The battle of the premium wireless headphones

The Apple AirPods Max 2 and the Sennheiser HDB 630 are both great headphones, but which one suits your needs?

- Tushar Kanwar

It's almost a clash of ideologies. On the one hand, you have Sennheiser with the HDB 630, leaning into its audiophile roots with a focus on precision, tuning, and comfort, while on the other, the AirPods Max 2 doubles down on Apple's ecosystem magic, seamless switching, and computational audio wizardry. Both cost a small fortune, so which one's worth it?

APPLE AIRPODS MAX 2

Apple's sole over-ear headphones have, aside from a small USB-C sized update, remained largely unchanged since their launch in 2020, so expectations from the successor ran high. Sadly, the AirPods Max 2 (₹67,900) isn't the ground-up overhaul many would have liked, with Apple choosing to stick to the familiar design, warts and all, reserving the big upgrades to what you can (and can’t) hear.

The Max 2 is just as big and hefty (386g) as the original, and the weight is certainly a drag during long listening sessions, despite the lightweight headband. You get the same 20-hour battery life, the same user-replaceable magnetic ear cushions, the same physical controls for volume/playback and listening modes, the same inability to fold into a compact form and yes, the same unsightly, and not very protective Smart Case. Without an IP rating for dust and water resistance, we'd be wary using these for sweaty workouts or in inclement weather.