Over-Ear
Audeze Maxwell 2
88Outstanding
$330
Full review dataAudeze Maxwell 2 vs Harmonicdyne Helios: which should you buy?
Specs, scores and condensed review verdicts for the Audeze Maxwell 2 vs Harmonicdyne Helios, side by side. Where a product has no HearWiki score yet, not enough reviews have been aggregated to rate it.
Score breakdown
Each axis is a 0–10 blend of what reviewers scored, not a lab measurement.
Audeze Maxwell 2 leads on 5 of 6 measures.
- Audeze Maxwell 2
- Harmonicdyne Helios
HearWiki score
88
-
Sound
9.5
-
Battery
9.5
-
Calls
9.0
-
Value
7.5
-
Price (USD)
$330
$180
Generation & platform
The scores rank quality. This is the other question: is the newer one actually newer technology, or the same platform in a new shell?
Half a step newer
Audeze Maxwell 2 (2026) against Harmonicdyne Helios (2020). The Audeze Maxwell 2 edges ahead on platform, but only just: ANC type Adaptive against None.
- Maxwell 220266 yr newer
- Helios2020
What differsMaxwell 2Helios
- ANC type
- Adaptive
- None
Platform
Specifications
Maxwell 2Helios
- Type
- Over-Ear
- Over-Ear
- Price (USD)
- $330
- $180
- HearWiki score
- 88
- Not scored
- Released
- 2026
- 2020
- Availability
- Sold new
- Discontinued
- Driver
- 90 mm planar magnetic
- 50 mm dynamic
- Driver type
- planar
- dynamic
- Driver size
- 90 mm
- 50 mm
- Drivers per side
- 1
- 1
- Frequency response
- 10 Hz - 50 kHz
- 10 Hz - 40 kHz
- Sound signature
- -
- v-shaped
- Impedance
- -
- 16 Ω
- Bluetooth
- 5.3
- -
- Codecs
- SBC, AAC, LC3, LC3plus, LDAC
- -
- Multipoint pairing
- Yes
- -
- Battery life
- 80 h
- -
- Battery life (ANC on)
- 35 h
- -
- Full charge time
- 120 min
- -
- Active noise cancelling
- Yes
- No
- ANC type
- adaptive
- -
- Transparency mode
- Yes
- -
- Companion app
- Yes
- -
- Custom EQ
- Yes
- -
- Wear detection
- No
- -
- Controls
- buttons
- -
- Weight
- 560 g
- 448 g
- Detachable cable
- -
- Yes
- USB-C
- Yes
- -
- Pad material
- -
- velour
- Connector
- -
- 3.5 mm
- Microphones
- 2
- -
- Call noise reduction
- Yes
- -
- Call NR technology
- AI ENC
- -
What reviewers said
Audeze Maxwell 2
No summary yet - we haven't aggregated enough reviews.
Harmonicdyne Helios
The HarmonicDyne Helios are open-back over-ears with a V-shaped sound profile, combining metal and wood construction with a 50mm composite driver for a spacious, detailed presentation. As a wired, non-ANC model, they focus on pure audio performance at a budget-friendly price.
- Pro:Wide, immersive soundstage
- Pro:Strong detail retrieval
- Pro:Solid metal and wood build
- Con:No active noise cancellation
- Con:Heavy at 448 grams
- Con:V-shaped tuning may not suit purists
Summaries are AI-condensed and paraphrased from published reviews and specs - not original hands-on testing. More on our method.
Compare something else
Swap either side out, or start again from the picker.