Apple AirPods Max review: Premium headphones with a premium price

(Pocket-lint) - The Apple AirPods Max is the company's archetypal over-ear headphones successful the AirPods range, implicit with progressive noise-cancelling (ANC) and galore of the aforesaid technologies arsenic recovered connected the in-ear AirPods Pro.

But fixed a super-competitive marketplace successful the over-ear headphone abstraction from companies similar Sony and Bose, can Apple execute the aforesaid occurrence already enjoyed by the AirPods range?

We've been utilizing the Apple over-ear headphones since their motorboat successful a assortment of environments and situations to find retired whether oregon not the steep asking terms is justifiable.

Design

• Colour options: Space Grey, Silver, Sky Blue, Green, Pink
• Stainless alloy design, 384g weight
• No 3.5mm headphone connection

The AirPods and AirPods Pro were each astir those achromatic integrative teardrops successful your ears, but that's decidedly not the lawsuit with the Max. There is nary achromatic integrative - oregon immoderate integrative for that substance - to beryllium recovered here, arsenic the worldly has been banished from the Max's design. Instead you'll find 2 stainless alloy earcups, which location drivers, and a silicone-coated stainless alloy headband.

The AirPods Max travel successful a prime of 5 antithetic colours, expanding beyond the accustomed achromatic oregon metallic overmuch of the marketplace offers. The metallic takes a subtle hue from the colour you've picked - overmuch similar the iPad Air's plan - portion the silicone covering connected the headband and cloth mesh delivers the existent colour punch. The detachable brushed cloth earcups are besides colour matching with "L" and "R" woven into the cloth inside.

Pictured is the Sky Blue variant, which has a premium look that's surely successful nary mode inexpensive looking. The colour prime is besides echoed successful the accompanying transportation case. The headphones are designed to acceptable each sizes of caput and hair, and wrong the headband is simply a retractable rod that is stiff capable to clasp successful spot erstwhile extended without the request for ratchets oregon grooves.

Buttons are kept to a minimum and emulate the Apple Watch successful presumption of operability - there's a Noise Control fastener to power betwixt sound cancelling mode (on, off, transparent/ambient), and a larger mentation of the integer crown to power measurement and springiness you play/pause functions. We've recovered ourselves pressing that Noise Control fastener from clip to clip erstwhile positioning the headphones connected our head, which could beryllium annoying implicit time. If buttons aren't your happening you tin besides speech to Siri.

While determination aren't galore buttons determination are plentifulness of holes successful the metallic shell, to let the 8 microphones to perceive what's going connected and cancel the sound accordingly, arsenic portion of the ANC system.

It's worthy noting though that nary of those holes is simply a 3.5mm headphone socket - there's lone a Lightning transportation connected these headphones. If you're looking to link these over-ears to a plane's infotainment system, you'll person to bargain a Lightning-to-headphone adapter, different you're looking astatine utilizing Bluetooth (or thing similar the RHA Flight Adapter could lick your conundrum).

The AirPods Max hits the scales heavier than most, truthful we've surely noticed the weight. At 384g It's not dense capable to ruin the experience, but you mightiness announcement the 'downforce' compared to a brace that predominately uses integrative for the build. Sitting connected the sofa, astatine your desk, oregon connected a level should beryllium good - but erstwhile moving astir you bash consciousness it, making for a antithetic acquisition compared to thing similar the excellent Beats Studio 3.

Concerns implicit however blistery the AirPods Max get implicit clip doesn't look to person materialised. We've worn these over-ears during a afloat moving day, connected the sofa watching an evening of TV and speech from the value we haven't noticed that we've got immoderate hotter than we would expect erstwhile wearing them.

It's going to beryllium absorbing seeing however the metallic decorativeness survives implicit clip and whether it volition beryllium prone to scratching. We bash similar the quality to detach the earcup for cleaning, and the larger rectangular plan surely fits our ears nicely, which isn't thing that tin ever beryllium said for different designs similar Apple's ain Beats Studio 3.

The transportation lawsuit is lightweight, but we fishy galore predominant travellers volition privation to look astatine thing much robust, due to the fact that it lone truly covers the receptor cups alternatively than the full assembly, meaning the headband volition inactive beryllium prone to catching connected things successful your container and yet ripping.

Sound

• Active noise-cancellation (ANC)
• 40mm drivers
• No loseless support

There's nary doubting that the dependable of the AirPods Max is exceptional, arsenic you would expect fixed the precocious price. Everything we've listened to sounds great, with a precise earthy dependable alternatively than thing that is excessively airy oregon excessively bass heavy.

There's nary distortion astatine precocious levels, and conscionable similar the AirPods Pro - which, since launch, we've been utilizing regular - the progressive noise-cancelling is fantastic. You truly won't beryllium capable to perceive what's going connected astir you erstwhile you're blasting retired deed aft hit.

Also similar the AirPods Pro, determination are plentifulness of virtualisation tricks going connected including spatial audio with dynamic caput tracking (when available), which volition mean that you tin determination your caput without the dependable tract moving, designed to springiness you a much theatre-like acquisition - much connected this Spatial Audio successful a bit.

The Max has 2 of Apple's H1 processors connected committee to grip each the computational audio going on. Of course, there's the elemental transportation crossed your Apple devices that different AirPods are famed for too.

Trebles, mid-tones, and bass are each nicely delivered, and unlike Apple's Beat's brand which veers towards a much bass dense sound, Apple appears to person gone for a much earthy consciousness to the experience, much akin to the attack taken with its HomePod scope of speakers.

There doesn't look to beryllium immoderate mode to accommodate oregon customise the dependable output, though, and you could reason that the measurement doesn't spell large capable - but that's sometimes an contented with Bluetooth based connected root worldly and limitations.

And sadly due to the fact that each the audio is handled implicit Blueooth, there's nary enactment for Loseless audio utilizing the AirPods Max. Bluetooth simply doesn't enactment it. And if you're reasoning that's good I tin usage that 3.5mm Lightning adapter successful the box, you'll beryllium incorrect determination too. According to Apple - "AirPods Max tin beryllium connected to devices playing Lossless and Hi-Res Lossless recordings with exceptional audio quality. However, fixed the analog to integer conversion successful the cable, the playback volition not beryllium wholly lossless."

Ultimatelly if you privation to perceive to Loseless Audio via the AirPods Max, you can't.

Spatial Audio

The listening acquisition goes good beyond listening to euphony these days, truthful Apple has introduced thing it calls Spatial Audio. Already recovered connected the AirPods Pro, the acquisition creates a theatre-like acquisition to situation you successful dependable alternatively than conscionable sounding similar stereo coming from the near and close channels.

The strategy presently lone works with the iPhone and iPad, and since the instauration of tvOS 15 Apple TV. It uses the accelerometers and gyroscopes built into some the AirPods Max and your iPhone oregon iPad to perpetually way and comparison the question of your caput and your instrumentality to recognize however they are moving successful narration to each other, and works successful a akin mode with your Apple TV too. 

What this translates into successful existent beingness is that the sounds enactment fixed to the device, truthful erstwhile you are watching movies, for example, dependable is pinned to its root - the roar of an motor comes from the car, portion the dependable comes from the actor; adjacent arsenic you determination your head, oregon arsenic the autobus you are successful turns the corner.

It's incredibly clever and works truly well, particularly erstwhile you're watching a thing connected the iPad successful 5.1, 7.1 oregon Dobly Atmos and present that Apple has added Spatial Audio to Apple Music and plans to adhd it to different apps similar FaceTime successful iOS 15 the diagnostic volition travel into its ain implicit the coming months. 

Following the motorboat of Spatial Audio connected Apple Music we've been listening to a fig of tracks successful Spatial Audio with the AirPods Max headphones. Some tracks are intelligibly enhanced by the caller experience, portion others are hardly noticeable. When you bash announcement it though, the results are amazing. The champion mode we tin picture it, is that It's a spot similar 4K connected your TV. Some tin spot the changes instantly and garbage to ticker thing else, portion others volition beryllium much than blessed with the HD footage and wonderment what the fuss is about. All that's near is to spot whether the manufacture embraces it and past runs with it. That's wherever things volition truly commencement to get interesting. 

In information you'll wonderment however you coped previously, and for movies adjacent perchance commencement questioning your main TV setup. At the clip of motorboat we were disappointed that it wasn't supported connected the Apple TV, but present acknowledgment to a bundle update it present is, it makes the AirPods Max a overmuch much sensible acquisition for watching movies astatine location erstwhile you truly privation to immerse yourself successful the enactment - particularly precocious astatine nighttime erstwhile you don't privation to disturb the remainder of the house. 

Battery life

• 20 hours artillery beingness total
• 1.5 hours artillery beingness aft 5 minutes of charge

Apple promises 20 hours of listening (with ANC active), with the quality to get 90 minutes from a five-minute charge.

Charging is via a Lightning to USB-C cablegram (included successful the box), but similar different Apple devices you don't get a plug successful the box.

So acold we've enjoyed agelong artillery life, but we person ensured that we've enactment these headphones backmost successful the lawsuit erstwhile not successful use. That's important, due to the fact that if you don't past the debased powerfulness mode doesn't footwear successful and you mightiness find that erstwhile you travel backmost the powerfulness has drained much than you were expecting.

Price

This is going to beryllium the large sticking constituent for galore people. The AirPods Max astatine motorboat outgo $549/£549. That's astir aforesaid terms arsenic a PlayStation 5, and means Apple is expecting customers to wage a immense premium compared to different headphone offerings already connected the marketplace from the likes of Sony, Bose and others.

It's just to accidental that you are somewhat paying the celebrated "Apple Tax" here, but we fishy that won't halt radical buying, oregon astatine slightest lusting, aft the Max erstwhile those who beryllium astatine the beforehand of the airplane are regularly spotted wearing a pair.

Writing by Stuart Miles. Originally published connected 11 December 2020.