5 Cheaper Over-Ear Headphones You Should Try Instead of AirPods Max 2

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AirPods, as a family of headphones, have absolutely dominated the market for years since their release. Although the AirPods Max don’t offer a true full range of wireless products like the smaller AirPods, they offer an interesting option for those who want an over-ear experience. We reviewed the AirPods Max 2 and loved the features and sound quality on offer, but there’s no denying that these headphones are quite expensive. So if you want to save a few bucks, there are alternatives that still offer a compelling package.

The current retail price for a pair of AirPods Max 2 is $549 directly from the Apple Store. Regardless of your experience with consumer headphones, this is objectively a steep price to pay. Now, as our review covered, you get a lot for this price, like excellent build quality, excellent adaptive audio features, and the design language Apple is known for. But if you’re looking to save some money, we’ll review some of our favorite picks from bigger competing brands like Bose and Sony, as well as more accessible names like Soundcore and even Apple-owned Beats.

Frequently appearing at the top of tech reviewers’ “best headphones” lists, the Sony WH line is a real competitor to Apple’s AirPods Max offerings. Sony focuses largely on its noise cancellation, which the company touts as “the best noise cancellation” available. While it may be subjective, well-respected tech reviewers and YouTube channels agree that the adaptive noise cancellation is truly impressive on the sixth generation of Sony’s flagship headphones.

Underneath that noise-canceling conversation, the WH-1000XM6 delivers excellent sound, including LDAC codecs and drivers tuned in partnership with professional audio engineers. The goal here is “studio-quality” sound, which will always be a little different from Apple’s proprietary, more adaptive sound casting. Granted, Apple’s headphones also sound great according to reviews, but even though its marketing materials often refer to the audio as “studio-quality” sound, the polishing and processing at work is decidedly Apple – for better or worse. The WH-1000XM6 is priced at $450, available at an even lower price as models go on sale, reducing the list price of the AirPods Max 2 by around $100.

Sony and Bose are often cited as leaders in premium over-ear headphones, and Bose’s entry into the flagship market is its QuietComfort Ultra headphones. Similarly to Apple, Bose often uses foul language to describe the sound quality of its products, giving feature names like “CustomTune” and “immersive audio.” While you can’t review them objectively on a spec sheet, Bose has a long track record of delivering impressive audio quality on speakers and headphones. The QC Ultra headphones offer another value, like a premium build and design that’s also quite classic, with some subtle metallic touches and nice-to-the-touch leather.

There are some downsides here, as expected. You save about $100 on the QC Ultra headphones, but you’ll have a noticeably more plastic feel to the construction. The pairing experience, as with most non-Apple headphones, will feel clunky on an iPhone, forcing you to work through Bluetooth menus and actively connect using your device’s software. However, the QC Ultra supports Google Fast Pair, so if you have an Android phone, the pairing process will be as seamless as pairing the AirPods Max 2 with an iPhone. For travel, the QC Ultra headphones fold into an included case, although they still take up more bag space than smaller, lighter options like the Beats Studio Pro (more on these cans below). If you opt for these headphones, be sure to take a look at our roundup of audio features to get the most out of your Bose headphones.

If you’re looking for affordable headphones, a good place to start is Soundcore, a budget brand affiliated with Anker. We recently explained how brands like Soundcore can make headphones so cheap. Soundcore has built quite a reputation for offering affordable headphones that still sound solid, and the Soundcore Space 2 is the “all-day” model that offers a similar feature set to the rest of the headphones on this list. First, there’s active noise cancellation with a focus on multi-stage low-end processing. This means that the headphones should be reasonably able to block out a good portion of the loud rumbles you may hear during a commute or flight.

Some of the real highlights here are the sound quality, with support for both LDAC and Hi-Res Audio, as well as the battery life. With up to 50 hours of playback with active noise cancellation enabled (and an incredible 70 hours without ANC), these headphones definitely won’t leave you wanting in the charging department. Build quality, as expected for the sub-$200 price point, will be a bit less complete than more premium offerings. The design – with its fully rounded circles and plastic accents – can also seem a little dated when pitted against the polished look of the AirPods Max.

We recently talked about how Beats headphones are a pretty solid option these days, despite some unseemly chatter in years past. The current review landscape shows that Beats headphones offer a pretty solid value for money promise. The Beats Studio Pro is the brand’s true flagship model, with active noise cancellation, refined sound, and a few extra connectivity features on top of that.

The little icing on the cake is that since Beats is owned by Apple, it offers improved Apple compatibility to bring you one step closer to the AirPods Max experience. First there’s the simple one-touch pairing that works the same as the instant pairing offered by all AirPods on your Apple devices – and like the Bose QC Ultra, they support Google Fast Pair for a similar experience with Android phones and Chromebooks. They’re also compatible with Apple’s Find My network and Google’s Find Hub, ensuring you’ll be able to locate the earbuds if you lose them.

As is the case with many competing products in this space, there are some compromises around build quality. The Beats Studio Pro feels a little cheap to the touch, and while the earbuds are comfortable to wear, they’re not as thick and plush as the AirPods Max. Of course, a nice feature is that they fold completely in two directions to take up a much smaller space in their little travel page.

Perhaps the most unique headset option on this list is from the Nothing brand. Nothing is a manufacturer that takes a contradictory approach to device design, originally starting with smartphones that don’t follow the same design parameters as every other panel phone. This same design approach is found here in the Nothing Headphone (a). One look at the case’s transparent features, sharp, square edges, and unique color options, and it’s clear that this isn’t a headset that follows typical designs.

It’s this design language that makes the earbuds an interesting replacement for the Apple AirPods Max. The Nothing Headphone (a) costs around $200 as of this writing and offers most of the features you’d expect from a high-end headset. This includes adaptive and active noise cancellation, a solid 40-millimeter driver size for substantial sound, and a convincing 135 hours (yes, you read that right) battery life with ANC turned off. To be honest, there’s nothing visually subtle about these earbuds, and there aren’t a lot of flashy processing and adaptive EQ features like on the AirPods Max. But with a unique look at a reasonable price, the Nothing Headphone(a) is a solid choice for the budget-conscious.

Choosing headphones in 2026 can seem like a dizzying decision. With so many different brands offering similar looking (and sounding) products, it’s hard to know what to choose. For this list, the first obvious parameter for us was to make sure the earbuds were cheaper than the AirPods Max 2. Once that barrier was broken, we also wanted to offer some that seemed truly flagship and premium, and others that seemed like a really good deal, to offer a range that covers a lot of budgets.

Beyond that, quality and feature set were paramount in our research. First, the earbuds had to have solid reviews from real people and publications, be widely available for purchase on all sites, and offer some of the key flagship features of the AirPods Max. That means all of these headphones feature active noise cancellation, decent sound quality, and solid battery life. Beyond that, we wanted to offer a beautiful range of designs, styles and color choices. After all, headphones seem like a visual accessory to some.