Apple AirPods Max Real-World Test (Headphones Comparison, Battery Test & Vlog)

# A Comprehensive Review of Apple AirPods Max: Features, Sound Quality, and More

## Introduction to Testing

The journey begins with an enthusiastic host ready to test the Apple AirPods Max on-air. The goal is to provide a genuine experience by using them throughout a normal day, showcasing their functionality in various environments. This includes testing different noise cancellation settings and comparing them with other popular headphones.

## Case Design and Battery Functionality

The first critique comes right at the start: the case design. Made of aluminum, it's intended to protect the headphones but falls short due to exposed metal and poor aesthetics. Despite its flaws, the case has a purpose—it puts the AirPods into a deep sleep mode to conserve battery life. The host tested this by leaving them overnight without the case and noticed only a 1% battery drop over eight hours, impressing with their energy efficiency.

## Controls and Usability

The AirPods Max feature a single button for cycling through noise settings (Active Noise Cancellation, ANC off, Ambient mode) and a digital crown reminiscent of Apple Watches. The crown allows for play/pause, track skipping, and volume control. This physical interface is appreciated for its reliability, especially in cold weather with gloves.

## Sound Comparison in Various Settings

The host compares the AirPods Max sound quality with Sony WH-1000x Mark IV and Mont Blanc MB01s. Testing ambient noise cancellation, the AirPods perform well, showing clarity in voice pickup. Further tests in a studio environment demonstrate their ability to handle different sounds effectively.

## Comfort and Fit

The premium feel of the AirPods Max is highlighted, with a weight distribution that places pressure on the sides rather than the top, enhancing comfort during long wears. The snug fit around the ears ensures minimal sound leakage and effective noise cancellation.

## Integration with Apple Ecosystem

Seamless integration with Apple devices is a standout feature. Switching audio sources between Mac and iPhone is effortless, and the ability to connect to two devices simultaneously adds convenience. This integration feels intuitive, though not unique to Apple products.

## Siri Functionality and User Experience

The host expresses surprise at how well Siri works, even in noisy environments. Commands like sending messages and controlling music are executed with accuracy, enhancing user experience despite initial doubts about clarity.

## Social Interaction and Friends' Feedback

A scene where the host meets friends showcases real-world use.Friends offer their opinions, noting the premium feel and sound quality but questioning the lack of foldability. Their feedback highlights a balance between style and practicality.

## Convenience vs. Sound Quality Trade-off

The discussion shifts to value for money. While the AirPods Max offer excellent sound and comfort, their higher price and lack of convenience features (like foldability) make them less appealing to budget-conscious users. The host questions if the premium price is justified compared to competitors like Sony and Bose.

## Final Thoughts on Value and Market Positioning

The conclusion reflects on Apple's positioning in the headphone market as a luxury brand, competing with high-end brands like Mont Blanc. While the AirPods Max excel in sound quality and style, their steep price tag raises questions about affordability. The host ultimately weighs convenience against sound quality, suggesting that those who prioritize style and seamless integration might find value in these headphones.

In summary, the Apple AirPods Max are a formidable entry into the premium headphone market, offering stellar audio performance and design but at a significant cost. Whether they're worth the investment depends on individual priorities, balancing luxury features against practicality and budget considerations.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enmorning another day another wearable test today we're doing them on the airpods max and if you're not familiar i'm going to go throughout my normal day i'll use you know the microphone and the ear cup thing that i do to try to show you guys how they sound in different environments so with different noise cancellation settings on and off as well as compare them to a couple of other headphones that i'll bring with and we'll check in on the battery throughout the day to see how they're doing but first things first i need coffee coffee check okay first off let's talk about the elephant in the room this case it's bad i mean so these things are made out of an aluminum right which is actually kind of a soft metal it can ding and the one thing that a case is really supposed to do is cover the thing that it is supposed to protect right but this one it has holes in it where the aluminum is actually exposed so right there it does not serve its most basic function as a case and of course again it looks ridiculous so then the only real purpose for this case is when you put the headphones in it it puts them into an ultra low power mode to explain that there is no power button on the headphones you take them off and they kind of go into a sleep mode eventually the case when you put them in there they go into a deeper sleep mode so that they use even less power but last night i decided to test that a bit so i fully charged them i listened to music for a sec and then took them off to simulate how you would really be using them in real life and then i left them overnight without the case and guess what they lost one percent in about eight hours and to me that's actually pretty good so that tells me that i can at least truly not really use the dumb case so that's nice for hardware there's only one button and that's for cycling between active noise cancelling noise cancelling off and then ambient mode which actually uses the microphones on the outside to pull in outside sound and you can actually customize which of the two of these it does in the bluetooth settings for the airpods max next to that we have a digital crown similar to the one on the apple watches this can be pressed into pause and play double pressed to skip forward treble pressed to go back and then you can turn it towards your face to turn up the volume and away to turn it down it's nice actually i appreciate physical buttons on headphones compared to the annoyance that sometimes can be the touch sensitive like ear cups and that kind of stuff especially in winter with gloves on and now um i kind of wanted to test them around people but there's there's no one here i'm the only person here but let's see what they sound like um with noise canceling on and off and compare them to a couple of other headphones i apologize in advance for the royalty-free music that i'm about to use okay first ambient room tone right through me cause they listen to my and here's me talking now with ambient mode see if there's a difference there is for sure let's try the de facto sony wh-1000x mark fours kind of the standard i would say right now one of my favorite pair of headphones also a case right through me cause they listen next these are uh probably a lesser known pair headphones but these are the mont blanc mb01s and they cost about six hundred dollars i would say right now that these are probably closer to being apple's competitors for these than the sonys are but we'll talk about that a bit later first let's see how they sound ambient noise cancellation on my friends to like me oh but i know they see right through me cause they listen to my yeah cheers okay let's head to the studio i'll go check on the battery real quick uh we've been listening to spotify for about 30 minutes and we've lost two percent which makes sense because apple says it has about 20 hours of battery life so you should lose about two and a half percent every 30 minutes so we're about there no boots for the two times a year you have to use them in new york city worth it so like one of the only silver linings of coveted here in new york city was that all these restaurants got to put these outdoor spaces out where you could sit and eat at and they're permanent now like even after cove they're going to be able to stay around i was a little concerned though because of the storm that just happened last night that dumped all this snow they're not all of them are made out of the best material some of them are like plywood that somebody just like stapled together but i walked around most of them if not all of them actually are still up so that's good that's good worst thing about winter is the sun going down way too early okay um i want to talk about the styling and the design real quick i have to admit they feel very premium and this is like i mean it's it's apple's good at this like the iphone 12 pro and the pro max just have that bit more of like a feel it's hard to really put your finger on but they feel more premium than say the 12 does and they're just they're good at that now they also in my opinion look really nice i don't know i love the little minimalistic almost kind of a retro vibe they have going on i also really like this blue color myself and for those of you asking on twitter um yes it does kind of match the pro in the pro max blue for the 12 as well something else about the design that i thought was kind of interesting is that sure they're a little heavy to most people but honestly like i it doesn't bother me one bit it's metal but all of the weight when you put them on normally in most headphones is up here like this holds onto your head but this you kind of feel it pressing against your head here so the weight the pressure is more on the sides of your head than it is on the top and i'm assuming they do that to kind of keep the pressure off the top of your head now i personally am one of those people that when i wear headphones for a long period of time at some point always this starts to hurt every single time whereas these i've been wearing them for a while and i haven't noticed that yet they do take a little bit of getting used to like that this has a lot of pressure to it but i'd much rather have the pressure here on the sides of my head where it's not going to hurt over a long period of time than i would on the top where it absolutely will all right nothing build wise they fit very snug to your ears there's almost like a suction that happens if you were to do that so that's how like snug they are so just something to note i actually want to see can you guys can you hear that that's what it does on your ear just something to know all right while we're in the studio and i have a little bit more control over the sound in here let's actually create some noise and try that sound test again ambient sound i've been looking for something that haunts me all night i've been looking for something that haunts me all night and this is what the airpods max microphone sound like now in voice memos on the iphones but still gives you a good idea of what it sounds like also this is with that fan on still and now here's what they sound like with that fan off in a pretty quiet room and here's what the sony 1000xmark4 sound like with the fan on and here is what they sound like with the fan off and here is what the mont blanc sound like with the fan on and here's what the mod blocks sound like with the fan off now the next thing i want to test is as is usually the case with apple products if you buy apple products and you own other apple products they'll all work better together so is that the case with these and so they do one thing pretty well which is kind of interesting is and that's if you're using them on your mac and then all of a sudden you start to use your phone like even just open spotify for example it automatically knows that and it switches back to the phone um same thing if you get a phone call or anything like that and it's very easy to just kind of start playing anything in spotify again or whatever you're doing on the computer and it kind of knows oh you want sound over here and it switches back which is very clever the thing is though that a lot of headphones nowadays can do something similar where they can at least connect to two devices simultaneously even the sony you know mark fours that we were just using can also do that and those two devices don't have to be a specific brand like apple that'll work on any two devices that support bluetooth now is the switch as seamless no but is it still pretty easy to do absolutely and considering the price difference between these two headphones like it's just one of the things you need to think about like is that little bit of extra seamlessness worth the extra cost and lastly i wanted to test latency which i did by editing a video with the headphones on and so it's important to me especially when i'm like editing to the beat in music that what i'm hearing with these bluetooth headphones versus what i'm seeing on the screen is in sync and has low latency and i can confirm that these do a good job of that now though let's go meet some friends for dinner so another thing i noticed on here that i kind of like that i didn't expect to was using siri so you can use siri like you'd expect where you can like tell it to send a message and you know i even can tell to send like a telegram not just an imessage that kind of stuff tell us to play the next song all that other kind of stuff but i'm just surprised at how well it works like it catches my voice in the middle of any song in the middle of a crowded street and it does a pretty good job actually everything hey siri send greg a telegram what do you want to say how are you question mark your telegram message to greg cogen says how are you ready to send it yes okay it's sent i'll okay one last stop because i'm meeting a new member of their family that i've never met before good man how are you doing hello hello dave is here hi hi sit can you see it i got chicken nope nope nope nope hey sit oh kinda oh wait you gotta sit ready wait come on back up back up back up sit sit no oh it's kind of a sit it's not really though sit oh that counted that counted you did it yay cameras dog likes cameras he's got a fluffy thing oh don't don't scratch the lens i want to know what you think of those you use these all the time obviously right this is like your go-to bose qc35s i've owned these for the past two years three years actually and i use them nine hours per day really yeah like my i was gonna say use them for work work travel in the past of course uh every time i do rip travel i could literally not so now you've you've just used both of these what do you think well i would say that these feel very nice and premium very beautiful they're very pretty not super convenient in terms of foldable because i like the fact that you can fold these guys like every headphone i have you can do yeah you can do this and it becomes a tiny little package yes look at that like it's super convenient like this is this is how i like it it comes with this lovely carrying case oh it's beautiful it's leather isn't it i don't know what it is oh it has a magnet there you go so now you can carry it like that right isn't that how you want to carry your this is what i do this is how you go shopping is like what beautiful little thing of uselessness it's so horrible it feels like the noise canceling is even better than these guys do you think it's better than the best i think it's a little bit better okay i think that the quality of the sound is better oh really i think that you're literally putting yourself in a recording studio and like there is noise cancellation everywhere and like the noise itself is so but wait wait yeah here's the kicker 350 yeah 550. is it is it good enough that you would spend almost not quite almost almost almost wrong well for these actually these are also on twitter right now and they're so basically these guys so would you pay double for what you just said for a simple reason no and it's not because of the noise cancellation or the beauty of it or the sound itself sure transporters oh just for literally because you can't fold it you don't want to have to carry that around i put that every day in a bag yeah okay yeah this is not convenient at all interesting so i will put convenience of space itself above the quality of sound so wait all right oh last question if these were the same price then even like would the convenience be damned yeah i think so okay yeah how do they look can you play something the noise cancellation can you hear me no checks out yes yes so push that okay now it allows you to hear us more than normal oh my goodness oh my goodness oh my goodness okay how do we sound good good i feel like i am in a recording studio yeah i like these great okay so you actually own bose headphones right yes they do okay so both of 350 yes those are 550. oh my goodness i like the the tap okay you can switch the songs i like how you like it's uh to the dial for the volume that's really cool so it feels really easy to use um i don't know i don't have it like this it is a little bit retro i guess maybe it's not in my style so i don't know but the quality is awesome of the sound the noise cancellation i'm like whoa so maybe it was a little bit cheaper i think i wouldn't pay if it was the same price as the ones you currently have yes that's better yes i would rather have these yeah the noise cancellation is better oh great do you want any of those greens yes okay um correction what i like the green a lot of times they're cool they're cool i like them a lot maybe yeah i don't know okay bye thank you again hey how's it going david have a good night okay calling it a night bottom line as someone who's admittedly not a crazy audiophile they're great headphones the noise canceling and the audio quality is on par if not slightly better in some ways than all of the other major players in the industry the only thing is that price to pay 200 almost 40 percent more and that's only if we use the retail price of its competitors which most of them you can find for below that now and i'll actually leave links below to some of my favorites and the best prices that i could find is a lot and because of that it's hard to recommend to most people now on the other hand i don't think apple's actually trying to compete with those headphone brands like the sony's and the boses of the world i think they're trying to compete with the mont blanc of the world and be a luxury headphone brand and we think of it that way they're 50 cheaper than the mont blanc's which by the way if you're not familiar is a company that also sells pens for a thousand dollars when you really think about it apple also sells caster wheels for a computer for seven hundred dollars so regardless maybe they're aiming for the type of person who buys the luxury handbag because of the craftsmanship or the luxury car for other less easily quantifiable reasons and then also has the disposable income to do so of course and if it's that then one could argue that they do have the style and the premium feel that that market absolutely requires the question becomes if apple as a brand can warrant the same status as say a luxury fashion company i don't know guys you tell me in the comments below would you guys pay more for these headphones over the other ones that we mentioned also if you guys are curious about noise canceling in general i actually did a decoder episode which is my explainer series here on the channel on that exact topic which i'll link below if you want to go check that out but i appreciate you watching and uh always curious to see how you guys think i can improve the series if you like this video please thumbs up it or share it it's greatly appreciated also check out the rest of the channel if you like what you see there please subscribe and ding the bell next to subscribe so you get notified when i do new videos as always though regardless thanks for watching\n"