Category
🤖
TechTranscript
00:00Okay, let's talk about Apple's Airpods Max.
00:03These are very expensive.
00:05At $550 USD, these are just so much more expensive than people would have imagined
00:10a pair of wireless over-ear headphones to cost,
00:13even if they'd come from Apple.
00:15There's just... the price tag is something else.
00:17Now, when Apple pushes a product onto the market,
00:20especially something that is their kind of first attempt at,
00:24they usually bring out something that is difficult to compare to the other players, right?
00:28They don't just make clones of the other products, the other competitors.
00:34They tend to just make something that's slightly different,
00:37and they tend to focus on characteristics and features that other people aren't.
00:40And in this case, they focused...
00:42Well, the big thing is design, right?
00:45This does not look like your standard pair of headphones.
00:49They just don't.
00:50They're very Apple-like.
00:52And when you look at them,
00:53you compare them to other popular active noise cancellation headphones,
00:56these just look distinctly different.
00:58And then you combo that with different colored ear cups,
01:01and the ability to customize the different colors of ear cushions,
01:04it is just built differently.
01:06This is a completely different type of headphone look compared to everything else on the market.
01:12Now, that doesn't make it worth $550, right?
01:14The aesthetics of a pair of headphones is only so important and only so valuable,
01:19but right off the rip, these are different.
01:22The AirPods Max are built really well.
01:24There's no way to deny that, right?
01:25There's a lot of metal going on in construction,
01:27and the build quality and finish is just really well done.
01:30If you compare them to Sony's XM4s,
01:33I've never ever thought that these were poorly made in any sense, right?
01:37I've always thought that these were really well built,
01:39but they're plastic, right?
01:41There's a lot of plastic in this construction.
01:43It's just a different class of product when you compare it to the build quality of the AirPods Max.
01:49That being said, is it really worth paying extra just for metal ear cups?
01:54Who knows, but let's be real here.
01:56These are milled out from a single block of aluminum.
01:59There's no seams.
02:00It's just one piece, machine time, and there's two of them.
02:04This doesn't come cheap.
02:05Now, metal ear cups give the AirPods Max a very distinct look,
02:08but it introduces a couple issues.
02:10Number one, weight.
02:12These are definitely heavier than your average pair of wireless headphones out there,
02:16but secondly, durability.
02:18I don't mean, like, breakage.
02:19I think these are very well made.
02:21I don't think they'll break,
02:22but in terms of the aluminum,
02:25I think they can scratch.
02:28They can be damaged quite easily if you don't take good care of them.
02:33The fact that they include a case when you buy them,
02:36it's just very obvious that these are delicate in terms of their finish.
02:41Like, when was the last time Apple included a case,
02:44like a protective case, when you bought a product?
02:47It's always some kind of third-party thing they sell you,
02:49but in this case, they got to put it in
02:51because they know that they are relatively delicate.
02:53Now, in terms of their fit,
02:55the headbands have a fully adjustable arm.
02:58Like, you can just put them to whatever position you want
03:00instead of having the kind of ratcheted clicks.
03:02I didn't think that'd make a big difference
03:04because all the headphones I've ever used have had clicks
03:07and I've been perfectly happy with them,
03:08but these are, they're better.
03:10They just, you know, being able to do those small adjustments does make a difference.
03:14Now, for me personally, I don't like the weight.
03:18I think this is going to be very subjective, right?
03:20Depending on the way that it sits on your head and just your head shape,
03:23this is going to feel differently for everybody,
03:25but for me personally, I can feel that these are heavier
03:29than all of my headphones that I've owned before.
03:31That doesn't mean to say that they're uncomfortable,
03:33they're just noticeably heavier.
03:35I did go for a run with them, even though they're clearly not meant for that,
03:38but I was just curious to see what that experience was like
03:40and there's just so much mass to these that every step you take,
03:43like, there's just the momentum of them going up and down,
03:46it's not a good experience.
03:47The mesh on the top is also a little bit different
03:49from anything else I've used before in this category
03:51and I was hopeful that maybe they'd created a product that,
03:54for people like me that wear their hair up,
03:56that it would just kind of help with keeping your hair unflattened over time,
04:01but it'll still flatten your hair.
04:03So, if you care about that, now you know.
04:06Okay, I want to talk about the controls.
04:08So, there's two components here.
04:10There's a button for turning active noise cancellation on and off
04:13and then there's also a jog dial,
04:15which is very similar to the crown that you see on the Apple Watch.
04:18Now, the button up front, the noise cancellation button,
04:21it's in a great spot, works as intended.
04:24We'll get into the kind of sound quality in a little bit,
04:26but in terms of the controls, it works perfectly.
04:29The crown is distinctly Apple and it does look really neat,
04:32but I'd prefer my buttons on the bottom.
04:34Maybe I'm just used to it because all the other wireless headphones
04:37I've ever used had controls on the bottom or the back,
04:40but this is now on the top.
04:42It looks nice, but I don't think it really provides a better experience per se
04:47than having regular buttons on a pair of headphones.
04:50The battery life on these are rated for 20 hours,
04:53which seems pretty decent, like any kind of electronic device
04:56that can last 20 hours unplugged is usually pretty good,
04:59but in this product category, we're dealing with competitors
05:01that have 30, 35 hours of battery life.
05:04So, it doesn't really stick out as being great,
05:07but that being said, I do think that most people using this device
05:11would be perfectly happy with 20, but just for the people that travel frequently
05:14and you go through stretches where you just don't have access to a plug,
05:17it is something to keep in mind.
05:20Okay, let's talk about sound, because sound is,
05:23I mean, it's really important when it comes to $550 headphones.
05:27I'm going to compare them most to these guys, the XM4s.
05:31Do they sound better? That's the question, right?
05:35I think they do.
05:36I do think that these are a better sounding pair of headphones than the Sony XM4s.
05:41Well, let's just talk about the Sonys first.
05:43I've always liked the sound of these, and for the type of music I listen to,
05:46they're particularly good.
05:48I listen to a lot of EDM, and there's a lot of, like the bass on these is nice.
05:52It's thumpy, it's rich, it's just like a nice bassy sound.
05:56However, if you're listening to stuff that has more higher frequencies,
06:00let's say you're listening to classical music, which I also really enjoy,
06:03on the Sonys, I've always found that sound to just be a little darker.
06:07The bass is just too enriched on these.
06:11You can always adjust it, but at stock,
06:13they've had a thicker sound with the lower frequencies.
06:16The AirPods Max, they're just brighter.
06:19The other thing is a wider soundstage.
06:21AirPods Max have better instrument separation and just more width
06:25to the audio profile than Sony's XM4s.
06:28Now, in terms of noise cancellation,
06:30Sony's XM4s are arguably the best in the business right now.
06:34These are very well-reviewed, and having spent the past few days
06:37trying to discern the differences between them,
06:40they're very similar in terms of their noise cancellation capabilities.
06:44I would say that Sony's XM4s are better at removing
06:48a consistent environmental sound.
06:51Like, let's say in the background, someone's got a hair dryer going.
06:55These are better at reducing that kind of sound,
06:58but I feel like the AirPods Max are better at, like, voices
07:03or just sound that is less consistent.
07:05So if something pops up, like a kid is talking in the background
07:08or someone else is watching a TV show,
07:10these are better, slightly better, at removing that kind of sound.
07:14But, yeah, I feel like I'm splitting hairs.
07:16They're both really, really good,
07:18and I don't think you can pick one or the other
07:20just over their noise cancellation capabilities.
07:24Now, in terms of their mics, here's what they sound like.
07:27This is what the mic sounds like in a quiet room.
07:30But now there's water running and a hair dryer
07:32and Rogan's podcast running on in the background.
07:35And my voice is obviously not as clean as before.
07:39Now I'm recording off the Sonys,
07:41and this is my voice in a quiet environment.
07:44And once again, we have a tap running, a hair dryer,
07:47and Rogan's podcast in the background.
07:49And my voice should obviously be worse than the previous recording.
07:53I think they're both really good, but I feel like the AirPods Max
07:56are slightly better at removing environmental sounds from your voice
08:00when you're using the microphone.
08:02One other thing, spatial audio.
08:04So AirPods Max and AirPods Pro have something called spatial audio.
08:08It seems a little gimmicky until you actually experience it.
08:11It's actually pretty cool.
08:12It just gives you this very immersive experience
08:15when it comes to watching shows or movies.
08:17It's really hard to describe in a video, so I'll be honest.
08:20I'm not even going to bother trying.
08:22It allows you to move your head around,
08:25and the sound sources will move in correlation
08:30with the screen and the earphones.
08:34Do with that information as you will.
08:36Now I want to wrap up this video with pricing,
08:39because this is an important one.
08:41So the price point, $550.
08:43This is expensive, right?
08:49Okay, I want to open up this conversation
08:51with the topic of Apple's pricing strategies.
08:55Apple is really, really good at pricing their stuff.
09:00They take a lot of stuff into consideration.
09:02They have a team, I'm sure.
09:04They've mathed it out.
09:06They've done all the calculations.
09:07They take all the stuff into consideration.
09:09What is this product for?
09:11Who are we trying to sell it to?
09:12Does this product lure people into our ecosystem?
09:15Does it trap people into our ecosystem?
09:17It sounds terrible, but you know what I'm trying to say, right?
09:19They take a lot of things into consideration
09:21when they price these things.
09:23It's not just some number they pull out of their butt, right?
09:25Okay, $550.
09:27These are not a good value.
09:29It doesn't matter how you spin it.
09:31These are expensive.
09:32Now, they're not meant to be a good value.
09:34They're meant to be a premium luxury product from Apple
09:38that's designed to be priced in a way
09:40that Apple can make money, right?
09:42They've obviously priced this thing at that perfect point
09:45where it's expensive enough
09:47that they can make as much money as possible
09:49without it being too expensive
09:51to repel people away from purchasing it, right?
09:53That's the sweet spot when it comes to a product like this.
09:56And if you look at Apple's website,
09:59these things are sold out.
10:01Like, they're literally sold out until March
10:04in every color.
10:05So it doesn't matter how expensive I think they are
10:07or how expensive you think they are.
10:09Clearly, people are just buying them.
10:11So for Apple, these are priced perfectly.
10:14If anything, Apple probably could have charged more
10:16and still be sold out with them right now,
10:18which is crazy.
10:19There is so much inertia to this brand.
10:22Okay.
10:23Hope you guys enjoyed this video.
10:24Thumbs if you liked it.
10:25Subs if you loved it.
10:26I'll see you guys next time.
10:27What do you think of the AirPods Max?
10:29🎵