Representatives from the company weren’t able to explain my problem, and I didn’t have the issue using them for Zoom calls on my iPad. I have had similar issues with other noise-canceling headphones. One thing I can't blame Apple for is that the audio quality of the headphones significantly degrades when I take Zoom calls on my Mac. Since the AirPods Max cost nearly twice as much as some of those (and considering these headphones are already large and relatively heavy), I want matching battery life. That's good, but it's 10 hours less than what you get from high-end headphones from competitors like Sony, Bowers & Wilkins, and several others. Speaking of, the AirPods Max have 20 hours of battery life. All that’s fine, but I wish I could actually turn the damn things off when I’m not using them and save my battery. The reason for the always-on nature of the headphones is to enable both fast device pairing and the Find My iPhone feature. Just don't go looking for them to have a ton of battery left if you leave them unused for a week or more. In practice, if you actually use the headphones often, this isn't a problem. It also means the AirPods' battery is always and forever slowly being drained. That means bringing the world’s most useless case with you everywhere if you need to save juice. You can only turn them to low power mode, either by setting them down for five minutes or by returning them to the case. Yes, you read that correctly: You can’t turn the AirPods Max off. The case is also, somewhat inexplicably, among the only ways to get the always-on headphones to their lowest power mode. The fabric flaps offer essentially no protection for the headband, which is the part most likely to get damaged in your shoulder bag or backpack. The soft case, which looks like the AirPods Max designers went shopping for tops at Victoria’s Secret, is extremely stupid. The weird rotation direction isn’t my only problem with Apple’s first ever premium noise-canceling over-ears, though. The AirPods Max even have head sensing slide them over your ears and they wake automatically out of standby mode and connect to your closest paired iOS device. No stupid touch controls, no wondering what things do, no muss, no fuss. There's a smaller second button next to it that adjusts noise cancellation. This acts as a Play/Pause button when you press it, and it controls the music volume when you twist it. On the top of the right ear cup, Apple stuck a pushable wheel just like the Apple Watch's digital crown. My favorite part of the headphones isn't the flashy materials, though, it's the volume knob. They feel significantly nicer than Bose and Sony models, and they even best the equally pricey Montblanc model I fell in love with last year.Įven the folks at iFixit were impressed with the headphones' build quality-with everything from replaceable magnetic ear cups to screwed-in components, these appear to be among the only Apple products that are user-repairable. From the milled aluminum casing to the metal headband with mesh padding resembling the texture of a Herman Miller Aeron chair, the components all feel hyper-premium. It’s annoying for those of us with shallow pockets and partially compatible Android devices to admit, but Apple has once again proved its point: When you’ve got the best product, you can charge what you want for it.īut before I got them on my head to listen to Taylor Swift, I noticed another thing: They’re extremely well made. The AirPods Max are not without quirks, but in terms of sound, build quality, and features, they are the best noise-canceling headphones I’ve ever tested. The pair of ultra-premium headphones is meant to destroy the competition from Sony and Bose, and they quickly turned me from skeptic to true believer. And so, with their bespoke aluminum ear cups, perfectly balanced volume knob-and $550 price tag-we are graced with the new AirPods Max. But in the tradition of a man named Jobs, some of the best won’t do. As the pandemic wheezes on, noise-canceling headphones have gone from being a tool for jet-setting business types to a requirement for work-from-home sanity.įrom the excellent new on-ear Beats models to the in-ear AirPods Pro (8/10, WIRED Recommends), Apple’s been making some of the best noise-canceling headphones for some time now.
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