- AirPods Max!
Five months I've had these bad boys.
So today, we're gonna talk about,
are they still worth your hard-earned $550?
Stay tuned to the video.
(glass shatters)
What's up, people?!
This your boy Vyyyper, The Man About Tech,
Captain of Team Apple, baby!
Back again for another video!
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So today, we are talking about the AirPods Max,
Apple's beastly expensive $550 headphones.
These are it.
Actually, I have two pairs.
Don't ask questions, it is what it is.
So when we are talking about the AirPods Max,
first thing we need to talk about is fit and comfort.
So, to be completely honest with you all,
I never wear my AirPods Max like this.
Why do I not wear them like this?
Because of the biggest problem that I have with them,
and still to this day have with the AirPods Max,
that is condensation.
Now you're like, "Vyyyper,
condensation, what are you talking about?!"
Well, I made an entire video talking about this issue.
If you want to watch it,
check the description on the end screen.
But because the ear cups are removable,
and it has some type
of memory foam-like fabric thing going on here,
for me, when I wear these for 30 minutes or longer,
condensation literally gets inside of the ear cup.
Now, I am not the only person who has had this issue.
There have been pictures all over Twitter
when these first came out,
people showing condensation building up in their ear cups.
I believe it's just a fundamental design flaw
of the AirPods Max.
Hopefully, Apple addresses it with version two,
I don't know.
I've been told by one of my creative friends
that has a relationship with Apple DEP,
they have been made aware of the issue,
but I guess not enough people
have really cried too much about it,
so Apple hasn't really addressed it,
but it is definitely an issue,
one that I've had on both pairs of my AirPods Max,
so hopefully, they fix it in the future.
But my workaround for the condensation is
to grab my beanie here, put the beanie on like such,
'cause you know, you gotta put the beanie on like a boss,
and then put the AirPods Max over my beanie.
That way I can wear them for longer periods of time
without worried about water getting into my $550 headphones.
This is not ideal,
especially now that the weather is warming up,
it's getting hotter outside.
Although you don't normally wear over-ears
in warm weather anyway, but if you did want to wear,
if I wanted to wear AirPods Max in warmer weather,
probably not gonna work out for me.
I'll probably have to go to my AirPods Pro
or something like that.
But this is how I have to wear these now
if I want to wear these for longer than 30 minutes
because anything for 30 minutes or longer,
condensation is an issue.
The other thing about the AirPods Max
that may or may not bother you is
that they are heavier than your average headphones
because you got this steel construction here.
Although, I mean, you got this nice steel armor here,
but that's complete steel,
you got aluminum for the ear cups and things like that.
So these have a little bit more density,
a little bit more girth on them,
so they may weigh down a little bit heavier on your head.
So that might cause some slight discomfort.
Now for me, I mean, look,
I'm wearing these with a beanie for long periods of time
and it worked out for me, I've gotten used to it,
I don't really get bothered by the weight too much.
So I don't think the weight is a big issue
but it might be for you,
so I just wanna make you're aware of that.
Also, the other big issue about these and the condensation,
is that these AirPods Max do not have an IP rating,
which means they have no type
of water-resistant protection in place.
So that's why I am very careful
about how I wear these with the beanie,
because I don't want condensation messing up the AirPods Max
because there is no IP rating.
There's no water protection for these headphones,
so they are not for working out,
they are not for wearing in humid environment.
But no IP rating for the AirPods Max.
With that out of the way,
we have to go to the next talked about thing,
the next most talked about thing about the AirPods Max,
which is this bra-like thing over here,
the AirPods Max case.
Now I'm not gonna spend too much time about this.
But on top of the AirPods not being a most compact thing
in the world because you can't fold them,
there's no folding these at all,
this is what Apple gives us for a case,
this thing right here.
So it's just ridiculous.
Let me put these in here real quick
and show y'all what I was talking about.
This is kinda ridiculous, it looks goofy,
it looks like a bra, purse, whatever you wanna call it,
but this is the AirPods Max in their case.
Now, do you see the problem?
First of all, you got the headband exposed,
you got open parts of the headphones exposed.
So they're not very protective,
this is not very compact, and not very good for traveling.
If you have the to throw these in a bag or something,
they won't be that protected because of the case.
So this case is not ideal.
Now there are third parties who have come out
with their own AirPods Max cases, so that's good.
But the Apple case, no Apple, we gotta do better,
we need to do better on version two.
So I need you to fix the condensation,
and please give us a better case on version two.
Thank you very much, I appreciate you. (laughs)
Once you get past the fit feel,
the condensation, things like that,
the main thing that we would need to know
about these headphones, how do they sound?
Well, I am happy to report
that these sound absolutely amazing!
Now again,
I am wearing them through a beanie most of the time,
because I can't wear them like this
because of the condensation.
But even through my beanie, they sound amazing.
Bass is full and present,
the music is full and present.
By no means am I an audiophile.
I don't have this El Jefe gangsty-type audio criteria
to my background, but what I do have are AirPods Max.
I got a pair up the Sony WH-1000XM4s, the brand new ones.
I also have a pair of the THX Drop Panda headphones.
So your boy Vyyyper knows his headphones, okay?
I got more headphones than I don't know what to do with!
So when your boy Vyyyper talks
about sound quality and headphones,
I can do that because I have all the headphones,
all the hotness, I get.
So if we're gonna rate these headphones,
one, two or three.
These THX Drop Pandas probably sound the best,
they slightly sound better than AirPods,
they have a more clean sound.
So these are the number one on my sound test.
The AirPods Max, number two, love the way these sound.
Full bass, rich music, sounds very good.
And in number three would probably be the Sony WH-1000XM3s.
Again, they have good sound,
but it's just not up to par
with the AirPods or the Drop Pandas,
but these still sound good
and these have a bunch of features.
So speaking of features,
probably the reason why these,
out of all the headphones I just showed you,
why these are my everyday leave the house go-to,
is because of how they integrate
with the Apple ecosystem and iPhone.
So obviously, when you wear these,
you got, that's the wrong way. (laughs)
You got Active Noise Cancellation,
which is not exclusive to Apple and Apple ecosystem,
but you got Active Noise Cancellation.
You got the best transparency mode
of all time in any headphones.
Ask anybody,
they'll tell you the transparency mode on these are A1.
But the feature,
the game changing feature that separates these
from the other headphones
as it relates to being in the Apple ecosystem.
Spatial audio. (woots)
Oh yeah, getting a little hot in here.
Spatial audio is hot, okay?
Now if you don't know what spatial audio is,
think about when you're watching movies
on a surround sound system
and you have a 360 surround sound
and you got sound and music coming from all around you,
that is spatial audio on your head with these AirPods Max.
It was funny, I think I talked about this in my last video,
but watching Ted Lasso with these AirPods Max
and there was a knock,
his neighborhood was knocking on the ceiling.
And when his neighborhood knocking on the ceiling,
I literally thought somebody was knocking at my door,
it felt like the knocking was coming from my front door.
I was like, "What is going on?"
But then I realized that the knocking was coming
from the show and not my front door.
Wild!
But spatial audio is wild, it is that good,
and there's multiple apps that support it now.
Apple TV+, HBO Max, I believe supports it,
Disney+ supports it,
and there's other apps that will support spatial audio
in the future.
But it is definitely legit, definitely game changing,
and it definitely is something that separates
AirPods Max from the Sonys, from the Drop Pandas.
So we are liking the feature set on the AirPods Max.
The other thing that these happen as it relates
to Apple and Apple ecosystem is automatic switching
between Apple devices.
Right now, I have them paired to my iPhone,
but if I went to listen to music on my MacBook,
which is right in front of me here,
it will pick up the music on the MacBook as well,
I would have to click a button,
but if I went to my iPad, which is on my left here,
it would immediately play music through the headphones
on the iPad if I did that
because it has seamless switching between iPhone and iPad.
Not so seamless when the Mac gets involved
but it's still pretty quick, even with the Mac.
But seamless switching
between Apple devices is legit, it is real.
That is something that you will not get
on the non-Apple headphones, like the Sonys,
like the Drop Pandas.
However, what the AirPods Max cannot do that the Sonys
and the Drop Pandas can do is they can be paired
to multiple devices at the same time.
So sometimes,
I'll leave the house with my iPhone
and one of my Samsung Galaxy devices.
I might take the Sonys because I can have these paired
to both of those devices simultaneously.
But there are just some Apple-centric features,
like the automatic device switching and the spatial audio,
that make these uniquely qualified to work best
with Apple devices that you can't have
with the other headphones.
So I like that.
Also, battery life on the AirPods Max is awesome.
20 hours of battery life.
I haven't really burned out the battery
in the time I've used and abused them
for long watching sessions, Netflix,
music, movies, things like that.
I've had no issues with battery life with the AirPods Max.
So it holds up pretty well with the battery.
Now,
the next thing we need to talk about
with the AirPods Max is one of the underlying hero features,
is audio quality.
I love using these for taking phone calls
or on some of my new favorite themes,
being on Twitter Spaces and Clubhouse.
The audio quality, the microphone quality, I should say,
the microphone quality on the AirPods Max is A1,
and if you don't believe me,
you are listening right now
to the microphone quality of the AirPods Max.
So let me know what you're thinking about it below,
but this is definitely legit.
I like this, Apple, good look.
So, are they still worth $550 to you, the consumer?
And this is what I will say to that.
If you are in the Apple ecosystem,
if you own multiple Apple devices,
then absolutely yes!
These are worth your hard-earned 550 bucks
because they work so well with their fellow Apple products.
However, if you own Android devices
or you don't have multiple Apple devices,
these are not worth the $500.
You can get the Sony WH-1000XM3s for around 300 or 350,
or they go on sale for 278 sometimes.
You can get the Drop THX Panda for 399.
Both better options than the AirPods Max
if you are not in the Apple ecosystem.
So even though I am the captain of Team Apple,
I try to be completely objective with you, my audience.
If you're in the Apple ecosystem,
absolutely knock yourself out,
go get these, these are legit.
These are the best sounding headphones
in Apple's lineup by far.
But if you are not in that Apple ecosystem,
there is no way in a poo monkeys nibble,
I could go recommend you buy these.
You'd be wasting money, don't do that.
There are lesser headphones that are almost just
as good as the AirPods Max,
and in some ways, better,
because they have more features than the AirPods Max.
But that is my assessment,
do what with that information what you will.
But VypNation, (upbeat music)
that is my five-month assessment of the Apple AirPods Max.
Do you own a pair of AirPods Max?
Are you in the market for a set of over-ear headphones?
Drop a comment, you know what to do.
If you want to talk to me directly, hit my Twitter.
This your boy Vyyyper, The Man About Tech,
Captain of Team Apple, baby!
You know where to find me, so come back for more.