The long-awaited successor to the Audeze Maxwell has finally arrived. Audeze, which is now owned by Sony, officially introduced the Maxwell 2 at CES 2026, and it’s in stock and ready to ship from Audeze’s website for $329 on PlayStation and $349 on Xbox. Either model works for PC, Mac, Switch, and mobile. The original Maxwell headset is widely considered one of the best, particularly if you mainly care about audio quality. One of the biggest complaints about the headset, though, is its weight, and it doesn’t appear the Maxwell 2 addresses that, since it weighs even more at 560 grams versus the original’s 490 grams.
The new headset has a similar design and continues to be powered by 90mm planar magnetic drivers with Neodymium N50 magnets. What’s new is Audeze’s patent-pending SLAM acoustic management technology. Audeze says it delivers heightened spatial immersion, tactical precision, and punchier bass. Battery life remains one of its strengths, with over 80 hours on a single charge, while 20 minutes of fast charging gets you about 24 hours of playback. Considering how well regarded the audio quality is with the original Maxwell, it’s no surprise Audeze didn’t make any significant hardware changes there. It also gets a new ventilated head strap and an upgraded earpad design in hopes of improving comfort.
I have an unhealthy obsession with collecting gaming headsets, and I’m looking forward to getting my hands on the Audeze Maxwell 2 to see how it compares to the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Elite, which is currently my daily driver. I know it’s an unfair comparison, given the Arctis Nova Elite has a $599.99 price tag, but the Maxwell 2 will continue to compete with the Arctis Nova Pro. After testing the original Maxwell headset, I couldn’t get over its weight, so the heavier Maxwell 2 concerns me. At the time, I found my Arctis Nova Pro to be more comfortable for long gaming sessions, and I still prefer the swappable battery pack over having to remember to plug in and charge.
