Review of Beats Studio Pro

For Beats, the Studio line is one of the main ones; a long time ago, the power of marketing turned these headphones into an iconic item — it’s clear that it all started in the USA and then rolled out across the world. Eye-catching design, bright sound due to the emphasis on low frequencies, with Beats, hip-hop stars would walk around and take photos. I am not diminishing the contributions of Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre at all — this is not a winery or some local tequila. They are among the few who created an interesting brand and then successfully (super successfully, mega successfully) sold it.

Another question is that after Apple’s purchase, everyone was expecting changes. And indeed, at first, it seemed that everything was going well. The headphones started using the same chips as the AirPods, they continued to exploit pop stars, it seemed like life was happening. But what do we see now? The design has gotten stuck in the past. The stars have seemingly evaporated. Apple isn’t providing its own chips — in compact Beats, you can even encounter, God forbid, Mediatek. And now in 2023, they show the Beats Studio Pro. They look the same as all previous Studios. A fortunate start, Apple! Let’s take a closer look.

Design

Of course, it would be nice to see something new and fresh from Beats, say aluminum instead of plastic, some new shape, something fresh, cool, impressive.

But in reality, the Beats Studio Pro look like all the old “Beats.” Synthetic leather, creaky plastic, the headband is finished with rubber, the same b letters on the cups. The fabric case has changed — and it’s quite difficult to fit the headphones inside. The packaging made of recycled cardboard literally falls apart into two halves, just begging to be thrown in the trash. So at first, I was a bit disheartened.

On the other hand, there is good news. The headphones are still lightweight, equipped with USB-C for charging, they look quite nice — not big, not small, neat. When folded, they can even fit in a jacket pocket.

Yes, all of this is a jab at AirPods Max, which are heavy, bulky, do not fold, and that Lightning connector is just not right.

Perhaps the easy connection to Apple devices is also worth mentioning in the design section — as soon as you turn on the Beats, a pop-up window appears, in the Bluetooth settings, the headphones have an expanded menu, just like the AirPods.

Siri reads messages, and there is some spatial audio. I want to thank the engineers for all this — a deep bow. And despite all this, there are no Apple chips here; the designers made their own. How that happened is not entirely clear. I’m also confused as to why there are such pictures on the official Beats website — Beats belongs to Apple, so what is this strange smartphone doing here? It’s unacceptable!

I really liked the buttons. They are physical — no sensors! On the left is a large “back” button, next to it is the volume control, and on the right is the power and noise cancellation control button. You figure it out instantly and then live happily ever after.

I was pleased with the kit included. On the official website, there is a separate section dedicated to the included audio cable, saying that if you want to listen to proper lossless in Apple Music, just connect the cable and everything will be great. I tried it, and I liked it, although I didn’t notice a significant difference in quality compared to Bluetooth. Yes, some things sound more detailed, louder, and clearer, but overall, everything is just good. Well, this isn’t Hi-Fi for us — thank you for keeping the 3.5 mm jack and mentioning this option on the official website. It’s worth a lot these days. Although, I suspect that only a few will actually use this feature.

The headphones are available in several colors: black, blue, dark brown, and light beige, with the last ones being my favorite. Keep in mind, my headphones are blue, and every fingerprint is noticeable. They only look blue at certain angles of light. In this photo, blue is visible. In others, they look more like black with a blue tint.

The claimed working time is around 40 hours, of course, everything depends on the volume, whether noise cancellation is working, and in what conditions the headphones are — maybe you are listening to music in winter by a cold lake. There is fast charging, there is non-fast charging, everything is fine. The main thing is that there is USB-C.

Noise Cancellation and Transparency

The operation of the noise canceling is almost imperceptible, and the transparency is not particularly transparent. If with AirPods Max you turn on ANC and really let the whole world wait, then with Beats Studio Pro there is no such effect.

For example, here I am sitting in the office. The system suppresses sharp noises, but I hear everything else — and it hurts.

This is only good in one case, if you do not love hellishly strong noise cancellation, then you will like Studio Pro.

Music

The official website claims that they changed the drivers — in the best traditions of Apple they write this: “An improvement of up to 80% compared to Beats Studio 3 Wireless, providing increased audio fidelity.” How they measured the improvement, how it can be measured, what is happening, is all unclear.

But they aren’t lying! In recent years, I listened to the new Beats headphones with disgust, as there was way too much design, Apple chips, and marketing, but they forgot about the sound. And here we are, in 2023, a few days with the Beats Studio Pro and I LIKE THEM! Just for the record, I have an iPhone 14 Pro Max, Apple Music and Spotify services, and an unknown player Vox for FLAC and other entertainment in the iOS world. I also listen to Endel. So with all this richness, I listened to the Studio Pro for several days and felt positive vibrations.

That is, the sound here is quite good. Moreover, when you buy them you get a six-month subscription to Apple Music, it’s truly beautiful.

The quality of voice transmission during calls is also normal, and here they use the first-class Bluetooth—let me remind you, the class affects the range and the first class is the top one. You can move quite far from the phone. But, of course, it’s not the claimed one hundred meters.

Verdict

In retail, the headphones cost $350. For me, at that price, they are very good. Here you have a recognizable design, integration into iOS, good sound quality, and top-notch controls. The downsides include the frankly cheap materials and the strange noise canceling.

And all would be fine, but you can take and buy Sony WH-1000XM4 for a similar price — still very good headphones, you don’t even need to get the fifth version.

My favorite Bose QC45 will cost a little less, and they definitely have a hundred times better noise canceling. I deliberately do not dive into various hi-fi depths and do not recommend anything for an excessively high price — even the XM4 will be better in terms of overall characteristics than the Beats Studio Pro.

So it turns out that Beats made good headphones within the overall product line with Apple, but somehow forgot to look outside the door and see what else is on the market. So everything seems fine, but if you want the top Apple headphones, buy the AirPods Max. They have device switching, much better noise cancellation, superior materials, and sound. Personally, I’ve been using the “maxes” since their launch and I am very satisfied.

The final verdict is simple — if you are not into Bose and Sony and the marketing magic of Beats keeps you under its spell, go ahead and get them. After all, they are decent headphones with their own features. And I go to the gym and see many people with “Beats,” especially those over thirty. A great thing — habit!