What a set of knockoff headphones taught me about headphones — and knockoffs

As a rule, you should never believe anything you see on social media. And you should really never believe anything someone says in a video with a TikTok Shop link, because they are nakedly trying to sell you something. From candy to headphones to supplements to power tools, TikTok has built a remarkable system: creators post videos promoting or reviewing products, TikTok blasts them onto For You pages everywhere, and when viewers click the link and buy the product, both the creators and TikTok get a cut. Everything’s for sale and everyone’s on commission.

I know all this to be true. So the first time I saw a video of an influencer hawking Picun F8 Pro headphones, which I immediately clocked as a convincing AirPods Max knockoff, I scrolled past it. But after weeks of video after video after video raving about how great these headphones are, I caved.

I kept hearing that Picun headphones were roughly as good as the AirPods Max for a fraction of the price. A few TikToks I saw argue that you’re not the problem if you buy knockoffs — you’re the problem if you’re spending $500 more just to get a brand name. Some videos purport to perform scientific noise-canceling tests; others just hold up a pair of AirPods Max and then a pair of Picuns, as if the side-by-side proves the point.

All the sales-creators made it clear that I needed to buy these headphones now. Some videos spread a rumor that Apple was suing Picun over the design, so they might be off the market soon. (This is not the case, as far as I know — Apple didn’t respond to a request for comment.) Others continuously claim that the headphones are about to be taken off the TikTok Shop; I’ve been seeing that for weeks, and they’re still for sale.

I don’t believe any of it! And yet, after a few taps I barely even remember, I’d spent $63.58 to get a pair shipped to my door. I also ran to the Apple Store and dropped $581.94 on blue AirPods Max. I had testing to do.

I’ve been using both for the past several weeks, and I’ve come to a conclusion I didn’t expect. The Picun F8 Pros sound a smidge worse than the AirPods Max, but in a few ways, I actually prefer them, and given the price I’d easily pick Picun. The bass in the F8s is a little more pronounced than I like, and can be a little muddy on extra-thumpy songs. They were crisper on the high notes in a song like “Welcome to the Black Parade,” though, and for the most part both brands sound pretty similar.

The limiting factor for headphones, I suspect, is not the headphones themselves but the context. Buy all the great gear you want, but if you’re still streaming Spotify playlists over Bluetooth, there’s only so much fidelity available. Yes, the AirPods Max now support lossless audio over a wired connection, but that’s not how most people listen to music. Most listen on loud subways, in the gym, or while walking the dog; unless you’re in a dedicated listening environment, I’d wager that good-enough sound is usually good enough. Especially for the price.

But then there’s everything else. All the little things, and a few big ones, that make headphones not just sound good but work well. And in that respect, Apple destroys Picun, and the best brands usually beat the knockoffs.

The headphones may look similar on my TikTok feed, but there’s no mistaking the two in person. The AirPods Max are more impressive the second you take them out of the box. They come with a case, which the F8s don’t have. The mesh in the Max headband is actual, breathable mesh, while the F8 is just a slightly textured (and very sweaty) fabric. Apple’s cushions pop off with a satisfying magnetic thunk, but you have to yank the F8s’ cushions off with true force. Which is ironic, because I think I could pry the F8s themselves apart with two fingernails.

I’ve never found the noise canceling in the AirPods Max to be particularly impressive (though my smarter colleagues might disagree). But it’s better than the F8s, which cut some noise, but let noticeably more through. You can hear the ongoing processing in a pretty ugly way, too: Sounds are compressed and reduced a little too slowly, so some things sound like crappy sound effects rather than real noise. Apple takes an even bigger win with Transparency mode: the AirPods Max have the best transparency of any headphones I’ve tried, while the F8s are… trash. They actually make noises louder and more annoying in transparency mode, while Apple realistically pipes external sounds through. I’d rate the mics about equal in good conditions, but the Max are far better in noisy spots.

From the F8s’ strange startup sound — a woman breathily announcing “Power on!” — to Picun’s unusable companion app, you can tell the company cares far more about manufacturing than design. The Max are far more pleasant to use. There are also uniquely Apple-y things that only first-party devices can do, such as simple cross-device pairing and hands-free Siri. This isn’t a function of price so much as company policy, but it’s still a win for the Max.

There are, to be fair, a couple of places I actually appreciate Picun taking the easy way out. The F8s are 100 grams lighter than the Max — a full Magic Mouse of weight difference! — and feel more comfortable on my head. The F8s definitely pass the “can I wear them on an entire cross-country flight” test. The F8s have an actual power button, meaning you can actually turn them off instead of dealing with Apple’s dumb guesses as to whether you’re wearing them. The battery life is ridiculous: Picun says you can get 60 hours of listening with noise cancellation on a single charge, and I’m charging my headphones once every two weeks at most. The AirPods Max only last a third as long.

Put it all together, and are the F8 Pros as good as the AirPods Max? No. They do the most important thing pretty well, but fall varying levels of short in almost everything else. The big question is, how much is all that worth? Are all the details worth nine times the price? The big brands better hope so, because now, thanks to things like the TikTok Shop, knockoffs are seemingly as accessible as the brand names. They’re available at impulse-buy prices, and at impulse-buy speed. I don’t have to go to AliExpress or hunt through Amazon or Temu. I just click a link in a video that is being shown to me every sixth scroll.

In this social future of shopping, where ads and content are utterly indistinguishable and reviews are nearly impossible to trust, it feels harder than ever to figure out what’s good and what isn’t. Given that, picking the cheaper option often seems like the safer option. And it’s not clear how big brands will compete. A few months ago, Bose announced its headphones are available on the TikTok Shop — and the sales numbers look pretty dismal. You definitely can’t buy real-thing AirPods Max on the platform, and I’m not sure I’d believe the listing if I saw one. For now, I’m happy with my F8 Pros — I returned the Max, and turned my knockoffs into my yard-working and dog-walking headphones. They’re not great, but they’re cheap. And I hear they’re going out of stock any minute now.