It's much heavier than the Bose (9 ounces, eight x 6.5 ten 2-inches) and the Sony (8.9 ounces).
Apple AirPods Max condolement
Despite existence noticeably heavier than competing headphones, the AirPods Max are incredibly comfy. I wore them during an eight-hour work solar day and so ran a few errands for about 1.v hours. The mesh-covered memory foam pressed gently confronting the area around my ears. While it wasn't warm enough to work upwardly a sweat, I imagine when summer arrives, you won't have to worry about having sweaty ears thank you to the fabric.
The mesh headband allows for air circulation and does a pretty good task of distributing weight, which fabricated wearing the cans that much more comfortable.
Apple AirPods Max setup
Just similar the AirPods Pro and the AirPods before them, the AirPods Max offers near instantaneous pairing with iDevices. When I turned on the headphones, a prompt appeared on my iPhone xi Max signaling the AirPods Max were ready to pair. A quick tap and it was time to stone.
Information technology took a little more endeavour to connect to my Samsung Galaxy Note twenty Ultra, just not much. I simply went to the Bluetooth carte du jour in Settings and selected the AirPods Max. It's the same procedure for MacBooks and PCs.
The AirPods Max accept Automated Switching technology. That means afterward I used FaceTime to check in on my mom, the headphones immediately switched dorsum to my iPhone. If I had an iPad, the technology would also work in that location.
Apple tree AirPods Max controls
Outside of embedded touchpanels, the digital crown, that round little knob at the superlative of earcup is the all-time control method I've seen on a pair of headphones. Information technology's also one of the all-time looking. Borrowing heavily from the Apple Lookout man, the crown is used to control volume and has multiple functions. A quick press can play or intermission whatever you're listening to, reply or ignore calls. A double press skips tracks forward while a triple tap skips backward. A long press activates Siri or yous tin just say, "Hey Siri."
To switch between Noise Cancellation and Transparency Mode, you simply press the Noise Cancelling push.
Apple AirPods Max features
It should come as no surprise that the AirPods Max has a host of features that Apple would have united states refer to as "the magic of AirPods." The magic in question speaks to the seamless, near-instant manner everything works –– not merely with the AirPods Max, but within the whole of the Apple ecosystem.
For instance, you have Audio Sharing, which lets you stream audio between two sets of devices, including the iPad and iPod Affect. It will even work with Apple tree Tv set. All yous take to exercise is bring the AirPods Max within range of the device and just tap to connect. Information technology goes hand-in-hand with the Automatic Switching feature.
In terms of Siri, there's the always-on characteristic, which means that the digital banana is ever prepare to jump to your brook and call. And if you're non in the mood to engage with your smartphone or iDevice to read incoming messages, there's the Denote Messages characteristic with Siri functionality. When enabled, Siri will read your messages to you and you can directly it to answer back.
Siri'southward dainty and all, only these are a pair of headphones. Equally such, Apple included a few features to enhance your listening feel. The company uses a pair of its H1 chips to bring listeners its Adaptive EQ. Using each of the fries' 10 cores, Adaptive EQ adjusts the mids and lows of a runway in existent-time based on the position and seal of earcups. The event is consistent, balanced audio quality.
Apple tree AirPods Max app
Apple tree doesn't offer a companion app for the AirPods Max. Like to the AirPods Pro and OG AirPods, you can notice nigh of your tweakable features in the Settings carte du jour. Y'all can rename the headphones, adjust the Digital Crown functionality and switch between Noise Cancelling and Transparency Modes. You can also enable or disable Spatial Audio and Automatic Head Detection.
If the Adaptive EQ isn't enough for you, Apple has a robust collection of equalizer presets in the Apple Music settings carte. And in example you misplaced the headphones, Apple has a Find My Headphones feature to help track them downward.
Apple AirPods Max active noise cancelling
For almost $600, the AirPods Max better have some A1 noise cancelling. The headphones have a total of nine microphones, eight of which are dedicated to keeping out errant noise while the remaining device is used for voice pickup during calls or summoning Siri. And so how do the AirPods Max stack up? Pretty well, really. While they're not powerful enough to keep the hustle and bustle of New York City at bay, after I pressed the Dissonance Cancelling button, the metropolis seemed to magically fall abroad, leaving only the slight whispers.
During my daily walk, the AirPods Max'southward dissonance cancelling severely reduced the construction dissonance from a nearby Con-Ed truck without any music playing. Listening to Gallant'due south "Comeback." at 40% book completely submerged what was already a slight rumble. The same thing happened with a passing ambulance, making the clarion siren audio like it was several urban center blocks away. Using the cans in my house, I found the ANC completely shut out my LG Television receiver when the volume was set to 16, which is slightly worse than the Bose and Sony which both do 17.
But in that location are moments when y'all really want or need to hear the world around you. In those instances, you lot have Transparency mode. When enabled, the microphones allow a decent amount of ambient racket into the soundscape. That meant the sound of oncoming traffic made an uneasy alliance with Erica Banks' "Buss It" every bit I crossed the street, fighting the urge to drib it depression and make a quick wardrobe modify.
There is an option to disable ANC completely, but if you live in a busy urban center like I do, I dubiety you'll e'er utilise it.
Apple AirPods Max sound functioning
With their 40mm custom dynamic drivers, the AirPods Max are simply a few steps below delivering audiophile-form sound, just the headphones can definitely brand a case for hi-fi grade. Whether I was listening to pop, hip-hop, country or R&B, the headphones didn't fail in delivering robust audio with rich mids and bass that never overwhelmed the highs.
I started my AirPods Max listening political party with the Main version of Jill Scott's "And so Gone [What My Listen Says]" on Tidal. Immediately, I fell nether the spell of the juicy bass juxtaposed with the flighty, futuristic synths and bright strings. The snare drums were crisp and when Scott said you were going to hear the pages turn, I indeed heard the rustle of paper. Her honied alto was accurate and led the way on this sultry track.
Listening to the aforementioned vocal on the Bose was a scrap of a letdown due to the bass –– it'due south nowhere near as pronounced as information technology is on the AirPods Max. Even so, that lack of depression-end did allow me to focus on the guitar and the synth. With that electrical guitar, the 700s fell just brusk of giving me individual string plucks, but information technology was still pretty impressive.
When I listened to Ayron Jones' "Mercy" on the AirPods Max, the electrical guitar was nice and meaty and hitting college chords without sounding shrill. The bass guitar had good definition while the percussion delivered a clean snap and Jones' enervating, gritty vocals commanded my attending. Still, I preferred the Bose 700 performance, as the guitars had a scrap more torso and item than the AirPods Pro.
For my last track, I went with Phil Collins' cover of "Do Nothin' Till You Hear From Me" on Q's Jook Joint. The AirPods Max impressed with its generous soundscape. From the acoustic guitar to the piano, sax, french horns and trumpets, I heard every instrument clearly. The cymbals sounded so make clean I felt like I was in the room with the drummer. Collins' gentle tenor brought the whole track together. The aforementioned rails on the Bose wasn't every bit warm as what I heard on the AirPods Max. And while the piano was a fleck more refined on the 700s, I preferred the AirPods Max, every bit it gave me a concert hall-type of sound.
Apple AirPods Max spatial sound
The AirPods Max are the latest headphones to feature spatial sound. For those non familiar, the engineering creates the illusion of a 360-caste soundscape, which gives the listener an immersive listening experience.
That means when I listened to Lil Nas X's "MONTERO (Call Me By Your Proper name)," information technology sounded like the creative person'due south vocals were echoing from both sides when it hit the reverb. And depending on which direction I was facing, the Spanish guitar sounded like it was coming from that position. The bass was total, and since information technology had a wider soundscape to play in, information technology lacked that boominess that tin otherwise threaten to overwhelm the instrumental.
When I listened to the same track on the Sony WH-1000xM4, the low-end was definitely more pronounced, only information technology wasn't detrimental to the residuum of the song. The overall sound was a chip more forward-facing than the AirPods Max, which wasn't that much of a surprise since Sony audio products are tuned a bit more aggressively.
Apple AirPods Max Bluetooth and battery life
Apple estimates the AirPods Max will concluding 20 hours on a charge. That'southward in line with the Bose 700, but far brusque of the Sony WH-1000XM4 which take a rated fourth dimension of thirty hours. The headphones have lived up to the hype then far, equally I've worn them for 10 hours directly and the battery life was only slightly below the 50% marker. Keep in mind that I'thousand reviewing the AirPods Max after the firmware update that fixed the battery drain problem that some listeners feel. All in all, I squeezed xviii hours and 21 minutes out of the cans, intermittently placing the headphones back in the Smart Cover.
Taking the headphones off for v minutes places the cans into low power mode. Three days out of the instance, they get into a lower power style that disables Bluetooth and the Notice My Headphones functionality. Placing the AirPods Pro into the Smart Cover immediately initiates low power mode, so it goes into ultra-low-power manner after eighteen hours. I wish there was a manner to initiate ultra-low-power style while you lot're still wearing the headphones. I wear mine as an accessory and I don't want power bleed just because I like to exist stylish.
When information technology'southward fourth dimension to charge the AirPods Max, y'all can get 1.5 hours of battery life with only 5 minutes of charge.
The headphones use Bluetooth 5.0 to connect to compatible devices. Bluetooth 5.0 has a theoretical range of 800 feet. I don't have the space to put that to the test, but what I can tell you is that when my Notation twenty got lodged in the recliner and I went downstairs to look for it, the music never cut out. Once I found the phone, I placed it on my amusement gear up and left my apartment building, which is approximately 150 anxiety, the music immediately cut out.
Apple AirPods Max telephone call quality
I've made quite a few calls on the AirPods Max and unless I was outside and an ambulance or constabulary car was driving by with the siren on, nigh of my callers were none the wiser. Exterior of those few times, most of my callers reported loud, clear sound. Most couldn't fifty-fifty tell that I was using a pair of headphones, fifty-fifty when I was outside. In that location wasn't any of that telltale wind resistance.
On my end of the call, outside of some slight muffling due to the ANC, my callers' voices were clear and distinct. Volume was loud enough that I ofttimes could hear a lot of groundwork noise, including my niece talking to my nana.
Lesser line
They look skillful, only more than importantly, they sound good. And they've got some formidable active noise cancelling to kick. The Apple tree AirPods Max might have done the impossible hither –– found a way to make mainstream music lovers pay high-end prices for audio. The headphones are stylish, comfortable and packed with tech. Not just exercise you go bang-up audio quality, y'all have Adaptive EQ to ensure you're always getting the optimal sound experience. And you take Spatial Audio for more immersive listening. I'm not totally sold on Apple's bombardment conservation solutions, but it'due south a small-scale complaint.
The bigger complaint is the toll. $549 is a lot to inquire mainstream consumers to spend on a pair of headphones, especially when you've got the Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700 and the Sony WH-1000xM4 out there for $329 and $349, respectively. Both have comparable audio quality and slightly more than powerful ANC. Plus, the WH-1000xM4 too offers 360-degree audio. But for Apple tree lovers who desire something more substantial than the AirPods or AirPods Pro with seamless integration with Macs and iDevices, the Apple tree AirPods Max can't exist beat out.
Source: https://www.laptopmag.com/reviews/apple-airpods-max-review
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