3} Product Review

Beats History

The Beats headphones are in style in 2024 and have been since they first aired in 2008. This Apple-owned company, since 2014, is continuing to market itself as a dual-ecosystem solution with support for both ISO and Android software features. The Beats headphones are comfortable and suitable for use over long periods of time. While their over-ear designs are comfortable, their in-ear headphones tend to be just as or more comfortable than similar designed models. 

                                   

Overall, Beats make sleek and modern-looking headphones that feel like fashion accessories. Although older models have a mediocre-at-best sound quality more recent releases have a balanced sound that does not completely sacrifice bass. Beats have a slightly unorthodox naming convention for their headphones, but they offer various models for different uses.  

• Solo = On-ear headphones. 
• Studio = Includes over-ear and earbud models with ANC.
• Powerbeats = In-ears with ear hooks that are designed for sports use.
• Fit = earbuds with a more conventional design (without earhooks) meant for sports.
• Flex = Wireless earbuds with a neck cable design.
• urBeats = A discontinued line of wired earbuds.    

The New Beats Studio Pro Headphones 

The form is similar, but the Beats have completely reworked the audio architecture inside the Studio Pro Headphones. It has gained new features like transparency mode, personalized spatial audio, and even lossless music playback over USB-C. Beats have switched to a new ear cushion that they call UltraPlush, which combines memory foam padding with an outer layer of "engineered leather" that does not have any visible seams or stitching. The company believes that with this new cushion it will lead to improved long-term durability. 

The noise cancellation and battery life are one of Beats best features. Similarly to Apple, Beats claims the Studio Pros analyze your surroundings tens of thousands of times per second. The battery life still tops out at 40 hours with noise cancellation turned off and around 24 hours if you've got it on (or are using transparency mode). 

When in wired USB-C mode, the Studio Pros can toggle between three sound profiles targeted at different cases. The default Beats Signature profile is totally balanced for music playback. But there’s also Entertainment, which widens the sound stage and boosts certain portions of the frequency curve for a more immersive movie-watching experience. And the last, Conversation, adjusts the EQ and frequency response for clearer voice calls and more pleasant, less fatiguing podcast listening. These are only available over USB-C; they don’t work when listening via Bluetooth or even with the 3.5mm headphone jack. 

The way you can check is by looking at the LED on the right ear cup of the Beats. If the one in the center is illuminated, you’re in Beats Signature mode. If three of them are lit up, that’s Entertainment mode. Many people wish that they would have just added in speech feedback instead of having to look for the mode. For the most part those sound profiles was a fascinating idea. 

Focusing on those elements of the headphones, the Beats Studio Pros are a modest upgrade with improved sound, comfort, and the transparency passthrough. TheVerge

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