The Beats brand has remained the most iconic in the headphones category for over a decade. Despite Apple acquiring the brand, they recognized the value that the Beats logo alone brings to the world of fashion, audio and more recently, portable gaming. With this in mind, Apple decided that the latest Beats offering, the Beats Studio Pro, would keep a very similar design to its predecessors. Unlike traditional Apple products that go through significant design changes every few years, the Beats Studio Pro look relatively similar to the Studio 3s that were released approximately six years ago.
At a price tag of £349.99, Apple’s latest offering isn’t cheap either. The Studio Pros sit in the premium category of headphones, despite the fact that there are many other audio brands that sell similar products for even twice as much. Despite this premium price tag and a similar look-and-feel to the Studio 3s, the reality is that the Studio Pros are packed with completely new technology that loyal fans of the brand have been desperately waiting for.
Whilst Apple alone already provides audio solutions in the form of the AirPods line, there is an incredibly loyal community, largely due to the popularity of the Beats brand amongst celebrities and athletes, who will never be seen wearing anything other than a Beats set of cans or earphones. For this community (or anyone looking to join it), the Studio Pros are a necessary upgrade. Transparency mode, USB-C compatibility, spatial audio and lossless music are just a handful of features that make the Studio Pros a worthwhile consideration.
Without knowing all of this, you’d think that the Studio Pros are just any normal set of Beats headphones. They fold in a similar manner to the Studio 3s, and they remain largely built out of plastic. Whilst they still sport a metal hinge for the headband adjustment, the rest of the build is plastic or leather for cushioning. If you want a more premium product from a build perspective, Apple provides the AirPods Max. However, metallic structures have their own downsides, namely that they are considerably heavier and therefore cannot be worn for extended periods. The Studio Pros on the other hand, are very lightweight in comparison (260g) and will therefore won’t let you down during a lengthy Call of Duty session on your console or mobile device.
Apple went the extra mile by ensuring that you get everything that you need with your £349.99 purchase. The Studio Pros come with a soft carrying case that has enough space for your folded headphones and also various cables. The package also comes with a 3.5mm and a USB-C cable. The case has pockets for these cables too. Unlike traditional headphones that use one of these ports for charging only, the Studio Pros’ 3.5mm and USB-C ports can be used for audio too. This proves to be very important especially for portable mobile gaming, since a lot of phones now do not come with 3.5mm headphone jacks. Whilst the main form of audio transmission is Bluetooth, you may often want to connect the headphones to your phone or tablet for minimal audio latency. Having options to use 3.5mm or USB C is a huge win for gamers.
Apple provides four colour options as of now: Black, Deep Brown, Navy and Sandstone. The latter is perhaps the best if you want to avoid any noticeable scuffs, but there is an argument for purchasing any of these colours since they are all beautiful shades. I particularly love that the Sandstone colour is not pure white.
The Studio Pros come with a new cushioning technology, which Apple calls UltraPlush. One of the biggest criticisms of previous generation Beats headphones is that they are not comfortable enough. A large part of the community would complain that after an hour or so, the headphones would start to hurt around the ears due to how tightly they sit. Apple’s solution to this was to upgrade the leather that sits around your ear. Given that I spend perhaps more time than I should be using headphones (either to listen to music, or playing games), I can confirm that the Studio Pros did not pain my ears. I was able to play a 3-hour session of Fortnite without a single bit of discomfort, and this is whilst wearing glasses. My only criticism is that you cannot swap out the earcups. If you work out with your headphones, use them for commuting and also for gaming, those leather ear cups will wear out over time. I haven’t had them for long enough to confirm how quickly the ear cups will degrade, but not having an option to replace them seems like a miss. My experience with Apple/Beats customer support has been generally positive, so I’d be hopeful that they can repair them when necessary. However, this is not something that the company is obligated to do.
The Beats Studio Pros come with 40mm drivers that are meant to provide an upgraded audio experience than its predecessor in many different facets. Firstly, they are much better at maintaining the audio quality even at higher volumes. You’re supposed to hear less distortion compared to the Studio 3s. For a product line-up that celebrates punchy bass, this was a needed feature. For gaming particularly, bass is a very important factor for immersive experiences. When playing Call of Duty, you cannot enjoy the game if every explosion sounds muffled. You cannot experience of scoring a goal in FIFA if there isn’t enough bass to represent the ball being blasted in the back of the net. When playing racing games, the bass is what provides the thrill of the chase as the engine roars.
I absolutely love how the Studio Pros sound. As a bass enthusiast more than a pure audiophile, if my headphones do not pack a certain level of bass without sacrificing mids and trebles, I wouldn’t wear them again. The Studio Pros however provide the perfect amount of bass for gaming and music. Whilst the mids and trebles do suffer, you can very easily tweak these settings via the app (for Android) or EQ settings on your iOS device to fix this. I personally think that the default setting, combined with noise cancellation and spatial audio, is the winner.
Active Noise Cancellation and Spatial Audio are the real game changers. Yes, Apple provides them in other products. However as mentioned earlier, some people don’t want the other products. They want Beats, and they want headphones. They also want their Beats headphones to take advantage of the latest technology that Apple provides. This is where the Studio Pros really shine. The ANC is superb. I do feel that the AirPods Pro 2 perhaps do a marginally better job, but you really cannot tell the difference in most circumstances. I’ve used my Beats Studio Pros on a flight and played games using the in-flight WiFi, and I couldn’t hear a single thing in the background. ANC is absolutely vital when playing games on portable devices, and Apple is one of the best companies to do it.
After all, if you’re playing an intense game of CoD Warzone on your iPhone, the last thing you need is any background disruption. You need to be able to hear every footstep around you and without high quality ANC, you cannot achieve this. The Studio Pros also come with Transparency mode, which allows you to hear your surroundings very clearly even with the headphones on. It’s very easy to interchange between the two, which again is important if you’re gaming and don’t want to be going in and out of apps to toggle the settings.
Spatial audio integration is the crown jewel feature for gamers on Apple devices. If you’re into shooters, games that take advantage of spatial audio (which most of the popular games do) will allow you to hear audio coming from 360 degrees. In order for that to work, you need headphones or earphones that have this technology built in, and the Studio Pros work beautifully with this feature. There is nothing better than being able to hear an opponent trying to creep up from above you seconds before they actually have a chance to do something. It’s criminal for anyone to be playing games competitively on their iOS or Android devices without audio tech that don’t contain Spatial Audio. With the introduction of Remote Play apps now allowing you to connect remotely to your PS5 or Xbox consoles from anywhere in the world, you’ll want to ensure that you have access to a great set of headphones wherever you go. The Beats Studio Pros are definitely worth considering if you want the absolute perfect balance of function, style and audio profile.
Apple has also added head tracking to the Studio Pros. They work great, however I found myself turning the feature off. It’s not as if there’s anything wrong with the feature. In fact, it works too well. The issue is that I don’t want the audio direction changing when I move my head. For gaming, the audio direction needs to move as your character in the game moves, not when your head moves. Therefore, this feature is great for other scenarios such as watching movies or enjoying specific genre of music. For gaming, I would recommend turning it off. Perhaps the head tracking functionality will become vital if you end up investing in Apple’s Vision Pro, or any other VR/AR headset!
The Studio Pros come with various profiles, and there are more if you connect the headphones via USB C for audio. The only way to know what mode you’re in is by seeing how many lights are switched on where the right ear cup is. Technically, there is nothing stopping from Apple releasing more profiles or tuning existing ones via background updates (another feature that we benefit from).
Other very important features that are worth mentioning include Find My integration, “Hey Siri” voice activation and synchronization via iCloud devices. The latter is very useful if you have multiple Apple devices and want to seamlessly switch from device A to device B without having to unpair and repair.
Similar to other Beats products that have recently launched, Apple is using Beats to maintain a position within the Android market, and I hope this doesn’t change. Beats is more than just a brand for audio lovers, and I would hate for Android users to lose out on significant features because they aren’t using Apple devices. I love that the Studio Pros work very well with Android devices (quick pairing, background updates, Find My Device integration etc.). As long as you have the Beats app on your Android device, you’re benefiting from most of the same features that iOS users will enjoy.
If you’re going to be using the Studio Pros for gaming, you’ll know how easily multiple sessions can rack up the hours. Traditional wireless gaming headsets run out of battery very quickly. The Studio Pros on the other hand can last for up to 40 hours on a single charge! To make life easier, if you leave it on charge for 10 minutes, you’ll get 4 hours of charge via Apple’s Fast Fuel technology – more than enough for a very long session of gaming! Of course, these hours will vary depending on whether you use ANC, Transparency mode etc. However, I was getting over 20 hours with ANC switched on, which is mind-blowing. Not even the AirPods Max get this level of battery life.
I also love that the Studio Pros come with actual buttons. I don’t personally mind touch-controls, however nothing beats the simplicity and usability of actually pressing buttons to change the track, pause, take calls etc. Apple once again leverages various buttons and also the ‘b’ logo, which itself is a button, to give you all the controls you need. If you’ve been a user of the Studio 3s, you’ll learn how to use this very quickly.
The Beats Studio Pro is a fantastic addition to the Beats and Apple line-up of audio tech. To offer lossless audio via USB C is actually a first for Apple, and to add all of the latest features that we love in the AirPods Max and Pros is a major win for the community that doesn’t want to move away from Beats. Whilst I am surprised that the company didn’t do something bolder with the design, I also appreciate that they kept it simple and true to what works. It feels strange that despite living in a technology bubble where consumers always want the next iteration of a product to look new, Apple stuck to its guns with the Studio Pro design.
Most importantly for gamers on-the-go, the Beats Studio Pros provide a wonderful balance of audio quality, spatial awareness, longevity on a single charge, build quality, comfort levels and overall design. The Studio Pros aren’t necessarily the best at any one particular task, but they are one of the best if you want a pair of headphones that you can use in any situation (gaming, commuting, working out etc.). It is for this reason why the Beats Studio Pros have now replaced my Sony XM5s, which I didn’t think would be possible so soon.