AirPods Max Wireless Over-Ear Headphones, Pro-Level Active Noise Cancellation, Transparency Mode, Personalized Spatial Audio, USB-C Charging, Bluetooth Headphones for iPhone - Midnight

They work very well, audio quality is high, battery is long lasting, very light weight and comfortable, noise cancellation is top tier, and the physical controls on the top beat all of the stupid motion and tap controls of other headphones. Only worth it if you have an iPhone, the integration is flawless.

The AirPods Max exceeded my expectations from the very first moment. The sound quality is impressive: deep bass, balanced mids, and crisp highs. The noise cancellation is one of the best I’ve experienced — it truly isolates you even in very noisy environments. Comfort is another highlight. The ear cushions are soft, the headband distributes the weight well, and I can use them for hours without discomfort. The connection with Apple devices is instant and stable, and the Transparency Mode feels very natural. Although the price is high, the quality is noticeable in every detail. If you’re looking for a premium audio experience and long-lasting headphones, they are definitely worth the investment.

Overall still your best option even in 2025. As a medical student who's used them 12 hours a day for a few months of use here is my review. Transparency mode is the best on the market, noise cancellation is also outstanding. The accommodating ear cups are very comfortable unlike the shallow cups of the Sony MX6s. The build quality is second to none. The sound quality is exceptional and more vivid and immersive than AirPods pro 3 thanks to the bigger more capable drivers. Even with that being said I would have loved if they updated this 2024 release with the H2 chip, a lighter design, and better battery life/ANC, but even still they are on top. If you have more than two apple products like say a mac and iPhone and want headphones (not ear buds) these are a no brainer. I use my AirPods pro 3 for working out and phone calls but these for long study sessions as the silicon tips of AirPods build up ear wax after some time and for that reason are uncomfortable for me for extended use. I don't feel the weight becomes an issue for long use, but I do take them off for at least 5 mins an hour so I can take a quick break. I will say out the box they are quite tight but you can modify that search on google "Finally solved the AirPods Max clamping force tightness" and read the post on that. After stretching them out on my 15 hour study days I wear them about 12 hours. The 20 hour battery life for my purposes is excellent. They go into low battery mode after 5 minutes of not being on, even when not in the case, however the low power mode is slightly more efficient in the case as the bluetooth turns off, but this is negligible, and overall I will say the idle battery life is amazing. As far as the smart case, I like it, it's simple and effective, but its not fully protective so I wouldn't be throwing your AirPods in a bag with anything sharp that can damage the mesh headband. I also would be careful to order a light colored one if you wear anything on your skin often or expect them to get dirty/stained. Overall very happy with these airpods and use them everyday when I study.

These are premium headphones and they sound amazing. They have great ANC and are super comfortable. They pair perfectly with the Apple ecosystem, and while they are a little pricey, the build quality and experience make them worth it.

UPDATE OCT 2023: Here is my original review which still holds true now that I have owned the Bose NC 700 for a couple of years. Last week, I bought the new Bose Quiet Comfort Ultra over-ear headphones. I added that review and comparison at the bottom. ———————— Original review…… For the past ten years I have enjoyed and been dependent upon noise canceling headphones. With that has come a journey into the audiophile community with others who are on a quest for high-fidelity sound. My journey led me to many headphones that sound absolutely pristine but none with noise canceling and few are wireless. Until late, the Bose Noise Canceling 700 are my compromise for great sound and noise canceling in a wireless headphone. So, when Apple announced the AirPods Max, I had to try them to know how they compare to my Bose 700. Here are my conclusions so far... STYLE The fit and finish on the AirPods Max is absolutely beautiful! Love it much more than the Bose. I just like the way they look and feel. Before I purchased the AirPods I probably watched 50 unboxing and review videos. So, I thought I had a good idea of how they looked. They are nicer in person. Sleek, premium, modern and minimalistic. COMFORT Comfort is about the same! AirPods Max are definitely heavier but do not necessarily feel much heavier on he head as the weight is balanced well. I have larger ears and the ear cups on the Bose 700 go a little deeper to make room for my ears. So, over several hours, the Bose do feel slightly more comfortable. The Bose also do not get as warm as the Apple. TRANSPARENCY MODE Transparency mode, in my opinion, is actually more natural on the Bose. The Apple headphones actually amplify the sound around you a few decibles too much. In other words, things sound louder than they actually are with the transparency mode on the AirPods Max. Also, the Bose reproduces your own voice much more naturally when in transparency mode. SOUND QUALITY Sound quality at certain volume levels is almost exactly the same. Kind of unbelievable. It is as though Apple reverse engineered the Bose 700 and copied its sound signature and noice canceling to within 5 percent. There is a definite sound quality difference though that changes with the volume level. This is all about the DSP. Of course, the digital signal processing (DSP) is called Computational Audio on the Max and Volume Optimized EQ on the Bose. This is what works differently and what accounts for sound differences dependent on the volume. Basically, the Bose sound better at 60 percent volume and below. Bose just has it dialed in so that everything sounds rich and balanced. I usually listen to music at about 55 percent volume on my iPad. So, I prefer the sound of the Bose. The sound at 60 percent and below on the AirPods Max suffers from a veiled upper midrange. An alto saxophone, for example, will sound as though it is being played behind a wooden door. Now between 60 and 70 percent volume is where both headphones sound virtually the same. It is uncanny! Both sound absolutely wonderful. Probably the best you will ever hear on wireless noise canceling headphones (yes, the Sony has an amplified and unnatural mid-bass making them sound deep but not high fidelity). At 70 percent volume and above the Bose DSP begins to lower the bass response to avoid distortion. The bass gets progressively quieter as you increase on the Bose to where there is virtually no bass at about 90 percent volume. The AirPods Max, on the other hand, handle bass very nicely from 70 all the way up to 100 percent. In fact, they sound perfectly balanced all the way from 60 to 100 percent volume with no sound quality degradation. If there is a fault it is that the bass loses a little nuance. In other words at high volumes the bass is a little over controlled. The softer vibrations like on the trail of a bass string get lost a little. So to summarize the sound comparisons. The two headphones sound equal from 60 to 70 percent volume. The Bose sound bette at 60 percent volume and below. Finally, the AirPods sound better (by quite a bit, it’s not even close) at 70 percent volume and above. CONTROLS The final comparison are the controls. Apple wins in my book. The Digital Crown has a perfect feel to it. It rotates very smoothly with a perfect amount of resistance. It presses well also. Apple has hyper dialed-in these controls. It makes me never want to have to use the touch-pad on the Bose 700 ever again. WHICH ONE IS FOR ME? Everything is comparable on these two headphones, but in the end, sound quality at my preferred listening level wins out. Since I listen to at about 50 percent volume, the Bose continue to be he choice for me. I just have a fixed routine for when I use noise canceling headphones. Now, I am sure that Apple could probably update their firmware to adjust the computational audio in order to fix the balance issues below 60 percent volume. If they did, then the fit and finish and controls might win me back over to the AirPods Max. But, the slight compromise in long-term comfort would cause me to hesitate a little. ONE LAST THING One last thing, the spatial audio is pretty Amazing. If I had to watch movies on my iPad these headphones would be a must. The surround sound effects are as good (slightly better) than my Bose home theatre system. The overall sound quality for movies is slightly less (more sterile and hollow sounding, probably because of the limited Bluetooth codec) than my Bose home theatre system. —————————- BOSE QUIET COMFORT ULTRA VS BOSE NC 700 (and AirPods Max) Bose Quiet Comfort Ultra Headphones Several years ago, I discovered Bose Quiet Comfort headphones. My first pair wore the QC15 and I have owned every iteration since then. Until now, the best of the best have been the Bose NC700 which are spectacular headphones. Now, I find myself the proud owner of the company’s newest over-ear headset, the Bose Quiet Comfort Ultra. After thorough comparison, I can confidently say that the new Ultra are an upgrade in every way. There is especially one aspect which causes the Ultra to make them an absolutely must-have for music lovers. I will get to that in a moment, but first here are my thoughts on how the NC700 and QC Ultra compare: COMFORT I am very happy to report that the Bose QC Ultra are more comfortable than the NC 700 headphones. They are lighter, there is less clamping force and the headband distributes weight better on the top of your head. I used to consider the NC 700 headphones as the second most comfortable pair of over-ear headphones second only to the QC45. Well, the Ultra now take this 2nd place spot and they are almost as comfortable as the 45. Very Great! NOISE CANCELING Yes, Bose has also improved the noise canceling. When in quiet mode the headphones put you in a place where the world simply disappears. Each iteration of Bose headphones through the years has improved upon the previous in this area. The Ultra are no different. In fact, when I was testing them out my wife was standing 3 feet from me and trying to talk to me. I never even knew she was talking. This has never happened with my older NC 700. SOUND QUALITY The QC Ultra are more of a spiritual successor to the NC700 than they are the QC45. The sound is much more similar to the NC700. What they retain is the excellent clarity and instrument separation. The mids are just as perfectly present. Also the highs have a very pleasing ring without ever sounding harsh. What was great on the 700 but even better on the Ultra is the bass. Bose says that the new Ultra are now taking samples of sound inside the ear ups and then actively adjusts the bass to sound best dependent on the shape of ears, the seal of the pads, etc. This really does make a difference. I wear glass which compromises the acoustic seal. The Ultra compensates for this and makes the bass sound deeper and have a greater punch than my NC700. So, the sound signature overall is better and gets WAY better with immersive audio. But, we are getting to that. IMMERSIVE AUDIO This is the feature! If you are a music lover then this is the feature which gives the biggest incentive to upgrade from the NC 700. Music with immersive audio just sounds better. I have several setups of actual stereo bookshelf speakers around my house. I always preferred a good pair of music monitors over headphones. Why? Because you can hear and imagine the soundstage in front of you. Good recordings place an orchestra or band members several feet from each-other as you listen. With live listening you can hear the music spread throughout the venue and this is what immersive audio on the Quiet Comfort Headphones does. It places the band a couple feet in front of you. It feels like you can point to and reach out and touch the various vocalist and instruments. It is so great! It is exactly like advertised. Immersive audio makes it sound like you are listening to a good pair of speakers in a room acoustically ideal for premium audio. Now that I have heard it, I can never go back to regular headphones. CONCLUSION There is so much more good that I could say about the Bose Quiet Comfort Ultra headphones. The buttons are well placed and are useful - even the touch-sensitive volume slider works well enough! The app also just works and all the needed settings are there to easily adjust. The carrying case looks premium and is compact. It is smaller than the NC700 case and even more compact than the QC45’s storage option. There are some things I do not like about the headphones. For example, immersive audio for movies is still not as good or immersive as Spacial Audio on Apple’s AirPods Max when watching Dolby content. Also, the placement and function of the buttons is different than what I am used to on the 700. In the end though, I am ecstatic with what Bose has done in their newest iteration of Bose over-the-ear noise canceling headphones. My NC 700 are going on eBay and I look forward to many great years with the Ultra. Well done Bose!

The AirPod max are the best headphones I’ve tried. They’re worth the price. They feel heavy in a sturdy well made way. I love the case and swivel. The shape of the ear cups is perfect, most headphones give me sore ears, these do not, there is adequate space for the ears- especially important for me as I have an industrial piercing. They do get some condensation when I’m doing hours of physical labour, I just take the ear pads off and let them dry before cleaning them and putting them in the case. Best noise cancellation out of any headphone, I can’t hear a heavy duty vacuum with them on. The sound quality is amazing. They offer a more balanced sound, there is bass but it’s not super amplified. I would only buy these headphones for listening to music at work. The easy pairing with an iPhone is a plus. The battery life is insane, I forgot to charge them and showed up to a 5 hour shift with only 7% battery.. they lasted the entire 5 hours somehow.

I took a chance and purchased the Air Pods Max because I’m a big fan of noise cancelling headphones and already own the Sony XM4 and the Bose QC35. Note: I used to own the Bose 700 but returned them because the head band was so tight it gave me headaches and I couldn’t wear it for more than 20-30 minutes. Here is my experience with each. Best Noise Cancelling: Air Pods Max Sony XM4 Bose QC35 I use all 3 headphones with televisions in the background, small children and outdoors. The Air Pods Max is very close to the XM4, I would rate it as a 10% difference – it’s almost tied. The QC35 on the other hand, I can hear faint television/small children in the background, even at high volume. Long Term Comfort: Bose QC35 Air Pods Max Sony XM4 Nothing will ever beat the QC35’s. I can wear them all day and take video and phone calls however, it does give me a slight disorientation effect and minor vertigo, similar to diving or moving to an elevated height (driving up a mountain for example). The Air Pods Max are comfortable, and the ear cups surround my large ears just like the QC35 however, there the clamp is noticeable – this may go away after some time; the clamp causes minor discomfort with glasses; I removed my glasses for the purpose of this short review and the discomfort has faded, even after 60 minutes of listening – it does clamp more than the QC35 and XM4s. Something to keep in mind is the XM4 earpads are not thick enough and my ear brushes against the speaker area; this also makes my ears get hot after 30 minutes and I eventually have to take a short break – this does not happen with the Air Pods Max – there is lots of room for my ears and the cushions are thick enough that my ears do not touch the speaker area. Microphone: Air Pods Max Bose QC35 Sony XM4 I completed several zoom video/audio calls, Facetime and regular calls. I asked my friends/family to compare my voice quality on each headset and every time, the Air Pods Max was the winner. Bose QC35 is still great in this department however – I was using them as my primary driver for calls prior to getting the Air Pods Max. The Sony XM4’s are below average; people cannot hear me clearly. In-fact, I stopped using them entirely for business calls because colleagues would make remarks about my microphone. They are ‘okay’ for personal calls, but not desirable for me at least. Synchronization: Air Pods Max Bose QC 35 Sony XM4 I place the Air Pods on my head and it immediately connects to my phone. I do not have to touch anything on either of my devices. When I place the Air Pods Max around my neck or left one ear cup, the music pauses. When I place both ear cups back on my ears, the music auto resumes. I tested this for several hours and it has never failed. As for the Bose QC35 and XM4’s, no matter if they both have multi device pairing, I am always having issues. Both headsets never switch to my other device without me having to manually disconnect 1 of 2 devices (the one I’m not using). This is frustrating and I hate doing this multiple times per day. Music Quality: Air Pods Max Sony XM4 Bose QC35 The Air Pods Max I would rate have 30% better music quality than the XM4. I tested Hip-Hop, Bossa Nova, Jazz, Classical, Deep House, D&B, Techno, Trip Hop, Dubstep and Lounge. The must is more engaging, and I can hear the instruments and vocals in more detail – an elevated musical experience. The biggest difference for me was Jazz, Classical, Bossa Nova and Salsa – I would say a 50% better listening experience for these genres. Build Quality: Air Pods Max Sony XM4 Bose QC35 Air Pods Max are easily the highest quality headphones I have handled; they look at and feel premium and are crafted exceptionally well – even the buttons are strong and durable; these are basically on another level entirely. When extending the headphones, there is a steel connector with resistance when adjusting the sizing to fit your head properly. The XM4/QC35 are hard plastic – nothing special or extravagant; the XM4 look better than the QC35 however. Spatial Audio Note: I was completely blown away when I loaded an Apple TV series on my phone to test the spatial audio feature. It felt like I had speakers surround me in a 360 fashion at the move theatres. I stood there for 5 minutes with my eyes wide opened in disbelief that headphones were capable of offering this level of experience. It is something that you have to try it to believe it. This is what sold me the most. --- Are the Air Pods Max worth the price? Based on my experience so far, I would say yes. I was actually expecting them to be close to the XM4’s, but on certain categories, they have accelerated immensely.

Yes, these are probably 30% more expensive than they should be, but putting price aside these are fantastic headphones. Incredible build quality - metal over plastic any day. The ear cups are so comfortable and after 6 hours of wearing I don't get those ear sweats that you do with leather/pleather ear cups that every other manufacturer seems to use. Sounds quality is very enjoyable. No one on the market has a more accurate transparency mode. I love using that when out in public and went to hear my surroundings. Spatial audio is super cool as well. The case is trash, like every other reviewer out there says. I never even took my case out of the original wrapping. While it sucks that you can't turn these "off", it's not like the headphones blow through power when not in use. 5-7% of battery is used up per day while sitting there. NBD for me as I have a headphone stand that I keep these one and plug them in when I'm away from the desk. Aside from price, I'd argue the criticisms for these headphones are generally overrated. If you're reading this in 2023, I'd suggest waiting for version 2 to address some of the above concerns.

Cara, simplesmente perfeito. Não tenho oque reclamar e o melhor fone que já experimentei e outra que eu uso diversos fones da marcas ótimas

These headphones are absolutely worth it. The sound quality is rich and balanced, noise cancellation works extremely well, and the transparency mode feels natural. They are comfortable to wear for long periods and the build quality feels very premium. Battery life has been solid and pairing with Apple devices is seamless. The green color looks great too. Very happy with this purchase and highly recommend.