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Updated April 11, 2024·
If price is a major concern, the Sennheiser Accentum Plus are typically much less expensive and offer excellent performance across music, calls, meetings, and gaming. They have a long battery life and support AptX Adaptive for low latency which is essential for gaming and watching videos. Plus, they are lighter and have excellent build quality. The Apple Airpods Max, although more expensive, feature best-in-class noise isolation, are optimized for Apple devices, and have a very good comfort rating. They do lack low latency, making them less ideal for gaming and watching TV. Both offer superior sound quality and are suitable for exercise and air travel. Choose Sennheiser for gaming and value, or Apple for noise isolation and Apple device optimization. Give Feedback
this description is based on the product variant with some specs and product variant with some specs. At the time of writing, the variant with some specs cost some dollars and the variant with some specs cost some dollars.
Advantages of the Apple Airpods Max
The Apple Airpods Max has no clear advantages over the Sennheiser Accentum Plus.
Advantages of the Sennheiser Accentum Plus
Excellent for phone calls
Excellent for gaming
Very good for TV and video
Very good for exercise
Excellent for podcasts and audiobooks
Key differences
Gaming
5.5/10
9.1/10
The Sennheiser Accentum Plus is excellent for gaming, while the Apple Airpods Max is poor.
Phone Calls
6.6/10
9.2/10
The Sennheiser Accentum Plus is excellent for phone calls, while the Apple Airpods Max is only fair.
Podcasts and Audiobooks
8.0/10
9.3/10
The Sennheiser Accentum Plus is excellent for podcasts and audiobooks, while the Apple Airpods Max is very good.
TV and Video
5.7/10
8.8/10
The Sennheiser Accentum Plus is very good for TV and video, while the Apple Airpods Max is poor.
Noise Reduction
10.0/10
8.3/10
The Apple Airpods Max is best in class for noise reduction, while the Sennheiser Accentum Plus is very good.
Battery
21.0 Hours
50.0 Hours
The Apple Airpods Max has 21 hours of battery life. The Sennheiser Accentum Plus has 50 hours of battery life.
Cost
$549
$230
$100
$150
$200
$250
$300
$350
$400
The Apple Airpods Max has a price of $549 and the Sennheiser Accentum Plus costs $230.
The Sennheiser Accentum Plus and Apple Airpods Max are both good for music.
Build Quality
9.0/10
8.9/10
Although they have very similar scores, PerfectRec considers Apple Airpods Max to have excellent build quality, while the Sennheiser Accentum Plus has very good build quality.
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How the Apple Airpods Max and the Sennheiser Accentum Plus compare to other earbuds and headphones
"Objectively, the AirPods Max is a spectacular pair of headphones. I appreciate the smart features like auto-pause and the transparency mode are super practical. It also sounds great, is well-built, and has solid battery life."
Get a great deal on the Apple Airpods Max or the Sennheiser Accentum Plus
About Apple
Apple Inc. is an American technology company, founded in 1976, known for its wide range of premium products, including smartphones, computers, and audio solutions. Apple offers the very popular personal audio line AirPods, highly regarded for their wireless, smart capabilities and their seamless integration with the iPhone, iPad and Mac devices. They provide a high-quality sound, comfort and lifestyle features perfect for all users invested in their ecosystem.
About Sennheiser
A family-owned company, Sennheiser is a German, high fidelity, audio equipment manufacturer founded in 1945. Their consumer audio division is now owned by the Swiss hearing aid and cochlear implant manufacturer Sonova. Sennheiser offers a wide variety of, very high quality, audio equipment solutions, from headphones to earbuds, full sets of monitoring speakers, amplifiers and microphones. They also make what is widely regarded as the best, and most expensive, headphones in existence, the HE-1 Orpheus, costing a whopping $59,000 dollars.
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This information was produced and vetted by the PerfectRec earbuds & headphones team. We are a product research and recommendation organization that meticulously reviews and evaluates the latest earbuds or headphones information and makes it digestible for you.
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About the Earbuds or Headphones team
Joe Golden, Ph.D
CEO and Earbuds and Headphones Editor
Joe is an entrepreneur and lifelong electronics enthusiast with a Ph.D in Economics from the University of Michigan.
Jason Lew
Staff Expert & Software Engineer
Jason is a staff expert and software engineer that has been making laptop recommendations for 7 years and moderates one of the largest laptop subreddits.
Chandradeep Chowdhury
Staff Expert & Software Engineer
Chandradeep is a staff expert and software engineer and expert in televisions and monitors. He’s been making monitor recommendations for ten years.
Luis Torres
Earbuds and Headphones Expert
Luis is a Mexico-based headphones expert. He’s been making headphone recommendations for five years and has close to 100 pairs in his personal collection.