AirPods Max^{(AirPods Max)} vrhunac je asortimana AirPods slušalica^(AirPods) , nudeći iskustvo sa slušalicama preko ušiju koje ih izdvaja od slušalica AirPods i AirPods Pro koje su postale neke od najpopularnijih Appleovih proizvoda. Također dolaze s cijenom koja nadmašuje one druge proizvode, pa jesu li AirPods Max zapravo vrijedni visoke cijene?

Uzeli smo Sky Blue AirPods Max dostavu i proveli nekoliko tjedana s njom da vidimo je li cijena opravdana.

Apple AirPods Max kontrole

AirPods Max^{(AirPods Max)} nema mnogo kontrola za govor, čak ni tipku za uključivanje! Sve što dobijete je jedan gumb za način rada i digitalnu krunu. U usporedbi s drugim uobičajenim dizajnom Bluetooth slušalica, ovo je sasvim spartansko. Ipak, to nikada ne predstavlja problem tijekom korištenja.

Prednji gumb prema zadanim postavkama prebacuje slušalice između prozirnog načina rada i aktivnog poništavanja buke, što ćemo pokriti u sljedećem odjeljku. Ima vrlo zadovoljavajući klik i nikada nismo imali problema da ga odmah pronađemo. Ovaj gumb se također koristi za pokretanje načina uparivanja, što možete potvrditi gledanjem u LED indikator statusa.

Digitalna kruna je prava zvijezda showa ovdje. Slična je kruni koja se nalazi na Apple Watchu^{(Apple Watch)} , ali je veća i taktilnija. Operacija okretanja je nevjerojatno glatka, a haptički učinak čini osjećaj kao da krunica ima precizne "klikove". 

Također možete pritisnuti krunicu kao dodatni gumb. Prema zadanim postavkama, jedan pritisak na gumb pauzira glazbu, dok dvostruki pritisak preskače pjesmu. Pritisnite i držite krunu i pozvat ćete Siri . Pokušali smo to sa Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra , ali nažalost držanje krune nije prizvalo Google Assistant .

Kontrole AirPods Max možda su minimalne, ali to nikada nije bio problem. Što je najvažnije, možete ih pronaći i upravljati njima bez ikakvog svjesnog razmišljanja.

Transparentnost i uklanjanje ^(Mode)buke^{(Noise Cancellation)}

Ne mislimo da je pretjerano reći da su dvije najbolje značajke koje uvelike opravdavaju cijenu AirPods Maxa^{(AirPods Max)} način rada transparentnosti i aktivnog uklanjanja buke.

Počevši od prozirnog načina rada, ideja je dopustiti zvukove iz okoline kroz slušalice, koje prihvate mikrofoni s vanjske strane. Mnoge Bluetooth slušalice sada imaju ovu značajku, ali nijedna nije približna kvaliteti koja se nalazi ovdje. 

Jednostavno^(Simply) rečeno, s načinom transparentnosti možete lako zaboraviti da nosite slušalice. Zvuči potpuno prirodno i nije problem ostaviti ga trajno uključenim ako želite. 

Vrlo je korisno kada želite čuti zvuk sa svog uređaja, ali i dalje biti dostupni za razgovor s drugim ljudima u prostoriji. To je kao da imate TV ili zvučni sustav koji samo vi možete čuti.

Aktivno poništavanje buke^{(Active Noise Cancellation)} ( ANC ) također je na rubu magije. Stalne buke, kao što je klima uređaj, potpuno su izbrisane iz postojanja. Međutim, ovdje je najimpresivniji podvig kako su zvukovi s nasumičnim uzorcima, poput razgovora, gotovo u potpunosti potisnuti. Ovo su možda najbolje slušalice za poništavanje buke koje možete kupiti po bilo kojoj cijeni. Stojeći prst do pete sa slušalicama Sony WH-1000XM4 .

U kombinaciji, ove dvije značajke čine AirPods Max izvrsnim slušalicama za dnevnu produktivnost vozača, gdje možete kontrolirati koliko vanjskog svijeta puštate unutra.

Povezivost

Airpods Max^{(Airpods Max)} prvenstveno je namijenjen za korištenje kao Bluetooth slušalice, ali možete koristiti i žičanu vezu. Nažalost, Apple je smatrao prikladnim da njihov kabel Lightning za slušalice^{(Lightning to headphone cable)} učini zasebnom kupnjom od 35 dolara. Ovo je malo dosadno jer većina Bluetooth slušalica koje se navlače preko uha uključuje kabel u kutiji.

Jedna značajna razlika je u tome što za ove slušalice nema izravne analogne veze. Adapter sadrži analogno-digitalni pretvarač koji opskrbljuje AirPods digitaliziranim signalom. 

Slušalice ga zatim ponovno pretvaraju u analogni zvuk za reprodukciju na zvučnicima. Ova analogna u digitalno analogna pretvorba izgleda malo nespretno i sprječava pravi zvuk bez gubitaka, ali u praksi nema velike razlike. Također ima prednost uklanjanja bilo kakvog kašnjenja bežičnog zvuka.

Pitanje munje

Iako Max ima prihvatljivu povezanost, korištenje Appleovog vlasničkog Lightning konektora i dalje je bolan problem. Naši MacBook Air i iPad Pro , zajedno sa svim našim uređajima koji nisu Apple, koriste USB-C . Ostavljamo samo iPhone, Magic Keyboard i sada AirPods Max koji koriste ovaj konektor. To znači da ćemo uvijek morati spakirati barem jedan dodatni kabel.

Apple je to mogao ublažiti uključivanjem bežičnog ili bežičnog MagSafe punjenja, a nadamo se da ćemo ovu značajku dodati u budućoj reviziji AirPods Max .

Bluetooth performanse^{(Performance)} i kompatibilnost^{(Compatibility)}

Bili smo jako impresionirani Bluetooth performansama AirPods Maxa^{(AirPods Max)} ; hodajući po kući na dvije etaže s iPad Airom^(Air) koji je emitovao glazbu do maksimuma, bilo je gotovo nemoguće uzrokovati odustajanje. To je vjerojatno zahvaljujući Appleovom AAC kodeku koji uravnotežuje kvalitetu i performanse.

Kao što možete očekivati, korištenje AirPods Max s Apple proizvodima bilo je besprijekorno iskustvo. Testirali smo s M1 MacBook Airom , iPadom ^{(MacBook Air)}Pro iz 2018. , iPhoneom 11 Pro i Apple Watchom ^{(Apple Watch)}serije 6^{(Series 6)} . Prebacivanje između različitih uređaja dogodilo se uz vrlo malo korisničkog unosa. Prijelaz s iPada na Mac izazvao je malu obavijest s pitanjem želimo li koristiti AirPods . Jedan klik i spremni ste.

Također smo koristili Max s nekoliko uređaja koji nisu Apple, uključujući prijenosno računalo sa sustavom Windows 11, Android Galaxy S21 Ultra i OLED Nintendo Switch . Uparivanje i povezivanje sa svim tim uređajima funkcioniralo je bez problema. Nikada nismo doživjeli da Max odbija zahtjev za povezivanje s uparenog uređaja.

Latencija na uređajima koji nisu Apple također je bila dobra. ^(Apple)Na Apple uređajima, latencija gotovo da i ne postoji zahvaljujući prilagođenom hardveru za obradu signala koji se koristi u dual H1 čipovima, po jedan u svakoj šalici. Koristeći ga s Switchom^(Switch) , latencija je bila manje vidljiva nego kod slušalica Samsung Galaxy Buds + ili Sennheiser BT4.5 koje smo također isprobali s konzolom. Dakle, čak i bez pune prednosti H1, latencija je i dalje bila impresivna.

Život baterije

Apple tvrdi da Airpods Max ima oko 20 sati trajanja baterije, a čini se da je to u skladu s našim iskustvom svakodnevnog korištenja. Nakon punih 8-satnog dana nošenja slušalica, ostalo je još nešto više od 50% baterije.

Nismo naišli na pražnjenje baterije zbog čega su slušalice radile preko noći, osim što je očekivao 1-2%. Ovo je bila pritužba kada su AirPods Max^{(AirPods Max)} prvi put pušteni u prodaju, ali ako je ikad bio problem, čini se da je sada riješen.

Prostorni audio : trik^(Gimmick) ili genijalna značajka^{(Genius Feature)} ?

Kada se koristi s Apple uređajem koji ga podržava i pravom aplikacijom i sadržajem, AirPods Max nudi virtualizirani prostorni zvuk. 

To stavlja virtualne izvore zvuka u fiksne položaje u odnosu na vašu glavu i čini se da ostaju na mjestu dok okrećete glavu zahvaljujući internim akcelerometrima koji se koriste za praćenje glave. To omogućuje virtualni surround zvuk, koji zvuči prilično uvjerljivo poput pravih zvučnika smještenih u prostoriji oko vas.

Iako je značajka virtualnog surrounda prilično impresivna (morat ćete pokrenuti Apple TV da biste je probali ili upotrijebili ugrađeni demo), zapravo mislimo da je najbolja implementacija tehnologije stereo virtualizacija. To se odnosi na stereo zvuk cijelog Apple uređaja i čini da zvuči kao da stereo zvuk dolazi iz samog uređaja. Drugim riječima, to je prilično kao da gledate nešto na svom MacBooku^(MacBook) ili iPadu koristeći ugrađene zvučnike, samo s mnogo boljom kvalitetom zvuka.

Zašto je ovo dobra stvar? Ponekad ne želite nužno ono “u mom mozgu” audio iskustvo koje nude slušalice. Umjesto toga, sada zvuči kao da zvuk dolazi sa slike, a to je brzo postao naš omiljeni način gledanja streaming medija. Sumnjamo da će to biti posebno učinkovito s Apple TV uređajem, ali nismo imali priliku testirati Max s njim.

Kvaliteta dizajna i izrade

AirPods su čvrsto konstruirane. Apple je uglavnom koristio metal za Max , od trake za glavu do slušalica; ovo su nevjerojatno čvrste slušalice. Okvir trake za glavu, klizni mehanizam za podešavanje veličine i mehanizam šarke ulijevaju povjerenje, posebno s Maxovim^(Max) okvirom od nehrđajućeg čelika.

Čini se da su ovo slušalice koje će imati dug životni vijek. Jedine komponente koje bi mogle biti podložne trošenju su baterije. U desnoj čašici za uši nalaze se dvije baterije i, zahvaljujući iFixit-ovom rušenju^{(iFixit’s teardown)} Maxa ,^(Max) znamo da se vijci, a ne ljepilo, drže u njima. Dakle, u teoriji bi ih trebalo biti lako zamijeniti. S obzirom na Appleovu novu predanost popravljivosti^{(repairability)} korisnika , novac potrošen na Max mogao bi biti daleko. 

Uz to, baterije u drugim Appleovim uređajima, kao što su novi MacBookovi^(MacBooks) , imaju oko 1000 ciklusa punjenja prije nego što počnu gubiti kapacitet. S obzirom na to da ćete dobiti 20 sati po punom punjenju, trebat će neko vrijeme prije nego što dosegnete 20.000 sati reprodukcije. To je oko sedam godina ako ih koristite osam sati dnevno.

Također je vrijedno napomenuti da je iFixit usporedio unutarnju izradu i materijale s jeftinijim slušalicama Sony i Bose i otkrio da “u usporedbi izgledaju kao igračke”. Toliko novca koji potrošite na Max ide u ovaj pretjerani inženjering.

Zloglasni pametni slučaj

Bilo je više nego dovoljno ismijavanja uključene torbice za nošenje za AirPods Max , ali ovo ne može biti potpuna recenzija bez spominjanja toga. Da, ova zaštitna torbica ne nudi veliku zaštitu niti olakšava transport vaših AirPods Max . Također nam se ne sviđa kako kućište uzrokuje da se gole metalne čašice za uši udaraju jedna u drugu kada ih uklonite.

Unatoč onome što ste možda čuli, također je nepotrebno stavljati slušalice u futrolu kako biste ih isključili. Nakon što skinete slušalice, uskoro će prijeći u režim niske potrošnje, a nakon toga u dubok san. Koristili smo naše AirPods bez korištenja futrole i nismo imali problema s pražnjenjem baterije.

AirPods se zapravo^(AirPods) ne sklapaju kao mnoge druge prijenosne slušalice. Šalice se mogu zakrenuti za 90 stupnjeva kako bi stvorili ravan profil, ali to je sve.

Međutim, ako želite putovati sa svojim AirPods Max , vjerojatno je dobra ideja uložiti u futrolu treće strane.

Udobnost

Udobnost je vrlo subjektivna stvar kada su u pitanju slušalice, ne samo zato što su naša tijela tako različita. Glavne pritužbe koje smo vidjeli prije nego što smo sami isprobali Max odnose se na težinu i silu stezanja.

Budući da je Max uglavnom izrađen od metala, teži više od tipičnih slušalica za uši. Traka za glavu od tkanine i plišane naušnice tu su da to ublaže, ali neki će korisnici biti osjetljiviji od drugih.

Nosili smo AirPods Max do osam sati dnevno dok smo radili u klimatiziranom uredu i nismo imali problema s udobnošću. Bilo je vrlo lako zaboraviti da uopće nosite slušalice. Mislimo da su AirPods Max vrlo udobne slušalice, ali s obzirom na to koliko koštaju, vrijedi prvo isprobati par na glavi.

Mora se reći da je memorijska pjena jastuka za uši izvrsna. A lakoća s kojom možete ukloniti i zamijeniti ove magnetski pričvršćene čašice je dašak genija koji bismo željeli vidjeti da ih usvoji više marki slušalica.

Kvaliteta zvuka

Ovo je možda najsporniji aspekt AirPods Pro- a kada je u pitanju cijena. Prirodno je očekivati ​​“audiofilsko” iskustvo slušanja ako odlažete više od 500 USD za par slušalica, ali postoje neki problemi s tim kutom.

Samo zato što dva para slušalica imaju sličnu cijenu ne znači da su dizajnirane za istu svrhu. AirPods Max^{(AirPods Max)} slušalicama nedostaju ključne značajke koje možete pronaći u audiofilskoj opremi. Nemaju izravan analogni ulaz, ne podržavaju zvuk bez gubitaka čak ni putem žičane veze i zatvorene su. Da ne spominjemo da su u svijetu vrhunskih slušalica AirPods Max po cijeni u srednjem rangu.

Uzimajući sve ovo u obzir, koliko dobro zvuči AirPod Max ? Kratak odgovor je da zvuče dobro i izuzetno su nepristrani, za razliku od druge^(other) Appleove marke slušalica Beats . ^{(Beats headphone)}Iako ovo nisu "ravni" poput studijskih monitora (što je dobro), reprodukcija zvuka je neutralna bez obzira na žanr glazbe koji smo isprobali. Osjećamo da ne mijenjamo postavke EQ sa zadanog adaptivnog EQ ni u jednom trenutku.

Ono što je najvažnije, sva je glazba pokazala znatno više detalja i nijansi nego, na primjer, tipične slušalice od 200 dolara. Je li više nego duplo bolji? To je, naravno, subjektivno pitanje, ali razlika nije suptilna. Ne možemo zamisliti da itko osim najzahtjevnijeg kupca smatra da je audio reprodukcija neprihvatljiva, a ti kupci najvjerojatnije troše više nego što Apple traži.

Usluge testirane

Pokušali smo slušati različite žanrove glazbe na više servisa za streaming glazbe. To uključuje Apple Music , YouTube Music i Spotify , ali ne i Amazon Music .

Sve tri usluge postavljene su na najvišu kvalitetu streaminga i preuzimanja. Ideja je bila vidjeti jesu li AirPods bili znatno bolji na Apple Musicu^{(Apple Music)} od konkurentskih izbora. Ovo je važno, jer iako je Apple Music popularan, to ne znači da će ga svaki kupac AirPoda^(AirPods) koristiti.

Dobra vijest je da, barem za naše uši, nema značajne razlike u kvaliteti strujanja bez obzira koju uslugu slušate. Dakle, ako ste zabrinuti da će vam AirPods samo pružiti dobro audio iskustvo korištenjem Appleove vlastite usluge, odbacite tu zabrinutost.

Audio slika i zvučna pozornica

Kvaliteta audio^(Audio) reprodukcije je jedna stvar, ali to nije sve što se tiče kvalitete zvuka koju percipiraju vaše uši. Zvučna kulisa i slika slušalica također su važni, a to je nešto što često nedostaje jeftinijim slušalicama.

Ako niste upoznati s ovim pojmovima, što nije nešto što uobičajeni potrošači slušalica često jesu, hajde da ih ukratko definiramo.

Zvučna pozornica je virtualni prostor u kojem čujete zvuk. Slušalice s dobrom zvučnom scenom ne bi smjele zvučati kao zvučnici koji su inč udaljeni od vaših ušiju. Umjesto toga, trebao bi zvučati prirodno i prostrano. Slušalice s najboljim zvučnim stupnjem obično su otvorene. To znači da nemaju zvučnu izolaciju ni za vas ni za druge osobe u prostoriji.

Slika je sposobnost slušalica da smjeste zvukove poput određenih instrumenata unutar zvučne scene. Dakle, zvuči kao da je jedan glazbenik ispred vas, a drugi sa strane. U biti se osjećate kao da ste na pozornici u sredini benda.

Iako ga audiofilske slušalice s otvorenim pozadinom nadmašuju, Max je ipak odličan i u slikanju i u postavljanju dobre zvučne scene. Nije preširoka ni preskusna, već bogata i udobna.

Korištenje AirPods Max izvan Apple ekosustava^{(Apple Ecosystem)}

Prije nego što dođemo do zaključka ove recenzije, bitno je razgovarati o tome trebaju li korisnici koji nemaju stopala u Apple ekosustavu koristiti AirPods Max . Nismo imali problema s korištenjem AirPoda s bilo kojim Bluetooth uređajem kao što smo gore spomenuli. Međutim, ako nemate iOS ili macOS uređaj, bit ćete ograničeni u tome koliko možete učiniti sa svojim AirPods slušalicama. Točnije, prilagođavanje gumba ili ponašanja krunice to zahtijeva. Također ćete propustiti značajke kao što je prostorni zvuk.

To možda i nije problem, ali velik dio privlačnosti AirPods-a proizlazi iz toga koliko dobro funkcioniraju s postavom za sve Apple . Slušali smo glazbu na iPadu kada je naš iPhone zazvonio, a čim smo se javili, zvuk se neprimjetno prenio na poziv, pauzirajući sadržaj na iPadu u tom procesu. Kada je poziv završio, iPhone je vratio kontrolu na iPad i glazba se nastavila. Ova vrsta automatizirane pogodnosti bila bi izgubljena da niste smješteni u Appleovom^(Apple) ograđenom vrtu. Zaista ne možemo preporučiti AirPods Max osim ako nemate barem jedan kompatibilan Apple uređaj kako biste ga maksimalno iskoristili.

Kad smo kod toga, kvaliteta telefonskog poziva je vrhunska, a čak i kada je klima uključena, sugovornik je mogao dobro čuti.

Jesu li AirPods Max vrijedni novca?

Teško je dati univerzalan odgovor kada se razmišlja isplati li se ono što dobijete za traženu cijenu od 550 dolara ili ne. Nema sumnje da je zbroj dijelova koji čine ove slušalice vrijedan novca. Međutim, ono što AirPods Max nudi vrijedi novac ovisno o tome što vam je potrebno.

Ako trebate višenamjenske slušalice za svakodnevnu vožnju, onda je teško zamisliti još jedan set slušalica koje će tako dobro ispuniti sve okvire. Načini uklanjanja buke i transparentnosti čine ovaj telefon nevjerojatno praktičnim. Upravljanje njima je intuitivno, a audio reprodukcija je izvrsna po bilo kojoj mjeri, ako ne i najbolja po svaku cijenu.

Ako već koristite jedan ili više Apple uređaja, ali posebno ako koristite više njih, AirPods Max je toliko glatka i integrirana da vam se bilo koje druge bežične slušalice ne mogu koristiti.

Zaključak je da su AirPods Max sigurno vrijedni svoje cijene; nude više nego dovoljno da to opravdaju. No hoće li to biti opravdano za svakog korisnika ovisi o tome koliko ga taj korisnik cijeni kao ukupni paket.

Apple AirPods Max Review – Is It Worth the High Price Tag?

The AirPods Max is the pinnacle of the AirPods range, offering an over-ear headphone experience that sets it apart from the AirPods and AirPods Pro earbuds that have become some of Apple’s most popular products. They also come with a price tag that dwarfs those other products, so is the AirPods Max actually worth the high price tag?

We took a Sky Blue AirPods Max delivery and spent a few weeks with it to see if the price is justified.

Apple AirPods Max Controls

The AirPods Max doesn’t have many controls to speak off, not even a power button! All you get is one mode button and a digital crown. Compared to other common Bluetooth headphone designs, this is downright spartan. Yet it never poses an issue during use.

The front button, by default, switches the headphones between transparency mode and active noise cancellation, which we’ll cover in the next section. It has a very satisfying click to it, and we never had any issue finding it immediately. This button is also used to initiate pairing mode, which you can confirm by looking at the LED status indicator.

The digital crown is the real star of the show here. It’s similar to the crown found on the Apple Watch but larger and more tactile. The turning operation is incredibly smooth, and the haptic effect makes it feel like the crown has precise “clicks” to it. 

You can also depress the crown as an additional button. By default, a single button press will pause the music, while a double press will skip the track. Press and hold the crown, and you’ll summon Siri. We tried this with a Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra, but sadly holding the crown did not summon Google Assistant.

The AirPods Max controls may be minimal, but that was never an issue. Most importantly, you can find and operate them without any conscious thought.

Transparency Mode and Noise Cancellation

We don’t think it’s an overstatement to say that the two best features that go a long way to justifying the price tag of the AirPods Max are the transparency mode and active noise cancellation.

Starting with transparency mode, the idea is to allow ambient sounds through the headphones, picked up by microphones on the exterior. Many Bluetooth headphones have this feature now, but none are close to the quality found here. 

Simply put, with transparency mode, you can easily forget you’re wearing headphones. It sounds completely natural, and it’s no issue to leave it on permanently if you like. 

It’s super helpful when you want to hear the audio from your device but still be available to talk to other people in the room. It’s like having a TV or sound system that only you can hear.

The Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) is also verging on magic. Constant noises, such as an air conditioner, are entirely erased from existence. However, the most impressive feat here is how sounds with random patterns, such as conversations, are almost entirely suppressed. These are perhaps the best noise-cancelling headphones you can buy at any price. Standing toe-to-toe with the Sony WH-1000XM4 headphones.

In combination, these two features make AirPods Max a great daily-driver productivity headphone, where you can control how much of the outside world you let in.

Connectivity

The Airpods Max is primarily meant to be used as a Bluetooth headset, but you can use a wired connection as well. Sadly, Apple has seen fit to make their Lightning to headphone cable a separate $35 purchase. This is a little irksome since most over-ear Bluetooth headsets include a cable in the box.

One notable difference is that there’s no direct analog connection for these headphones. The adapter contains an analog-to-digital converter which supplies the AirPods with a digitized signal. 

The headphones then re-convert it to analog audio to playback on its speakers. This analog to digital to analog conversion seems a little clumsy and prevents true lossless audio, but in practice, it doesn’t make much difference. It also has the advantage of removing whatever wireless audio lag may be present.

The Lightning Issue

Although the Max has acceptable connectivity, the use of Apple’s proprietary Lightning connector remains a painful issue. Our MacBook Air and iPad Pro, along with all our non-Apple devices, use USB-C. Leaving only the iPhone, Magic Keyboard, and now AirPods Max using this connector. This means we’ll always need to pack at least one extra cable.

Apple might have mitigated this by including wireless or wireless MagSafe charging, and we hope to see this feature added in a future revision of the AirPods Max.

Bluetooth Performance and Compatibility

We were very impressed with the Bluetooth performance of the AirPods Max; walking around a two-story home with an iPad Air beaming music to the max, it was almost impossible to cause dropout. This is probably thanks to Apple’s AAC codec, which balances quality and performance.

As you might expect, using the AirPods Max with Apple products was a seamless experience. We tested with an M1 MacBook Air, a 2018 iPad Pro, an iPhone 11 Pro, and a Series 6 Apple Watch. Switching between different devices happened with very little input from the user. Going from the iPad to the Mac elicited a small notification asking if we wanted to use the AirPods. One click, and you’re good to go.

We also used the Max with several non-Apple devices, including a Windows 11 laptop, an Android Galaxy S21 Ultra, and an OLED Nintendo Switch. Pairing and connecting with all of these devices worked with no issue. We never experienced the Max refusing a connection request from a paired device.

Latency on non-Apple devices was also good. On Apple devices, latency is almost non-existent thanks to the custom signal processing hardware at play in the dual H1 chips, one in each cup. Using it with the Switch, in particular, latency was noticeable less than the Samsung Galaxy Buds + or Sennheiser BT4.5 headphones we’ve also tried with the console. So even without the full benefit of the H1, latency was still impressive.

Battery Life

Apple claims that Airpods Max has around 20 hours of battery life, and that seems to track with our experience of daily use. After a full 8-hour day of wearing the headphones, there was still a little over 50% of battery life left.

We didn’t encounter any battery drain leaving the headphones running overnight, other than he expected 1-2%. This was a complaint when AirPods Max was first released, but if it were ever an issue, it seems that it’s now resolved.

Spatial Audio: Gimmick or Genius Feature?

When used with an Apple device that supports it and the right app and content, the AirPods Max offers virtualized spatial audio. 

This puts virtual audio sources in fixed positions relative to your head, and they appear to stay in place as you turn your head thanks to internal accelerometers used for head tracking. This allows virtual surround sound, which sounds quite convincingly like real speakers situated in the room around you.

While the virtual surround feature is quite impressive (you’ll have to boot up Apple TV to sample it or use the built-in demo), we actually think that the coolest implementation of the technology is stereo virtualization. This applies to the stereo audio of the whole Apple device, and it makes it sound as if stereo sound is coming from the device itself. In other words, it’s pretty much like watching something on your MacBook or iPad using their onboard speakers, just with much better audio quality.

Why is this a good thing? Sometimes you don’t necessarily want that “in my brain” audio experience that headphones offer. Instead, it now sounds like the audio is coming from the picture, and this quickly became our preferred way to watch streaming media. We suspect this will be especially effective with an Apple TV device, but we didn’t have the opportunity to test the Max with one.

Design and Build Quality

The AirPods are solidly constructed. Apple has mainly used metal for the Max, from the headband to the earcups; these are incredibly solid headphones. The headband frame, the sliding mechanism for size adjustment, and the hinge mechanism inspire confidence, especially with the Max’s stainless steel frame.

These certainly seem to be headphones that will have a long lifespan. The only components that might be subject to wear are the batteries. There are two batteries in the right ear cup and, thanks to iFixit’s teardown of the Max, we know that screws, not glue, hold in them. So, in theory it should be easy to replace them. Given Apple’s new commitment to user repairability, the money spent on a Max could go a long way. 

That said, the batteries in Apple’s other devices, such as the new MacBooks, are rated for around 1000 charge cycles before they start to lose capacity. Given that you’ll get 20 hours per full charge, it will take a while before hitting 20,000 hours of playback. This is about seven years if you use them for eight hours a day.

It’s also worth noting that iFixit compared the internal workmanship and materials to cheaper Sony and Bose headphones and found that they “look like toys by comparison.” So much of the money you spend on the Max goes into this over-engineering.

The Infamous Smart Case

There has been more than enough mockery of the included carry case for the AirPods Max, but this can’t be a complete review without some mention of it. Yes, this protective case doesn’t offer much protection or make it easier to transport your AirPods Max. We also don’t like how the case causes the bare metal ear cups to knock into each other when you remove them.

Despite what you may have heard, it’s also unnecessary to put your headphones in the case to switch them off. After taking off the headphones, they’ll go into a low power mode soon and into a deep sleep after that. We used our AirPods without using the case and didn’t have any battery drain problems.

The AirPods don’t really fold up as many other portable headsets do. The cups can swivel 90 degrees to create a flat profile, but that’s the extent of it.

However, if you want to travel with your AirPods Max, it’s probably a good idea to invest in a third-party case.

Comfort

Comfort is a very subjective matter when it comes to headphones, not least of which because our bodies are so different. The main complaints we’ve seen before trying Max for ourselves relate to weight and clamp force.

Since the Max is mainly made from metal, it does weigh more than typical over-ear headphones. The fabric headband and plush ear cups are there to mitigate this, but some users will be more susceptible than others.

We wore the AirPods Max for up to eight hours per day while working in an air-conditioned office and had no comfort issues. It was very easy to forget you were wearing headphones at all. We think the AirPods Max are very comfortable headphones, but considering how much they cost, it’s worth trying a pair on your head first.

It must be said, the ear cushion memory foam is exquisite. And the ease with which you can remove and switch out these magnetically-attached cups is a touch of genius we’d like to see more headphone brands adopt.

Sound Quality

This is perhaps the most contentious aspect of the AirPods Pro when it comes to the price. It’s natural to expect an “audiophile” listening experience if you’re putting down more than $500 for a pair of headphones, but there are some problems with that angle.

Just because two pairs of headphones have a similar price doesn’t mean that they’ve been designed for the same purpose. The AirPods Max headphones lack the key features that you’d find in audiophile gear. They have no direct analog input, don’t support lossless audio even through a wired connection, and are close-backed. Not to mention that in the world of high-end headphones, the AirPods Max is priced in the mid-range.

Taking all of this into account, how good does the AirPod Max sound? The short answer is that they sound good and are remarkably unbiased, unlike Apple’s other Beats headphone brand. While these are not “flat” like studio monitors (which is a good thing), the audio reproduction is neutral no matter what genre of music we tried. We feel like changing EQ settings from the default adaptive EQ at no point.

Most importantly, all of the music exhibited significantly more detail and nuance than, for example, the typical $200 headphones. Is it more than twice as good? That’s a subjective question, of course, but the difference isn’t subtle. We can’t imagine anyone but the most demanding customer finding the audio reproduction unacceptable, and those customers are most likely spending more than Apple is asking for.

Services Tested

We tried listening to various genres of music across multiple music streaming services. This included Apple Music, YouTube Music, and Spotify, but not Amazon Music.

All three services were set to the highest streaming and download quality. The idea was to see whether the AirPods did significantly better on Apple Music than competing choices. This is important, since although Apple Music is popular, that doesn’t mean every AirPods buyer will use it.

The good news is that, to our ears at least, there’s no appreciable difference in streaming quality regardless of which service you listen to. So if you’re worried that AirPods are only going to give you a good audio experience using Apple’s own service, put that concern to bed.

Audio Imaging and Soundstage

Audio reproduction quality is one thing, but that’s not all there is to the sound quality perceived by your ears. The soundstage and imaging of headphones also matter, and it’s something often lacking in cheaper headphones.

If you’re not familiar with these terms, which is not something mainstream headphone consumers often are, let’s define them briefly.

The soundstage is the virtual space in which you hear the audio. Headphones with a good soundstage shouldn’t sound like speakers an inch away from your ears. Instead, it should sound natural and spacious. Headphones with the best sound stages are usually open-backed. This means that they have zero sound isolation for either you or the other people in the room.

Imaging is the ability of the headphones to place sounds such as specific instruments within the soundstage. So it sounds like one musician is in front of you, and another is off to the side. Essentially you feel like you are on stage in the middle of the band.

Although open-backed audiophile headphones outdo it, the Max is nonetheless great at both imaging and setting a good soundstage. It’s not too wide or too cramped, but rich and comfortable.

Using AirPods Max Outside the Apple Ecosystem

Before we get to the conclusion of this review, it’s essential to talk about whether users who don’t have a foot in the Apple ecosystem should use AirPods Max. We had no trouble using the AirPods with any Bluetooth device as we mentioned above. However, if you don’t have an iOS or macOS device, you’ll be limited in how much you can do with your AirPods. Specifically, customizing the button or behavior of the crown requires it. You’ll also miss out on features such as spatial audio.

That’s perhaps not a dealbreaker, but much of the appeal AirPods have comes from how well it works with an all-Apple setup. We were listening to music on an iPad when our iPhone rang, and as soon as we answered, the audio seamlessly transferred to the call, pausing the content on the iPad in the process. When the call ended, the iPhone handed control back to the iPad, and the music resumed. This sort of automated convenience would be lost if you weren’t nestled in Apple’s walled garden. We really cannot recommend the AirPods Max unless you have at least one compatible Apple device to make the most of it.

Speaking of which, phone call quality is superb, and even with the air conditioning running, the other person could hear just fine.

Is the AirPods Max Worth the Money?

It’s difficult to give a universal answer when considering if what you get for the $550 asking price is worth it or not. There’s no doubt that the sum of the parts that make up these headphones is worth the money. However, what the AirPods Max offers is worth the money depending on what you need.

If you need all-purpose daily-driver headphones, then it’s hard to think of another set of headphones that tick all the boxes this well. The noise cancellation and transparency modes make this an incredibly practical set of phones. Controlling them is intuitive, and the audio reproduction is excellent by any measure, if not the best at all costs.

If you’re already using one or more Apple devices, but especially using multiple ones, the AirPods Max is so slick and integrated that any other wireless headphones feel like a chore to use.

The bottom line is that the AirPods Max are certainly worth their price; they offer more than enough to justify it. But whether it’s justified for every user depends on how much that user values it as a total package.

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