AirPods Max Issues, fails every year

I’m pretty frustrated with my AirPods Max. I mean they’re one of Apple’s best products in theory, but in practice, they’ve been very unreliable. When they work, I’m amazed by the integration with Apple’s ecosystem, the sound quality, and especially that insane transparency mode. But every few months, issues come up, randomly shutting off on my head, sound not working in one ear, noise cancellation failing to activate, it’s like they start dying a slow, painful death over a few weeks or months haha. I can’t get through a year without major issues.

usually when they fail, the only solution is this: I hold down the digital crown and noise control button, hope the light blinks, and button mash until something happens. That’s how I survive the last few months of any AirPods Max’s life before it’s time to send them off again. But even the repair process has been disappointing and especially the last time. It took two and a half to 3 months before I got them back, and they’d just swapped out the main unit while keeping my original ear pads. For the amount we pay, this shouldn’t be the norm!

I genuinely want to keep using these, they’re amazing when they work, but I’ve lost a lot of trust as of now. Am I the only one dealing with this every year? Is there anything I can do to make them last, or am I stuck in this loop of resetting, replacing, and repairing? I’m switching to AirPods Pro in the hope that they’re more reliable. Any advice from others dealing with this, or maybe even an official fix from Apple, would be very appreciated, thanks