We've been using the Beats Studio Buds+ every single day since they came out.
And we've come to very different conclusions about where they fall in Apple's lineup.
The Beats Studio Buds+ have a price tag of $169, making them a little bit cheaper than
the AirPods Pro, second gens, and the Beats Fit Pro, both of which you can get for about $200.
And there really is something to be said about the number of great pairs of headphones
in this $150 to $200 range. I'm really not sure if anybody
should be spending more than $200 on a pair of earbuds.
We'll circle back to price when we talk about our conclusions,
but first let's talk about the fit of each of these earbuds.
Nobody cares about fit, David.
Everybody cares about fit. If earbuds don't stay in your ears, you just can't listen to them.
Okay, I guess you're right.
I thought the Beats Studio Buds Plus were a good fit when I was just sitting around
listening to music, but when I wore them to the park to play basketball,
I found myself constantly needing to adjust them.
Then I wore them while listening to old episodes of the XFM Ricky Gervais show,
and they fell into my rice and beans when I laughed.
I used the extra small ear tip from the start, and I thought it was great.
After using the extra small for a while, I tried to go back up to the small,
and I can only describe the sensation as crowded.
There's a part of me that wonders if you're wearing them correctly,
because here we have David Lynch, a 6'2", big guy with regular sized ears,
really solid ears. Do you think it's a personal preference thing?
You don't like a real snug fit?
I just, I don't like when the ear tips are so big that my ears feel,
they start to feel claustrophobic in there.
Okay.
It's not comfortable.
A fair point.
In terms of fit of the three, the Beats Fit Pro were my favorite. I love the wingtip.
Me too. I think that when you compare Beats wingtips to Bose, for example,
the Beats are just a lot better.
My number one comment about the fit of the Beats StudioBuds Plus actually
was revealed to me when we were doing B-roll with Zach.
So I'm watching the B-roll back, and I realized that I had one of them in wrong.
The B was like the wrong direction, so I said,
Zach, we can't use that side of my face.
But I wish that it felt a little more secure.
I wish I could tell a little easier that it was in the right way.
Beats Fit Pro, you can.
I think the Beats Fit Pro are the best,
because when you put them in, they actually kind of snap into place.
And the concern about whether or not the earbud is
incorrectly is sort of addressed by the AirPods Pro 2nd Gen.
The AirPods Pro have an ear tip fit test built right into the settings app,
which tells you if you have a good fit or a good seal.
I was given a good seal rating, though, on both the small and the medium tips.
So it's really not solving the problem of are these in the right way?
I've actually never gotten a bad seal test, have you?
I have not. No, it's not a perfect system, but I do think it helps.
Ultimately, I'm someone who needs some sort of anchor with my earbuds,
whether that's a wingtip, whether that's a stem.
So if I had to rank these in terms of fit, it'd be Beats Fit Pro number one,
AirPods Pro 2nd Gens number two, and the Beats StudioBuds Plus number three.
In terms of ranking, I think the AirPods Pro 2nd Gen and the Beats StudioBuds Plus
are around the same, but I have to give the winning fit to the Beats Fit Pro.
Let's listen to them and see which sound best.
After testing, I need to amend my fit ranking and unfortunately rank the AirPods Pro 2nd Gen
number three, and then I'm gonna give a tie to the Beats Fit Pro and Beats StudioBuds Plus
because the Beats Fit Pro fit my ears great, but the Beats StudioBuds Plus fit great,
and they feel like I have almost nothing in my ears.
The Beats StudioBuds Plus sound extremely well balanced.
There's great clarity and great spacing.
When I first listened to the Beats StudioBuds Plus, I thought they were a little bit
light on bass, and I still think they are, but it's not as drastic as I initially thought.
I was even messing around with some of the EQs on my iPhone to try and boost the bass.
Total failure, the iPhone EQs suck.
So I listened to some gorillas and I realized, you know what, the bass,
it is a little bit low, but it's not that bad.
The Beats StudioBuds Plus sound great to me.
There's a little bit of a dip in the low mid-range, which makes some of the voices
instruments seem a little bit less full.
But when you get into the high end and the actual bass, I think it sounds pretty balanced.
Beats Fit Pro, the bass was definitely punchier than the Beats StudioBuds Plus,
but I also felt like it was muddier.
Overall, I think the Beats Fit Pro does lack a certain
clarity that the StudioBuds Plus and the AirPods Pro have.
The Beats Fit Pro are missing a high-end clarity that I hear in both the Beats StudioBuds Plus
and the AirPods Pro 2nd Gens.
And in terms of the bass, it's very...
Too much bass, there's no clarity.
It kind of is boosted, obviously, but then that overtakes the mid-range
and the other frequencies where I would want to hear some clarity.
They sort of remind me of the old Beats before Apple bought
Beats where the bass is just overpowering most everything else.
The Beats Fit Pro have spatialized stereo.
When I turned it on, I started laughing and wincing at the same time because it
really sounded a lot worse than having it off.
Significantly worse.
On to the AirPods Pro 2nd Gens, and just like the Beats StudioBuds Plus,
I feel like they're lacking a little bit in the bass.
Unlike the Beats StudioBuds Plus, I don't think there's the same level of
crispness or clarity that you get with the Buds Plus.
I felt like the same high-end clarity is present in the Beats StudioBuds Plus
and the AirPods Pro 2nd Gens.
They do run a very similar chip, at least I think they do.
Apple H2, Beats proprietary chip, second generation, sounds like pretty similar.
But the difference for me is they had more of that lower mid-range sound
that made the instruments and the voices sound a little bit fuller to me.
But they're not perfect.
I think that they have a lack of width sometimes and like a flatness to them
that doesn't make them sound very exciting to me.
If I were to rank them in terms of sound quality, I would put the Beats StudioBuds Plus,
number one, AirPods Pro 2nd Gens, number two, and Beats Fit Pro, number three.
But I don't think there's that drastic of a difference between the three.
I do.
So for me, it's Beats StudioBuds Plus, number one, AirPods Pro 2nd Gen, number two,
and then a pretty big chasm, and then Beats Fit Pro.
The thing for me is I sort of like that old Beats sound profile with the strong punchy bass.
So when I listen to those, I'm like, this is really good to me.
But I can understand why if you want a more balanced sound,
the Beats Fit Pro would be a distant third.
All three earbuds have transparency mode, and I think all three earbuds do it well.
But one thing I noticed is that the Beats StudioBuds Plus do have this little white noise.
And if you really listen for it, it can be a bit distracting.
David's right about the white noise being there.
It just doesn't bother me at all because transparency mode,
you want to hear what's going on around you.
I found it to be kind of pleasant.
Okay, fair enough.
I like white noise machines.
I like the fan on.
Well, you could sleep with your Beats StudioBuds Plus
and you get a little bit of white noise to help you fall asleep.
That's my complaint though.
With transparency mode, you hear your fire alarm go off.
You can't sleep with them because when you lay on your side, the buttons get pressed.
All three earbuds also have active noise cancellation.
And in all three, I thought it was pretty good.
For me, I thought the Beats Fit Pro was slightly better
than the AirPods Pro 2nd Gens and the StudioBuds Plus.
But for me, when active noise cancellation is on
and you turn your volume up to 50 or 60%,
you're just, you're not going to hear anything in the outside world.
Let's talk about cases starting with the Beats StudioBuds Plus.
A nice small portable case, nice sturdy latch.
A bit sturdier than the Beats Fit Pro latch.
I found myself, you know, a little wiggly here.
Whereas the StudioBuds Plus, not so wiggly.
This is my take.
The Beats StudioBuds Plus are taller,
but they're not as thick as the Beats Fit Pro case.
So the Beats Fit Pro case for me is my least favorite of the cases,
followed by the Beats StudioBuds Plus
and then the AirPods Pro 2nd Gen,
which is really a nice case and it plays sounds.
Plays sounds with the speaker.
It's also got a lanyard loop.
And it's got wireless charging.
And you don't think the lack of wireless charging
of the Beats StudioBuds Plus or the Beats Fit Pro
would be that big of a deal.
But for me, it's just been super convenient
to pop these down on a wireless charger
or an Apple Watch charger.
With the Beats Fit Pro Beats StudioBuds Plus,
you need that USB-C cable.
We'll talk about Lightning port versus USB-C in just a second
and why Apple might be doing that.
But first, in terms of battery life,
the Beats Fit Pro get up to six hours on a single charge
and up to 24 hours with the case.
The Beats StudioBuds Plus get up to nine hours on a single charge
and up to 36 hours with the case.
And the AirPods Pro 2nd Gen get up to six hours on a single charge
and up to 30 with the charging case.
And all of those numbers, kids,
are with active noise cancellation turned off.
Let's talk about Lightning versus USB-C.
One of the reasons why I think Apple is going with USB-C
on the Beats products
is to start to integrate Android users into Apple's ecosystem.
I don't understand what Apple has to do with Beats, David.
It's a Beats product.
Apple owns Beats.
And one thing that's great about new Beats earbuds
is that it's super easy to pair them to Androids.
One other thing that I really love about the AirPods Pro 2nd Gens
that make them unique
is the swipe to change the volume feature on the stems.
It's really, really convenient.
Let's test out the microphones and hear how they sound.
This is a test of the Beats StudioBuds Plus microphones on a phone call.
This is a test of the Beats Fit Pro microphone on a phone call.
This is a test of the AirPods Pro 2nd Generation microphone on a phone call.
I think we agree in terms of microphone quality,
AirPods Pro 2nd Generation number one,
very close second Beats Fit Pro,
and a very distant third Beats StudioBuds Plus.
Let's say you have $200.
Which of these earbuds are you buying?
The Sony XM4s on Amazon.
Can't do that. But for the purposes of this video,
I'm gonna go with the Beats StudioBuds Plus.
I think that they feel like there's nothing in your ear,
and I think they sound the best of the three.
But it's close with the AirPods Pro 2nd Gens.
And here's where we're gonna have a big disagreement.
I'm going with the Beats Fit Pro in that sleek volt yellow.
Unbelievable.
I'm really prioritizing that ear security.
When I'm wearing earbuds, I'm generally working out.
I'm at the park playing basketball.
I need my earbuds to stay in my ears.
And while overall I don't think they sound quite as good
as the AirPods Pro 2nd Gens or the Beats StudioBuds Plus,
I do like that more bass-heavy sound profile that the Beats Fit Pro have.
You said Sony XM4 earbuds.
Why would you pick those?
Why did he pick those?
Because they're better.
Check out this next video for our best earbuds of 2023 review.
Way more pairs of earbuds than we talked about in this video.
We'll see you there.