Audio review
Apple AirPods Max Review: Under an Hour If You Wear Glasses
One lab scored comfort 4.6 out of 10 and found glasses cut wearable time to less than sixty minutes. Everything else about them is very good, which is the frustrating part.
By Paulo GerchonPublished 2 min read
Photo: Arne Müseler, CC BY-SA 3.0 DE
Apple
Apple AirPods Max
Fair · researched from 3 sources
The noise cancelling and the tuning are genuinely excellent and nobody disputes that. What you are deciding is whether your head and your ears can wear 386 grams for as long as you listen, because the lab that measured it says most people cannot.
- Buy if
- Apple households where seamless switching and spatial audio get used · Listening in sessions of a couple of hours rather than all day · Anyone who values low distortion and a well-judged tuning
- Skip if
- Glasses wearers, on TechGearLab's under-one-hour finding · Android users, who lose most of the feature set · Anyone who wants a case that protects the headphones
We don’t list prices, because Amazon’s change hourly.
The number that decides it
TechGearLab scored comfort 4.6 out of 10.
That is not a soft mark. It is the lowest score in their breakdown by a distance, and the detail behind it is worse than the number: average wear time before testers wanted them off was around four hours, and for anyone wearing glasses it was under one.
The cause is straightforward. These weigh 386 grams where the competition weighs around 250, and the clamping force needed to hold that mass presses the arms of a pair of glasses into the side of your head.
Audiomatome makes the fairest counter-argument, that the knit mesh canopy headband spreads the load across the whole skull rather than concentrating it. That is a real piece of design and it does not change the mass.
Everything else is very good
Noise cancelling, measured: about 30 dB across the spectrum with a peak of 31.4 in the midrange, per TechGearLab. SoundGuys puts it level with Sony's flagship over-ears and slightly ahead of the WH-1000XM4 below 150 Hz, which is precisely where an aircraft cabin sits.
Frequency response: SoundGuys says it follows their preference curve closely, with softened highs and added sub-bass. Audiomatome describes extremely low distortion across the range, and a dip between 2 and 6 kHz that some listeners read as veiled.
Battery: 21 hours at SoundGuys, 22.8 at TechGearLab, against Apple's claim of 20. Both beat the specification.
The case is not a case
All three sources say so, and SoundGuys says it plainly: basically useless as a case.
It does not protect the aluminium or the mesh. What it does is trigger low power mode, which matters because there is no power button anywhere on the headphones.
So the accessory that fails at its stated job is also the only way to switch the product off. That is an unusually pure example of a design decision made for looks.
What you lose outside Apple
AAC and SBC over Bluetooth 5.0. No LDAC, no aptX, so an Android phone cannot compensate with a better codec.
SoundGuys found microphone quality swinging substantially with the source device, best on Apple hardware and inconsistent elsewhere, and attributes it to how each device handles the wireless link rather than to the headphones.
Audiomatome is blunter still, describing severely reduced functionality for non-Apple users.
The USB-C revision does carry lossless 24-bit, 48 kHz audio over a cable, which is the one route to their full capability that does not depend on an iPhone.
Where that leaves them
TechGearLab's overall figure is 70 out of 100 with sound at 8.0 and cancelling at 8.7. SoundGuys gives 8 out of 10 and calls them overpriced in the same paragraph. Audiomatome lands at 4 out of 5 and recommends them to Apple devotees specifically.
Three sources, one shape of conclusion. The audio engineering is excellent, the price is high, and the thing most likely to send them back is how they feel after two hours.
How it scored
The overall 6.7 is the weighted average of these five criteria — we never adjust it by hand.
Sound quality
SoundGuys measured a response that follows their preference curve closely. TechGearLab scored sound 8.0, and Audiomatome notes extremely low distortion alongside a dip between 2 and 6 kHz.
Value
TechGearLab scored 70 out of 100 and lists the price first among the drawbacks. SoundGuys scores 8 out of 10 and calls them overpriced in the same breath.
Build quality
Anodised aluminium earcups and a knit mesh canopy that Audiomatome credits with spreading the weight. All three sources criticise the case, which SoundGuys calls basically useless.
Ease of use
TechGearLab scored app and controls 6.7, noting there is no power button and no dedicated app with meaningful EQ. Function outside the Apple ecosystem is reduced.
Comfort
TechGearLab scored comfort 4.6 out of 10, their weakest category, with average wear time of four hours and under one hour for anyone wearing glasses.
Pros and cons
What we liked
- TechGearLab measured about 30 dB of reduction across the spectrum and 31.4 dB in the mids
- SoundGuys measured just over 21 hours of playback, above Apple's 20 hour claim
- SoundGuys says the frequency response follows their preference curve closely
- Audiomatome notes extremely low distortion across the whole range
- Aluminium earcups and a mesh canopy headband that spreads the weight
- The USB-C model carries lossless 24-bit 48 kHz audio over a cable
What we didn’t
- TechGearLab scored comfort 4.6 and measured under an hour of wear with glasses
- At 386 g they are far heavier than the 250 g competition
- All three sources call the Smart Case useless as protection
- There is no power button, so the case is how you turn them off
- AAC and SBC only over Bluetooth 5.0, with no LDAC or aptX
- SoundGuys found microphone quality varying with the source device
Specifications
| Noise cancelling | About 30 dB across the spectrum and 31.4 dB in the mids per TechGearLab |
|---|---|
| Battery | 20 hours claimed; just over 21 measured by SoundGuys; 22.8 hours per TechGearLab |
| Weight | 386 g |
| Earcup opening | 60 x 40 mm per TechGearLab |
| Codecs | AAC and SBC over Bluetooth 5.0; no LDAC or aptX |
| Wired | Lossless 24-bit 48 kHz on the USB-C model per Audiomatome |
| Microphones | Eight, six external and two internal |
| Power | No power button; the case triggers low power mode |
| Comfortable wear | About 4.5 hours, or under 1 hour with glasses, per TechGearLab |
How we researched this
We have not had this unit on the bench. This review synthesises the manufacturer’s published specifications, independent measurements and owner reports listed below. Every figure on this page comes from one of those sources rather than our own measurement.
3
sources reviewed
SoundGuys supplies the measured battery figure, the frequency response finding, the codec list, the weight and the observation about firmware-driven leakage compensation, and is the only source that measured on a test fixture. TechGearLab tested them against a group of premium headphones and supplies the category scores, the measured noise cancelling in decibels, the second battery figure and the comfort findings including the result for glasses wearers. Audiomatome supplies the distortion assessment, the description of the 2 to 6 kHz dip and the wired lossless capability. This review covers the original AirPods Max rather than the later USB-C revision, except where the wired capability is noted.
What we read
Common questions
Are the AirPods Max comfortable?
How good is the noise cancelling?
How long does the battery last?
Why does everyone complain about the case?
Do they work properly with Android?
The bottom line on the Apple AirPods Max
The noise cancelling and the tuning are genuinely excellent and nobody disputes that. What you are deciding is whether your head and your ears can wear 386 grams for as long as you listen, because the lab that measured it says most people cannot.
More tech & gadgets reviews
Audio
1MORE SonoFlow
SoundGuys measured almost seven hours beyond the claim. TechGearLab's frequency breakdown shows 36.2 dB of reduction in the highs and 15.6 in the lows.
Audio
AKG K371
Sonarworks measured up to ±4 dB of channel imbalance and ±3 dB of bass variation between units. That is a bigger difference than most of the arguments about how it sounds.
Audio
Apple AirPods Pro 2
Measured runtime came in at 5 hours 43, 6 hours 03 and 8 and a half hours depending on who ran the test. The noise cancelling has a hole in it at 1kHz that only one of them looked for.