1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,480 Wait, what happened to over-the-ear headphones? 2 00:00:05,480 --> 00:00:13,120 Well, Apple's AirPods happened, that's what. They are arguably the best way to experience wireless headphones with your iPhone. 3 00:00:13,120 --> 00:00:17,600 You know, the excellent auto-switching, noise cancellation and all that other magic. 4 00:00:17,600 --> 00:00:22,320 But unless you want to spend 500 plus on AirPods Max, you're using earbuds. 5 00:00:22,320 --> 00:00:26,240 That's quite a shame, as I'm not a huge fan of earbuds, especially if they have silicon 6 00:00:26,240 --> 00:00:31,240 tips. This makes me realize I miss using over-the-ear headphones. 7 00:00:31,240 --> 00:00:38,640 Is there really nothing for me? Well, there is a new pair of over-ear headphones with a loft of Apple magic without the max 8 00:00:38,640 --> 00:00:42,240 price. Meet the Beats Studio Pros. 9 00:00:42,240 --> 00:00:49,440 Beats? There haven't been new over-the-ear headphones from Beats since 2017, and despite companies 10 00:00:49,440 --> 00:00:53,720 like Sony, Bose and Apple making big improvements to their headphones, especially to active 11 00:00:53,720 --> 00:00:59,960 noise cancelling, Beats is still using micro-USB and selling for $350. 12 00:00:59,960 --> 00:01:03,680 That was the same price they launched at, I mean it's just sad to see. 13 00:01:03,680 --> 00:01:08,560 This is Beats, the same company that a decade ago popularized the whole idea of over-ear 14 00:01:08,560 --> 00:01:12,120 headphones. See them languish like this, it's just sad. 15 00:01:12,120 --> 00:01:17,440 Oh yeah, I remember everyone having huge and bassy Beats headphones, I was definitely 16 00:01:17,440 --> 00:01:21,600 not cool enough for those. Well, you won't have to worry about that anymore, because the new Studio Pros are a 17 00:01:21,600 --> 00:01:26,000 lot more mature. In many appearances, almost everything here is new or improved. 18 00:01:26,000 --> 00:01:30,480 New speaker drivers, plus your ear pads, improved active noise cancelling, transparency and 19 00:01:30,480 --> 00:01:34,040 microphone quality, and a USB-C port with wired playback. 20 00:01:34,040 --> 00:01:37,760 There's even a 3.5mm port, which is refreshingly not new. 21 00:01:37,760 --> 00:01:42,120 These also continue the trend of Beats appealing to everyone regardless of ecosystem, meaning 22 00:01:42,120 --> 00:01:45,340 it includes all the same Android fast-pair and device switching tricks that we saw in 23 00:01:45,340 --> 00:01:50,720 the Studio Buds Plus on top of the usual Apple luxuries, though not quite all of them, 24 00:01:50,720 --> 00:01:54,760 as they still lack some features like audio sharing and automatic device switching. 25 00:01:54,760 --> 00:02:00,100 How kind of them. I did joke about this in our last Beats review, but I do wish that Apple would afford some 26 00:02:00,100 --> 00:02:04,880 of the benefits to Android users with their AirPods, but it appears that Beats will fill 27 00:02:04,880 --> 00:02:11,720 that role instead. In fact, these are the first headphones without an H chip to feature head-track spatial audio. 28 00:02:11,720 --> 00:02:18,560 And check out the Settings app and Control Center. These feel exactly like AirPods here, while they also remind me how much I love over-ear 29 00:02:18,560 --> 00:02:23,580 headphones. Performance-wise, these do a good job of holding their own against stalwarts like the Sony 30 00:02:23,580 --> 00:02:28,900 XM5s. Despite the Beats coming in at $50 less, these two are pretty evenly matched. 31 00:02:28,900 --> 00:02:33,540 Surprisingly, the Beats are more neutral than the XM5s, which skew a bit bass-heavy. 32 00:02:33,540 --> 00:02:37,100 This may not be to your liking if you want some extra thump in your songs. 33 00:02:37,100 --> 00:02:41,700 That said, a lot of people prefer to hear a signal closer to your synth tent. 34 00:02:41,700 --> 00:02:45,100 It's clear that the company has grown a lot since their pre-Apple days, when their 35 00:02:45,100 --> 00:02:49,840 products were known for nothing but bass. I agree, I really like the neutral sound. 36 00:02:49,840 --> 00:02:53,880 As for noise cancelling, the Sony's do a better job of handling low and high frequencies, 37 00:02:53,880 --> 00:02:59,840 while the Beats are better at everything in between. It means the Sony's might be ideal for something like keying out engine noise from a plane, 38 00:02:59,840 --> 00:03:03,560 while you may want to go for the Beats if you're using them in a chatty office or coffee 39 00:03:03,560 --> 00:03:09,400 shop. I found the ANC mics in the Beats to be more sensitive to wind noise, sounding quite harsh 40 00:03:09,400 --> 00:03:13,920 and sharp. Otherwise, the ANC transparency are similar to the XM5. 41 00:03:13,920 --> 00:03:18,600 They also improve the microphones, which is to say that you're clear enough to understand, 42 00:03:18,880 --> 00:03:27,800 also clearly, still using a headset mic. 43 00:03:27,800 --> 00:03:32,680 Now when it comes to features, you can get higher quality audio with the wired USB mode. 44 00:03:32,680 --> 00:03:38,240 Plugging into your device enables lossless from Apple Music, and title, and Amazon, and 45 00:03:38,240 --> 00:03:47,120 so on and so forth. Where it does work, however, you get access to a few EQ modes. 46 00:03:47,120 --> 00:03:52,080 The Beats signature profile, an entertainment profile, and a conversation profile. 47 00:03:52,080 --> 00:03:56,520 Plus, there's no ANC or transparency when using USB playback, though there's no reason 48 00:03:56,520 --> 00:04:04,040 this could come in a future update. Now when you're using these in USB mode, they obviously charge, but better yet, you 49 00:04:04,040 --> 00:04:10,520 can also charge them while using them in Bluetooth, unlike the XM5's. 50 00:04:10,520 --> 00:04:16,560 Now Comfort is a bit of a mixed bag. When you put these things on, they are snug, and you feel it. 51 00:04:16,560 --> 00:04:20,880 This is in part due to the clamping force being unchanged from the previous model. 52 00:04:20,880 --> 00:04:25,120 Between this and the air cups being fairly shallow and small, these can almost feel like 53 00:04:25,120 --> 00:04:30,120 on-ear headphones. The pressure and discomfort went away after wearing them for a bit, though, at which point 54 00:04:30,120 --> 00:04:35,720 they felt perfectly fine. And thanks to a nice wide headband, I didn't experience any of the crown fatigue, which 55 00:04:35,720 --> 00:04:39,400 both the XM5's and AirPods Max are susceptible to. 56 00:04:39,400 --> 00:04:45,440 These might actually be a better choice for the gym. Thanks to the extra clamping force, they stay on much better during exercise than something 57 00:04:45,440 --> 00:04:49,240 like the XM5's, which I found fell off quite easily. 58 00:04:49,240 --> 00:04:54,600 My issue with over-the-ear headphones is feeling them pressed against my glasses, which I hate. 59 00:04:54,600 --> 00:04:57,880 However, I actually didn't notice that at all with these. 60 00:04:57,880 --> 00:05:02,920 Weirdly, where I feel the pressure is below my ears at the jaw joint. 61 00:05:02,920 --> 00:05:05,920 I can get used to it, but I wasn't expecting to feel them there. 62 00:05:05,920 --> 00:05:09,320 You know, I actually felt the same thing and also got used to it. 63 00:05:09,320 --> 00:05:12,400 The glasses, though, that's still going to be an issue. 64 00:05:12,400 --> 00:05:17,120 Why is that? Because with something like the XM5's, these don't actively compensate for a gap in the 65 00:05:17,120 --> 00:05:23,520 seal. So, while these beats sound good in a best-case scenario, your results may vary, depending 66 00:05:23,520 --> 00:05:29,480 on how you wear them. In our tests, the Sonys and AirPods Max give us consistent results across multiple tests, 67 00:05:29,480 --> 00:05:32,480 whereas the beats show different measurements every time. 68 00:05:32,480 --> 00:05:37,080 They're also missing other pretty standard smart features that we'd expect, like transparency 69 00:05:37,080 --> 00:05:41,200 kicking in when you start talking, or music pausing when you take them off. 70 00:05:41,200 --> 00:05:48,760 So they're kind of dumb headphones there. I do have to admit, they do look nice, even in this brown color, which many will wrongly 71 00:05:48,760 --> 00:05:53,480 overlook. The other colors, navy, black, and sandstone, are decent, too. 72 00:05:53,480 --> 00:05:57,360 Yeah, I really like the navy color. It reminds me a lot of the Midnight Mac book. 73 00:05:57,360 --> 00:06:03,600 But the smudges. Yeah, I mean, I used to be worried about it, but that color is just too nice and I don't 74 00:06:03,600 --> 00:06:06,720 care anymore. Though I do think most people will go for sandstone. 75 00:06:06,720 --> 00:06:10,000 So the design is exactly the same as the Studio 3's. 76 00:06:10,000 --> 00:06:15,040 Yes. The beats is clearly proud of this fact, banking on an iconic design to help them sell units. 77 00:06:15,040 --> 00:06:20,360 But I'm not sure that that's the right move. If I saw someone walking around with these, I'd probably just think they're the old 78 00:06:20,360 --> 00:06:27,680 model and ignore them. Yeah, I really am curious what a modern interpretation of this beats design would look like. 79 00:06:27,680 --> 00:06:31,800 Redesigns can be risky. Look at Bose, who abandoned theirs after just one attempt. 80 00:06:31,800 --> 00:06:35,640 On the other hand, Sonys' new design for the XM5s are a radical departure, and even 81 00:06:35,640 --> 00:06:42,240 sacrificed some function for form. But despite that, they've hit a level of mainstream appeal that used to exclusively 82 00:06:42,240 --> 00:06:45,640 belong to beats. Seriously, these things are everywhere now. 83 00:06:45,640 --> 00:06:51,360 The beats also have the least flexible ear cups of the bunch, meaning that they're easily 84 00:06:51,360 --> 00:06:56,320 the worst choice for one-eared usage, something which I frequently like to do. 85 00:06:56,320 --> 00:07:04,160 This old design is still pretty usable. Compared to the XM5s and the much more expensive AirPods Max, these actually do something called 86 00:07:04,160 --> 00:07:09,200 folding, which also means that they fit nicely into their small case. 87 00:07:09,200 --> 00:07:16,120 And yes, it even comes with an actual case. And look, there are even physical and clicky buttons on the ear cup. 88 00:07:16,120 --> 00:07:19,560 I hate touch controls, so I'm happy to hear this. 89 00:07:19,560 --> 00:07:23,240 But do you like hearing it, though? 90 00:07:23,240 --> 00:07:30,800 Uh, yeah. These have a really prominent and frankly cheap-sounding click whenever you use them. 91 00:07:30,800 --> 00:07:35,080 It's so annoying. I try to just avoid it altogether, use my phone instead. 92 00:07:35,080 --> 00:07:39,240 It's a sacrifice I'm willing to make. 93 00:07:39,240 --> 00:07:44,880 You know, I personally have the Sonys, they cost $50 more, and you know, between the two, 94 00:07:44,880 --> 00:07:48,160 it's close by think I'd still buy the Sonys again. 95 00:07:48,160 --> 00:07:52,040 You know, I like to travel, so the noise cancelling is better for that. 96 00:07:52,040 --> 00:07:56,120 I like a bit of extra bass in my songs, and it's so nice to put them on and feel like 97 00:07:56,120 --> 00:08:00,680 I'm wearing a cloud. But the beats are definitely better for working out in, and having all the fancy Apple features 98 00:08:00,680 --> 00:08:07,440 is nice. Jonathan said, for example, it can read your messages out to you, and since you can use 99 00:08:07,440 --> 00:08:10,880 Siri to reply, you don't need to pull out your phone as much. 100 00:08:10,880 --> 00:08:14,760 You know, the beats are good, but overall, I just don't think they're the ones for 101 00:08:14,760 --> 00:08:21,880 me. Interesting. It is really nice that Beats has finally updated their iconic over-the-ear headphones. 102 00:08:21,880 --> 00:08:25,880 For the last half decade, they've given a lot of attention to the many earbuds in their 103 00:08:25,880 --> 00:08:30,760 lineup, and left people like me to almost forget about the over-the-ear option. 104 00:08:30,760 --> 00:08:35,400 Until now, for a good set of Apple headphones, you need to swallow a huge price jump over 105 00:08:35,400 --> 00:08:41,160 the AirPods Pro. Sure, these have better frequency response, ANC and transparency, and mic quality, but 106 00:08:41,160 --> 00:08:44,360 they're just in a completely different price category. 107 00:08:44,360 --> 00:08:48,360 Now though, these are much more reasonable, and for someone who wants to stay in this 108 00:08:48,360 --> 00:08:55,360 ecosystem, these are a great choice. Oh no, the train put on your ANC headphones! 109 00:08:55,360 --> 00:09:03,120 Thanks for covering your ears with this Mac Address. If you're excited that they're finally cheaper ANC over-the-ear headphones, give this video 110 00:09:03,120 --> 00:09:07,960 a like. And if you want to see how long it takes for Beats to release another pair of headphones, 111 00:09:07,960 --> 00:09:13,440 you may as well subscribe. I'm curious, in the comments below, how many of you are over-the-ear headphones? 112 00:09:13,440 --> 00:09:14,480 Or do you all just like earbuds?