Are AirPods Max Worth Buying in 2025?

It’s been over four years since Apple AirPods Max launched. It begs the question, “Is it still worth buying?” The answer is in this article.

Picture of Apple AirPods Max Wireless Over-Ear Headphones in blue
Apple AirPods Max Wireless Over-Ear Headphones (Image via Apple)

When Apple first launched the AirPods Max in 2020, they became quite popular due to their interesting design, sound quality, noise-canceling feature, and more. Many users still consider the AirPods one of the best pairs of headphones for listening to music.
It has been over four years since Apple launched the AirPods Max. In this article, we analyze whether they are worth buying in 2025.

Note: Some aspects of this article are subjective and solely reflect the writer’s opinions.

What Does the AirPods Max Offer?

The AirPods Max fit perfectly (Image via Apple)

The AirPods Max offers everything you can expect from a pair of headphones, including wireless connectivity, great sound quality, perfect soundstage, exceptional noise cancellation performance, surround sound, and great battery life, among others. The most important function of a headphone is the sound performance, so let’s start with that. This pair of AirPods excels at sound clarity. The vocals are crystal clear, the music separation is excellent, and the sound stage feels just right. Essentially, you will hear exactly what the artist wants you to hear when you play their music.

When you visit a busy area, turn on the Noise Cancellation feature. The AirPods Max will tune out all the background sounds and only allow music to pass to your ears. They are also designed and built exceptionally. The shells of the two headphone speakers are made out of recycled aluminum, which not only makes them more durable but also looks quite cool compared to other headphones in the same price range. On the other hand, the headband is made of Stainless Steel with soft fabric cushions for more comfort.

However, the feature that makes the AirPods Max stand out from other headphones is Spatial Audio. It creates a special surround sound stage that simulates audio from different directions to create a more lively hearing experience. This pair of headphones achieves it by tracking the head position with personalized audio profiles. Also, they can seamlessly connect to all your Apple devices.

Therefore, if you switch between multiple devices, this headphone also switches automatically to offer seamless connectivity. For example, say you are watching a movie on your MacBook with the AirPods Max. The moment you pick up your iPhone and call someone or play music, this headphone will switch to the iPhone seamlessly without any user input, making the user experience more convenient.

The design, build quality, sound performance, and seamless connectivity are some reasons why many still prefer the AirPods Max, even though they are more expensive than other similarly priced headphones.

What Are the Best Features of the AirPods Max?

The AirPods Max supports Spatial Audio for surround sound (Image via Apple)

Here are some of the best features of the AirPods Max:

  • Noise Cancellation: It’s one of the defining features of the AirPods Max and allows users to listen to music or hear someone on a call clearly without getting interrupted by background noise.
  • Live Listen: This feature is tailored for users with hearing disabilities, but anyone can use it. Live Listen amplifies the sound from the speakers in the environment to allow users to better hear what someone says.
  • Spatial Audio: It creates a special multi-directional surround sound stage for users to experience a better listening experience.
  • Share audio with other AirPods: You can share what you are listening to with other AirPods users.
  • Digital crown for media and volume controls: The digital crown allows you to easily control the volume and media, including play, pause, answer, reject, next song, and many other controls.

Verdict

The AirPods Max are still a worthy purchase, even in 2025. Their sound quality, active noise cancellation, spatial audio, build quality, seamless connectivity, and many other features deliver a complete and wholesome package unrivaled by other headphones on the market. Apple’s main competitors in the music industry are Bose and Sony, and they have released many headphones, which they believe are better than the AirPods Max.

For example, the Sony WH-1000XM5 or the Bose QuietComfort Ultra offers slightly better sound quality and battery life than the AirPods Max but misses out on the latter’s comfort, build quality, and seamless connectivity. Therefore, the AirPods Max is still the best option for Apple users who want a complete package. However, if you simply want the best sound and battery performance, other headphones like the ones from Sony and Bose would suit you better.


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