The eagerly awaited all AirPods Max hit the market in late December last year and we couldn’t wait to try them out. It’s the first wireless on-ear headphones from ple and probably the most expensive in the AirPods range. The headphones can compete with headphones like Sony and Bose. Now let’s put these cans to the test and see how they live up to all the hype.
Design, workmanship and comfort
The design is minimalist and harmonizes with the rest of ple’s range of consumer goods. It’s simple, elegant and functional like most ple products. The build quality is exceptional and we can easily see the attention to detail that went into making these headphones. They have anodized aluminum ear cups and a stainless steel headband that is wrapped in a soft material. The auricles can be swiveled and have an extendable telescopic arm for adjustment to different head sizes.
They are rectangular with rounded memory foam cups that provide a snug fit every time. The ear cups have a specially made mesh that is soft and the ear cups are interchangeable. They are also quite comfortable when we try them on for a long period of time. The cans felt a little heavy at 385 grams, but were evenly distributed. The fabric mesh canopy on the headband helped to evenly distribute the weight and reduce head pressure.
Performance and sound quality
The sound quality of these headphones is top notch and one of the best for wireless doses. While these may not be suitable for audiophiles or professionals, the AirPods Max deliver exceptional sound quality. What impressed us most was the accurate sound reproduction and sound staging in all volume ranges. The EQ is not flat, but delivers a rich sound experience over highs, mids and basses.
The ear cups come with ple’s 40mm custom drivers with neodymium ring motors that limit distortion to less than 1%. The AirPods Max are great for listening to any genre and we had a lot of fun trying out heavy metal and deep house. They do justice to the price in terms of sound quality and performance. Like the AirPods and AirPods Pro, the AirPods Max come with the ple H1 chip on each auricle. The ple H1 chip has 10 audio cores and can perform up to 9 billion operations per second and controls the computational audio performance.
Spatial audio, noise cancellation and other functions
The AirPods Max support Spatial Audio like their predecessors, and it was impressive when we tested it with a movie. The built-in gyroscope and accelerometer detect movement and automatically re-calibrate Spatial Audio parameters to provide an immersive audio experience. We felt that Spatial Audio greatly improves the overall experience, especially when watching movies, as it supports multi-channel audio mixing and Dolby Atmos content. The noise canceling function is again first class thanks to the H1 chip and the precisely fitting ear pads. While we were testing them in a noisy coffee shop, the AirPods Max managed to drown out most of the outside noise. The headphones also have a transparency mode that lets ambient noise through.
Both noise canceling and transparency have only one setting level. This is somewhat limited in terms of control compared to headphones in the same category. The AirPods Max also have a variety of sensors on each earcup such as an optical sensor, a position sensor, a case recognition sensor, and an accelerometer. On the left auricle there is also a gyroscope from the other sensors. The gyroscope is mainly responsible for calibrating the spatial audio.
The headphones also have 2 tactile controls, a push button and a digital crown. The button switches between noise reduction and transparency mode. The digital crown has multiple functions such as volume control, calling Siri, playing, pausing and skipping tracks. We have found in several cases that the digital crown was accidentally pressed while adjusting the headphones. Like all ple products, the AirPods Max synchronize immediately with other iOS devices and can control the headphones.
Battery life and connectivity
The advertised battery life of 20 hours meets the requirements. When testing the AirPods Max, we found that the battery lasted almost 20 hours. Although you cannot turn the device off completely, the headphones go into an ultra-low power mode while using the smart case. After using the headphones several times with the smart case, we found that the power consumption was minimal. The AirPods Max are also equipped with Bluetooth 5 connectivity and the connection was quite stable. Pairing is straightforward and easy with most devices, but works seamlessly with other ple products.
verdict
Our verdict on the AirPods Max remains mixed for several reasons. First, you have to be a ple user to enjoy full functionality. The spatial audio and automatic switching functions only work on iOS devices. High-Resolution Audio Support is only for ple’s Digital Masters and could be a deal breaker for some. The smart case does little to protect the headphones and could be better designed in this price range. All in all, the Airpods Max are great headphones if you’re willing to pay an extra few dollars and be a loyal user. They have seamless connectivity to the ple ecosystem and could be a sought-after addition for the loyal ple user.
AirPods Max
