A sound investment?
Beats Studio3 Wireless on test
$349.95 From Beats By Dre, beatsbydre.com Features Noise isolation, on-board controls, in-line remote Needs Bluetooth
These are Beats’ premier full-size wireless headphones. Most of the frame is plastic, and the pads are soft synthetic leather, which ultimately doesn’t matter much. Beats’ build quality has been criticized over the years, but seems perfectly good here.
The headphones’ Pure Adaptive Noise Cancelling (Pure ANC) appears designed to avoid distortion caused by cancellation of louder sources, which we’ve heard next to subway car doors, say. It doesn’t solve a big real-world issue, however: wind whistling around the pinhole microphone creating more noise. These headphones are slightly more susceptible to this than some.
The tech is reasonably effective, though, making cities less stressful, stopping engine noise ruining your music, and avoiding the need to raise volume in noisy places. Yet ANC in Bose’s Quiet-Comfort 35 is significantly better. Pure ANC leaves the Studio3 Wireless with a slight low-mid frequency noise bed. Some ANC headphones sound like digital tinnitus; these are more like a record player.
Sound isn’t overly bassy or juvenile. There’s width similar to some of the best portable headphones’, with a quite forward presentation. This makes key parts of a mix seem close to your ears, ensuring sound isn’t too relaxed. Relatively conservative low bass is one potential surprise. Sennheiser’s Momentum 2.0 cans, for example, are more aggressive here, making kick drums stand out and seem more powerful.
There’s a thickness in the upper bass and low mids, rather than a sub-bass gut punch. In many situations it works well. Podcasts aren’t underpinned by bass rumble, but voices sound robust. With vocal-led music, particularly a gravelly crooner such as Leonard Cohen, this is imperfect; it stops music sounding properly separated, and can seem abrasively resonant with certain songs.
We’ve heard this from Beats before, and noted how it makes the soundstage seem constrained. This flaw is largely absent in rivals, most damningly Urbanista’s Seattle Wireless. These Beats sound better in other respects, but it’s not good that something one-third of the price has more coherent mids. The treble is slightly safe too, lacking a little compared to rivals of this price.
Battery life is good — 22 hours with ANC and wireless on, or up to 40 without ANC. Apple’s W1 chip makes connecting to your phone straightforward.
The bottom line. The Studio3 is solidly built and has decent noise cancellation. However, overall sound quality lags behind its chief rivals. Andrew williams