May 19, 2021
In early March, I bought Sony’s WH-1000XM4 headphones (shortened to “XM4” for the rest of this post… and that’s what people call them anyway).
In early March, I bought Sony’s WH-1000XM4 headphones (shortened to “XM4” for the rest of this post… and that’s what people call them anyway).
I already have AirPods Pro, but wanted a good set of over-ear headphones. I work at home (like many have for over a year now) and was looking for something I can wear for several hours that was good at blocking out noise. I have a bunch of kids and my wife also babysits some more a few days per week, soooo it can get noisy.
It seemed like the three top choices (for consumers at least, probably not for “audiophiles”) were: Sony XM4, Bose 700, and the new AirPods Max. A quick comparison between the Sony and Bose headphones looked like Sony’s XM4 were the better choice, based on some of the criteria I was looking at. Then comes AirPods Max, which Apple only came out with a few months prior… and they were EXPENSIVE!
I finally convinced myself I didn’t need to spend the extra money for Apple’s version and I bought the XM4 headphones. The main reasons I wanted any of these in the first place (and why AirPods Pro, the in-ear noise cancelling headphones, weren’t good enough) were:
- More comfort for long wear sessions
- Better sound
- Better Active Noise Cancelling (ANC)
It seemed like XM4 would satisfy that goal. They also seemed better than AirPods Max for a few reasons:
- Cheaper by $200-ish
- Don’t have the stupid case (they actually come with a hard case… I mean, come on Apple, lol)
- Shut off automatically after about 15 minutes (and actually have a power button)
- About 30 hours battery life vs about 20 hours on AirPods Max
- Switching between 2 Bluetooth devices quickly might be faster (since my work computer isn’t on the same Apple ID as my personal stuff, so AirPods switching requires one extra step)
Well, they did work… but they also didn’t. I lasted a day with my XM4 before returning them and ordering AirPods Max. Why would I do such a crazy thing? So, it turns out I had more than the above bulleted items I was looking for in headphones. XM4 were great when it came to comfort, sound, and ANC… they, however, were lacking in some other key areas I didn’t think as much about before. Here were some things that (for me) made AirPods Max the clear winner:
- Apple (yes, that matters, lol… and basically for some of the following reasons)
- Transparency mode is WAAAAAY better (XM4 “ambient” mode wasn’t good… it was actually difficult for me to use)… with AirPods Max it doesn’t even sound like you’re wearing headphones when you’re talking or listening to someone talk to you (this might be my favorite thing that Apple did better than Sony) — I need to be able to use these on calls (work video calls and personal phone calls)
- Switching between modes is easier and more obvious (and I can only switch between ANC and Transparency, not requiring switching between three modes — who even uses the “off” mode?)
- Better audio (maybe)… you get spacial audio for some things which is cool, but the sound is also (possibly) better — they were both great, though
- Switching between devices is actually still easier on AirPods Max — if they’re on the same Apple ID it’s practically seamless, but even on a different Apple ID just requires clicking the headphones in the Bluetooth menu on my computer — and XM4 only allowed two devices without disconnecting and pairing something else (I use a work Mac, personal Mac, iPad, and iPhone… so XM4 was no good for that)
- Easily change out ear cups if/when I need to… I don’t plan to anytime soon, but the magnetic connection is a nice touch for AirPods Max ear cups
- Of course all the other Apple ecosystem stuff (kinda like the first bullet point, that stuff matters, lol)
- … and there’s more that I forgot about, but this list was long enough already
All that and I actually didn’t have to spend $200 more, since I was able to get a veteran discount through the Apple Store…
So, as I mentioned in the beginning, I returned the XM4 headphones and bought AirPods Max. All that was left was to wait two (maybe it was three) weeks for them to arrive at my doorstep. After almost two weeks and not seeing my AirPods Max move past the “waiting to ship” status (or whatever it’s called), I saw I could order a new pair and pick up the same day in store. Ok, ordered this new pair and cancelled the order I was still waiting on — hey, it still never moved past the first status and I was getting antsy…
It’s been two full months with the AirPods Max now… my thoughts?
- I looooove these things
The one-time extra cost was worth it to me. I could’ve saved about $150 (the approximate price difference when you factor in the discount I got), but I feel like I would have been settling just to save a buck.
Are AirPods Max worth it for most people? Absolutely not. To me, though, with the specific things I was looking for — they’re the best option.
- Jason