- Hey guys, this is Austin, and today I have one question
and one question only, why do Beats by Dre exist?
So in front of me, I have nearly the entire lineup
of current Beats products.
Everything from the Beats EP all the way up the Studio 3s.
So if you're an audiophile, you're probably not going
to be interested in Beats at all,
however in 2018 I'm curious to see how much
things have changed as actually some
of these were a little bit surprising to me.
Case in point, the Beats EP.
Now, actually, we did do a video on these a couple
years ago when they first came out.
You can think of these basically as the entry level Beats.
At a $130 retail, usually between 90 to 100 bucks
actually in stores, they're about the cheapest
Beats you can get your hands on.
Like most Beats, they do feel pretty nice.
So not only do you have this metal ear mechanism,
which is going to be able to adjust in and out,
but the entire Beats are going to be made
with soft touch plastic, some pretty nice feeling ear cups.
They definitely do feel their price.
Whether they sound their price is a different story however.
For some background, I'm going to be listening
on a Google Pixel 2 using a USB-C to headphone adapter.
Now, this might not be the highest end audio setup,
but this is the way that I would typically listen to music.
The EPs are only available in a wired version
whereas pretty much all the other Beats I'm
taking a look at are going to be wireless.
Now, as far as listening to music,
I'm going to be using Spotify streaming 320 kilobit MP3s.
Whoo-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo, I mean, the bass.
There's a lotta bass, there's a lotta bass,
but for hip hop especially, it's not going to be bad,
as you expect by Dre's headphones.
Yeah, yeah, yeah so you get to another kinda track,
which is going to give you a little bit more
of a balanced sound where there's actually
some differentiation between the lows, the mids,
and the highs, and you see they get a little bit muddy,
especially in the mids.
They sound good, I mean, don't get me wrong.
I feel like a lot of people could pick up this pair
of headphones, put it on, and it's like, wow,
you know, there's so much bass and it's so punchy,
but if you want something that's going
to be a little bit more balanced,
these are probably not going to be your best option.
Which is where this comes in.
This is a pair of Status Audio CB-1s.
If you've watched the channel for a while,
you've probably seen me recommend these
many, many, many times, and that's for good reason.
This is a pair of headphones that lives
in my bag every single day.
Now, these aren't going to be completely neutral.
There is going to be some accentuation of the bass,
but they're, in general, going to be much, much flatter
and much more even than something like the Beats.
Now, the main reason I like these guys is not only
because they do have an over ear design,
something that I find comfortable when I'm doing longer
editing sessions or listening to music,
but they're also really affordable.
At 60 bucks, it is difficult if not basically impossible
to find a better pair of headphones than these.
Yeah, so, you know what?
I'm gonna be completely honest with you.
I am a little bit biased because I listen
to these headphones so much, I do like the sound.
But I think the biggest difference here is
that while, no, they're not going to kick you
in the face with that bass,
you are going to be able to hear the full song.
There's nothing that's going to be super muddy.
It's a lot clearer of a sound and
that's something, personally, that I like a lot.
Next up, we have the BeatsXs.
Now, this is going to be the first in their line
of wireless headphones, and, as you can see,
as they're sort of the earbud style
they're going to be a lot smaller,
but still promise that same super-punchy sound.
So as Beats by Dre is owned by Apple now,
there's a couple of interesting things
about the BeatsX that do take advantage of that.
First of all, they are going to be charging
with a Lightning connector as opposed to MicroUSB,
so if you already have an iPhone it
makes it a little bit simpler.
And they also do have the Apple W1 wireless chip.
Now, that's actually a big deal
if you do have an iOS or a Mac.
An iOS, an iOS device?
Can you have an iOS, is an iOS a thing?
I don't think that's a thing.
Although, if you do have an Android phone
or, well, anything else they'll still work
like normal headphones, it's just an added
benefit if you do have an iOS.
I'm gonna stop making that joke.
(laughing)
One of the nice parts about the W1 chip is
that literally all I had to do was pull these outta the box,
press the button, and I'm able to connect them and they
will be good not only on my phone,
but also on anything else that uses my Apple ID.
Okay, there's still bass. (laughing)
So something else, that these actually
do a really good job of is isolate you from sound.
Now, it does depend on the ear tips.
You do need to make sure they fit well in your ears,
but if you get a good pair they actually do a really good
job of blocking everything else out,
especially if you're going to do something
like the gym or whatever, they should work pretty well.
To really test these out, though, I'm gonna see if I
can get them to come out of my ears.
Nope.
And now this giant thing is in the way.
Can I do like jumping jacks?
I haven't done these since I was like seven.
I was just trying to think of like--
My normal workouts don't involve anything crazy.
Maybe if you're like running or something?
They fit pretty well, but the main competitor to something
like BeatsX is actually going to also be from Apple.
The Apple AirPods are one of my
favorite pairs of headphones.
It's almost like a trend of like I'm taking my favorite
headphones against Beats in this video or something.
What makes AirPods special is they're, of course,
going to be fully wireless little earbuds.
So if you've ever listened to the stock headphones
that come with an iPhone you'll probably be pretty familiar
with how these sound, definitely not great.
But it's hard to argue with having something
that's no wires, no cables, it's going to be fully passing
the workout test as long as they actually fit in your ears.
And they also do come with a charging case,
which makes everything super simple.
The real pitch for AirPods is not necessarily going
to be in sound quality, but convenience.
Next up, we have the Beats Solo3 Wireless.
Now, when most people think about Beats by Dre headphones
they think of these headphones.
Now, you can say a lot about Beats by Dre headphones,
but something they always deliver
is a nice unboxing experience.
Change the way you hear sound.
Well, yeah, I guess that's a thing.
You might have to do that. (laughing)
So if you open up the carrying case what you're going
to find is actually a pretty nice looking pair of Solos.
So that is something that I definitely
cannot take away from Beats.
They do look nice.
So whether it's to your particular taste or not
is completely up to you, but I do get why a lot
of people will pick these guys out more
as a fashion statement than something
that's going to be purely for audio.
You do also get the 3.5 millimeter cable,
so if you don't wanna use them wirelessly
you can just plug them in.
Assuming your phone still has a headphone jack, of course.
Build quality-wise, they feel pretty decent.
So Beats by Dre are known for, maybe,
subtly enhancing the design of their headphones
with some strategically-placed heavy metal
to make them feel more premium.
But, generally speaking, they feel all right,
however, I've had plenty of occasions where people
have shown me their broken Solos,
so your mileage might vary on that one.
(sighing) All right, wow.
I'd forgotten, it's been a while since I've worn Solos.
I'd forgotten how tight they are on your head.
I mean, I don't think I have that big of a head, do I?
I can say that all the Beats I've tried so far
aren't quite as punchy as those EPs.
Now, don't get me wrong, there's definitely a lot
of bass here, but it's not quite as overpowering.
Man, I wore those for like two minutes
and my ears are already like sore and sweaty.
It's no contest so far.
I feel like the Solos sound better than any
of the other Beats I've tried.
So one of the interesting things about these guys
is that while they retail at $300,
you can actually pick them up for closer to 200 and
that is not the case for the comparison that I have in mind.
Now, that is a much nicer looking carrying case.
(taps case with knuckles)
So the Beats Studio 3 Wireless are going
to be the flagship of the line,
as long as you don't count the Beats Pro,
which are sort of more DJ headphones, I guess.
But these, oh man, that's red.
Now, for the all important does
this actually make my head hurt?
A little bit, it's a little bit on the tighter side as far
as the fit, but it also is going to be an over ear design,
which is going to be a lot more comfortable
and it's not squishing my ears like the Solos did.
That's not bad.
So these guys are going to, of course,
have that Apple W1 chip and there are going to,
if we go into the box, be powered by MicroUSB and come
with the same 3.5 millimeter headphone cable,
although, thankfully, this one's going
to be in red to match your super cool Beats.
So when you turn on the Studio 3s,
they do default to having the noise canceling on,
but if you jump into the options you can turn them
on and off, and you can also use a button command
on the side if you are not using an iPhone.
Okay, so I'm gonna be completely real with you,
the last time I listened to Studios was a long time ago.
They just sound muddy.
Like these headphones should cost $350 retail.
Now, to be fair we were able to pick these up
for 220 bucks and, generally speaking,
they are on sale for a lot less than that, but ugh.
Man.
I'm a little surprised.
I legitimately feel like the Solos sound a lot better
and I'll tell you what almost definitely sounds better.
The wonderfully-named Sony WH1000Xm2's.
Now, these are widely regarded as some
of the nicest, best-sounding Bluetooth headphones
on the market, and, well, they're pretty much right.
Now, in addition to the standard noise cancellation,
which sounds pretty good, there's also going
to be an ambient mode so you can turn that on
with a button on the headphones,
but the easier way to do it is while you're listening
to music, if you just put a hand over the ear cup,
it's going to beep at you, and not only does it dim
the actual volume of your music or turn it down.
Can you dim music, I don't think you can dim music.
Anyway, regardless, you are going to not only be able
to turn your music volume down,
but it also turns on the microphone on the headphones
so you can actually more easily hear your environment.
Take your hand off the headphone,
and your music comes up to the full volume.
Really clever stuff.
Okay, first of all, they actually sound
like a good, balanced pair of headphones.
There's plenty of bass.
There's plenty of accentuation on sort
of the nicer, more punchy parts of the music, but,
importantly, as I accidentally trigger Google Assistant,
they're honestly going to be able to just sound
like a good solid pair of headphones,
but they are going to be more expensive.
So while the MSRP for both of these guys is going
to be a pretty pricey $350, these guys, well,
they actually cost 350 bucks.
The Beats can be found for as little
as 220 for the Studio 3s.
Now, that might not sound like a bad deal,
but don't do that, just a bad idea.
Get these guys, or something else honestly.
So why do Beats by Dre exist in 2018,
well, because people keep buying them.
And I actually do see some reasons
why you might wanna pick them up.
The style is obviously something that's going
to be very subjective, and thanks to all the sales,
a lot of these are actually much more
affordable than they used to be.
That being said, while some of them are not bad
like the Solos and even the EPs if you want
some really punchy headphones, you can pretty much
always get something that's going to sound better
for the same money if not less.