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I love my AirPods Max, but I have a hard time recommending them. They sound great, pair seamlessly with my other Apple devices, and offer excellent Active Noise Cancellation, so they're my go-to for long flights and travel days. And yet, I can't in good conscience advise most people to buy them, because of the price. $549 is way too much for any pair of headphones, even if they are my favorite pair I've ever used.
I have good news, however. For October Prime Day, Amazon has discounted the latest model of the priciest AirPods. The AirPods Max 2 are now $429, down 22%, or $120, from the $549 list price. According to Keepa, that's the best price since August. While the headphones are still wildly expensive, it's much easier to recommend them at this price point than at their normal MSRP.
The AirPods Max 2 aren't expensive for nothing. They come jam-packed with features that make them Apple's best over-the-ear headphones yet. Apple says these AirPods support up to 1.5 times more Active Noise Cancellation than the original AirPods Max, though the benefits also extend to Transparency mode. These are Apple's first AirPods Max to come with Adaptive Audio, which automatically adjusts the loudness of sounds coming in through Transparency mode, as well as Conversation Awareness, which lowers audio when your AirPods detect that you're speaking. (The audio levels rise once the headphones note you've stopped speaking for a length of time.)
While these headphones sound great when used wirelessly, they're worth using with a USB-C cable, too. With it, you can listen to lossless music through a service like Apple Music, which offers more detail than lossy music over a Bluetooth. Apple says you can expect 20 hours of battery life on one charge when using Active Noise Cancellation, and although the company doesn't specify, you can presumably extend that usage with ANC or Transparency mode turned off. You can also get 90 minutes of playback on just five minutes of charging.
Like all AirPods, these headphones work best when you already have other Apple products. That's personally my favorite thing about AirPods in general: You can use your AirPods Max with your iPhone, then play a video on your Mac, and your AirPods will automatically switch to the new audio source. They're also easy to pair with an Apple TV, which makes for a great way to watch movies and shows without bothering others around you.
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