The AirPods Pro 2 or the AirPods Max, one of these Pods ain’t like the other. Let’s see which one works for you.
AirPods Pro 2 vs AirPods Max – The Obvious
Look – let’s just get the basics out of the way: There’s an obvious difference when you look at these two products. See it yet? Yeah – the AirPods Pro 2 is much more portable. We’d be IMPRESSED if you could fit the AirPods Max in your pockets. So if you’re just grabbing something for a quick walk outside, then the AirPods Pro 2 is the clear winner! There’s another aspect to this though, The AirPods Max are cold to the touch but one obvious thing is these are big right, it may not seem like much but when it’s cold outside like this, it’s nice to have something warm like this around your ears. I guess if you’re living in tropical temperatures, you’d want the exact opposite?
On the other hand, the AirPods Max has a condensation issue, which we personally haven’t faced. But it’s been reported so widely that we feel it needs to be penalised. Fit and comfort are very subjective and very important. With the AirPods Max, there’s the concern that they might clamp too tightly and that
may give you discomfort after some time. And with the AirPods Pro 2, there’s that in-ear penetrative feeling that you get that also isn’t great.
If you used the first generation Pro, then these will work just the same – and a bonus,
you now have an extra small tip size in the box. So we’ll not give any of these points, because it really depends on what you’re used to. A big advantage the Pro has is that you can use it with just one bud in ear. I mean, we tried it with the Max, but it just isn’t the same.
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The Not-So-Obvious for AirPods Pro 2 vs AirPods Max
From the obvious to the not-so-obvious. The first point here goes to the AirPods Pro 2 for water resistance. Both the case and the earbuds are IPX4 rated so you can be a bit more confident about the
odd spot of rain or your fancy workout.
And speaking of workouts, we find that it’s just easier to workout with the AirPods Pro 2. I mean, it’s hard to work out in general because of our will power. But if you’re doing jogs or not too vigorous exercises, the AirPods Max could work, but we just don’t like headphones when going horizontal – whether it be for a bench press or a shavasana. So this round also goes to the Pro.
The other not very obvious factor here is the battery life. You get 6 hours on earbuds with on the Pro with ANC on and 20 hours on the Max. But here’s the thing – you get an additional 24 hours from the case, So if you’re not using these continuously – you will still likely last longer with the Pro. And there’s another advantage to the Pro – wireless charging. Whereas the Max is stuck with its dingy lightning cable that’s polluting the earth.
And there’s controls, Luckily the 2nd Gen AirPods Pro does have volume controls – equalising the playing field a bit, but here the AirPods Max pulls ahead for its elegant crown and button design. Especially that stepless volume control is sublimely implemented. Even though you can do pretty much the same things on both, we’ll give the slight edge to the Max here.
In terms of automatic device switching – both of these offer the automatic nearby notifications, but man we’ve NOT had a good experience with any of these. Apple’s really gotta fix the device switching. There’s no multipoint either. So you know what? -1 to both!
And now it’s down to the business end of this comparison. Let’s take these Pros to the Max! Let’s talk about performance!
Sound, Microphones, Noise Cancelling and Transparency – AirPods Pro 2 vs AirPods Max
So what about phone calls? Let’s take a listen here
So that wasn’t very windy, but what has been our consistent experience is that the Pro is better than the Max in almost all conditions. The Max especially struggles in noisy conditions like those cars whooshing by, but overall the Max is also usable. So we’ll give half a point to the Pro.
Ok this next one might be surprising to you guys. For many years, over-ears have surpassed in-ears for Active Noise Cancelling. But this year saw that change. To our ears, the Pro ANC is way better than the Max. I mean in terms of overall volume, lower end sounds, mids – everything. It’s crazy how good it is – we had to do a double take to make sure that we weren’t hearing things. Or not hearing things. You know what I mean.
But let’s move on from removing sounds to letting in sounds. Now Apple has always led the industry with its transparency mode, so both here are pretty good – the Pro sounds very close to having nothing in your ear and the Max sounds like there’s a little bit of processing going on – especially the higher end noises like key presses on a keyboard sound like they’re a bit amplified. Think about fabric rubbing against skin or other fabric – those kinds of noises sound a bit louder than they would without anything in your ears.
The Pro also has that but to a much lesser extent. We think both are very good at transparency, but if we had to choose, it would be the Pro.
In terms of sound quality, the Pro has a sound that almost everyone will like – a bit bass boosted, but overall pleasant. And it works for most genres too. The AirPods Max has a more immersive feel to it in terms of space, but the vocals and mids are a bit recessed. It also sounds noticeably brighter than the AirPods Pro 2 and the bass has more of a sub bass emphasis. There’s no clear winner here, but for us – by a hair for versatility it would be the Pro. Where the Max does have an advantage is that it can be used wired. This helps not only with some resolution, but also lower latency. And if you’re a hardcore Mac gamer – whatever that is – then the Max is the only option for gaming with lower latency.
Provided you get that pricey lightning to 3.5 mm audio cable.
Pricing and Conclusion
And yes – while we’re at it – let’s talk about the prices. Latest prices can be found using the links above and those links will help support our channel if you use them – no additional cost to you!
The AirPods Max and the AirPods Pro 2 are sold at two COMPLETELY different prices. And no matter what these pointless points here on the screen show – you JUST can NOT look past the AirPods Pro 2.
There are some solid reasons for choosing the AirPods Max, but if someone asks us – it’s a very easy choice – The AirPods Pro 2 all the way.