Tech
Master & Dynamic’s MW75 headphones make AirPods Max battery life seem puny
The new ANC over-the-ear wireless headphones from Master & Dynamic offer 28 hours of listening with ANC while Apple's Airpods Max get just 20.
There’s no worse feeling than running out of charge on your headphones mid-commute. At least with Master & Dynamic’s new MW75 wireless ANC over-the-ear headphones, you’ll get more listening time before befalling that cruel fate. It’s a pretty notable upgrade from its MW65 — it has more battery life, an adaptive ANC mode, and more connectivity pairing with a mobile app.
Master & Dynamic was definitely aiming for the audiophiles out there with its pricey MW75 headphones, targeting a similar demographic of those who might buy AirPods Max. It’s got a few similarities to the AirPods Max, but the MW75 has Apple’s $549 offering beat in a few categories.
Better battery life — The MW75 can do 28 hours of ANC-enabled listening and 32 hours without. That’s significantly more listening time than the AirPods Max and its 20 hours of ANC listening time, and nearly as long as the 30 hours of battery life with Sony’s WH-1000XM5. It’s not the first time that Master & Dynamic beat out Apple in battery life either. Its MW08 wireless earbuds also outpaced Apple’s AirPods Pro.
The MW75 uses eight mics total — four mics are used for ANC and another four are used for beamforming talk. It’s one short of AirPods Max’ nine microphones, eight of which are used for ANC, which means Apple may provide a more robust ANC feature. Still, you might prefer Master & Dynamic’s sound profile with its 40mm Beryllium drivers, unless you’re a fan of Apple’s audio mastering.
Master & Dynamic added an adaptive mode for the MW75, bringing it to three ANC modes. The adaptive mode uses four mics to adjust the ANC to match the noise level of surroundings. Apple does have an edge with all the sensors in its AirPods Max though, especially with a gyroscope and accelerometer inside. In comparison, the MW75 only has a sensor that detects when it’s on your head.
Design differences — Master & Dynamic bumped up the price tag of its MW75 to $599, compared to the $499 MW65. The over-ear headphones come in four colors: gunmetal and black leather, silver metal and gray leather, silver metal and brown leather, and black metal and black leather. They’re a nice break from the AirPods’ monotone color schemes, and will be available starting June 28.
