Deals: Get the New Beats Studio Buds for $129.99 ($20 Off)

I've owned AirPods, AirPods Pro, Beats Powerbeats Pro, and now also the Beats Studio Buds for reference.

AirPods: fell out while walking they were so loose for me, sound was good but couldn't use in loud places like an airplane, you could hear a podcast or lyrics the sound leaked so bad.

Powerbeats Pro: fit 100% secure with earhooks, good tone with a bit of a heavy bass sound but in a good way, not overdone. terrible large case that almost immediately began to have unreliable charging of the headphones which is a near universal complaint. used them for workouts for years but the charging issues are so bad they are often dead when i want to use them. in a drawer.

AirPods Pro: outstanding ANC for the size, fantastic transparency mode, good sound and much better fit for me than AirPods. the fit allows me to do everything BUT run with them. running causes them to slowly get loose over a few minutes (distracting feeling) and eventually they would fall out so I basically used them as my headphones for everything BUT running (which i used powerbeats pro for)

BEATS STUDIO BUDS: my 100% everyday, do everything headphone now. let me knock out the bad right off the bat... the case is great but doesn't do wireless, they don't autopause when you pull one out of your ear (but there is a button right on them that pauses so not a big deal), they don't autoswitch / autopair with your icloud devices so you have to pair it with your devices individually (not a big deal to me). the ANC is very good, but not as good as AirPods Pro but more than acceptable enough. i have used them on planes often and they still do very well. transparency mode on these works and lets you hear your surroundings on a run or talk to someone but it is nowhere near as good as AirPods Pro, this outside sounds are very "not real" on this vs. AirPods Pro where you think you aren't even wearing headphones talking to someone. it gets the job done but transparency isn't great. THE GOOD PARTS! well obviously they are cheaper than AirPods Pro and in many cases AirPods (wasn't my priority.) The sounds is the equal to AirPods Pro, maybe even a bit richer to me with a hint more bass (not heavy like old Beats.) THE FIT! My god the fit! They go in your ears so comfortably and they STAY in your ears! because they weigh so much less they don't shake out in even in intense workouts so I can run, lift, bike, you name it and these work GREAT! the battery life with ANC is 5 hours but just like with AirPods Pro putting them in the case for just 5 minutes gets you another 90 minutes of battery life and with the case you get a total battery life of 24 hours so that is more than good enough for me. I also think the look of them is great, very low profile, don't stick out of your ears, no weird hanging stick anymore etc.

The fit, look and sound are awesome for me. I can use them for EVERYTHING in my life now from airplane travel, use around the house, mowing the lawn, going for a run you name it and they are always in my pocket. I miss the better transparency and niceties of AirPods such as auto pause and auto switching but they aren't a big deal. I can't imagine anyone buying AirPods (the regular kind) over these, these are much more like a better fitting and AirPod Pro for the same price as AirPods. If you really need the better transparency and switching of the current AirPods Pro and the Pros fit you well then I could see buying those over the buds if cost isn't an object.

If Apple's AirPods Pro 2 next year are like this (they are rumored to be buds) and fit just as well but have the better transparency, pausing etc. I'll likely move to them but in the meanwhile I am a thrilled Studio Buds user.

Anyone have a short summary review of how these feel/sync up on an iMac?

Edit: five hrs of listening time per charge? Lol nvm

I preordered these, but ended up returning them because I had also gotten some Airpods Pro.

They are great sounding earbuds, I thought the ANC was just "good" until I tried the APP where it's great. The transparency is pretty good and the sound quality in general I felt is actually better for the type of music I generally listen to (electronic, hip hop) vs the APPs.

As far as syncing, it's fairly standard. iPhones recognize them when you open the case nearby, but otherwise, they just act like normal bluetooth headphones. No extra apple fluff, its not tied to your icloud & you can't switch between devices like you can with with the Airpods and APPs.

^^ This was mostly why I chose the Airpods and not the Beats Studio Buds. If I hadn't gotten the APPs though, I'd have considered these an upgrade over my 1st gen Airpods, despite losing the icloud stuff and ear detection. They're great headphones, that look sick IMO. Its too bad the functionality isn't there.

OH YEAH and the mic sucked. Like it was really bad.

Anyone have a short summary review of how these feel/sync up on an iMac?

Edit: five hrs of listening time per charge? Lol nvm

To be fair, they state five hours when listening with ANC enabled. The listen time without is eight hours at 50% volume. Granted, I don't know why you'd buy these if you don't intend to use ANC, given the 'Noise Cancelling' in product name.

Keep in mind that they also mention an hour of playback with five minutes of charging. It's not always healthy for your ears to use headphones for several hours on end, so short breaks to charge aren't the worst.