
Apple’s first over-ear headphones – the AirPods Max – have finally arrived. So far, the overall consensus within the tech community is that they sound nice. Really nice. In my own brief personal experience, I concur with that feeling. They sound terrific and offer a great noise-canceling experience. And oh, they look fantastic, but they are a tad heavy too. However, the biggest test for buyers is their eye-watering price tag of $549, and ecosystem limitations. In case the Apple cans don’t cut it for you, these are the best AirPods Max alternatives at all price points:
So, these were our top picks for the best AirPods Max alternatives for all price points. If you desire the best sound quality and noise cancellation experience, the Sony WH-1000XM4 are the best you got. Plus, you also get a host of useful features such as speak-to-chat for automatically pausing music and letting ambient sound through to let users have a conversation as soon as it detects them speaking, always-on assistant, and multi-device support with seamless switching.
For less than half the price of AirPods Max, you get the Surface Headphones 2 from Microsoft 2. They rock a minimal design, offer a good noise cancellation experience with ambient sound level adjustments, good multi-point connectivity, and rank high on the comfort aspect as well. Sound quality is balanced too, if not too bass-heavy, and the intuitive dial controls are simply best-in-class. However, battery life is not the best and their folding design is not the best either.