WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.480 Wait, what happened to over-the-ear headphones? 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. 00:00:13.120 --> 00:00:17.600 You know, the excellent auto-switching, noise cancellation and all that other magic. 00:00:17.600 --> 00:00:22.320 But unless you want to spend 500 plus on AirPods Max, you're using earbuds. 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 00:00:26.240 --> 00:00:31.240 tips. This makes me realize I miss using over-the-ear headphones. 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 00:00:38.640 --> 00:00:42.240 price. Meet the Beats Studio Pros. 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 00:00:49.440 --> 00:00:53.720 like Sony, Bose and Apple making big improvements to their headphones, especially to active 00:00:53.720 --> 00:00:59.960 noise cancelling, Beats is still using micro-USB and selling for $350. 00:00:59.960 --> 00:01:03.680 That was the same price they launched at, I mean it's just sad to see. 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 00:01:08.560 --> 00:01:12.120 headphones. See them languish like this, it's just sad. 00:01:12.120 --> 00:01:17.440 Oh yeah, I remember everyone having huge and bassy Beats headphones, I was definitely 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 00:01:21.600 --> 00:01:26.000 lot more mature. In many appearances, almost everything here is new or improved. 00:01:26.000 --> 00:01:30.480 New speaker drivers, plus your ear pads, improved active noise cancelling, transparency and 00:01:30.480 --> 00:01:34.040 microphone quality, and a USB-C port with wired playback. 00:01:34.040 --> 00:01:37.760 There's even a 3.5mm port, which is refreshingly not new. 00:01:37.760 --> 00:01:42.120 These also continue the trend of Beats appealing to everyone regardless of ecosystem, meaning 00:01:42.120 --> 00:01:45.340 it includes all the same Android fast-pair and device switching tricks that we saw in 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, 00:01:50.720 --> 00:01:54.760 as they still lack some features like audio sharing and automatic device switching. 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 00:02:00.100 --> 00:02:04.880 of the benefits to Android users with their AirPods, but it appears that Beats will fill 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. 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 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 00:02:23.580 --> 00:02:28.900 XM5s. Despite the Beats coming in at $50 less, these two are pretty evenly matched. 00:02:28.900 --> 00:02:33.540 Surprisingly, the Beats are more neutral than the XM5s, which skew a bit bass-heavy. 00:02:33.540 --> 00:02:37.100 This may not be to your liking if you want some extra thump in your songs. 00:02:37.100 --> 00:02:41.700 That said, a lot of people prefer to hear a signal closer to your synth tent. 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 00:02:45.100 --> 00:02:49.840 products were known for nothing but bass. I agree, I really like the neutral sound. 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, 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, 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 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 00:03:09.400 --> 00:03:13.920 and sharp. Otherwise, the ANC transparency are similar to the XM5. 00:03:13.920 --> 00:03:18.600 They also improve the microphones, which is to say that you're clear enough to understand, 00:03:18.880 --> 00:03:27.800 also clearly, still using a headset mic. 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. 00:03:32.680 --> 00:03:38.240 Plugging into your device enables lossless from Apple Music, and title, and Amazon, and 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. 00:03:47.120 --> 00:03:52.080 The Beats signature profile, an entertainment profile, and a conversation profile. 00:03:52.080 --> 00:03:56.520 Plus, there's no ANC or transparency when using USB playback, though there's no reason 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 00:04:04.040 --> 00:04:10.520 can also charge them while using them in Bluetooth, unlike the XM5's. 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. 00:04:16.560 --> 00:04:20.880 This is in part due to the clamping force being unchanged from the previous model. 00:04:20.880 --> 00:04:25.120 Between this and the air cups being fairly shallow and small, these can almost feel like 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 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 00:04:35.720 --> 00:04:39.400 both the XM5's and AirPods Max are susceptible to. 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 00:04:45.440 --> 00:04:49.240 like the XM5's, which I found fell off quite easily. 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. 00:04:54.600 --> 00:04:57.880 However, I actually didn't notice that at all with these. 00:04:57.880 --> 00:05:02.920 Weirdly, where I feel the pressure is below my ears at the jaw joint. 00:05:02.920 --> 00:05:05.920 I can get used to it, but I wasn't expecting to feel them there. 00:05:05.920 --> 00:05:09.320 You know, I actually felt the same thing and also got used to it. 00:05:09.320 --> 00:05:12.400 The glasses, though, that's still going to be an issue. 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 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 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, 00:05:29.480 --> 00:05:32.480 whereas the beats show different measurements every time. 00:05:32.480 --> 00:05:37.080 They're also missing other pretty standard smart features that we'd expect, like transparency 00:05:37.080 --> 00:05:41.200 kicking in when you start talking, or music pausing when you take them off. 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 00:05:48.760 --> 00:05:53.480 overlook. The other colors, navy, black, and sandstone, are decent, too. 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. 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 00:06:03.600 --> 00:06:06.720 care anymore. Though I do think most people will go for sandstone. 00:06:06.720 --> 00:06:10.000 So the design is exactly the same as the Studio 3's. 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. 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 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. 00:06:27.680 --> 00:06:31.800 Redesigns can be risky. Look at Bose, who abandoned theirs after just one attempt. 00:06:31.800 --> 00:06:35.640 On the other hand, Sonys' new design for the XM5s are a radical departure, and even 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 00:06:42.240 --> 00:06:45.640 belong to beats. Seriously, these things are everywhere now. 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 00:06:51.360 --> 00:06:56.320 the worst choice for one-eared usage, something which I frequently like to do. 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 00:07:04.160 --> 00:07:09.200 folding, which also means that they fit nicely into their small case. 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. 00:07:16.120 --> 00:07:19.560 I hate touch controls, so I'm happy to hear this. 00:07:19.560 --> 00:07:23.240 But do you like hearing it, though? 00:07:23.240 --> 00:07:30.800 Uh, yeah. These have a really prominent and frankly cheap-sounding click whenever you use them. 00:07:30.800 --> 00:07:35.080 It's so annoying. I try to just avoid it altogether, use my phone instead. 00:07:35.080 --> 00:07:39.240 It's a sacrifice I'm willing to make. 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, 00:07:44.880 --> 00:07:48.160 it's close by think I'd still buy the Sonys again. 00:07:48.160 --> 00:07:52.040 You know, I like to travel, so the noise cancelling is better for that. 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 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 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 00:08:07.440 --> 00:08:10.880 Siri to reply, you don't need to pull out your phone as much. 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 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. 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 00:08:25.880 --> 00:08:30.760 lineup, and left people like me to almost forget about the over-the-ear option. 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 00:08:35.400 --> 00:08:41.160 the AirPods Pro. Sure, these have better frequency response, ANC and transparency, and mic quality, but 00:08:41.160 --> 00:08:44.360 they're just in a completely different price category. 00:08:44.360 --> 00:08:48.360 Now though, these are much more reasonable, and for someone who wants to stay in this 00:08:48.360 --> 00:08:55.360 ecosystem, these are a great choice. Oh no, the train put on your ANC headphones! 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 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, 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? 00:09:13.440 --> 00:09:14.480 Or do you all just like earbuds?