NEW Beats Studio Pro Review: Better On Android than iPhone?
At $349, Beats is back in the big leagues with the new Studio Pro headphones. But how will they hold up against some elite competition? To find out, we’re in the Pro Studio today. Let’s dive in. This is the fourth generation of the Beats flagship headphones. When they released the Beats Studio3 in 2017, they sounded a lot like AirPods. They were also really bass-heavy, which is what Beats is known for, but they were too bass-heavy. The muddiness of the bass just kind of drowned everything else out. These headphones are a massive improvement. The new Beats Studio
Pro have a really clear bass sound, and there’s a little bit of a dip in the lower mid-range, which we heard also with the new AirPods Pro 2nd gens. The chip that’s inside of these is the Beats proprietary chip, 2nd generation. And it’s a little bit unclear where the Beats product engineering team ends, and Apple’s begins. Let’s talk about the different ways you can connect the Beats Studio Pro to iPhones and Androids. First way, obviously, they’re Bluetooth headphones. The next way to connect the Beats Studio Pros to a smartphone is using USB-C, as long as
that smartphone is not an iPhone. Also, USB-C has the additional benefit of providing you higher quality, lossless audio. Only possible on Android, not possible on iPhone. I think
can’t access any other way with these headphones. So the first default one is the Beats regular EQ, which is sort of a bass boost profile. But then the second one is a sort of an enhanced profile and it just makes everything sound amazing. And then the third one is optimized for voice only. The next way you can connect your Beats Studio Pro to your phone is, Maceo, thank you, with a regular old headphone cable. Three and a half millimeters, as they say. This is awesome. I love that Beats is bringing back the cable because cables
are actually cool. Remember the original iPod commercials, those white cables? I think the cable is going to make a comeback. I really wish they had included a quarter inch headphone adapter with the Beats Studio Pro because every studio I’ve ever recorded in, when I go to plug in my headphones, it’s the big one, not the little one. Even for people that never used it, it feels like the Beats Studio Pro, if they’re for pro studios, should just come with one of these anyway. I love the fact that Beats is including the cable with these headphones.
Again, the cable is going to come back because it looks cool, but I think it’s a big miss, including this gray cable that doesn’t really match these sandstone headphones, but it also doesn’t really match any of the color headphones. It’s not braided. If it came with my Nintendo Switch, that’s kind of the quality I feel like it is. It’s durable, but it doesn’t really fit the high fashion aesthetic they’re going for. And the Beats Studio 3 headphones came with black cables and black cables work with pretty much everything. The case is functional and that’s why
I like it. Zach, our video editor, hates it. He doesn’t think it’s very high fashion, but I think it works really well because these headphones, the way they fold up, probably my favorite folding headphones in the world, folding them up is a snap. So then you could put them in the case. It looks like a little travel case for shaving cream, but you throw it right in here and then zip it up. Best zipper on the planet and it’s very functional. You can throw this in your bag, but they don’t fold down flat like pretty
much every other pair of high-end headphones. So if you use a bag where you’re sliding your laptop in and then you’re used to sliding your headphones in right on top of that, these aren’t going to work quite as well. But I do love how compact this case is, especially when you compare it to the Sony XM5 case, for instance. Ridiculously different. Let’s talk about comfort. Ear cushions, first off, are ultra plush. One word, it’s a good word that describes it. And when I look at them, they really are beautiful. There’s a lot of attention to
detail in here. The foam is nice and soft and squishy. They also focus on durability, which I love. These are the fourth flagship pair of headphones Beats has released since they originally came out in 2007, which means they’re going to hold up for at least five years or so. To me, they do feel high quality. I mean, they’re not going to fall apart on you. And I do think the ear cushions are going to hold up. How do they fit? If I had to describe the fit of the Beats Studio Pro headphones, in a word,
it would be snug. To me, there is a little bit of the same hinge that I felt below my ear down here. But when I put them on, what I found the trick is, is to go a little bit less than usual with the adjustment. And that kind of relieves the pressure that I feel. What’s good about these two is that you can shake your head and they’re not going to fall off. I mean, really, if you’re walking around the house, they’re very comfortable. The last thing I’ll say about the fit is that the passive
noise cancellation on these is excellent. Unlike active noise cancellation, which uses microphones to cancel outside noise. When I say passive noise cancellation, it just means blocking the sound physically before it gets to your ears. Let’s talk about the active noise cancellation on these headphones. Whenever we’re talking about ANC, it’s easy to put headphones into two different categories. Ones when ANC is on, you hear white noise, and ones where you don’t. These unfortunately fall into the category of you can hear white noise when noise cancellation is turned on. To me, it’s annoying, but it’s not that
abnormal in the premium headphone space. And it’s also something the Beats might be able to improve on with a firmware update, I hope. The other reason I’m surprised that the noise cancellation isn’t silent on these is that it is silent on the AirPods Max. Then again, the AirPods Max do a much worse job of passive noise cancellation than these two, but the technology is obviously there for Apple. These are the first Beats studio headphones with transparency mode. And when it’s turned on, there’s also that white noise, but I don’t really care about that because the
whole point is to hear outside noise and a little extra doesn’t bother me. Let’s talk about battery life. 40 hours of battery life without active noise cancellation turned on or transparency mode, 24 hours with ANC turned on. So basically 24 hours of battery. That’s pretty good. Are Beats as cool today as they were when I was a kid? Not really. They’re probably second place now. Okay, who’s first place? AirPods. AirPods. So Apple owns number one and number two? Yes. The Beats Studio Pros are better on Android smartphones than they are on iPhones. And I really
don’t even think it’s debatable. Two main reasons. First off, multi-point connectivity. You can connect the Beats Studio Pro headphones to your Android and your Chromebook and switch between them seamlessly. Not so with an iPhone and a Mac. Second point, USB-C connectivity for lossless audio. I do not know why Apple is holding back lossless audio compatibility over Bluetooth, but that’s beside the point. The USB connection works awesome on Android, does not work on iPhones at all. And it’s not like iPhones can’t use that connection to play lossless audio. If I plug my iPhone into this DAC,
then it just works. Every time I play a song, even the sample rate automatically changes. Sounds amazing. But for some reason, the high quality DAC in the Beats Studio Pros can’t do that. The only way to listen to lossless audio with these on an iPhone is using the little headphone dongle. And this dongle, this is no fun. And that’s why I’m not sure that the fact these have the best cross compatibility on the planet in terms of headphones is really that big of a deal to most people. Because most people either have an Apple iPhone
or an Android smartphone. Only tech YouTubers use both at once. But they do have those native ecosystem benefits, which makes them incredibly easy to pair on both iPhone and Android. Not like Bluetooth headphone pairing was that difficult to begin with, though. Just pair with the phone. Okay, yeah, maybe it was. For Apple, we have one touch pairing with iPhone and other devices using iCloud pairing. We’ve got Hey SIRI. We’ve got Find My, dynamic head tracking, spatial audio, and other customizations. Beats is big on being universally compatible with both iPhones and Android smartphones. It sounds good,
but I don’t think in practice it works out very well. As an Apple product, the AirPods controls feel right at home on the settings app on an iPhone. But Beats should have its own separate app on iPhone, just like there is on Android. First off, it’s part of the branding. People like to see that be on their home screen. Kind of like they like to see the T of the Tesla on their home screen. And also it gives them an opportunity to differentiate themselves from just being Apple. But the iPhone settings app is built to
be simple and white and gray, unless you’re in dark mode and then it’s black. It’s not built to have that black and red or whatever Beats is doing. The issue with Apple limiting themselves to putting all the Beats controls in the settings app on iPhone is that they can’t add extra functionality that doesn’t exist on AirPods. That’s why I think there should be a third-party Beats app on iPhone that builds in some extra Beats-focused features. Instead of doing that, though, Apple actually built in some of those features to the headphones themselves. One of Zach’s favorite
parts about these headphones is that there are no touch controls. Because we’ve had enough of touch controls. So it’s very intuitive. Up, down, and the middle button. Up, volume up. Down, volume down. Press once to play. Double press to go to the next track. Three to go back, just like you’re used to. On the other side of the headphones, you can either press and hold the power button to turn them on, or double tap to switch between active noise cancellation and transparency mode. Or if you’re using USB-C audio on Android or another supported device, you
can double tap to switch between EQ profiles. This is a test of the Beats Studio Pro microphone during a phone call. And for comparison, this is what the iPhone speakerphone sounds like. Beats says these headphones are the rebirth of an icon, and that the Beats Studio have been emblematic of the brand since its inception in 2008. And I think that’s true. But there’s some things about the design of these that bothers me a little bit. Beats said they tried to stay true to their heritage, maintaining the form while delivering radical improvements to function. In terms
of the radical improvements to function, compared to the last pair of Studio 3 headphones, these are so much better. But what do we think about the actual look of these? There’s no glitz, no glam. And that’s what I feel like Beats is all about. If I’m buying a Ferrari, I don’t want subtle. I want a red shiny one. And I feel like Beats is kind of getting away from being who they are, from being Beats, by going too subtle. This is where I get a little confused. They’re shooting for subtle and sleek headphones that work
with a variety of different outfits, but they completely omitted the black and red headphones that made Beats what they are today. So really, I think they’ve gotten away from the form. And that got me thinking, okay, who designed these headphones? To design these, they enlisted the help of veteran design consultant Samuel Ross. Some of the things they said about him was that his guidance was instrumental to the elevated presentation of the Beats Studio Pro. So I didn’t know about Samuel Ross. I went to his website just to check it out. The first thing I did
was click on the Spring-Summer 2023 collection. And what’s at the top of the website? But a guy wearing a black and red hoodie. The Beats colors, which Samuel apparently vetoed for the Beats headphones, but used as the number one example for his own current product line. So Gucci is high-end. Louis Vuitton is high-end. I don’t own Gucci or Louis Vuitton. But I don’t think they’re going to come out with product that hides their own branding the way that these do. One thing Samuel said was that he wanted to design headphones that would work with a
wider variety of outfits. Now, I don’t know about you, but I don’t have the budget to buy multiple pairs of headphones for each one of my outfits. Speaking for myself alone, these Beats, they’re the highest fashion I got. The Beats are supposed to make everything else I wear look better, not get out of the way to highlight my Walmart panache sense of style. And as I looked through Gucci and these other high-end brands, none of them are going this subtle with any of their products. The other thing about the style is they don’t need to
really match the other headphones in their own lineup. I think the Beats Studio Buds Plus that I have are much more pleasing in terms of the sandstone color than these are. And Beats was always number one in terms of looks far and ahead. Even the Beats Studio 3 Skyline auditions were gorgeous, but it feels like they’re just coming back to the middle of the pack on purpose, which to me feels like a missed opportunity to stay way far ahead of everybody else. So these are the Beats Studio Pro. Let us know what you think in
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