Apple AirPods Max 2 Headphones Are Still 22% Off After the October Prime Day Sale.
I love my AirPods Max, but I have a hard time recommending them. They sound great, pair perfectly with my other Apple devices, and offer excellent active noise cancellation, so I use them on long flights and road trips. However, I can’t in good conscience recommend them to most people 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.
However, I have good news. Even though October’s Prime Day is over, Amazon is still offering discounts on the latest model of the most expensive AirPods. AirPods Max 2 are now priced at $429 , a 22%, or $120, drop from the original price of $549. According to Keepa, this is the best price since August. While the earbuds are still very expensive, they’re much easier to recommend at this price than at the regular MSRP—at least while this offer lasts.
The AirPods Max 2 earphones are pricey for a reason. They’re packed with features that make them Apple’s best over-ear headphones to date. Apple claims these AirPods support up to 1.5 times more effective active noise cancellation than the original AirPods Max, though the benefits extend to Transparency mode as well. These are the first AirPods Max from Apple to feature Adaptive Sound, which automatically adjusts the volume of incoming sounds in Transparency mode, as well as Conversation Detection, which lowers the volume when the earphones detect you’re speaking. (The volume increases as soon as the earphones detect you’ve stopped speaking for a while.)
While these headphones sound great wirelessly, they’re also worth using with a USB-C cable. With it, you can listen to lossless music through services like Apple Music, which delivers more detailed sound than lossy music over Bluetooth. Apple claims 20 hours of battery life on a single charge with active noise cancellation enabled, and while the company doesn’t specify, this can presumably be extended by disabling ANC or Transparency mode. You can also get 90 minutes of playback with just five minutes of charging.
Like all AirPods, these headphones work best if you already own other Apple products. My personal favorite thing about AirPods overall is that you can use 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 connect to an Apple TV, making it a great way to watch movies and TV shows without disturbing others.