I’ve had Apple’s AirPods Max for about five days. My initial impressions are positive:
- The sound is phenomenal. When I get new headphones I listen to my favorite music to compare the sound. The detail and depth of what I hear is like nothing I’ve heard before. I don’t want to stop listening. And I am not a big listener of music. I mainly listen to audiobooks and podcasts. But that may change now that I have these headphones. Apple has really provided immersive sound.
- The noise cancellation is impressive. I have not used the headphones while flying but I have tested the noise cancellation with a vacuum cleaner. I can barely hear the vacuum cleaner while listening to music at a normal level.
- The headphones are big. To me they don’t feel heavy. I cannot see walking down the street wearing these headphones. I will use the AirPods Pro outside. Having said that, I saw someone walking around with the AirPods Max and it looked fine.
- The earcups feel a little scratchy on my ears. I stretched the headband and now they feel much better.
- The controls are very easy to use. I love the digital crown. It’s very easy to find and use.
- Call quality is excellent. I hear callers clearly and they hear me clearly.
- Transparency mode works well. Spatial audio is very nice, especially with the right movie. I don’t feel like I am listening through headphones. It’s hard to describe.
- The case is not to my liking. I ordered a third party case from Waterfield Designs. In fairness, I generally don’t use the case supplied with over-ear headphones. Still, the Apple supplied case is odd. I have never put the headphones in the supplied case.
- The battery does not run down much when the headphones are just sitting on a table, which is where I leave them when I am not wearing them. All day battery life is no problem.
