Air Pods Max 2 review: good grief they're excellent ANC headphones | Tech Radar

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'Doubtless the best noise-cancelling i Phone headphones on the planet': I tested Air Pods Max 2 and they really are that good — here's why

Now with the H2 chip, even better ANC, adaptive audio and live translation? Outstanding!

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Let me be clear: i Phone owners who want comfortable, shut-out-the-world, noise-cancelling over-ears cannot do better than Apple's latest Air Pods Max. Despite their largely unchanged looks, they are thoroughly deserving of the Air Pods Max 2 moniker. Why? Thanks to the new H2 chip and its computational wizardry, they're punchier sonically, the ANC is better, and the new perks (Live Translation, Adaptive Audio, Conversation Awareness, Head Gesture control and the Camera Remote feature, for starters) work seamlessly. Provided you've got a recent i Phone — an i Phone 15 Pro or newer — these box-fresh Apple Intelligence features really make for an excellent, full-bodied music and call-handling experience that does what you want and does it with minimal fuss or button pushing. Are there any flies in the ointment? Two. There's still no higher-res wireless codecs (no LDAC or apt X here — although the i OS-ensconced will hardly miss what they never had), so if you want Apple Music's Lossless offering (at up to 24-bit/48 k Hz) you'll need the fairly bulky USB-C cable. And the 20-hour battery life hasn't been improved. Given that rival brands keep upping that particular spec, stamina becomes an issue when you start comparing like for like. Still, I maintain that for emotive music with a backdrop of near-silence wherever I tested them, Apple's Air Pods Max 2 go straight to the top of the pile. And I don't say that lightly.

+Live Translation that's easier to use than on Apple's earbuds

Live Translation that's easier to use than on Apple's earbuds

+Adaptive Audio means meatier, punchier sound than the originals

Adaptive Audio means meatier, punchier sound than the originals

+Even head-tracked Spatial Audio feels more accurate and crisp

Even head-tracked Spatial Audio feels more accurate and crisp

-Still very i OS-only (Android owners need not apply)

Still very i OS-only (Android owners need not apply)

The best noise cancelling headphones, all Tech Radar tested

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I haven't always been an Air Pods fangirl. In fact, in May 2021, when the company unveiled Apple Music Lossless and Hi-Res Lossless for free, as part of your Apple Music subscription, I may have come down quite hard on Apple's musical headgear — and for some time after that. Why? Because it took four more years for the Cupertino giant to work out how to get its Lossless music standard into its own flagship headphones.

Another thing that's taken Apple a very long time? Unveiling a second-generation update to said headphones. It's been five years and three months between iterations, a vast expanse of time in any area of technology, but an epoch in Bluetooth audio and among the best noise-cancelling headphones.

A happy by-product of the fact above is that it makes my delay in filing this review seem minuscule in comparison (I had a spell in hospital, but it did mean I could test the ANC in a key user-case scenario!). However, I mention the timeline mostly as a way to emphasise that based on looks alone, you'd be forgiven for thinking Apple hadn't used that huge stretch wisely. The ear cup design, webbed headband, driver array and yes, even the 'headphone bra' semi-case haven't been tweaked whatsoever for Air Pods Max 2.

Did Apple simply not have the R&D budget, or did its engineers double down on their 2020 design as still being the best possible shape, construction, driver size and material for a set of cans? And why, given the glowing star-rating at the top of this review, am I still being so negative?

The answer to all of these questions is this: if you're using an i Phone 15 Pro (aka, the oldest i Phone that is still able to support Apple Intelligence) or later as a source device, Air Pods Max 2 are some of the most formidable, featured and fantastic shut-the-world-out headphones I've ever tested — and I've been doing this full-time since 2019. They're doubtless the best noise-cancelling i Phone headphones on the planet.

Design-wise, there's no perceivable difference — it's all under the hood(Image credit: Future)

That's enough on what Apple hasn't done with Air Pods Max 2; let's talk about what has been updated. The big upgrade is the inclusion of Apple's newer H2 chip, over the H1 in the originals. Given that this is the same in-house Apple audio processor that made its debut in the September 2022 Air Pods Pro 2 (and also takes the wheel in the Air Pods 4, Air Pods Pro 3, and original 2023-launch Apple Vision Pro), it might not seem like much of a headline grabber. But in Air Pods Max it does a lot of heavy lifting.

The H2 chips — yes, you actually get one in each ear cup — add a plethora of new features, including Adaptive Audio (the Transparency mode can adjust itself to block some unnecessary sounds, and there's an optional slider to tweak just how 'adaptive' you want it to get), Conversation Awareness (so the over-ears can automatically lower the volume of your music and filter external sounds should you start talking to someone, then put everything back again once you stop yapping), plus Loud Sound Reduction and Personalized Volume to help protect your hearing but keep the sonic profile how you like it.

There's also Live Translation, which I enjoyed using here much more than on Air Pods Pro 3, because it's so much easier to access via a long press of Air Pods Max's on-ear Listening Mode button. The new Voice Isolation software also improves your call quality when it's loud or windy around you — and thanks to some extra processing power afforded by that H2 chip, you get much better voice capture from the headphones' three mics for voice pickup (two are shared with the ANC system, and one is an additional dedicated microphone) in the nine-mic total.

Elsewhere, Head Gestures let you nod to accept a call or check a message, shake your head to dismiss a message or decline a call, or nod to Siri silently. Also, the new Camera Remote feature means you can now take snaps on your i Phone camera using Air Pods Max 2's Digital Crown.

And I left the best for last: Apple claims that the active noise cancellation is "up to 1.5x more effective than the previous generation" and when Tim Cook's behemoth states such a thing, I sit up and take notice. The noise-nixing here is next-level — and I mean near-silent, calming, cocooning and enveloping. It's like stillness as a backdrop to your music. If that's what you need, buy these headphones.

Any negatives? Two. The battery life is unchanged at 20 hours (which is easy to beat even much further down the headphone food chain), and there's still no support for wireless hi-res codecs. You can get Lossless-quality audio, but you have to use the bundled USB-C cable (or buy a USB-C to 3.5mm one, which Apple sells separately) introduced to the original Air Pods Max via a software update in March 2025.

Does any of that last paragraph matter? For me, given the crispness, clarity, impact, fun, separation and sheer musicality available here, no. And I rarely say that hi-res codecs or stamina don't matter.

Apple Air Pods Max 2 review: Price and release date

Unveiled on March 16, 2026 (available for pre-order as of March 25, 2026)

Available in 'Midnight' (black), 'Starlight' (white), Purple, Blue and Orange

There's been a curious trend in Apple's pricing of late. The inaugural Air Pods Max arrived in December 2020 with an asking price of

The thing is, this is not a one-off. Both the first-generation Air Pods Pro and the follow-up Air Pods Pro 2 were priced at

Here, there's a £50 saving to be had if you live in Blighty, but a AU$100 increase to pay if you reside in Oz. I'm sorry. I could suggest it's down to Australian Goods and Services Taxes (GST), relative incomes, International shipping costs, or perhaps a more bijou consumer base, but all of that would be pure speculation. I just cannot make that make sense to you.

Anyway, what of direct competition at this not-insignificant level? Air Pods Max 2's chief rivals are perhaps most pressingly the five-star Bose Quiet Comfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen), which hit shelves at slightly more affordable

But there's no shortage of competition at this level and – given options such as the inexpensive 4.5-star Nothing Headphone (a) with its remote camera function – at a few levels down from it too…

Apple-designed dynamic driver with new 'custom high dynamic range amplifier'

Apple-designed dynamic driver with new 'custom high dynamic range amplifier'

Up to 20 hours (with ANC enabled) 5 mins of charging nets 1.5 hours of listening

I've touched on a lot of great new features, so it might be worth mentioning an Apple headline grabber you won't get: heart-rate monitoring. It is available in both the flagship Air Pods Pro 3 and Beats Powerbeats Pro 2, yet despite the arsenal of sensors nestled in Air Pods Max 2 (an optical sensor, position sensor, accelerometer and case-detect sensor in each ear cup, plus a gyroscope in the left cup), there's no PPG infrared light sensor to measure light absorption in your blood. And because of this, Apple isn't funnelling you quite so readily towards its free Fitness app with its over-ears, or offering you a virtual trainer, however you feel about that…

You also don't get Apple's Hearing Test or Hearing Aid suite of features; the only toggles to preserve your hearing health here are Loud Sound Reduction (switch it on and provided you're listening in either Transparency or Adaptive modes, the headphones will actively reduce your exposure to loud environmental sounds) and Personalized Volume, to readily adjust the loudness of your media in response to your surroundings, but they both work well.

Now, back to what you do get, and top of the list for me personally must be Live Translation. Why? Because it can be accessed with a surreptitious long press of the listening mode button (ie. the flush pill-shaped button located on the right ear cup that isn't the digital crown). I found this a much more reliable way to start Live Translation than squeezing both stems of my Air Pods Pro 3. Quick accessibility is key with these kinds of life-hack features, and on a recent trip to Girona (the Catalonian city near Barcelona where Season 6 of Game of Thrones was filmed), I found it genuinely useful, rather than a novelty to play with. Now, Girona is a Catalan-speaking city, and Catalan isn't yet one of Apple's supported Live Translation languages, but I heard a lot of Spanish too — and I also have a long-suffering life partner who speaks both languages. You can see snippets of our conversation below.

I've said before that this is an Apple offering you need to spend a bit of time setting up — ideally before your romantic city break — because there's a fair bit of red tape you'll need to cut through. You'll also need an i Phone 15 Pro or later running i OS 26 or later, Apple Intelligence turned on, the Translate app downloaded (and the language modules you want downloaded), plus the latest Air Pods Firmware version.

I also customized the i Phone Action button on my i Phone 15 Pro Max to start Live Translation, because in the moment it can be easier to tap your phone rather than your headphones, and it's all about speed of deployment with Live Translation. Once that's done, audible English responses are piped in as your helper answers your questions, with a transcription of the information they're giving you (and your questions translated) also appearing on your i Phone's screen. OK, perhaps your helpful human will find the fact that you're not taking off your headphones to talk to them a little rude, but it works beautifully and with very little lag.

Now to the other new features and claimed upticks in performance, all of which can be found, controlled, toggled and customized with a tap of the Air Pods Max bubble near the top of the settings tab, or by swiping down from the top-right of your screen, to get the Control Center. Your listening modes include Off, Transparency (which works and without making music tinny, but there's no slider), Adaptive (which does have a slider, to allow more or less noise into your cans, albeit dynamically and in response to noises the headphones pick up around you) or Noise Cancellation (no slider, but it's excellent).

For me, the right way to go about this in most situations is to deploy both Noise Cancellation and the Conversation Awareness toggle, a little further down in that menu. This means that, by default, you're not being bothered, but when you speak up, music is automatically lowered and external noises are piped in as you need them. It's not that Adaptive Audio is bad, because it's not; I simply found that when using the Adaptive Audio profile I'd keep setting the slider right down to allow for fewer distractions, but if you don't have the luxury of blocking out the world in your working day, Adaptive will serve you well.

If you take just one thing away from this review, let it be that the noise-cancelling power in Air Pods Max 2 really is 1.5 times better than before. It's fabulous; almost wickedly good at inhaling the noise from your ears, but without the vacuum effect I often find nauseating in rival cans (the few that offer ANC anywhere near this good, anyway).

Call handling is excellent; callers said my voice was remarkably clear, even on a windy UK seafront in Dorset. Gesture Control is also good provided you're relatively animated with your nods or head shakes, and the Camera Remote feature is a neat way to make photo capture easier on your i Phone. As with Conversation Awareness, it just makes for a simpler life when it comes to wearing headphones.

Expansive, layered music aided by supreme ANC and Spatial Audio

Could be a bit punchier, but a big improvement on the originals

I've spent enough time on how good the noise cancellation is, right? OK, so let's move on to the joys of head-tracked Spatial Audio. It's not a new feature with this iteration, but it is so beautifully implemented here you'll find yourself whipping them off to check there's no mini speaker under your chin or squirrelled away at the back of the room. Better than the original Air Pods Max? Yes. It's likely due to the new amplifier under the hood plus the processing power of the H2 chipset, but it's cleaner all round — and I did listen in direct comparison.

My favorite home cinema setup is now an i Pad and the Air Pods Max 2 with head-tracked Spatial Audio engaged. If you're not so sure, try watching the opening scene of Alfonso Cuarón’s 2013 movie Gravity (it's a known test these days, but still). See?

When listening to music, you can expect an expansive, meticulously unfurled soundstage with a noise floor so low that bass frequencies rumble, snap and boom in so much space it's almost a crime. Fontaines D. C.'s I Love You is brooding through the intro and able to celebrate the juicy depth of Grian Chatten's vocals as well as I've heard in any wireless headphones. My Chatten playlist continues with The Score. Its textured acoustic guitar intro brushes each of my ears in turn before expanding yet further to let the vocal drop centrally. Add the USB-C cable to listen in Lossless on Apple Music and it's even better.

Timing, too, is exceptional. I dare you to stream Bad Bunny's Tití Me Preguntó and sit still. It's raucous, defiant, joyous and, in these headphones, it's why I love music.

For crisp leading edges of notes and an extra ounce of detail (again, we come to that 'integrated hi-fi versus fun' debate), you'll get just a little more insight and honesty from the Bowers & Wilkins Px 8 S2, but those headphones are pricier and for me, Air Pods Pro 2's Spatial Audio knocks B&W's True Immersion solution clean out the water, with the latter coming off veiled and almost muffled in direct comparison.

Ask yourself this: do you want your music to feel emotional, zealous and fun — a more V-shaped presentation where upper mids (ie. vocals) and feels through the bass dart betwixt each ear? Or do you want a faithful, neutral stereo performance that leaves nothing out of the mix? Your answer is important because if you pick the first option, you own an i Phone and you can afford these headphones, I know you won't be disappointed.

A new 'custom high dynamic range amplifier' is the only physical update

…but for me, they're still the most comfortable headphones around

Could do with an audio handoff option — and better stamina

As I've already mentioned and pictured, Air Pods Max 2's appearance and indeed innards (save for a new chip and amplification module) remain largely unchanged. If you hoped Apple would completely overhaul the design, you'll doubtless feel wronged. But I maintain that the headband here is the most comfortable I've ever worn, and the metallic yokes are the most reliable and silent. I wear headphones almost constantly, but I also suffer from migraines, so a headband digging into the crown of my head doesn't help the pain in my noggin one bit. No such issue here, ever, and for me that's priceless. What I'm saying is, I think Apple found the fix here and I wouldn't want them to try again and alter it.

The ear cups are quite wide and extremely long, but they aren't especially deep, unlike the audiophile-grade options I've tried that felt like long lenses strapped across my head. An IP rating would be a plus, as would an actual case rather than the headphone bra Apple has stuck with (see the new Sony 1000X The Collexion for a novel idea that still actually protects your expensive headphones, Apple), but the build quality is resoundingly premium. All the more reason to want to protect it…

My main gripe here concerns the battery life. At 20 hours (albeit with ANC deployed), Apple is being left behind. We recently knocked the Sony 1000X for a lack of stamina, even with 24 hours in ANC mode, but you'll get 30 hours from the B&W Px 8 S2 with noise cancellation on. And these options aren't class leaders — Cambridge's Melomania P100 (a fantastic set of cans) will go for 60 hours with ANC on.

And I have one other bugbear. In Air Pods Pro 3, I suggested a dedicated i OS app might be necessary now, because of the additional Hearing Health suite (hearing tests, hearing aid functionality and virtual trainer perks), heart-rate monitor, and the fact that on-ear controls on an earbud are more fiddly than they are on an ear cup. Here, I think the in-i Phone solution suffices, but I'd like an audio handoff feature that works with Apple Music.

To be clear, I don't mean a cross-device feature to resume playback on another Apple device when I walk through the door, as pioneered by Bowers & Wilkins between its wireless headphones and wireless speakers (not too many of us still use Home Pods or Home Pod minis, I imagine), or true multipoint connectivity — if you're using the same Apple ID, your Air Pods Max 2 will happily dart between your i Phone, Mac or i Pad using its own Automatic Device Switching solution. No, I simply want to be able to seamlessly switch from streaming Apple Music on my i Phone to streaming Apple Music on my Mac Book. I want to pause a song on my phone, sit at my Mac Book Pro, open the Music app, and continue listening to the same track, or playlist. It's odd that this still isn't happening — but this is a review about Air Pods Max 2, not the Apple Music user experience.

Some might think Apple should've tried harder though…

Here's the issue: people buy with their eyes first, then their wallets. And in one sense, there's nothing new to see here — buy the newest Air Pods Max and few people will be able to tell if you just bought the older, heavily discounted set or the brand new H2-toting pair. My Orange review sample is one of the new Max 2-only colorways, but with so many bright finishes available (and oddly, none of them correspond with Apple's latest Mac Book Neo colorways), it's hard to keep tabs on what's new and what's not.

It's unfortunate, because having tested them for over two months now, I can tell you that Air Pods Max 2 are much better sonically than the originals. The ANC is as good as Apple claims it is, and they boast a greatly improved user experience to boot. But you'd never be able to tell that by looking at them, and when the model they look just like came out in late 2020, that could present a problem in terms of perceived value.

Air Pods Max 2 are finally full of 2026 tech; you love to see it — just not hearing tests

Air Pods Max 2 are finally full of 2026 tech; you love to see it — just not hearing tests

Excellent ANC and head-tracked Spatial Audio with bags of space in the mix

Excellent ANC and head-tracked Spatial Audio with bags of space in the mix

There's very little to see here until you get to the H2 chip and new amp — but if it ain't broke…

There's very little to see here until you get to the H2 chip and new amp — but if it ain't broke…

There is value here, you just can't really see it (because they look just like a set from 2020)

There is value here, you just can't really see it (because they look just like a set from 2020)

You want to be held in a bubble of silence If you want that and (ideally) you own an i Phone, these are the cans for you. Very little penetrates the silence here.

You travel a lot (and you don't speak the language) Live Translation is well integrated here and for the first time I found it very useful, rather than a fun gimmick to use with my Spanish-speaking other half.

You value head-tracked Spatial Audio This is especially true if you watch movies on the fly, but even if you just like Apple Music's Spatial Audio offering with head tracking, this is the flagship Gold Standard of the format.

You need proper stamina for long-haul flights Air Pods Max 2's battery life is not great — and by 'not great' I mean that any recent rival of note can beat the quoted battery life by at least four hours (and often by a lot more).

You own an Android phone It probably goes without saying, but for this money (and for the number of features that melt away if you never bought into Apple's ecosystem), you'll be better served with a Sony, Technics, Bose, Cambridge or Bowers & Wilkins product.

You want LDAC or apt X Adaptive No dice here, friend. That will come as no surprise to dyed-in-the-wool Apple fans, but if you want hifalutin wireless codecs for higher-resolution audio over Bluetooth, you'll need to look to Bowers & Wilkins or even Sennheiser — which, at the time of writing, has just announced its new Momentum 5 Wireless.

Up to 20 hours (ANC on); 5 mins of charging = 1.5 hours of listening

Up to 20 hours (ANC on); 5 mins of charging = 1.5 hours of listening

Sony WH-1000XM6 If you’re after something a little bit cheaper that performs really well in every department without ever quite dominating it, the Sony WH-1000XM6 are excellent all-rounders with better battery life and LDAC support (ie. good for Sony handsets or Samsung Galaxy S-Series phones). Read our full Sony WH-1000XM6 review

Bose Quiet Comfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen) Like the Sony cans above, you get an extra 10 hours of battery life over the Apple option, with ANC deployed. And what a great noise-cancelling performance it is! You also get Bose's Immersive Audio profiles, which we really enjoyed. Read more in our Bose Quiet Comfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen) review

Bowers & Wilkins Px 8 S2 Want a truly premium-feeling set of over-ears? These are gorgeous, and the detailed, neutral sound is sensational — although you do pay for that. That being said, the onboard spatial audio solution is easily beaten by Air Pods Max 2…  See if they're a better fit for you in our Bowers & Wilkins Px 8 S2 review

Tested on a trip to Girona, a hospital stay, coastal walks, and at my desk

Used an Apple i Phone 15 Pro Max and Mac Book Pro with Apple Music, plus downloaded Flac files on my Fii O hi-res music player

I used Air Pods Max 2 for two months while compiling this review. Why so long? Because I had to have shoulder surgery after accepting them for review, so my testing involved listening to podcasts and music post-op from my hospital bed, with ANC on to distract me from my immediate surroundings, then plenty of streamed movies during my recovery (and to distract me from painful rehab exercises).

I listened at home, on a quick pre-op trip to Girona (which is where Air Pods Max 2's Live Translation really came into its own) and on blustery Dorset coastal walks, and let me tell you, they kept me sane while navigating my early recovery away from my desk.

I've been testing audio products full-time since 2019, first as a staff writer at Tech Radar's sister publication What Hi-Fi? (locked in our hi-fi testing facility for two years, I was), then as senior writer at Tech Radar and, since early 2024, audio editor.

My background as a professional dancer means I'm always interested in moving to good-quality music even with a non-functioning shoulder. I never stop listening for precision, clarity, faithful timing, insight and good old-fashioned fun in recorded audio. And when said shoulder's fully better, I'm going to be back to throwing shapes while testing too. You just wait…

Learn more specifically about how we test earbuds at Tech Radar

Becky became Audio Editor at Tech Radar in 2024, but joined the team in 2022 as Senior Staff Writer, focusing on all things hi-fi. Before this, she spent three years at What Hi-Fi? testing and reviewing everything from wallet-friendly wireless earbuds to huge high-end sound systems. Prior to gaining her MA in Journalism in 2018, Becky freelanced as an arts critic alongside a 22-year career as a professional dancer and aerialist – any love of dance starts with a love of music. Becky has previously contributed to Stuff, Four Four Two and The Stage. When not writing, she can still be found throwing shapes in a dance studio, these days with varying degrees of success.

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• 'Doubtless the best noise-cancelling i Phone headphones on the planet': I tested Air Pods Max 2 and they really are that good — here's why

• Now with the H2 chip, even better ANC, adaptive audio and live translation