Nothing Headphone A vs AirPods Max: Comparing the headphones

Price and Availability

The recently announced Nothing Headphone A is currently available to pre-order (at the time of writing) and will launch officially from March 13th. With an RRP of just £149, it’s not only considerably cheaper than the AirPods Max but also its Headphone 1 alternative too.

The AirPods Max instead have an RRP of £499/$499, making the headphones more expensive than the Sony WH-1000XM6 which currently boasts our best headphones title.

Design

• Nothing Headphone A is much lighter than the AirPods Max
• Both share a somewhat familiar design, with large and rectangular ear cups
• The Nothing Headphone A has an IP52 rating whereas the AirPods Max don’t have any water protection

Let’s get the obvious out of the way first: both the Nothing Headphone A and AirPods Max are designed to stand out from the crowd and, therefore, don’t sport a style that anyone could hail as “low key”. With this in mind, if you’d prefer a more incognito pair of headphones, then we’d recommend sifting through our best headphones guide instead.

Both the Headphone A and AirPods Max are fitted with large, rectangular ear cups, although the Headphone A’s earcups each have a pill-shaped section on top while underneath sports Nothing’s signature design. For this section, you can choose between four colours: white, black, yellow or pink.

Speaking of colours, the AirPods Max are available in a choice between five colours: blue, purple, midnight, starlight and orange.

Although the AirPods Max sport a mesh headband which looks more lightweight than the Headphone A’s own, the cans are actually considerably heavier at 385g. In comparison, the Headphone A weighs just 310g. Even so, we never noticed either pair of headphones felt heavy, even during prolonged use.

Both the headphones sport physical buttons, which is something we appreciate. The Headphone A especially is fitted with delightfully tactile controls including a scroll wheel for volume adjustment, a rocker tab that skips tracks and a customisable button too. 

The AirPods Max also sport a larger version of the Apple Watch’s Digital Crown which allows you to adjust the volume and play/pause tracks too. Next to the Crown is an ANC button too.

One issue we have with the AirPods Max is with its lack of IP rating, which means you should avoid getting the headphones wet at all cost. On the other hand, the Headphone A is IP52 rated, which means the pair can survive light rain or sweat, but nothing more.

Finally, we should note that we found both the Headphone A and AirPods Max to be comfortable headphones. With the Headphone A, we especially praised the deep, wide ear cushions that are made with soft memory foam and covered with a leatherette material. The AirPods Max also sport memory foam ear cups too and can even be washed or replaced if necessary.

Winner: Nothing Headphones A

Features

• Android users will miss out on many AirPods Max features
• The Nothing X app is a brilliant companion to the Headphone A and offers a deep level of customisation
• iPhone users will appreciate how well the AirPods Max pair

We really enjoy using the Nothing X app with the Headphone A. It’s speedy, easy to understand and offers a deep level of customisation too. For example, you can customise the Headphone A’s shortcut button to best suit your needs. That means you can set it to open your favourite streaming service, switch between media sources and even take a photo. 

The Headphone A also supports Google Fast Pair which makes it simple to set it up with an Android phone, although it can also be paired with an iPhone too. Which brings us conveniently to our next point. 

While the AirPods Max can pair with an Android, you’ll miss out on many of the headphone’s features including Spatial Audio and quick device switching too. Plus, setting up the headphones with an Android is that bit harder than an iPhone too. With this in mind, we’d only recommend the AirPods Max if you’re well cemented within the Apple ecosystem.

Winner: Nothing Headphone A

Noise-Cancelling

• The AirPods Max offer brilliant adaptive noise cancellation
• While the Headphone A is effective, it doesn’t quite rival Apple
• Both are fitted with Transparency modes

Although not quite as effective as the AirPods Max, the Headphone A does a great job at noise cancelling. We found when ANC is switched on, background noise is dulled enough to make even flights more pleasant, while the seal from the ear cushions helps with this too.

The AirPods Max has three outward-facing microphones and one inside the earcup to help alter the level of noise cancellation depending on your environment. We found this works brilliantly, as you can tell the ANC increases when a sudden loud noise approaches.

Both headphones are also equipped with Transparency mode, which is always a useful addition. With both, we found their respective Transparency mode to be natural, which is something that other headphones do struggle with. 

All in all, while the AirPods Max take the win here, the Headphone A isn’t too far too.

Winner: AirPods Max

Sound Quality

• Both cope brilliantly with bass
• Headphone A’s sound can be customised via the Nothing X app
• AirPods Max support Spatial Audio – and it sounds great

Much like their respective ANC performance, both the Headphone A and AirPods Max offer a great overall sound quality. However, do keep in mind that the Headphone A doesn’t sport the “Sound by KEF” tuning like its older sibling, Headphone 1, so the headphones aren’t quite as neutral sounding. 

Even so, the Headphone A offers an impressively balanced sound across all genres but especially excels at bass. You can even boost the bass with Extra Bass EQ, for that extra bit of oomph. 

Speaking of EQ, one of the best things about Nothing headphones is how customisable the sound is, via the Nothing X app. In fact, we’ve hailed the app as boasting some of the most impressive EQ controls, and you can even make your own and share with the Nothing community. 

This isn’t to say the AirPods Max don’t sound impressive. In fact, we concluded that the headphones also pack a balanced sound and sport brilliant versatility thanks to its Adaptive EQ too. Plus, like the Headphone A, there’s plenty of bass too

As we mentioned earlier, the AirPods Max support Spatial Audio, although there are quite a few caveats to keep in mind. Firstly, you’ll need a compatible Apple device paired with the AirPods Max. Secondly, how effective the feature is depends on how the track was mastered, so some simply won’t sound as good as others.

Winner: Tie

Battery Life

• Headphone A promises up to 135 hours of playback (with ANC off)
• AirPods Max promise just 20 hours of playback
• The AirPods Max now sport a USB-C, rather than the original Lightning port

With a claim of up to a whopping 135 hours of battery life, the Headphone A is a very difficult pair of headphones to compete with. While we can’t confidently confirm this mighty claim ourselves, we did conclude that after a week of intensive testing, the headphones were still alive which bodes well. 

In comparison, the AirPods Max promise up to 20 hours of battery life, which clearly falls short from the Headphone A’s claim. 

Winner: Nothing Headphone A

Verdict

Although the AirPods Max boast great ANC, excellent sound quality and a comfortable fit, at £499/$499 the headphones are hard to recommend – especially as the Headphone A seems like a solid alternative for much less.