Apple AirPods Max review: An accomplished first stab at over-ear headphones

Followed a frenzied few months of product announcements, which has seen four new 5G iPhones, iPad, Apple Watch, smart speaker and fitness platform all launch since September, Apple rounded off the year by finally confirming its own over-ear headphones.

Apple had been rumoured to have been working on a pair of its own over-ear headphones since it launched its first pair of in-ear AirPods in 2016, but continued to quietly release new Beats over-ear headphones without fanfare. 

The confirmation of the AirPods Max in early December confirmed what had been long rumoured across the internet – the same noise-cancelling technology as the £249 AirPods Pro in an ear-covering design.

What do the AirPods Max look like?

If you’re into noise-cancelling headphones, you’ll know that Bose and Sony are effectively the leaders in the consumer market – making great-quality, attractive looking headphones ranging from around £250-£350.

Apple has leapfrogged that benchmark and gone straight to the top – a whopping £549. Considering it’s a pair of non-specialist headphones that aren’t designed specifically industry use or extensive cabled hi-fi listening, that’s an awful lot of cash to ask prospective buyers to part with.

In terms of what you get for your money, AirPods Max consist of a plastic-coated stainless steel headband complete with mesh knit panel that runs across the width of the head, pivoting aluminium ear cups and memory foam ear cushions that are held in place by magnets. Their heft means they’d be too much to wear during any kind of vigorous exercise, but fine for walking or sedentary listening.

The overall design is a bit more space-age than Sony and Bose’s more traditional-looking headphones, especially given the large digital crown revolving dial on the right-hand cup – a larger cousin to the Apple Watch’s revolving mechanism that Apple says is designed to offer “precise volume control” or an easy means of pausing and playing audio, (via pressing down on the crown) skipping or replaying tracks (pressing twice or three times, respectively) or to activate digital assistant Siri (pressing and holding). On several occasions, I found that accidentally brushing the crown muted what I was listening to entirely – it’s really quite sensitive, but not enough for it to be a major issue.

Firmly pressing on a larger rectangular button on the same cup activates or turns off the headphones’ noise-cancelling technology. Turning it off switches to transparency mode, which allows in more surrounding sound in your environment.

On balance, the design is relatively divisive. While the mixture of aluminium, stainless steel and mesh doesn’t look cheap in the same way that rivals built from differing materials tend to, I’m not entirely sold on their appearance. The smart case is also strangely-designed – I’m worried about the aluminium ear cups becoming scratched through the gaps in their bottom, and I think being able to fold them smaller via a hinge the headband (e.g. as you can with Sony’s WH-1000XM4) to make them small enough to fit into a more protective case might have been a simpler solution, but what do I know.

What about battery life?

Button-wise, the AirPods Max are missing a physical means of turning them on or off. This is down to the headphones’ ability to automatically pause when either a single cup or entire unit is lifted from your head and to put itself into sleep mode when left along for a few minutes to preserve battery life. Like an iPhone, they charge using a lightning cable and regain around an hour and a half in listening time from a five-minute charge, which is handy.

While the pair I reviewed are silver, the headphones also come in space grey, blue, green and pink, with corresponding coloured soft smart cases for sliding them into when not in use. Swiveling the ear cups flat to fit into the case and securing them inside puts the AirPods Max into an ‘ultralow power state’ to help preserve battery life for months at a time inbetween wears.

Battery wise, I found the AirPods Max lasted an average of 17 hours or so on a single charge. While this is more than enough for most people throughout a single day, you may want to keep an eye on them if you tend to listen for hours on end. Alternatively, lighter users who’ll use them for a couple of hours a day will probably get through a week of use on one or two charges.

While keeping them in the case will preserve battery life for longer than merely leaving them lying around, it’s not such a discernable difference that you’ll find yourself kicking yourself for forgetting the case if you’re out and about. I found it takes around two hours of being left outside of the case to reduce battery life by a single per cent, meaning you’re unlikely to find them completely flat unless you left them out of the case unused for a week or so. I am slightly nervous the white headband mesh and case will become grey and grubby over time, though Apple has published extensive advice on how to clean them (a damp cloth and diluted detergent will be your saviours here).

How comfy are they?

While some rigid headphone headbands can pinch at your temples and cause headaches, the AirPods Max’s engineering means they’re incredibly comfortable to wear, even for prolonged periods of time.

The mesh across the headband helps to keep it squarely in place: while the unit itself is pretty hefty, that weight doesn’t equate to strain on your head.

The ear cushions themselves, which are covered in a mesh fabric, are designed to be detached for cleaning and fit closely enough to maintain a tight seal courtesy of the internal memory foam. In the past, I’ve found leatherette-style ear cushions attract smears of foundation that’s rubbed off my face, but I haven’t experienced the same with the mesh/memory foam combination as of yet. Similarly, they haven’t dented or developed deep creases, which is something else I’ve experienced with rival cushions.

Those with larger heads can extend the headband’s arms by gently pulling on them, which lengthens the space between the headband and the ear cups and holds them firmly, meaning there’s no danger of one side collapsing and leave you lopsided.

What do they sound like?

Given that Apple has four years of its own audio experimentation and even further back of Beats expertise, it’s little surprise the AirPods Max sound as impressive as they do.

Audio quality is clear and nuanced, the noise-cancellation is accomplished enough to block out nearby audio and surrounding sounds voices and music, podcasts and radio sounds well-balanced and sharp – there’s no tinniness or reverb, even when vigorously shaking your head.

The noise-cancellation builds on the solid foundations laid by the AirPods Pro and uses eight microphones to detect and filter out external sound (with a further microphone specifically for making/receiving phone calls, which also sound clear and well-rounded) to great effect. I found them to be on par with Sony’s fantastic 1000XM4 (£350)

If you’re an audio buff with a prefered cable to hook headphones up to your system, you’re out of luck here. There’s no audio jack or cable included (for £549), so you’ll need to buy a separately-sold cable for £35 to connect via the lightning charging port.

Like the AirPods Pro, the AirPods Max support spatial audio – a clever technology that detects the movements of your head to beam sound around you: creating the impression you’re right in the middle of the action while watching films or TV programmes. This works by using sensors in the devices and headphones to work out where to position a music source, a shout, explosion or battle sounds for more immersive listening.

Like many features of this kind, however, it’s only supported by a handful of sources at this time – e.g. Apple TV+ and Disney+ while watching on an iPhone or iPad. When it kicks in it’s a riveting experience, and a fantastic tool for enhancing suspense or the sense you’re in the heart of the footage.

This means you won’t be able to sink back and relax watching Netflix or iPlayer via an Apple TV set-top box yet, but that will presumably change in the future.

So, should you buy the AirPods Max?

Apple may have been late to the over-ear true-wireless party, but the AirPods Max really delivers where it matters: the sound quality is fantastic and its noise-cancelling is as good as Sony and Bose, which is no mean feat. They fit securely to your ears without pinching or rubbing and are comfortable to wear for hours at a time. Battery life is decent, if not industry-leading, but the ability to instantly connect to devices without having to faff about with Bluetooth connections is a major bonus Apple has over its rivals.

I’m less convinced by their aesthetics: they’re both bulky and heavy, and the smart case is unlikely to offer much in the way of cushioning if you were to drop them. Their major downside is their staggering price: given that a pair of AirPods Max costs £100 more than a much sought-after PS5, you’d think they could chuck in a cable to keep the nay-sayers quiet.

Overall, if you were to buy a pair of AirPods Max you’re unlikely to find much to gripe about. If you were lucky enough to find one under your Christmas tree, you’d be ecstatic. So while they’re not perfect, they’re a fantastic first try.

Verdict: 4/5

Pros:

• Fantastic audio quality for both music tracks and spoken audio
• Comfortable on the head for hours at a time
• Noise-cancelling is on par with the best in the business

Cons:

• Incredibly expensive at £549, even compared to other accomplished noise-cancelling rivals
• Extremely heavy
• No jack for external cables: you’ll need to buy a £35 audio cable

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