Audeze has launched its Maxwell 2 Wireless Gaming Headset at CES 2026 and the new model appears to have been given refinements all around. The Maxwell 2 retains the 90 mm planar magnetic drivers, but everything from the headband to the earcups have been upgraded. Starting with the earcups, they're now attached magnetically, making them easier to remove and they've also been given clearer markings inside and a slight redesign. The headband appears to be slightly wider and it now has perforations to keep your head cooler and the attachment points have been refined. The power button appears to have been moved to the side of the left earcup, rather than sitting in the centre of one of the earcups, next to what appears to be a Bluetooth/proprietary dongle switch.The rest of the controls appear to have been kept, but with refined labelling and the Maxwell 2 still features a trusty old 3.5 mm jack and a USB Type-C port for charging and audio.

The weight has sadly gone up by 70 grams, which isn't entirely insignificant for long gaming sessions, yet the battery remains at the same 1800 mAh rating and still offers 80 hours of wireless usage. This also means that the charging times remain the same, i.e. two hours for a full charge. A new addition on the Bluetooth codec side appears to be Auracast, which might not be super useful when gaming, but could be handy when watching TV. LC3, LC3plus, LDAC, AAC and SBC are still supported, as is multipoint support. The microphone also appears to remain the same as the one that shipped with the original Maxwell headset, with a sprinkle of AI noise removal. Audeze has also launched a new app to go with Maxwell 2 and will be offering "skins" to customise the headphones with. Unfortunately the price has also gone up, albeit by just US$20-30 depending on the SKU, which means that the PlayStation version starts at US$329 and the Xbox version is coming in at US$349 and is available to order now.