Powerbeats Proreview: Pricey But Worth It

Beats, Apple's headphone and audio equipment company, has made its first category of true wireless headsets with Powerbeats Pro. It is a sports-oriented headset that promises to replace AirPods. 
 

Powerbeats Pro

Sound quality

For starters, when it comes to headphones, what everyone wants is good sound quality in a device that's practical for different activities and above all, comfortable. Here are some things to keep in mind as a buyer when buying this particular model.

For a runner or a sportiest who usually enjoy diving into music, while having the unique feel that exercise alone provides, you need to have a headset that meets some extra requirements. In that sense, Powerbeats gets it right. It has sweat protection and a safety factor with the ear hooks (a relief for those who have always been afraid of losing AirPods).

In terms of sound quality, the headset is also not to be missed and delivers positive results for the end-user, with balanced bass and treble. The only problem is that the external noise is not very well isolated. 
That is, the experience loses a lot of quality in noisy environments and noise-cancelling is not an implemented option. On the other hand, if you are running/riding your bike on the street, it is a beneficial feature as it lets you understandthe environment around you thus can prevent accidents.

Battery

The battery lasts between 8 and 10 hours, which, usually, makes the user satisfied, considered as along-time interval between charges. Features such as a pause when you remove the earbud from your ear and turning it off after a while without use, helps saving battery life. Charging is done in the case, which has magnets so that the headphones do not lose contact with the charging pins.Takes just over an hour to fully charge the device.

Charging the case is done in a lightning door and there are two extra charges, so you can have more than one day of battery life. It is worth mentioning, one of the negative points of Powerbeatsis the fact that the case is too large and does not fit anywhere if you plan on travelling freely with the earbuds and charging case.

Connectivity and design

Regarding connectivity (Bluetooth 5.0), it's pretty easy. A window pops up on your iPhone when you first open the case, and when you confirm the connection, the datasyncs almost instantly. That is, you can switch between Mac, iPhone and Apple Watch. Compatibility is with iOS 10 or higher, macOS Sierra or higher and watchOS 3 or higher. Android users can also benefit from the product; however, it lacks the same user interface and connectivity is slightly slower. I guess that’s their smart little way of saying: You should buy an Apple product as well.

There are physical buttons that can be seen as positive by some and negative by others, as the market trend, nowadays, is mostly touch-sensitive buttons. However, if we think in a perspective of a runner, sweat can get in the way of the sensor, so the physical button comes in handy and prevails as the best option. These buttons allow you to control the volume, pause music, skip or answer a call.

An optical sensor identifies if you have headphones on and pauses the music when you remove them. This happens when you remove one of them, and if you want to keep listening with just one earpiece, you have to press play on that earbud.

Price

Regarding the price, it can scare away some users as it is above the value of many devices in the same category. In the United States it costs $249.00, which makes AirPods look cheap.

However, for those who have money available and want to invest in a quality headset (especially for sports), Powerbeats, right now, is the obvious choice.