Has anyone else owned both the Apple AirPods Max and the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Over-the-Ear headphones, only to be disappointed by the latter?
My AirPods Max (lightning port) recently decided to stop working. All the lights turn on normally but the headphones are simply unable or unwilling to pair with my iPhone 16 Pro Max (latest iOS 18.3 Developer Beta).
I decided to tap on Forget This Device from the Bluetooth settings, hoping to re-pair and them and get them working again, but now they refuse to re-pair with my iPhone (and I tried with my iPad as well, to no avail).
I got on the Best Buy site and for whatever reason decided to get a pair of Bose QC Ultra. Yes, the sound is very good and so is the noise cancelation. But it is not better than the AirPods Max.
And one thing which is particularly poor is the latency when it comes to short and sudden sounds. For example, the Bose struggle to keep up with the key-click sounds when I'm typing. And you know the locking sounds when you press the side (standby/power) button? That is only heard part of the time.
And something else. You know how the Bose app offers to play a demo of stereo vs. immersive modes? Why does that demo sound considerably better than listening to a song through Apple Music?
Days after they stopped working, I still try to get the AirPods Max to connect to my iPhone on occasion, hoping that will suddenly happen.
I can totally deal with the Bose, but whenever Apple decides to update the AirPods Max, I'll go back to them.
Update: Wow, removing the Bose from one's head does not automatically pause the music playing on Apple Music. Even worse, they remain connected and the audio keeps playing through the headphones after being removed. I guess these are some of the perks you lose by straying away from the Apple ecosystem.
Update 2: They suck for language studies, i.e. Duolingo. Words — which a language learner obviously needs to hear with perfection — get clipped at the beginning often. It's like they take a few milliseconds to respond to the app. They're horrible. I may be returning them soon.
My AirPods Max (lightning port) recently decided to stop working. All the lights turn on normally but the headphones are simply unable or unwilling to pair with my iPhone 16 Pro Max (latest iOS 18.3 Developer Beta).
I decided to tap on Forget This Device from the Bluetooth settings, hoping to re-pair and them and get them working again, but now they refuse to re-pair with my iPhone (and I tried with my iPad as well, to no avail).
I got on the Best Buy site and for whatever reason decided to get a pair of Bose QC Ultra. Yes, the sound is very good and so is the noise cancelation. But it is not better than the AirPods Max.
And one thing which is particularly poor is the latency when it comes to short and sudden sounds. For example, the Bose struggle to keep up with the key-click sounds when I'm typing. And you know the locking sounds when you press the side (standby/power) button? That is only heard part of the time.
And something else. You know how the Bose app offers to play a demo of stereo vs. immersive modes? Why does that demo sound considerably better than listening to a song through Apple Music?
Days after they stopped working, I still try to get the AirPods Max to connect to my iPhone on occasion, hoping that will suddenly happen.
I can totally deal with the Bose, but whenever Apple decides to update the AirPods Max, I'll go back to them.
Update: Wow, removing the Bose from one's head does not automatically pause the music playing on Apple Music. Even worse, they remain connected and the audio keeps playing through the headphones after being removed. I guess these are some of the perks you lose by straying away from the Apple ecosystem.
Update 2: They suck for language studies, i.e. Duolingo. Words — which a language learner obviously needs to hear with perfection — get clipped at the beginning often. It's like they take a few milliseconds to respond to the app. They're horrible. I may be returning them soon.
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