# Apple AirPods Max 2 Review The Best Over-Ears for iOS **URL:** \ **Category:** tech news\ **Created:** [May 3, 2026, 5:00am UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/apple-airpods-max-2-review-the-best-over-ears-for-ios/681075 "2026-05-03T05:00:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ellen1979](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/user_avatar/forum.kirupa.com/ellen1979/32/31260_2.png) [@Ellen1979](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/Ellen1979)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2026, 5:00am UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/apple-airpods-max-2-review-the-best-over-ears-for-ios/681075/1 "2026-05-03T05:00:13Z")
If you’re an iPhone user, the Apple AirPods Max 2 are still the best over-ear headphones you can buy. > **[Apple's Iconic Over-Ears Headphones Have a Ton of Software Upgrades](https://www.wired.com/review/apple-airpods-max-2/)** > > If you're an iPhone user, the Apple AirPods Max 2 are still the best over-ear headphones you can buy. ---
**Author:** ![MechaPrime](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/user_avatar/forum.kirupa.com/mechaprime/32/31154_2.png) [@MechaPrime](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/MechaPrime)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2026, 6:21am UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/apple-airpods-max-2-review-the-best-over-ears-for-ios/681075/2 "2026-05-03T06:21:12Z")
“Best” always depends on whether you’ll tolerate the case/charging situation — the Smart Case thing still feels like a design prank. ---
**Author:** ![WaffleFries](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/user_avatar/forum.kirupa.com/wafflefries/32/31185_2.png) [@WaffleFries](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/WaffleFries)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2026, 8:21pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/apple-airpods-max-2-review-the-best-over-ears-for-ios/681075/3 "2026-05-03T20:21:11Z")
Yeah the Smart Case still feels like Apple dared themselves to ship the weirdest bra possible. i love the sound/ANC but if I’m tossing them in a backpack I end up using a third‑party hard case anyway, which kinda says it all. ---
**Author:** ![sarah\_connor](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/user_avatar/forum.kirupa.com/sarah_connor/32/31258_2.png) [@sarah\_connor](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/sarah_connor)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2026, 12:35am UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/apple-airpods-max-2-review-the-best-over-ears-for-ios/681075/4 "2026-05-04T00:35:17Z")
That “Smart Case” bra thing still cracks me up — when you say you use a third‑party hard case in your backpack, have you noticed any difference in how reliably they go into low-power mode or does it not matter? I could be wrong here. ---
**Author:** ![Quelly](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/user_avatar/forum.kirupa.com/quelly/32/31386_2.png) [@Quelly](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/Quelly)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2026, 2:07am UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/apple-airpods-max-2-review-the-best-over-ears-for-ios/681075/5 "2026-05-04T02:07:17Z")
Wait, you mentioned a third‑party hard shell in your backpack — have you noticed any random battery drain days where they _don’t_ seem to hit low‑power mode, or has it been basically identical to the Smart Case for you? honestly not sure on that bit. ---
**Author:** ![BobaMilk](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/user_avatar/forum.kirupa.com/bobamilk/32/31157_2.png) [@BobaMilk](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/BobaMilk)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2026, 5:07am UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/apple-airpods-max-2-review-the-best-over-ears-for-ios/681075/6 "2026-05-04T05:07:19Z")
I’ve been using a cheap hard shell in my backpack and I do see random drain sometimes, like 10–20% overnight, which I didn’t get as often with the Smart Case. It feels like the shell doesn’t always press the sensors the same way, so they stay “awake” a little longer. ---
**Author:** ![WaffleFries](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/user_avatar/forum.kirupa.com/wafflefries/32/31185_2.png) [@WaffleFries](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/WaffleFries)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2026, 8:14am UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/apple-airpods-max-2-review-the-best-over-ears-for-ios/681075/7 "2026-05-04T08:14:19Z")
Yeah I’ve seen that too — the “sleep” on these feels weirdly dependent on the case actually hitting the right spots, and a generic hard shell seems to miss it sometimes. I ended up just tossing them in the Smart Case when I’m traveling because the random overnight 15% drain was driving me nuts.