Apple’s AirPods Max headphones are increasingly popular, but they’re also super expensive. The company’s first over-ear headphones pack advanced features such as active noise cancellation (ANC), immersive spatial audio and an Adaptive EQ for optimal sound, but you’ll have to cough up a whopping $549 for the privilege of wearing them. That’s hundreds of dollars more expensive than some of the best over-ear headphones you can buy.
If you’d rather not pay more than the price of a PS5 or Xbox Series X just to enjoy some high-quality tunes on the go, there are plenty of superb noise-canceling headphones you can get for hundreds of dollars less. Here’s what you need to know about the AirPods Max alongside our picks for the top premium headphones you can buy instead.
What AirPods Max get you
In all fairness, the AirPods Max offer some impressive functionality for the money. Apple’s over-ear headphones deliver a sturdy design with bright hues, an eye-catching stainless steel and 40mm drivers for pumping out satisfying bass and crisp highs for your favorite music.
And then there’s the advanced tech packed inside, with our favorite feature being the super-simple device pairing within the Apple ecosystem. That’s all thanks to its excellent H1 chip, a not-so-secret weapon that lets you instantly connect (as well as switch between) Apple devices.
You also get ANC for blocking out the world around you, the practically perfect Transparency mode for when you want to hear your surroundings and spatial audio for getting better immersed in supported movies and shows. The headphones even have built-in sensors for automatically pausing playback when you take them off. There’s also an Adaptive EQ that can adjust audio frequencies in real time to deliver the best possible sound output to every user.
In our testing, we found the AirPods Max’s 21-hour battery life to be another perk, though many competitors beat it. We’re especially fond of the headphones’ five color schemes (silver, Space Gray, Sky Blue, pink and green). That said, the AirPods Max are also pretty long in the tooth, and a new model is likely due in 2024. But the only new features we expect are a USB-C port instead of Lightning (to match the iPhone 15), new colors and potential lossless audio support.
The best headphones to buy instead
While the AirPods Max sound great on paper, there are simply too many other excellent headphones you can buy for a fraction of the price.
The Sony WH-1000XM5 are our pick for the best over-ear headphones and the best noise-canceling headphones overall, and their $400 price has seen some deep discounts. These cans deliver some of the best audio quality you can find from a set of premium over-ears, with a sense of dimensionality that makes you feel like you’re hearing your favorite artists live. You’re also getting some of the best noise cancellation in the business, as Sony’s headphones can easily block out unwanted noises like outdoor chatter and loud appliances.
The WH-1000XM5 also had an impressive 34-hour battery life in our testing — that’s 13 hours more than what we got from Apple. And unlike the AirPods Max, Sony’s headphones feature a companion app for fine-tuning how you want your music to sound.
The $429 Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones give the Sony WH-1000XM5 and AirPods Max stiff competition, with great noise cancellation, immersive sound quality and an impressively comfortable design. They retail for $430, and have been discounted to as low as $379. In our Bose QuietComfort Ultra versus AirPods Max face-off, we found that Bose practically matched Apple perfectly on audio quality and noise cancellation. The Bose QC Ultra also offer superb 3D audio, which doesn’t rely on playing Apple Music’s Dolby Atmos-optimized tracks like the AirPods Max.
You can even get great headphones from some of the top audiophile players for less than the price of the AirPods Max. The $399 Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S2 (currently marked down to $329) are our top audiophile pick, offering excellent sound quality, lengthy battery life and effective ANC. These headphones also come in eye-catching black, blue and white options.
Then, there’s the $399 second-gen Master & Dynamic MH 40, which offer a classy design with plush lambskin leather and excellent audio quality. They even last 30 hours on a single charge. The big downside, though, is a lack of ANC, something that the AirPods Max excel at. Still, these cans will truly impress those who can avoid noisy environments.
Finally, if you’re set on staying in the Apple ecosystem and don’t mind using earbuds instead of over-ear headphones, the $249 AirPods Pro 2 (currently on sale for $189) are definitely worthy of consideration. These advanced buds sport many of the Max’s key features (including Adaptive EQ, ANC and Transparency mode) and the same seamless pairing to your iPhone, iPad or Mac within a cheaper, more compact design. Some say their ANC is even better than the Max’s. Heck, with the current sales, you could buy the Sony WH-1000XM5 and AirPods Pro 2 together and they’d be about as much as the AirPods Max.
Bottom line
Having used AirPods Max for years now, we’ve come to the decision that they’re both great and a bit too expensive. So, anyone who still wants them should wait for their inevitable price drop, as $549 is still steep when the competition is this strong. But if you cannot wait for that exorbitant price to drop, just know that you can get some of the top noise-canceling headphones out there for less than $399. Whether you want true over-ear greatness with the Sony WH-1000XM5 or you want to experience some of the Max’s key features on the cheaper AirPods Pro, there are plenty of great alternatives that won’t completely break the bank.
