Design & Construction

What seems to be probably one of the longest awaited products in the Apple timeline is finally here. This is the AirPods Max, Apple's first foray into the world of wireless over-the ear noise-cancelling headphones. Though its the first time, Apple did so excellently, making every other noise-cancelling headphone a conventional affair. How so you may ask? Let's dive in to the design. Firstly, the AirPods Max has matte anodised aluminium cups that feature a revolutionary mechanism that allows each cup to rotate independently and balance pressure. Combined that with the telescoping arms that smoothly extend and stay where you set them for a consistent fit and seal. The stainless steel frame is wrapped with a soft-to-the-touch material for a durable  yet flexible fit. Next, the rather controversial canopy sits atop spanning the headband is made from a breathable warp-knit mesh, distributing weight to reduce on-head pressure. Personally, I applaud the design change and shift away from the regular thick cushions that every other headphone has. It seems to do well in day-to-day use and doesn't seem like it will tear if you treat it with a bit of care. I have to admit that the Airpods Max is a tad heavy at 384g but with some very well done ergonomics, the weight is seemingly well-distributed and spread across the entire headband. It is quite hard to forget that the headphones are on your head but it is manageable without any wearing fatigue for long listening sessions. The ear cups are very wide and spacious too and will definitely fit all ear sizes. The ear cups are wrapped with mesh textile which is also a first on any headphone and it certainly create enough space between your ears and the drives such that your ears never touch the insides. The mesh textile is a little rough on the skin but with prolonged use, it is much more breathable than that of leather cushions. It is important to note that, the headphones will only fold flat but not upwards, so the footprint of the headphone is quite large and the ear cups will knock into each other when they are folded. Now for controls, there is no touch sensitive touch pads on the AirPods Max for controls. Apple stuck with the tried-and-true dial inherited from the Apple Watch. as well as a single button. To control the music playback and calls, you simply use the dial where a single press play/pauses, a double press skips forward and a triple press skips backwards. Meanwhile, a long press will activate Siri. Turning the dial forward will increase the volume and vice versa will decrease the volume. A very intuitive set-up that can be customised to turn in the opposite direction if you change it in your settings. The single button on the front top, allows you to cycle between Transparency mode and Noise-Cancellation mode. At the bottom, there is a LED indicator together with a Lightning port. No 3.5mm port here since Apple killed that long ago, but of you want to go wired, you can buy a lightning to 3.5mm cable for that use. There is also no power button as the headphones turn on when they are unfolded and off when they fold up. Pairing via Bluetooth with an iPhone is simple and instantaneous. It is also worth noting that the headphones only requires 5 minutes of charging for 1.5 hours of playback. Apple also integrated Find My detection into the headphones so that you can locate the headphones in case you left them behind, or someone steals it. The app can make the headphones make a sound for you to locate the headphones and also track down the GPS location of the headphones with the help of other users who may pass by.

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Sound Quality

The AirPods Max produce an energetic and dynamic sound signature thanks to some great expertise of the H1 chip. Based on user experience, the noise-canceling is comparable to the Sony WH-1000XM4. I could not hear my surroundings at all when there was no music on. Utilising all 8 microphones, the noise-cancelling blocks out everything from loud traffic noises, baby cries, airplane noises as well as wind too. Although the noise-cancelling cannot be customised for different situations like on the Sony WH-1000XM4, it automatically adjust itself to match the noise around. Onto sound quality, the headphones are great for all genres of music ranging from soothing jazz to bass-heavy EDM tracks. Highs are crisp and clear. Mids come off as balanced and forward, and bass is slightly boosted which gives off a nice thump in your ear. When comparing the sound to the Sennheiser Momentum 3 Wireless, the sound signature of the Airpods Max is much clearer and less bass-focused. The bass of the AirPods Max hits quite deep but never did bottom out and turn muddy when you blast the volume at around maximum volume. The soundstage and surround the best I have heard, the experience is very much like having a full-on movie theatre with surround speakers. When I tried it with spatial audio while watching compatible content, the dynamic head tracking give a very immersive experience and keeps you in awe every single time. It never gets old. The instrument separation were well-defined with left, right, up and down, it is highly similar what you can get with Dolby Atmos or Sennheiser Ambeo sound systems. The sound signature never felt like it was trapped in your head like other headphones, it often feels like loudspeaker were in your surroundings, especially with 8D Audio. There was a little sound leakage at full volume and no high-volume distortion. Call quality was fantastic just like the AirPods Pro since it uses 3 microphones to pick up my voice while filtering out my surroundings. The caller on the other end hears me loud and clear without any trouble no matter where I may be. 

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Connectivity & Portability

The headphones support the AAC and SBC codecs together with Bluetooth Version 5.0. The headphones feature a smart pause feature that stops music from playing when the headphones detect that you remove them. The battery life peaks at 20 hours per use with noise-cancelling on which unfortunately is below average for a headphone at this price point. The package also comes with a USB-C to Lightning cable for charging. If you are planning to watch videos or movies with these, I am glad to report that they do not suffer from any latency. Now, there is one last thing that is missing. Yes, I am talking about the Smart case. Personally, it is not quite useful, other than putting the headphones in low-power mode, it doesn't do anything smart that makes it more useful especially when you are only covering the ear cups and not the mesh headband that would tear if you leave it with keys in you bag. The Smart Case is made of silicone onn the outside and covered with soft materials inside. There are cutouts at the bottom for charging the headphones too. But. I would recommend getting a conventional full hardshell case at your own cost to curb this problem.

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PROS​

• Durable Construction

• Premium Materials

• Fresh Design Language

• Ergonomic Fit

• Bluetooth 5.0

• Physical Controls For Music Playback, Volume & Calls

• Transparent Hearing

• Strong Noise-Cancelling

• Smart Pause

• Adaptive EQ

• Quick Charging

• Find My Tracking

• Apple Ecosystem Integration

 

CONS​​​​

• No AptX Support

• Underwhelming Smart Case

• Short Battery Life

 

The Bottom Line

The Airpods Max have proven themselves in a saturated market of noise-cancelling wireless headphones. With a dynamic sound signature, strong and effective noise-cancellingand premium build and finshings, it makes it worthy of its rather high price. Apple does offer these in a 4 colours, Space Grey, Silver, Pink, Green and Sky Blue.