Beats’ Studio Pro headphones have finally been released as the first new pair of over-ear headphones from the company since 2017, but are they worth the hype?
When it comes to headphones, there’s no design as iconic as the Beats Studio line. They’ve been available as a wireless option for years, and Apple has kept them virtually the same since purchasing the company.
The Beats Studio Pro headphones have been released with a familiar design alongside a plethora of updates like USB C charging, transparency mode, and better battery life. With modern updates, they have a competitive $350 price point to match. But, are they worth it?
Key Specs
- Connectivity: Bluetooth, 3.5mm, USB-C for charging & audio
- Driver diameter: 40mm
- Weight: 260g
- Compatibility: Anything with Bluetooth, 3.5mm, or USB-C
- Features: One-touch pairing, Siri support, Find My, Spatial Audio, Lossless support, ANC, Transparency mode
- Price: $349.99
Design
At first glance, the Beats Studio Pro doesn’t actually look like a newly released pair of headphones. They share the same iconic design as previous Beats cans, so those looking for a modern design might be disappointed at first.
The Beats Studio Pro headphones feature the company’s logo on both ear cups. The left allows you to control your music, with various functions associated with taps. Single-tap it to play or pause your music, double-tap to go to the next song, and triple-tap to go back.
With the button being in the center of the earcup, it’s super easy to reach for and it provides tactile feedback that leaves us confident with every press. Other headphones use slightly more finicky capacitive pads, but there’s nothing really wrong with a tried-and-true button.
Keeping with a clean design, the only other thing you’ll find on the left side of the Beats Studio Pro is the 3.5mm headphone jack which can be used with the included 3.5mm cable.
On the right side, you’ll find the USB-C charging port on the bottom, and a single button on the outside. The power button also allows you to switch between various ANC modes, including transparency.
The earcups also fold in for transport, limiting how much space they take in your bag. On top of that, Beats includes a super sturdy fabric case to protect the $350 headphones from dust, dings, and drops.
While most of the material on the outside of the Beats Studio Pro is plastic, it’s held together by a metal strip all the way through the headband. It has an absolutely gorgeous, brushed metal aesthetic right above the earcups, which we love.
There are no creaks or groans coming from the headset when putting them on and off, giving them a very premium feeling during use.
The headphones do adjust quite a bit and are perfect for users with a bigger head. The padding on the headband could stand to be more comfortable, though, as we often found ourselves noticing it digging into the top of our heads.
Padding on the earcups is plentiful, and we don’t have a single complaint about comfort around our ears.
Setup and Features
Setting up the Beats Studio Pro headphones is an absolute breeze with every device, but it’s even easier with Apple products.
When connecting to our iPhone 14 Pro Max and iPad 10th gen, we were met with the quick connect menu just like Apple’s line of Airpods. Adding them to one device makes it easily available throughout the rest of the company’s ecosystem as well.
They’re compatible with Apple’s Find My app too, meaning you’ll be able to track the location of your Beats Studio Pro’s wherever they are.
On our Windows PC and Android devices, it isn’t much different, as all you must do is hold the power button for a few seconds to put the headphones into pairing mode.
The Beats Studio Pro headphones offer Active Noise Canceling and Transparency mode, and quite frankly they’re very well done.
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Turning off ANC does make the battery life on the headphones last quite a bit longer. Beats rate it at around 40 hours at half volume — but even with Active Noise Canceling enabled Beats says they’ll make it a solid 24 hours.
Battery life
We were skeptical at first, but after a fair bit of testing with the Beats Studio Pro, Apple’s advertised battery life is spot on. With varying volume levels, we saw about 38 hours of use with ANC off, and right around 20 hours with it on.
They don’t have any issues lasting through at least two of our workdays before having to be plugged in and would be suitable for any gym session or bike ride.
Sound Quality
The sound quality on the Beats Studio Pro is great and very much up to Beats & Apple’s standards compared to other releases.
Highs absolutely shined through while listening to the latest Coheed and Cambria album while offering perfectly suitable mids with everything we’ve thrown at it.
The bass offered by the headphones could stand to be a bit punchier for our taste, but it’s not bad by any means. It’s perfectly serviceable while listening to hip-hop but it might leave Beats-loyal EDM fans hungry for more.
Beats included support for Apple Spatial Audio over Bluetooth to enjoy your favorite content online, and Lossless support over USB-C, which goes well with Apple Music’s massive catalog of lossless tracks.
ANC on the cans shuts out nearly everything going on around you, and in our testing, we could barely hear the air conditioner run despite it being placed just 10 feet away. It might block out too much for those walking down the street, but wearing them to the gym should be perfect.
Transparency mode is new to the Beats Studio Pro, and they’ve done a phenomenal job at it. We often enable it while working during the day and have no issue hearing what’s going on in the other room as the latest Beartooth song is blaring in our ears.
There’s no hissing or humming, and you can turn off Active Noise Canceling for a nice mix between the two modes.
Microphone quality
Thanks to Beats’ new “voice targeting” microphones, the call quality on the Beats Studio Pro headphones is phenomenal. They filtered out a large chunk of background noise very well in our testing, and we would recommend using the headphones for any phone call or Discord voice chat you’d be faced with.
Should you buy it?
If you’re in the market for a high-end pair of Bluetooth headphones, the Beats Studio Pro should definitely be on your list. They sound great, connect with Apple devices super well, and are built to withstand a good amount of use.
Those looking for a bass-heavy set of headphones, however, should look elsewhere.
The Verdict: 4/5
The Beats Studio Pro headphones are built to last and provide plenty of value for their rather high $350 price tag. We would’ve liked to see Beats improve the padding on the headband, though, as they can become quite uncomfortable.
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