Airpods Max disconnecting when recording voice message in iMessage on iPhone and iPad

My Airpods Max keep disconnecting when recording a voice message in iMessage on my iPhone or iPad. After trying to record a voice message with the headphones on, first the AirPods Max turns on the mic, then the left ear cup shutsdown followed by the right cup. Then the noise cancelling turns off and it shuts off the whole device. Then, it comes back on right away and reconnects to my phone...

Is this happening to anyone else? Really frustrating.

Also having battery drain issues that has been well documented. Hoping this can be solved by a firmware update. IOS 14.4 didn't solve the issue. Any thoughts? Tried factory reset etc.