So like I said in the full review, the beats studio buds are a great pair of
truly wireless earbuds from apple that offer active noise cancelation and an ambient mode
at a price that make you wonder why would you go with the AirPods Pro over these if
you’re an iPhone user. Well in reality these are apple’s trojan horse to sell wireless earbuds to
android users. So with that being said we’re going to see how the beats studio buds stack up to other
popular ANC earbuds like the Jabra Elite 85T’s, the Galaxy Buds Pro, and the Sony WF-1000XM4’s.
Regarding pricing we’ve got a bit of a spectrum here. The Beats Studio Buds are the most
affordable earbuds here retailing for $150. The Galaxy Buds Pro have a retail price of $200, the
Jabra Elite 85T’s have a retail price of $230 and the Sony WF-1000XM4’s have a retail price of $280.
Now if you wanna see how the studio buds stack up to AirPods you can watch their full review.
But nonetheless if you want to pick any of these earbuds up they’ll be linked down
and if you want to learn more about any of these earbuds please watch
their full reviews cause we’re only going over the main differences here.
Now first lets go over these cases. Now all of these earbuds have quality cases that are decently
small and they aren’t too noticeable when they're in your pocket. However the beats studio buds case
has the largest foot print here when compared to all of these other cases. Where as the galaxy buds
pro have the smallest case here. However its worth point out that the studio buds case is a little
thinner than all of these other cases. Where as the Sony WF-1000XM4’s case is the thickest here.
Overall all of these cases are fine but I do gotta say that I think the Galaxy
Bud Pro’s have the least noticeable case here when its in your pocket.
However when it comes to battery life I think
the Studio buds and Galaxy Buds Pro are pretty much in the same ball park.
With their active noise cancelation turned off the studio buds have a combined battery life of 24
hours where as the Galaxy Buds Pro have a combined battery life 28 hours. But with their active noise
cancellation on the Studio Buds have a combined battery life of 15 hours and the Galaxy Buds Pro
have a combined battery life of 18 hours. Overall theyre in the small ball park but
technically the Galaxy Buds Pro have a slightly longer battery life in a slightly smaller package.
But then there’s the Jabra Elite 85T’s which have a combined battery life of 25 hours with
their active noise cancelation turned on and if you were to use them with their active noise
cancellation turned off they can go for as long as 31 hours. But then there are the Sony’s which have
an advertised combined battery life of 24 hours with their active noise cancelation turned on
but if you were to use them with their active noise cancelation turned off
they can go for as long as 36 hours.
So overall all of these earbuds have respectable battery lives,
but just keep in mind battery life on all of these earbuds varies depending on how you use them
and their total battery lives do degrade over time. But nonetheless if battery life is very
important I would say that you’ll might want to go with either the Jabra’s or the Sony’s.
Now when it comes to actually charging these cases they all charge via a USB C port which
is the most telling sign on the Beats Studio Buds that they really meant for Android users
cause you can charge your phone and earbuds with the same cable which is just more convenient.
However I do gotta point out that the Beats studio buds are the only earbuds here that
don’t have wireless charging even though their case does have the largest foot print here.
Now personally I don’t really care for wireless charging on my earbuds but I do want to point
it out cause this could be a big deal for someone who either has a phone that supports power sharing
or if you’ve already invested in a few wireless charging mats.
But now lets talk about fit cause all of these earbuds fit very differently from one another.
Now all of these earbuds are in ear earbuds but the WF-1000XM4’s are the only earbuds here that
actually go into your ear canal a decent amount. Now the Galaxy Bud Pro also go into your ear canal
but not as much as the Sony’s. But then there’s the studio buds and jabra elite 85t’s which a much
more shallow fitting. But the Jabra’s do feel much more natural and comfortable than the Studio Bud’s
specifically cause theyre using oval ear tips. Where as since the Studio Buds are using round
ear tips they do feel a little more intrusive by comparison. Now even though the Galaxy Buds Pro
do go in a little deeper into your ear canal than the studio buds, since theyre also using oval ear
tips they do feel a little more comfortable than the studio buds. But finally we do have to address
the ear-tips on the Sony’s. Now unlike all of these other earbuds that are using silicon ear
tips the Sony WF-1000XM4’s only come included with foam ear tips. Now these foam ear tips for a great
job of conforming to your ear canal offering great lock down and they passively block out more noise
than the silicon ear tips found on all of these other earbuds. But personally im not a fan of
these foam ear tips cause to me they do get very itchy very quickly. So personally I feel the Sony
WF-1000XM4’s fit will might not be for everyone. Where as the Beats studio buds and Galaxy Buds Pro
should fit just fine for most people. But then there as the Jabra Elite 85T’s which I do feel are
the most comfortable fitting ear buds here cause of their shallow fit and oval silicon ear tips.
But now lets talk about connectivity. The earbuds on the Studio Buds, Galaxy Buds Pro, and Sony’s
each establish a connection with your phone. So if you just wanna use one earbud at a time
you can use either one it doesn’t matter. And this is the connection
set up that we expect to see from our earbuds nowadays.
Where as the Jabra’s are using a hero and sidekick set up meaning that one earbud,
the hero earbud, in this case the right earbud actually establishes a connection with you phone
and then relays that connection to the other earbud. So if you just want to use one earbud
at a time you gotta use the correct earbud. In this case the right earbud the hero earbud.
Now earbuds that are still using a hero and sidekick do feel rather gen. However the
Jabra’s justify their use of a hero and side kick cause they can be simultaneously connected to any
two device regardless of operating system. So if you’re a power user with lets say an iPhone
and a and android device then you’ll might want to go with the Jabra’s cause you can easily hot
swap between your two devices regardless of operating system.
But more importantly when it comes to performance all of these earbuds have zero latency across the
board whether you’re using an iPhone or an android device… but when it comes to audio
codecs the Studio Buds, Galaxy Buds Pro, and Jabra’s all only have support for SBC and AAC
which is fine… but the Sony WF-1000XM4’s have support for SBC, AAC, and Sony’s own LDAC.
But now lets talk about actually listening to music with these earbuds. The beats studio buds
are a fun pair if earbuds to listen to. They have a slight emphasis on the mids so vocals
are a little prominent and they have a good amount of bass that resonates and hits a decent amount.
Overall the studio buds should be able to please most people. But then there are the
Jabra’s which also have a good amount of bass to them but they do sound more open than the
Studio Buds and more importantly they have an app where you can directly adjust their EQ
to your liking. Now even though I think its great and all that these earbuds have an adjustable EQ,
I would recommend these earbuds specifically to someone who likes a warmer sound signature
cause these earbuds just don’t sound as open as the Sony’s and Galaxy Buds pro. Now like I just
said the Sony’s sound a little more open than the Jabra’s but the Sony’s also have the hardest
hitting bass here. So if you’re really after that bass then you’ll might wanna go with the Sony’s.
However since sony also has a fully customizable EQ if you’re after a neutral or vocals focused EQ
the Sony’s can deliver if you got them in the right EQ setting. But if you are after the best
sound quality personally here personally I do recommend the Galaxy Buds Pro. Now
even though their bass doesn’t hit as hard as the Sony’s… it still resonates a good amount
but more importantly they do have the best instrument separation here. The only thing to
look out here for is that their app only works on android and you’ve only get a few preset EQ
settings to choose from. You can’t make your own EQ like you can with the Jabra’s and Sony’s.
Now when it comes to controlling your media the Jabra’s and Studio Buds are
using physical buttons where as both the Sony and Galaxy buds pro are using touch pads.
And this alone could be a deciding factor for some people cause they don’t want to deal
with touch pads. Nonetheless the media controls on all of these earbuds are easy enough to use…
but the Galaxy Buds Pro give you the most control over your media and ANC settings
from just the earbuds themselves if you’ve got them set up properly.
However when it comes to activating your google assistant on an android device…
you can only do so by pressing and holing on both the Studio Buds and Jabra’s where
as with the Sony’s you can activate your google assistant with just your voice
by saying hey google. But then there are the Galaxy Buds Pro which have Hi Bixby support…
but since I use a pixel, I really can’t say anything about Bixby.
But the last thing that I gotta point about these ear buds regarding your media controls
is that the Studio Buds are the only earbuds here that don’t have proximity sensors.
Meaning that they won’t automatically pause your music when you take them out of your ears like
all of these other earbuds. And personally I do feel that this is a noticeable inconvenience.
But now lets talk about the active noise cancelation on these earbuds. Now first I
do want to tapper expectations here. The ANC on earbuds isn’t going to block out
as much noise as a proper pair of over ear ANC headphones like either the Bose NC 700,
Sony 1000XM4’s and especially the AirPods Max… However I will say the WF-1000XM4’s
are getting really close to blocking out as much noise as the Sony 1000XM4’s headphones,
specifically road noise. They’re still a little behind when it comes to chatter.
Now when it comes to ranking the Sony WF-1000XM4 block out the most amount of
noise here with barely any cabin pressure which is great. But like I mentioned earlier their
fit isn’t for everyone. So for that reason I still highly recommend the Jabra Elite 85T’s cause they
also block out a ton of noise… not as much noise as the Sony’s but they are more comfortable.
And then there are the Galaxy Buds Pro and Studio Buds which don’t block out a
ton of noise. And for comparison sake they both block out less noise than the AirPods
Pro which I would rank below the Jabra’s. But I do gotta say the Galaxy Buds pro do
block out little more noise more noise than the Studio Buds. But nonetheless if active
noise cancelation is very important to you I would go with either the Sony’s or Jabra’s.
But like I’ve mentioned in the past I only use the active noise cancelation
on my earbuds when I have to and what’s really important to me is
the quality of their ambient mode. Now all of these earbuds have decent sound ambient modes
don’t sound very natural with very little or no hissing in the background.
But in this lineup the Sony WF-1000XM4’s do have the best sounding ambient mode.
It sounds the most natural and they do the best job rejecting wind noise when walking out doors.
However I do wanna point out that both the Sony and Galaxy Buds pro
have active ambient modes meaning that they’ll turn off their ambient modes when there’s
a loud noise like lets say a siren rolling by saving your ears from just
getting blasted. Where as both the Jabra’s and Studio Buds will just let in everything.
But finally here’s the microphone test and unfortunately I gotta say
the Sony’s have the worst performing microphone here.
Even in a quiet room I sound a little shallow and there’s some static in the background.
Now the jabra’s also sound a little shallow but I feel they have better
clarity than the Sony’s specially cause they don’t have as much static in the background.
But then there are the Galaxy Buds which have a good amount of amplification to them.
But then there are the Studio Buds which have a lot more amplification to them.
Now even though the amplification on the Studio Buds is great for phone calls… they do let in
a lot of noise pollution and there can be a noticeable amount of static in the background
when im talking.
Where as with the Galaxy buds pro do they a much better job of isolating my voice and
blocking out that road noise. Now you can still hear some road noise in the background, but my
voice is the main focus here and there isn’t any static in the back ground when im talking.
Where as with the Jabra’s they don’t block out all that much road noise
And then there are the Sony’s which not only let in a lot of road noise
there’s also a lot of static in the background when im talking.
So if you are planning on taking lots and lots of phone calls with
your earbuds I say the Galaxy Buds pro are the best option here. They have
the best clarity here and they do the best job of blocking out noise pollution here.
Now you can also take phone calls with the Studio Buds but id rather take phone calls with them
in a quieter environment cause they don’t do as good of a job blocking out noise pollution.
But with all that being said, the Beats Studio Buds are a great pair of truly wireless earbuds
from apple that any android user should consider. They’re a lot of fun to listen to and they have
premium features like Active Noise Cancellation and an ambient mode at a price that won’t break
the bank. However more popular premium options like either the Galaxy Buds Pro, Jabra Elite
85T’s or Sony WF-1000XM4 do have their pros over the Studio Buds. If battery life or active noise
cancellation is super important to you then you’ll might want to go either the Sony WF-1000XM4’s
or Jabra Elite 85T’s. Personally I do lean toward the Jabra’s cause they are more comfortable.
Or if sound is your main priority then you’ll might want to go with the Galaxy Buds Pro. And
it also doesn’t hurt that the Galaxy Buds Pro have the best performing microphone here.
But overall the Studio Buds are a pair of earbuds you really can’t go wrong with it.