AirPods Max are way more expensive than what I'd consider paying for headphones, the case I wouldn't trust in my backpack, the battery life doesn't even last a

AirPods Max are way more expensive than what I'd consider paying for headphones, the case I wouldn't trust in my backpack, the battery life doesn't even last a long international flight, nor does it come with airplane adapters, it doesn't have an aux cable for backup and I don't trust apple to integrate with anything outside their walled garden - which includes pretty much everything I own. As for other brands the cutting out is inherent to bluetooth and so is the pairing process. Even with longer lasting batteries they'd still run out eventually. It sometimes not connecting automatically is likely related to my phone, so I doubt an alternative would change that. I'm extremely happy with my Sony XM4's, but to me them having bluetooth makes little difference.