AirPods are awesome, but personally I only like using AirPods for causal use for like
when im watching youtube videos, listening to podcasts or taking phone calls.
And whenever im at the gym I like using my Powerbeats 3 cause of their ear hooks and
in line controller.
But now we have the Powerbeats Pro, in short they’re also awesome but not perfect, and
I also don’t know if they’re worth it.
The Powerbeats Pro retail for $250 which is a lot considering that the AirPods 2 start
off at $160 or if you get the ones with wireless charging those will cost you $200.
And a lot of other sports truly wireless earbuds also hover around the $160 and $200 range.
Now even though the Powerbeats 3 also have a retail price of $200 you can easily find
them on sale for like $130 if not less.
So what im getting at here is that the Powerbeats Pro going for $250 is a lot.
But if you want to pick up any of the earbuds mentioned in this video those will be linked
down below.
Now the first thing that I thought when I first got my Powerbeats Pro was WOW this carrying
case is huge.
But you know what, I can’t really blame them cause thats the sacrifice you make if
you really wanna have those ear hooks.
But compared to all of other charging cases out there, the Powerbeats pro’s is one of
the biggest.
Now personally when I first got my Powerbeats pro I also assumed that they would have wireless
charging given that the case is so big and thats kind of ones of the biggest new features
on the AirPods 2.
But no, the Powerbeats Pro’s charging case doesn’t support wireless charging.
Personally I don’t mind it, cause this case charges via the lighting port on the back,
so if you’re an iPhone user you can charge your phone and Powerbeats Pro with the same
cable, just like with AirPods.
And just like AirPods, the Powerbeats Pro have a total of 24 hours of playback time
which is above average for truly wireless earbuds.
But unlike AirPods where the ear buds themselves can go for five straight hours of playback
time, the Powerbeats Pro can for 9 straight hours.
Which could be a big deal for marathon runners looking into getting these earbuds.
And honestly, I find that a Nine hour battery life on the Powerbeats pro’s by themselves
is very impressive cause the wired Powerbeats 3 have a total battery life of 12 hours.
And the Powerbeats Pro also have improved fast charging where they’ll get you an hour
and a half of playback time from a five minute charge from a dead battery.
Where as the Powerbeats 3 are rated at 5 minutes gets you one hour.
Now when it comes to bluetooth connectivity, the Powerbeats Pro are using the same H1 chip
found in the AirPods 2.
Which means you’re going to be able to easily switch between all of your apple devices associated
to your icould account.
But it also means you’re going to get a super solid bluetooth connection and basically
zero latency whenever you’re watching videos on your iPhone.
Which can still be a problem with a lot of other truly wireless earbuds out there.
And even if you use your Powerbeats Pro with an android device you’re still going to
get a solid bluetooth connection that doesn't cut out and you’re still going to get basically
zero latency when ever you’re watching videos on your phone.
But just a heads up for my nerdy android users, the Powerbeats Pro will still be using AAC
instead of any other APTX codecs.
Now when its comes to fit, even if you have freakishly asymmetrical ear canals like I
do the Powerbeats Pro are pretty much guaranteed to fit you and stay in place no matter what
thanks to their ear hooks.
No matter what type of physical activity you’re doing the Powerbeats Pro for the most part
will always stay in place.
And just as long as you’re using the proper silicon ear tips that fit you best, these
earbuds are going to block out a lot of ambient noise.
But its also imperative that you use the proper ear tips on the Powerbeats Pro cause its definitely
going to effect how they sound.
As long as you’re using the right ear tips for you, you’re going to notice the Powerbeats
Pro sound fairly decent.
They still do have a lot of bass which is what you would expect from a Beats product,
but I did notice the mids and highs on the Powerbeats Pro were more prominent than on
the Powerbeats 3 or AirPods.
So in short I think the Powerbeats Pro sound decent enough for workout earbuds and they
get decently loud as well.
But one of the things that I like most about the Powerbeats Pro is that they have full
media controls on both earbuds.
One of the reasons why I still preferred to use wired bluetooth earbuds at the gym like
the Powerbeats 3 was cause of their in line controller.
With an inline controller you have full control over your music playback and its super easy
to use.
So this means you don’t have to reach for your phone as often whenever you’re working
out.
Where as with other truly wireless earbuds you have very limited controls and have to
rely on your voice assistant to do the rest like on AirPods, your controls could be split
up between both earbuds like on Galaxy Buds and a lot of other truly wireless earbuds,
or you could have to deal with some very small control buttons like on the Jabra Elite 65T’s.
Now technically the Control buttons on the Jabara Elite 65T’s give you full media control
and are fairly easy to use, but objectively the controls on the Powerbeats Pro are even
easier.
Both of the beats logos on either earbuds are buttons that you can single press to play
or pause your music, you can double press to skip a track or you can triple press to
go back a track.
Both earbuds have built in proximity sensors so they’ll automatically play and pause
your music when you put the earbuds in or take them out and again both earbuds have
a volume rocker so you can easily raise or lower your volume with either hand.
And just like on the AirPods 2, the Powerbeats Pro also have always listening siri.
So instead of having to double tap on your last gen AirPods or having to press and hold
the multipurpose button on the Powerbeats 3 you can jut say Hey siri and tell it what
to do.
And I find that having always listening siri is incredibly useful cause you can ask it
to play a certain song or playlist on the fly, or if you need to make a quick phone
call or send out a quick text you can also do that with just your voice.
And just like on the AirPods 2, Hey siri is only going to respond to your voice on the
Powerbeats pro.
So you don’t have to worry about someone messing with you on that front.
But one of the things that at this point just baffles me about apple’s truly wireless
earbuds offerings is that neither the AirPods or the sports oriented Powerbeats Pro have
an ambient mode.
The majority of new truly wireless earbuds these days have an ambient mode where they’ll
pump in the surrounding sound around you so you can still be aware of your environment
when you’re listening to your music.
Since I workout at a commercial gym not having an ambient mode on my Powerbeats Pro isn’t
a huge deal cause I just wanna block out the same 5 pop songs that are constantly playing
on repeat.
But I feel not having an ambient mode on the Powerbeats Pro could be a huge deal for an
out doors runner or cyclist cause they’re still going to want to be able to hear for
on coming traffic.
And again I don’t get why the Powerbeats Pro don’t have an ambient mode when the
majority of other sports oriented truly wireless earbuds have it and from the looks of it the
Powerbeats Pro already have the necessary hardware.
But besides the lack of an ambient mode on the Powerbeats Pro, there aren’t any glaring
issues to point out on these Earbuds.
The only grip I have with the Powerbeats Pro is the size of their case, but like I mentioned
earlier thats the sacrifice you make if you really want truly wireless earbuds with ear
hooks.
But performance wise, the Powerbeats Pro have an above average battery life, they have a
very stable bluetooth connection with almost zero latency for when ever you’re watching
videos on your phone on both Apple and Android devices, and they also sound decent enough
for workout earbuds.
But the thing I like most about the Powerbeats Pro is that no matter how intense your workout
gets they’re never going to fall out or shift around and I really do like having super
easy to use full media controls on both earbuds.
And having always listening siri is the cherry on top.
But like I mentioned at the beginning of this video… are they really worth it at $250??
Personally for me, no they’re not but maybe for you they are.
When I went from my Powerbeats 3 to my Powerbeats Pro the only difference I noticed between
the two were their different sound signatures.
But honestly it made no difference to me when it came to having a wire connecting my Powerbeats
or not.
And given with the fact that you can find the Powerbeats 3 for half the price of the
Powerbeats Pro its kind of hard to justify getting the Powerbeats Pros in my mind.
And personally I wouldn’t directly compare the AirPods 2 to the Powerbeats Pro… ones
for casual use and the other one is sports oriented.
If you’re looking into getting Powerbeats and you’re on the fence of spending all
that money on the Powerbeats Pro then get yourself the Powerbeats 3 they’re still
perfectly fine and youre not missing out on much.
If you’re looking for a pair of bulletproof wireless earbuds to use on a day to day basis
if you’re an iPhone user get the AirPods or if you’re an android user get the Galaxy
Buds.
But if you’re dead set on getting the Powerbeats Pro by all means go ahead.
Besides not having an ambient mode the Powerbeats Pro are one of the best Sports truly Wireless
earbuds out there.