AirPods are the most popular earbuds in the world for a reason, but they're not perfect.
You need to have an iPhone to make the most of them. The design and lack of active noise canceling means you'll hear everything around you.
You're limited to charging with a lightning port on the base model.
And even though I personally prefer this style, I will admit that it is challenging to get
great sound out of an earbud that doesn't seal in your ear.
But what if I told you there was an alternative that's better in almost every single way
for the exact same price? Does it have active noise cancellation?
Yep. USB-C charging. Check.
Better sound quality. You betcha. And perhaps, most surprising of all, they're even made by Apple, but they're not AirPods.
These are the Beats Studio Buds Plus, an update to 2021's Studio Buds.
They look the same, keeping the familiar, easy to pinch edge, but looks can be deceiving.
These are a full on sequel, making changes across the board and addressing any complaint
you could have leveled against the originals.
Compared to the last model, Beats says that these have significantly better active noise
canceling and transparency, thanks to the improved mics, which also provide an upgrade
to voice quality. Sound and comfort see a small upgrade thanks to the updated venting, which pushes more
air through the transducer and helps relieve pressure.
Battery life jumps from 24 hours to a frankly astounding 36, making these Apple's longest
lasting earbuds. And their latest Beats Proprietary Platform Gen 2 chip provides deeper integration in
both Apple and Android ecosystems.
Does that mean these are better for Android and Google users?
I don't like that. I don't like that one bit.
My favorite part is the color. Yes, we've seen transparent earbuds before, but man, it's been a long time since Apple's
done anything like this. I really hope to see more of this in the future.
So the question is, what does this all mean for actually using them?
Better this and improve that, only matters if this can make good on the claims of quality.
And perhaps unsurprisingly to anyone who's been following Beats for the last few years,
yeah, these do live up to the specs. What matters with earbuds is sound, and these just sound better than 3rd gen AirPods.
They pack far more punch, and while I can hear songs with a wide array of instrumentals
being constrained on these, that's just what you get with a speaker the size of a dime.
Make no mistake, these are an improvement over the 3rd gen AirPods, which I already think
sound pretty good. They're not the best you can get, though.
They don't measure up to the AirPods Pro, but those are quite a bit more expensive.
They are, however, comparable to the Beats Fit Pro, despite those being slightly more
expensive. Even still, I'd take the Studio Buds Plus, because I'm not a fan of earwings.
Now there's one feature we discovered that these have that kind of is surprising.
It's automatic noise cancellation in loud environments.
When using transparency mode, if the earbuds detect a loud noise, they quickly turn noise
cancellation on for that earbud. It'll stay on as long as the noise continues, and once it stops, the earbud fades back to
transparency over a few seconds. That's weird.
It's a pretty neat feature, and can reduce annoyances and offer a little bit of hearing
protection, but I do wish there was a way to disable it.
It's somewhat jarring, and perhaps unwanted if you're in a loud environment where you
need transparency to be on.
There are also other ways in which these aren't better than AirPods. They don't have automatic device switching across the Apple ecosystem, but Beats did
manage to support iPhone to Apple Watch switching for some reason.
Similarly, while you do get spatial audio, you won't be able to personalize it to your
ear or use head tracking. Now you might think Apple is deliberately kneecapping these, so that the AirPods remain
the clear or opaque flagship. But on the contrary, other Beats have the H1 chip, and so they have the above Apple features.
Meanwhile, the Studio Buds and Studio Buds Plus are meant more for Android users at the
expense of Apple features. Since they're using these for almost a week, I have to say that I'm surprised.
I've always been curious about Beats, but I didn't expect them to come out with a product
that's so drastically improved upon a well-received predecessor, let alone the de facto choice
in wireless earbuds. All this to say that these are the new go-to mid-range earbuds from Apple, especially if
you don't mind silicon tips. Thanks for seeing through this Mac Address.
If you like Beats products, give this video a like.
And if you still would prefer AirPods, you might as well subscribe. Now, I'm curious below if you're a secret Android viewer who would actually benefit from
all the improvements these get in the better integration.