Beats Powerbeats Pro Wireless Earbuds – Black

I don’t think I’ll ever not get Beats brand headphones. They’re expensive but soooo worth it. The sound quality and comfort cannot be beat. I usually have ear pain after wearing in ear headphones for hours, but these are so comfortable I can wear them all day without a problem. They automatically connect to my phone when I remove them from the very convenient charging case, and if I take it out of my ear it automatically pauses whatever was playing. It also says they’re sweat and water resistant, so I’m excited to take them out for a walk and not have to worry about if it rains and them getting wet. The color is a beautiful blue with rose gold accent. The microphone for calls is not very good, it doesn’t seem to have any background noise cancellation. But they’re mostly for listening instead of being a microphone, so I don’t hold that against them. They’re not as noise cancelling as my over ear Beats headphones (highly recommend those for true noise cancellation), but I didn’t want these for noise cancellation. I got them to wear for walking and sweating and water resistance as well as the seamless compatibility with my phone. I can’t recommend these enough.

I tried three other types of earbuds before finally getting these. I only hadn’t got them first due to the price. They went on sale ($100 less) so I got them. I’ve so far only used them at work—just either the left or right. They last all day. The case recharges them so I can usually go a week without charging. I have ridiculously small ear canals so I switched to the smallest of the ear tips. The sound is good. I only lose the connection when I get too far from my iPhone. The fact that they have wrap for your ears was a huge selling point as I have had earbuds pop out of my ears in the past. The only problem I have had is the piece that rests in the out ear. Due to my small ears (again) they occasionally feel uncomfortable after 8 hours. They aren’t noise canceling as far as I can tell but that wasn’t a feature I was looking for. I have not figured out what I can control. For example, I somehow caused my podcast to play at double speed. It took awhile to figure out how to turn it off. I had to use controls in the podcast app. I love that you can use find my app to locate them.

These are comfortable to wear and pair so easily, great sound and switch from device to device

I have had my Powerbeats Pro for about a week now and after a bit of a rocky start and an adjustment period, I find them to be almost perfect headphones. When I first put them on, I was wildly disappointed. They were uncomfortable and sounded tinny with no bass at all. I genuinely believed I would be returning them and getting second gen Air Pods instead. But, given how excited I was for the Powerebeats Pro to come out and the cost, I decided to put in a little effort and give them a chance. It wasn’t until about 3 or 4 days in that I decided to keep them.

So, if you are like me and think your new Powerbeats Pro sound like garbage when you first put them on and you wonder if all the positive reviewers are high, experiment with all the tips before dismissing the headphones as crap. In-ear buds need a good seal to sound good. I have freakishly small ears so I always start with the smallest tip available when trying out new headphones which usually works for me. Not this time. It sounded awful and I was briefly outraged that I had paid $250 for garbage. It was counter-intuitive, but I finally tried the biggest tips instead which gave me a good seal and let me wear the headphones without having to go as deep into my ears which made them more comfortable too. Once I found the right fit with a good seal, I discovered that yes, in fact, these things do actually have some nice ear-thumping bass. I think the bass is better than original Air Pods but also not overwhelming as Beats products have a reputation for being. It’s satisfyingly skull shaking without being distorted and is balanced out nicely by clear highs. I’m not an audiophile by any means, but I won’t listen to any old crap either. I like a little bass and good clarity and the Powerbeats Pro deliver.

My biggest issue with these is comfort. As I mentioned, I have freakishly small ears and while I have been using Air Pods for a couple years, I was doing so with discomfort. I put up with a little paind because of the convenience of function. I love the automatic connection, the ability to use one bud at a time and charging on the go in the case. So, when I first read about the Powerbeats Pro, I was expecting something that would have the convenience of Air Pods with better comfort and something that wouldn’t fall out of my ears all the time. Generally, I do okay with headphones that have different sizes of silicone tips so I was expecting the Powerbeats Pro to be a comfort upgrade. Initially, they actually hurt my ears more than Air Pods, especially my right ear. I fully blame this on my freakishly small ears. I’m one of those people who often finds “one size fits all” to be laughably ridiculous. Again, I was determined to love these things so I tinkered a bit to find an acceptable level of discomfort. The largest tip allows me to get a good seal without having to put them in so deep, relieving some pressure and cutting down on pain. When I first tried them, I could only last about 20 minutes before the pain forced me to take them out. After adjusting to find a good angle and replacing the silicone tips with Comply Sport tips, I’m a lot more comfortable and can last 2 or 3 hours before I feel discomfort. Even then, I would call it discomfort and not outright pain. It’s discomfort I can live with and not any worse than what I experience with Air Pods. Also, my discomfort is only in my right ear instead of both like I get with Air Pods. Since I go with one bud a lot of the time, I’ll just use the left one. No biggie. I can’t blame the manufacturer for my tiny ears which is why I’m not taking away a star.

On the plus side, the fit is very secure. I have worked out in them several times and they don’t budge. I never could work out in Air Pods because they fell out all the time. I can also wear these while laying down which I couldn’t do in Air Pods without them falling out periodically. Also, the connection is great. Original Air Pods used to randomly lose connection or not connect when they were supposed to. The chip upgrade in the Powerbeats Pro seems to have resolved this little annoyance. They connect faster and after a week, I haven’t experienced a drop or glitch once.

The Powerbeats Pro do come with a tradeoff when it comes to the size of the case. If you are used to carrying around Air Pods in your pocket in their tiny case, forget about it with Powerbeats Pro. The case is significantly larger. It goes in a bag or purse without taking up a ton of room but it’s too big to fit comfortably in a pocket. The extra battery life for Powerbeats is nice though. I frequently use one bud at a time and used to drain an Air Pod and have to switch ears regularly. I’m using the Powerbeats Pro the same way and haven’t drained a bud yet. I’m okay with the bigger case since the better battery life makes me feel secure about leaving the case at home when I need to go bagless.

So in summary, these are the best sounding buds I have used. They are super convenient, easy to connect and won’t fall out of your ears. If you have normal human sized ears, they will probably be comfortable and the battery life is great. You have to deal with a bigger case but the positive improvements over Air Pods make the size trade-off worth it. If you don’t hear the bass, try different tips and twist them around a bit before you give up. Hopefully you won’t have to work as hard at it as I did to find your happy place with Powerbeats Pro but the effort has been worth it. These are really great headphones and worth the price.