HANDS ON WITH THE AIRPODS MAX

COME FOR THE COLOR, STAY FOR THE SOUND BY AMY SPITZFADEN-BOTH

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My husband is an audiophile, and I've always felt vaguely envious of his elaborate sound setups with cushioned over-ear headphones that pipe perfectly balanced music into his ears while blocking out the rest of the world. I'm more of a laptop-and-a-pair-of-earbuds girl and have so far been delighted with my AirPods Pro 2. But when Apple announced a new line of colors for the AirPods Max last fall, I was tempted enough to give these over-ear headphones a try.

THE APPLE PRICE TAG

My first concern was the cost. Why spend $549 on over-ear headphones when competitors offer similar products for $200 less? The answer for me was the both the design (I’m willing to pay more for something that makes me happy to look at) and the seamless experience AirPods are known for.

CHECK OUT THAT BODY

There’s no other way to put it: my AirPods Max are gorgeous. The purple color I selected is exactly what I hoped it would be, and the mesh top is a far cry from the bulky black padding I’m used to seeing. The carrying case is so stylish it almost looks like a designer purse instead of a pair of headphones. In the looks department, I have no complaints.

But boy is this guy heavy. Being largely inexperienced with over-ear headphones, I wasn’t sure if it was normal for them to weigh so much, but they did feel heavier than others I remembered trying. A quick search told me I was right; the AirPods Max weigh in at 13.6 ounces. For comparison, Sony’s WH1000XM5 weigh 8.82 ounces, while the Beats Studio Pro weigh 9.17 ounces. This so far has proven a challenge for long-term listening. However, my AirPods Pro make my ears sore after too much listening, so it may just be a tradeoff.

“FOR PREMIUM SOUND WITH AIRPODS FUNCTIONALITY, THIS IS ABSOLUTELY WORTH THE PURCHASE.”