My Time With The Beats Studio Pro
They are almost perfect but have one crucial flaw.
In the fall of 2024, the Beats Studio Pros went on sale and have since remained so. What are normally a sub-$350 pair of headphones, you can find for about half that price and sometimes even less, brand new. I was tempted to buy them from my local Target and Best Buy but ended up finding a “like-new” pair on eBay for even less — the total was about $125.
Not only have I heard that the Beats have improved somewhat in terms of sound quality since Apple bought them, making them not as bass-heavy, but they still do have a decent amount of bass, which is what I prefer. Another thing that Apple did in controlling the Beats line is that they now have Apple chips that make it a great addition to the ecosystem.
So, bass and the integration with other Apple devices were the main reasons why I wanted to try these out. Buying them for so cheap in such great condition was a bonus. But after 6 months of use, I am not as happy with them as I thought I would be. It’s too bad because they seem like a great alternative to the AirPods Max, but I guess the lesser price comes with some downsides.
The Good: Sound quality, Apple integration, and style
Though the Beats Studio Pros aren’t as bass-y as my Sony WHXB900N headphones, they are enough to keep me happy with most of the hip-hop music I listen to. I don’t know if they necessarily sound better than my Sony’s, but they don’t sound bad.
I do feel like the Sony headphones provide more of a sound that I prefer, and I think that comes from them having more bass. It ends up warming up everything more, which I really enjoy when listening to alt types of music with headphones on.
The big thing that the Sony headphones don’t have is the integration with Apple’s ecosystem. Because the Beats Studio Pros are now offered by Apple, they offer integrations to devices very similar to other AirPods headphones. Unlike the AirPods, the Beats Studio Pros do not have the H1 chip but instead a customer chip by Beats so they can connect to both Apple devices and Android devices seamlessly.
Paul Alvarez
One of the reasons I was excited about Beats is that it’s easy to connect to my devices unlike the Sony headphones. On my iPhone and iPad, sometimes the Sony headphones will connect automatically, but other times it requires me to go to the Bluetooth settings and manually connect them, which is a pain.
Not only that, but connecting the Beats Studio Pros to my AppleTV is really great. When they are on, they immediately become an option on my AppleTV to use them when I am watching a movie or show late at night after the rest of my family is asleep. The seamless switching between devices is why I was intrigued in trying out the Beats.
I also really love the look of them. The matte black color is really slick-looking, and I really love the physical buttons to pause, skip songs, and change the volume. I also like that I can change from Noise Cancellation to Transparency Model by double-clicking the power button. For the most part, I like the fit and feel of the headphones, but this is where I start my bad section of this post.
The Bad: Wearing for long periods is uncomfortable
I have worn my Sony headphones for hours in the past while sitting at my desk and writing, to working on my yard outside. I have worn them while doing some spring cleaning for hours around my house and watching a long movie on the couch.
Never have I felt any discomfort on my ears or head after wearing them for hours. I can’t say the same with the Beats. I am not sure if it is the ear cups or the size of the headphones themselves, but after about 45 minutes to an hour of wearing them, my ears start to ache.
I have tried loosening them up more than I would like but still run into some discomfort after a while. I am hopeful that overtime they may stretch out, and maybe that is what is causing them to hurt my ears, but after six months I thought this would already have happened.
I am not getting rid of them, but I am also not getting rid of my Sony headphones. Right now my Sony headphones are left at work, since I use them a ton right now to listen to music and focus. The Beats Studio Pros are always in my backpack, but they are my home headphones when I don’t want to use my AirPods Pro.
One alternative would be to try out the AirPods Max but I just can’t justify the cost of buying a brand new pair. The older lightening-port models go for around $200 used on eBay which isn’t bad, but not getting the USB-C ones at this point just seems silly. Even brand new USB-C models you can get on eBay for around $300 but still, that is a lot for headphones that I don’t know if I would like as much as a pair for around $100.
Like I said, I prefer more bass from my headphones and after using the first model years ago I found that I was disappointed with the sound. They didn’t sound bad, just not the sound I prefer which is why I keep using the Sony’s as a bar now for all headphones that I try to replace them with.
Maybe if Apple comes out with a Beats Studio Pros and AirPods Max hybrid I would be all in. The bass is definitely better on the Beats than the Max but both are still not at the level of my Sony headphones which is too bad. I am tempted to get Sony’s new version of the WHXB900N, the ULT WEAR models, but without the Apple integration it is a tough decision.