The price of Apple’s over-ear headphones haven’t much below their $549 asking price since the second generation launched in April, but today you can get a pair for just $509, a savings of $40 and the best price we’ve seen so far.
The new AirPods Max feature the H2 chip, which powers better Active Noise Cancellation than the previous generation. The audio quality also gets a bump, with deeper bass. Overall, these are some of the best-sounding over-ear headphones you can buy whether you’re in the Apple ecosystem or not.
But it helps to have an iPhone, of course, as the day-to-day features are where these headphones shine. Along with hands-free Siri support, you’ll get excellent features such as Adaptive Audio, for instance, which reads your environment and automatically adjusts how much outside sound bleeds through. The Conversation Awareness mode drops the volume the moment you start talking to someone, which is one of those small things that make headphones genuinely easier to live with.
Perhaps the best thing, however, is the Transparency mode because it allows you to keep an ear out for potential dangers around you. The headphones have a battery life of about 20 hours with ANC and Spatial Audio running, so you won’t have to worry about charging. And if you’re traveling, Live Translation will let you communicate in a foreighn language without needing to whip out your iPhone.
The one thing we hate about the AirPods Max 2 is the price. But with this discount, it’s much easier to swallow. At $509, this is the right buy for Apple users who want the best over-ear headphones in that ecosystem and have been waiting for the price to move.
