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The Beats Powerbeats Pro are not going to do much to end the sibling rivalry in Cupertino, but some healthy family competitions are paying dividends to music fans. The AirPods shared their toys, in the form of the Apple H1 Bluetooth chip, and the Powerbeats Pro worked with it, adding features and talents that might well overshadow Apple's already iconic white earbuds.
Smaller and more subtle
With its bold "b" logo and its dominant size in the ear, the old Powerbeats3 Wireless did a decent job of advertising your audio brand of choice. Pro Powerbeats are smaller and lighter, and a little more subtle. The slanted center bar in particular is elegant, while the ear hook is easier to slip around your ear.
Each button measures just over 20 grams (0.72 oz) and Beats includes four sizes of rubber ear-tips. I usually have problems with the ear buds and try to get them to stick to my ears, but the combination of the smaller tip and the hook has kept the Powerbeats Pro comfortably in place. Apple and Beats consider them perfect for exercise – they're also water and sweat resistant IPX4 – and I can not say that much. Shaking your head violently was not enough to dislodge them, but the ear horn was not bad at all when it was worn with my glasses.
Audio enhancement, but not revolutionary
Pick up a set of Powerbeats Pro and enjoy phrases such as "Offset Acoustic Nozzle" and "Micro-Laser Barometric Ventilation Hole". What you need to know, however, is that their sound is better than previous Beate wireless headphones. Apple's AirPods 2 too.
Abundant bass is present and correct, as one would expect from Beats, without being overwhelming. The mediums fall, again without surprise, although the high end suits the song. In fact, one has the impression that the agreement was heavily pressed on the high end this time, which gives the whole scene a brighter and more appealing feel. However, Beats offers no easy way to adjust the equalizer, or even preset sound modes. If you're not a fan of how the Powerbeats Pro works, you should probably go elsewhere.
Likewise, you should not expect anything like the kind of active noise suppression offered by some earphones and headphones. Powerbeats Pro eliminated more cabin noise than the AirPods 2 when I carried them in flight, but that's because they hold me more in the ears. Frequent flyers will still want to turn to something like the Sony WH-1000XM3 headset – which is always my recommendation – which does an amazing job of keeping the noise around.
Not just an Apple party
Powerbeats Pro use the same Apple H1 headset chip as the second-generation AirPods. This means that if you're an iOS user, pairing your new Beats is as easy as opening the case near your iPhone, then clicking the button that appears on the screen. You also get "Hey Siri" hands-free control, faster coupling and switching hours, and the promise of greater wireless stability. I've been impressed on all these fronts with the AirPods 2, and the Powerbeats Pro are no different.
Unlike Apple headphones, Beats relies heavily on cross-platform support. Android users also love Beats products, and the Powerbeats Pro does not leave them feeling like second-class citizens.
Thus, you always have access to all commands – "Hey Siri" bar – if you use Powerbeats Pro with your Android smartphone and you can still use the left, right or both earphones depending on the situation. If you have an epic phone call, you can wear one earphone, then insert the other when the first one is almost discharged, switch it to stereo mode, and then exit first to charge without interrupting the call.
A master class in controls
Unlike AirPods, you can not customize Powerbeats Pro controls. The good news is that you do not really need to do it: you can do a lot of amazing things with a single multifunction button and volume controls.
A single press switches to play / pause or answer / end a call. A double tapping goes forward; a triple tap taps back. Double-tapping and then holding the tracks forward in the current track, while typing three times and holding down the keys will do the same thing in the opposite direction. Finally, a long press activates the dominant assistant on your smartphone of choice: Siri if you are using Beats with an iPhone or Google Assistant with an Android device.
The buttons work in conjunction with sensors that detect whether the earplugs are in your ear or not. Take one, for example, and the music will automatically pause. Put one while you're online with your phone and the sound will be routed to the Powerbeats Pro. In fact, the only problem I had was that sometimes when you put back a headset, I accidentally ignored the automatic recovery by inadvertently pressing the multifunction button.
Big battery, a bigger case of charge
Beats does not hesitate to boast of his battery. According to the company, each earpiece should last up to nine hours of music, while the charge case contains about two full charges. In total, you listen to more than one day of listening.
According to my own tests, the Beats figures also seem accurate. Faced with a cross-country flight, the Powerbeats Pro managed to pass without reaching half of the course. As with the AirPods, you get a useful battery percentage – for each earpiece and for the case – under iOS.
The loading is equally impressive. The Beat Fuel Fast system. Promises about 90 minutes of listening from a charge of five minutes, or 4.5 hours from 15 minutes. There is a lightning cable to USB-A (unfortunately not USB-C) of 1 m in the box to connect the case.
In many ways, it's a beautifully crafted case. Powerbeats Pro are perfectly stored and magnetically maintained. The lid is similarly magnetically closed, easy enough to open whenever you want, but not so much that I feared it inadvertently opened in my bag. An outside LED turns red when the load is below 40%.
The problem is that huge. Place the Powerbeats Pro box next to an AirPod case and the difference is almost comical. Apple's charging shell is pretty small, of course, but next to any wireless headset, the Beats hull is oversized. It would not bother me so much if it meant that there was also room for the Lightning cable, but it does.
Powerbeats Pro vs AirPods 2
The most common question I asked when testing the Powerbeats Pro was "should I buy them instead of AirPods?" With the Apple H1 chip, the two overlap, but in practice, they look very different. A big part of this is the ethos.
AirPods feel like an iPhone accessory. Of course, you can use them with other devices, outside the Apple ecosystem, but it's a pretty disappointing experience. Until now, I had recommended something like the Samsung Galaxy Buds for Android users.
Powerbeats Pro, however, feels more agnostic on the platform. Yes, you get the very more feature with an iPhone, but their use of Bluetooth 5.0 and dedicated buttons means that Android users do not have to feel like second-class citizens.
I find the Beats headphones more comfortable, and the longer battery life is also welcome. Really, the main problem I encounter is the size of the charging case. AirPods may have lower costs, but they compensate for this more comfortably.
Beats Powerbeats Pro Verdict
Beats borrowed almost all the best elements of Apple's AirPods and then improved them. The audio quality is up, of course, but I've been even more impressed with the fit, the enhancements to the controls, the longer battery life and the ease with which the Powerbeats Pro works with non-Apple devices.
It's not completely clean. The $ 249.95 price tag gives Powerbeats Pro a substantial premium over a large part of the competition, and the indictment case – without being cumbersome – is undeniably bulky. The fact that it is time or audio tuning authorizations could also limit the attractiveness of the earphones, while road warriors may still want something with active noise suppression.
Even with these considerations, the Powerbeats Pro has it all. Convenience and flexibility are a welcome addition to my bag, as well as knowing that, even if I change platforms in the future, I will not leave my dear earbuds. Beats has just taken the challenge, and even Apple's AirBuds team realizes it is catching up.
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