Our biggest gripe with Apple’s AirPods Max is the price. They’re expensive, but if you’ve been patiently waiting for a sale, your time has come. Following the chaos of Prime Day, Amazon is offering the AirPods Max for 18 percent off, dropping the price to $449.
The AirPods Max are some of our favorite wireless headphones and Best Products’ senior technology editor, Stefan Vazharov, says you get what you pay for.
“With impeccable craftsmanship, top-tier sound and noise cancellation, and a host of Apple-exclusive smart features, the [AirPods Max] are worth the splurge, especially for buyers who already own a multitude of Apple devices,” Vazharov says.
Apple AirPods Max Wireless Over-Ear Headphones
The AirPods Max features custom 40-millimeter audio drivers with dual neodymium magnets, delivering a detail-rich and balanced sound with exceptional quality. These magnets help provide a distortion-free sound even at high volume—something many high-end wireless headphones struggle with. The H1 chip, which introduce computational audio capabilities, also help tune the sonic experience in real-time.
The H1 chip also supports spatial audio capabilities with dynamic head tracking, allowing users to experience virtual surround sound and Dolby Atmos content. It’s like having a home theater system in a pair of headphones. The AirPods Max also offers fantastic noise cancellation performance, with Vazharov saying he spent several workdays in quiet bliss while testing them.
The AirPods Max offers a comfortable design, with memory foam cushions and a headband with a mesh canopy. The headphones also feature tactile buttons, including a digital crown, which allows you to control playback and volume. Most high-end headphones, such as the Sony WH-1000XM4 and Bose Noise Canceling Headphones 700, feature touch controls, which can be inconvenient.
According to Apple, you can get 20 hours of playback between charges, which may be enough to get you through a couple of workdays before you need to charge them. Meanwhile, you can get 1.5 hours of playback after only 5 minutes of charging, so running out of juice shouldn’t be too much of a setback.
We recommend checking out these cases if you do splurge for the AirPods Max. The bundled Smart Case you get with the headphones is nice. Still, they don’t effectively protect the headphones, so you’re better off going with a third-party accessory. At $100 off, it’s one of the lowest prices the AirPods Max has ever been, so don’t miss out on this sale.
Brandon Russell is a freelance writer covering gear and technology. He started his journey as a news writer at a small newspaper and later began reviewing smartphones, movies, and video games. In his free time, he enjoys the slower, more intentional experience of using a 35mm film camera and making short videos about movies he grew up watching.
