It’s almost a clash of ideologies. On the one hand, you have Sennheiser with the HDB 630, leaning into its audiophile roots with a focus on precision, tuning, and comfort, while on the other, the AirPods Max 2 doubles down on Apple’s ecosystem magic, seamless switching, and computational audio wizardry. One chases purity, the other, smarts. And somewhere between the two lies the answer to what great audio really means in 2026. Both cost a small fortune, so which one's actually worth it?
Apple AirPods Max 2
Apple’s sole over-ear headphones have, aside from a small USB-C sized update, remained largely unchanged since their launch in 2020, so expectations from the successor ran high. Sadly, the AirPods Max 2 ( ₹67,900) isn’t the ground-up overhaul many would have liked, with Apple choosing to stick to the familiar design, warts and all, reserving the big upgrades to what you can (and can’t) hear.
The Max 2 is just as big and hefty (386g) as the original, and the weight is certainly a drag during long listening sessions, despite the lightweight headband. You get the same 20-hour battery life, the same user-replaceable magnetic ear cushions, the same physical controls for volume/playback and listening modes, the same inability to fold into a compact form and yes, the same unsightly, and not very protective Smart Case. Without an IP rating for dust and water resistance, we’d be wary using these for sweaty workouts or in inclement weather.
Pop open the hood and you’ll see the big upgrade—the H2 chip—which enables the Live Translation, Adaptive Audio, and Loud Sound Reduction features that are familiar from the AirPods Pro 3. A feature called Conversation Awareness also makes its debut, which lowers the volume and boosts voices in front of you when you start talking. To no one’s surprise, these cans work best with a compatible Apple device, and some features are Apple-only. However, you can connect via Bluetooth 5.3 wireless and USB-C wired to any non-Apple device as well.
The bump up in sound quality is subtle, with the headphones building on the familiar sonic signature of the original, while pushing the needle forward in terms of detail, dynamics and openness. I loved how the cans are tuned to handle bass and the low end with restraint, pumping out music that is crowd-pleasing, without overpowering the vocals.
You still don’t get a custom equalizer, sadly, so if you don’t like the way they sound at the store, even the improved Adaptive EQ feature will not make that much of a difference back home. There’s no wireless, lossless audio either, though a USB-C cable and Apple Music lossless are a stunning combo.
Active noise cancellation (ANC) chops are noticeably improved too, and the Max 2 is certainly better than the first-gen Max at reducing noise across the frequency range, with noises such as the kitchen exhaust, the apartment du jour wall drilling, and the chatter of office colleagues reduced to a soft murmur. Adaptive Audio, which adjusts between ANC and transparency modes depending on the loudness of your environment, works well. The Max 2’s sub-par battery life and heft hold it back for long-haul flights, though.
Sennheiser HDB 630
It’s a common quandary for all wireless headphones that the performance depends inherently on the Bluetooth codecs supported by both the headphones and the audio source (phone/laptop). What if you were to take the guesswork out of the picture? What if you take an audiophile-grade pair of wired headphones, swap out the wires for a Bluetooth module and then add a compatible dongle so that, no matter which device you use, you can hear them at their best? That’s the premise behind the Sennheiser HDB 630 ( ₹44,990), a pair of wireless cans that determinedly wants to deliver audiophile-friendly audio to everyone, wires be damned.
At first glance, the HDB 630 adopts the design language of the recent Momentum series—minimalist and functional that’s built well, but a little uninspiring. Crucially though, they score high on comfort for longer listening sessions, and the battery keeps up alongside, offering nearly all of the claimed 60 hours of playback with noise cancellation enabled. The touch controls are a bit finicky and that the headphones don’t fold up for travel, but the included high quality carry case keeps them protected.
Now, for audiophiles familiar with Sennheiser’s game, it’ll come as no surprise that the HDB 630 sounds pretty neutral right out of the box, with punchy yet not overbearing bass, a boosted midrange for clean vocals, and a bright and clear treble that’s a masterclass in restraint. Listening to my pop-and-rock-heavy playlists, the HDB 630 surfaces finer details like the light percussion instruments you may have otherwise missed, while electric guitars that typically sounded muddied on lesser cans are as clean as it gets.
If you’re even pickier, the excellent Sennheiser app has parametric EQ for giving real tuning nerds granular control over the frequency you want to change (alongside a standard EQ adjustment).
Yet, the star feature of the HDB 630 is the higher-res Bluetooth audio support via the included BTD700 USB-C dongle. Plugging the dongle directly into the audio source instantly opens up access to aptX, aptX HD, and aptX Adaptive codecs for higher-than-CD quality 24bit/96kHz levels. You can go for even higher quality with the USB-C cable (or 3.5mm cable, both included), but really, streaming wireless audio never sounded so good on my iPhone 17 Pro Max!
The only weakness in the HDB 630’s otherwise strong feature set is ANC, which qualifies to be called “good, not great” in a segment which has the likes of the Sony WH-1000XM6. Elsewhere, it doesn’t support the LDAC codec, nor does it chase spatial audio greatness. The HDB 630 raises the bar for wireless sound quality, and in not gatekeeping the benefits to any one brand or platform, the headphones are a tempting proposition for audio enthusiasts across the board.
Verdict
Deciding on which one of these two flagship headphones to pick will come down to whether you’re deep into the Apple ecosystem or not, and how much you like to tinker with what goes into your ears. If sound quality trumps all, pick up the Sennheiser and get vastly superior battery life to boot. Prefer ease of use with minimal fiddly bits, and far better ANC? Get the AirPods.
Tushar Kanwar is a tech columnist and commentator, and tweets @2shar.