Beats Studio Buds
Capable and affordable alternative to the AirPods Pro
$149.99 From beatsbydre.com
Features Bluetooth 5.2, Active Noise Cancelling (ANC), Up to 8 hours listening time between recharges, water and sweat resistant to IPX4, Siri voice activation
Beats built its name and reputation on two things: being seen on (and in) the ears of pop stars, athletes and other influencers; and bass, lots and lots of bass. Since Apple took over, things have changed. Beats still has that cool cachet (perhaps even more so), but its cans also finally sound as good as they look — that bass bias has been replaced by something more balanced and neutral. They’re headphones for the rest of us.
That applies to their pricing too. While the second–gen AirPods Pro cost a cool $249, Beats first true wireless in–ears are $100 less. That’s chiefly down to the absence of the H1 chip that enables AirPods Pro to support features like spatial audio with dynamic head tracking, and also prevents the Studio Buds from seamlessly switching between devices as you move from iPhone to iPad to Mac and back — instead you have to do so manually. However that absence also enables the Studio Buds to pair seamlessly with Android as well as Apple devices, and they still offer automatic support for Dolby Atmos and Lossless Audio tracks on Apple Music. So your mileage may vary.
Design–wise Beats Studio Buds are very diferent to the AirPods Pro too. They lack the latter’s long touch–enabled stems, instead replacing them with a stubbier form factor that includes a clickable button that you can
press to play, pause, skip tracks or switch between the Bud’s Active Noise Cancelling (ANC) modes — On, Off and Transparency. While we prefer clickable buttons to hit–and– miss touch surfaces, there is one noticeable absence: volume control. To adjust the sound level, you’ll need to do that from your iPhone, Mac, iPad or Android phone instead. The AirPods Pro are the same in this respect.
Available in Black, White and Red, the Studio Buds also come with a chunky pill– shaped charging case, and offer up to eight hours of listening time with ANC switched off or five hours with it on. The charging case can supply an extra 16 hours of power to headphones before it too needs to be recharged via its USB–C port. It does lack Qi wireless charging support, however.
So far, so cool, but where the Studio Buds really shine is with their sound quality — fire up your favorite rock, dance, classical or jazz track and that balanced sounds really makes its presence felt, with wonderfully clear highs, ear–stroking mids and deeply enjoyable musical bass that never drowns out the sound like other Beats cans could.
ANC is more of a mixed bag, with external noises in Transparency mode lacking clarity.
THE BOTTOM LINE. Beats’ first ANC true–wireless headphones perform briliantly for the money. ROB MEAD–GREEN