Audio · Tested since February 2026
AirPods Max
What I wear at the desk. The noise cancellation makes an open room disappear, the mic is clean enough for calls, and they are comfortable enough to leave on through three meetings back to back. I use to wear my AirPod Pro's all day, but they got uncomfortable after a while. Plus, sometimes I am recording videos and need a better mic. Not that the AirPod Max's have a studio quality mic, but still better than AirPod's. Another reason I like these is that they have a USB cable that allows me to hard wire in, either for charging if the battery is low, or I also have a USB-C to 3.5mm cable adapter from Apple that allows me to use these as just regular headphones too, which is handy for doing any kind of studio work I will do occasionally, plugging into my Nintendo Switch, etc.
- $$$$
- February 2026
- Audio
- Top Pick
The verdict
On my desk since February 2026, and it scores 9.0 out of 10.
Everything above comes from running it on real call days, not from a spec sheet — the flaws worth knowing are in the trade-offs, not buried in a spec table. How I rate gear.
What works
- Class-leading noise cancellation for deep work and calls
- Comfortable over hours, unlike most over-ears
- Seamless handoff across Apple devices
- Heavy and expensive
- The case doesn't protect the entire headphone
- Bulky
Scored on four things
