Get Them Here
So the new beats studio buds are a great pair of truly wireless earbuds from apple that give you premium features like Active Noise Cancellation and an ambient mode at a price that makes you wonder… why would you pick up the AirPods Pro or standard AirPods over these if you’re an iPhone user. Well the thing is… these aren’t for iPhone users, they’re apples trojan horse to gain truly wireless earbuds market share from android users. Now don’t get me wrong, if you’re an iPhone user you can make these work, but the studio buds are meant for android users. Nonetheless if you're an iPhone user thinking about getting the Studio Buds over AirPods you should really stick around.
Regarding pricing, the Studio Buds retail for $150 where as the base AirPods 2 retail for $160 and if you want wireless charging they’ll cost you $200. And then there are the AirPods Pro which have a retail price of $250. Now like I said if you’re an iPhone user you can make the Studio Buds work but they are better suited for Android users. Nonetheless if you want to pick any of these earbuds up they’ll be linked down below.
Now first lets talk about this case. The studio buds have a decently sized case thats perfectly fine for everyday carry. Its not super noticeable when you’ve got it in your pocket, its body is slightly powdered plastic, the lid has a very satisfying snap to it, and this case has some very strong magnets in it which just makes putting your earbuds away super easy. In a lot of ways this case is very similar to the AirPods Pro and AirPods case. However this case is noticeably larger than the AirPods Pro’s case. Its has a slightly larger foot print, and its slightly thicker as well. Now like I said this case isn’t super noticeable when its in your pocket… but both the AirPods and AirPods Pro’s cases are just less noticeable. But for funsis at least this case isn’t colossal like the Powerbeats Pro’s case.
Regarding battery life, the Beats Studio Buds have an advertised combined battery life of 24 hours with their active noise cancellation turned off. The earbuds themselves can go for 8 straight hours and the case can supply an additional 2 charges. But with their active noise cancelation turned on these earbuds have a combined battery life of 15 hours. The earbuds can go for 5 hours and the case can supply those 2 additional charges. Overall I have no complaints about the battery life on these earbuds.
But for comparison sake, AirPods also have a combined battery life of 24 hours. The earbuds themselves can go for up to 5 straight hours and the case can supply 3 additional charges. And then there are the AirPods Pro which also have a combined battery life of 24 hours… but with their Active Noise cancelation turn on. And if you were to use them with their active noise cancelation turned off then you can stretch out their battery life even more.
So even though the Beat studio buds have decent battery life. If you decide to go with the AirPods Pro you’re going to get a longer battery life in a smaller package. Which over all is jut more convenient. And for my android users… the battery life of the Beats Studio Prods is pretty much on par with the battery life found on the Galaxy Buds Pro. But in a slightly larger package.
However just keep in mind, as with any other pair of earbuds as you use any of these earbuds and their batteries degraded over constant charging cycles your battery life will start to decrease. Personally I’ve found that earbuds are good for a solid 2 years before their battery life just falls off a cliff.
Now when it comes to actually charging this case… it charges via a USB C port which is the most telling sign that these earbuds are meant for Android users. Cause if you’re an android user you can charge your phone and earbuds with the same cable which is just more convenient. Where as if you’re an iPhone user you're going to have to use two separate cables to charge you phone and earbuds. Where as if you just went with AirPods you can just use one cable.
But its also very important to point out that this case doesn’t have wireless charging. Where as the AirPods Pro’s case does and so do that standard AirPods if you pony up the extra cash. Now personally I don’t really care for wireless charging on my earbuds… but this could be a big deal either for someone who has a phone that supports power sharing or if you’ve already invested in a few wireless charging mats.
But now lets talk about the earbuds themselves. Now very quickly I do want to talk about the sculpt of these earbuds. I think the studio buds look very sleek and most notably they don’t have stems like AirPods which some people just don’t like. Now personally I don’t mind the AirPods Pro’s smaller stems… but something that I do want to point out is that I’ve found that handling the Studio buds can be a little tricky. All you’ve got are these little numbs to grab on to when you’re taking these earbuds out the case. I don’t know I just find myself dropping the Studio Buds way more than I ever dropped my AirPods Pro over the month that I’ve been using them cause the Stems on the AirPods Pro just makes handling them much easier. But when it comes to fit, the studio buds are a pair of in ear earbuds. But they don’t fit like your standard pair of in ear earbuds. The Studio Buds don’t go in super deep into your ear canal like a standard pair of in ear ear buds like lets say either the Galaxy Buds, Sennheiser CX’s, or even Powerbeats. . They’re a little shallow fitting like the AirPods Pro. But unlike the AirPods Pro which have oval silicon ear tips, the ear tips on the Studio Buds are round. Meaning that they feel a little more intrusive than the AirPods Pro’s which feel a little more natural. Now over all the Studio Buds fit fine for a pair of in ear earbuds and they passively block out a decent amount of noise… but I will admit that these earbuds do like to wiggle out from time to time. So just like with the AirPods Pro, you will find yourself readjusting these earbuds on a regulars basis. But again for the funsis if you’re looking for a pair of earbuds to workout with then the Powerbeats are one of the best options out there cause first off they go in much deeper into your ear canal than the studio buds, but they obviously have those ear hooks which just keep these earbuds in place.
But now lets talk about connectivity cause there’s a lot of nuance here. Now each earbud establishes a connection with your phone. So if you just want to use one earbud at a time you can use either one it doesn’t matter. And this is the same connection set up that you’ll find on the AirPods and the Powerbeats pro. And this is the connection set up that we except to see from our earbuds nowadays.
However these earbuds aren’t using Apple’s H1 chip which is found on the AirPods Gen 2, AirPods Pro and Powerbeats Pro. And the lack of the H1 chip means a few things especially if you're an apple power user. Most notably you can’t hot swap between all of your apple devices associated to your iCloud account like you can with either the AirPods, AirPods Pro or Powerbeats.
And if you’re an iPhone user with multiple apple devices this can be a draw back. Cause with all of these other earbuds you can easily switch from your iPhone to your Mac and to your iPad and so on. Or your AirPods will just automatically connect to whatever device youre using. Where a with the Studio Buds, they can only be connected to one device at a time.
However, switching devices on the Studio Buds isn’t too bad. You just gotta go into your device’s bluetooth menu and reestablish a connection. And the Studio Buds will just connect. You don’t gotta disconnect from your first device and you don’t have to put the Studio Buds into pairing mode every single time you wanna switch.
However, something that really surprised me about the Studio buds is that even though these earbuds aren’t using apple’s H1 chip… you can still activate Siri with your voice by saying Hey Siri. Which again is super convenient. But unfortunately if youre an android user you can’t activate your google assistant by say hey google.
But when it comes to performance these earbuds have zero latency across the board when watching movies or videos on your phone whether you’re using an iPhone or an android device. And when it comes to audio codecs we’ve got your classic apple stack of SBC and AAC.
But now lets talk about actually listening to music with these earbuds. Now right off the bat im going to say that these earbuds sound way better than the AirPods Pro. Specifically they actually have good sounding bass to them that both hits and resonates a good amount. Where as the AirPods Pro, their bass is almost nonexistent. Like I’ve said in the past I only use my AirPods Pro to listen to podcast and for watching videos. But the Studio Buds are a whole other story. Now instrument separation and sound stage is vey similar on both the AirPods Pro and Studio buds. And just like on the AirPods Pro, the mids on the Studio Buds are a little elevated so that vocals are very prominent. But like I’ve mentioned earlier the Studio Buds actually have bass to them that hits a good amount and also resonates. Overall the Studio buds sound good, but more importantly they're a lot more fun to listen to than the AirPods Pro. However, im just putting it out there. If sound is your main priority then you’ll might want to check out the Sennheiser CX’s. They sound way more open than the Studio Buds and their Bass is on a whole other level. It hits harder and it resonates deeper.
Now when it comes to actually controlling your media on the Studio Buds you’ve got physical buttons. You can play or pause your music and you can skip a track. But unfortunately you can’t adjust your volume directly from the ear buds. If you’re an iPhone user you can ask Siri to do it or if you're an android user you're going to have to whip out your phone. Now the media controls on the Studio Buds are fine and I would say that I prefer their buttons over the stems on the AirPods Pro that you gotta pinch. But like I’ve said in the past, I wish more earbuds had haptic touch pads like the ones found on the standard AirPods.
However, I do gotta point out that the studio buds don’t have proximity sensors like AirPods, or Powerbeats and a lot of other earbuds in this price segment. Meaning that if you take either of these earbuds out of your ears they aren’t going to automatically pause your music. And personally I do feel that this is a noticeable inconvenience. It just feels very natural that when your take your earbud out, your media just stops.
But now lets talk about the active noise cancellation on these earbuds. In general its rare for earbuds in this price range to have active noise cancellation. But the active noise cancelation on these earbuds mostly focuses on constant low frequency sounds like road noise are the hum of an air conditioner. These earbuds aren’t going to block out a ton of noise like a proper pair of ANC headphones and they also don’t block out as much noise as the AirPods Pro.
But just like the AirPods Pro these earbuds also have an ambient mode. And the ambient mode on these earbuds is very good. It sounds very natural with zero hissing in the back ground… But again when compared to the AirPods Pro, the ambient mode on the AirPods Pro sounds more natural specifically its a little louder, the AirPods Pro also do a better job of rejecting wind noise when walking out doors… and also the ambient mode on the AirPods Pro is active mainly that it’ll actively block out sudden spikes in loud noise like when a siren rolls by. Saving your ears from just getting blasted. Where as the Studio Buds just let in everything.
But finally here’s the microphone test for the Beats Studio buds. And over all this microphone is pretty good. When in a quiet room. There’s a lot of emphasis on my voice.
However I do gotta point out that when compared to the AirPods Pro, and the standard AirPods cause they perform basically the same… the microphone on AirPods does have better clarity than the microphone phone on the studio buds.
Now when it comes to blocking out constant low frequency sounds like road noise… even though some road noise does manage to get in. The AirPods Pro do a really good job of lifting my voice. Cause for comparison sake if we were to which over to my lapel microphone you’re going to clearly hear all of this road noise, but if we were to switch back over to my lapel microphone it is reduced.
Now the studio buds also do a good job of lifting my voice. But this voice does let in a lot more road noise than the AirPods Pro and it can be a little harder to understand me.
And when it comes to blocking out chatter its the same thing. The Studio Buds do a good job of lifting my voice but there is a noticeable amount of chatter in the background.
Where as AirPods just do a better job of blocking out noise pollution. Overall you can definitely take phone calls with the studio buds. But you should take phone calls with them in a quite room. Where as AirPods do have better clarity and they do a better job of block out ambient noise.
But with all the being said the beats studio buds are a great pair of every day carry truly wireless earbuds. They’re a lot more fun to listen to than the AirPods Pro. They have active noise cancellation, they have an ambient mode, they have a decently sized case and they have a solid battery life. Now even though the studio buds have almost all the same features as the AirPods Pro, the main ones really… if you decide to go with the AirPods Pro you are getting better active noise cancellation, a better ambient mode, a better battery life in a smaller case, and for my apple power user you are getting that H1 chip which allows you to more easily swap between your apple devices. But like I mentioned at the top of this video, the Beats Studio buds are really a trojan horse to capture android users. Since the Beats studio buds charge via a USB C port you can easily charge your earbuds and phone with the same cable. And since you do have the beats app on android you can do everything you can as you would with an iPhone. You can configure what tapping and holding on these earbuds does, you can toggle between your active noise cancelation settings and more importantly you’ll continue to get firmware updates even if you’re an android user. So over all the Studio buds are great, but really these are a no brainier for android users.