Beats Fit Pro review – snazzy wireless earbuds are like sportier, cheaper AirPods
BEATS are back with a sporty set of earbuds that combine style and practicality to cater to gym addicts and couch potatoes alike.
But just how good do the Beats Fit Pro sound, do they actually stay in your ears during a workout, and are they worth £200 of your hard-earned dough?
I've given them a spin over the past seven days to find out ahead of their release tomorrow. Strap in.
What are the Beats Fit Pro?
The Beats Fit Pro are the latest earbuds from Beats By Dr Dre, the US audio giant scooped up by Apple in 2014.
They're designed to fit somewhere between the firm's everyday Studio Buds – released last year – and the fitness-focused Powerbeats Pro.
According to Beats, that means they're chic enough to wear out to your morning coffee and durable enough to survive a sweaty workout.
Thanks to the inclusion of Apple's H1 chip, the buds introduce many of the top features of the AirPods Pro, including active noise cancellation (ANC).
Most read in News Tech
Design
For its latest earphones, Beats took the design of the marble-sized Studio Buds and stuck a silicon wingtip on them.
They fit snugly in the inside of your ear to provide extra stability while you're pumping iron or out on that early-morning jog.
The design is striking, and will likely work for some more than others. Personally, I think it looks great – as do the likes of A-list celebs.
I have to admit, however, that I had some problems getting the buds to stay in my ears while I was out on a run.
This mirrors my experience with the AirPods Pro – which frequently leap from my ears like migrating salmon – and suggests to me that it's worth trying these things on before buying to ensure that they actually fit properly.
One interesting choice made here is that the silicon wing-tips form part of the earbuds themselves.
On other earphones, those wingtips – also known as sports fins – are removable and come in a variety of sizes.
The Beats Fit Pro bake them into the design, making them malleable and adjustable to fit all ear sizes. I think the buds look better for it.
At a measly 5.6 grams per earbud, they're also astonishingly light, which help to make them super comfortable over several hours of continuous wearing.
One of the biggest complaints about the Powerbeats Pro is the gargantuan size of their charging case, and Beats have addressed that with their latest offering.
The Beats Fit Pro case is smaller and lighter, easily fitting into a pocket so you can take them wherever you go.
The buds come in four colours: Black, White, Sage Gray, and Stone Purple. Expect more to be unveiled further down the line.
Features
Arguably the Beats Fit Pros' biggest selling point is the fact that they're loaded with Apple's powerful H1 microchip.
That's the engine that powers the AirPods Pro and means Beats' new earphones come with many of the same flagship features.
Active Noise Cancellation? Check. Hands-free access to Siri? Check. Apple's Adaptive EQ feature, which adjusts the sound based on how the earbuds sit in your ears on the fly? You betcha.
It means you're getting an AirPods Pro-like experience at a lower price – far more than you can say about the cheaper Studio Buds.
Like the AirPods Pro, Apple's noise cancellation works exceptionally well, blocking out external noise for uninterrupted listening.
You switch between ANC and transparency mode by pressing and holding a physical control button that's an extension of the wingtip.
Additionally, you can press the button to pause or resume playback and to answer or hang up calls.
One neat addition is the ability to set the press and hold action to change the volume, a feature that fans have been calling for on the AirPods for years.
However, the ANC isn't quite as powerful as that offered by rival earphones from Bose and Sony.
In addition, unlike the noise cancellation offered by rival buds, it isn't adjustable.
In terms of battery life, the buds also have the AirPods Pro beat. It's rated at up to six hours with noise cancelling on and seven hours with it off.
That's compared to about four and a half hours for the AirPods Pro with ANC on and five hours with it off.
The Beats Fit Pro charge pretty quick, too. You get an hour of playback after five minutes of charging, and the buds fully charge in just 90 minutes.
One major drawback, however, is a lack of wireless charging. Most earphones at this price point feature it, making it a glaring omission.
How do they sound?
In short: The Beats Fit Pro sound fantastic. To my (admittedly untrained) ears, they actually sound better than the AirPods Pro.
The Beats Fit Pro managed excellent overall clarity with a good balance of elevated highs and lows.
Long gone are the days when Beats blasted your ears with enough bass to keep your neighbours up.
I put them through their paces with a playthrough of Every Time I Die's (RIP) Desperate Pleasures, a crunching track that previous Beats earphones would have smothered by cranking the bass through the roof.
The Beats Fit Pro, however, handle the tune beautifully, giving it (and many other tracks I've tried) the broad soundstage they deserve.
If you're a real audio nerd, the earbuds are also compatible with Dolby Atmos tracks available on Apple Music.
They deliver a "spatial audio experience", meaning the audio mix changes dynamically as you move your head.
Final verdict
The Beats Fit Pro are arguably the best earbuds the company has produced, and but for a few niggles would be up there with the best that money can buy.
They offer fantastic sound and excellent noise cancellation at a price that's a little kinder to your wallet than the £250 AirPods Pro.
However, the lack of wireless charging is hard to ignore at this price point, and they're not as anchored to the ear as, for instance, the Powerbeats Pro, which loop over the ear with a secure hook.
Ultimately, if you're looking for the AirPods Pro experience at a friendlier price, then the Beats Fit Pro are the buds for you.
If you're looking at something more robust for your workouts, however, then I'd suggest looking elsewhere.
The Beats Fit are priced at £199 and ship worldwide on January 28.
In other news, personalised smart guns, which can be fired only by verified users, may finally become available to U.S. consumers this year.
Scientists are embarking on a mission to unravel the mystery behind dozens of grisly child mummies buried in an underground tomb in Sicily.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
Police have caught an Italian mafia henchman who'd be on the run for 20 years after spotting the fugitive on Google Maps.
And, one of the best-preserved fossils ever found has confirmed that young dinosaurs burst from their shells just like baby birds.
We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online Tech & Science team? Email us at [email protected]