I opened up the Beats 360 overview right alongside the AirPods Max 2, expecting to read about two different builds. Instead, the numbers match. The Beats 360 and AirPods Max 2 both rely on eight microphones for noise reduction and three for phone calls.
Still, their marketing targets couldn’t look more different. Beats launched the 360 in late September, aimed at workouts, featuring sweat isolation and swappable cushions. Apple has sold the Max 2 since spring on H2 silicon and a traditional sound signature.
Apple’s pair, for most of you. The Beats 360 only takes it when your headphones go to the gym, or an Android phone runs the household, and I’ll show my working below.
Launch week was rough for the 360, and sound took most of the beating. Beats calls it the best-sounding headphone it has made. Buyers reached for “tin can” instead. The press release promises three-layer diaphragms and dual neodymium magnets per driver, and one rock and metal listener said the result sounded like an early-2000s MP3 even while streaming lossless. More than one compared it unfavorably with their AirPods Pro 3, and earbuds outplaying a flagship over-ear is embarrassing in a way no press material explains.
The ANC hiss is another sore spot. A faint buzz appears when noise cancellation kicks in and, according to owner reports, has survived several software updates. Bass feedback is no easier to pin down. Tight and controlled to one listener, hollow to another using the 360 at the gym.
That leaves the AirPods Max 2 with the stronger showing on sound, and by a decent margin.
I’d give Beats a firmware cycle or two before calling the drivers a lost cause. Buying on the promise of a fix is another matter, and I wouldn’t. Updates keep arriving, at least.
Apple’s side of the story is boring, in the good sense. The Max 2 got a new amplifier and lossless 24-bit/48 kHz over the USB-C cable in the box, but the spec I value most is the quiet in the complaints section. Hardly anyone grumbles about how these cans sound. Buyers on iOS 27 also have an EQ now, and the 360 still ships without one.
My hypertrophy blocks end on a StairMaster, a machine I love and hate in equal parts. That’s enough to rule out the AirPods Max for me. They have no water-resistance rating, and first-generation units have reportedly died after condensation built up inside the aluminum cups. A teardown of the Max 2 found little change to that design, so I wouldn’t treat the newer model as a gym upgrade.
The 360 is IPX4, a first for an over-ear Beats. Splashes from any direction are covered. Sweat and drizzle count. A swim doesn’t. Wet cushions twist off counterclockwise. Dry ones go on. Swappable pads were never a Beats invention (Apple’s magnetic cushions have come off by hand from the start), but only one of these pairs survives what drips through them.
Light joggers might get away with the Max 2 for a season. However, for my gym sessions, the Max 2 stays on the desk. The Beats 360 is much easier to justify here.
The 360 weighs 294.5 grams to the Max 2’s 386.2, and Beats takes the scale. Clamp is messier. Some big-headed buyers were sore inside 15 minutes. Borrow ten minutes in a store before you trust any number.
The 1.75x figure doesn’t mean the 360 cancels 1.75 times more noise than the Max 2. Beats got there by using Studio Pro as the comparison point. Apple’s 1.5x claim for the Max 2 uses the original Max. The numbers fall apart as a direct matchup, so I’d rather look at the listening reports.
One 360 buyer gave the ANC a seven and said it was fine indoors. Max 2 owners describe long-haul flights with the cabin noise largely gone. That is where I’d use Apple’s headphones. The 360’s transparency mode fares better, with one buyer giving it 8.5/10 and noting the crisp voices around them.
Calls are closer. Both use that same mic layout, but Apple layers Voice Isolation on top through the H2, and I’d expect the Max 2 to hold up better on a loud street.
Battery is the Beats 360’s easiest win. Up to 32 hours with ANC running, against 20 on the Max 2.
Apple still hasn’t put a power button on its flagship, six years and two generations on the same frame, and anyone who leaves the Max 2 on a desk over a long weekend instead of tucking them into the Smart Case comes back to a dead pair and a charging cable they’d rather not wait on. The quick top-up is Apple’s lone consolation, about 1.5 hours from five minutes against an hour on Beats. Neither box has a wall adapter. Beats skips the cable as well. Petty, on a flagship.
The 360 starts making more sense once a workout is attached to the commute. Rain on the walk to work isn’t a dealbreaker, and neither is sweat once I get to the gym. The pads can come off when they get gross, which feels a lot less precious than worrying about an expensive pair of headphones.
Android households get a better deal here too. Fast Pair, Find Hub, and a Beats app for settings all work, while the Max 2 treats Android like a guest.
Cushions are half the fun. Knit kits come in six colors. One buyer swears the UltraPlush pads block more noise than the knit set in the box, and the introductory kit deal ends October 31 in select markets. I’d stock up early. The hinges earned praise too, with one first-time Beats buyer saying the pair feels made to be handled roughly. The ripstop case suits a gym bag, although big heads may need to collapse the arms before the pouch will close.
A MacBook Air on the desk, an iPhone within reach, and Apple TV waiting for the evening is pretty much the Max 2‘s natural habitat. Lift the headphones off and playback pauses. Put them back on for a Dolby Atmos movie, or plug in over USB-C for lossless, low-latency audio. The weight and flimsy-feeling Smart Case are harder to overlook.
For most people weighing Beats 360 vs. AirPods Max 2, I’d recommend Apple’s pair. Over-ear headphones live or die on sound, and too many 360 buyers came away disappointed.
My training bag would still get the Beats, and Android users belong in that camp with me. Revisit the 360 after a few more firmware updates. Whatever you do, don’t carry the Max 2 into a sweaty session and expect them to last. Paying flagship money for a gym pair that can’t survive the gym is the worst outcome in this whole matchup.