Beats has been busy. After releasing the Studio Buds earlier this yr, at this time the Apple-owned model is again with the extra premium Beats Fit Pro wi-fi earbuds. It’s uncommon to see two utterly new merchandise from Beats in a single yr, however maybe the corporate is making an attempt to make some extent that it’s not idly sitting by and enjoying second fiddle to Apple’s AirPods and AirPods Pro. If something, the $200 Fit Pros exhibit that Beats has discovered its focus.

The Fit Pros are a splendidly designed pair of earbuds that combine one of the best of Apple tech. They’ve received energetic noise cancellation that’s on par with the AirPods Pro. The similar spatial audio with dynamic head monitoring. The similar Adaptive EQ. They even have the brand-new pores and skin detect sensor that solely simply debuted within the third-generation AirPods. There’ve been many questions on the place Beats matches into Apple’s long-term plans, and whereas a single product can’t actually present a solution to that, the Fit Pros are stable proof that this model isn’t being pushed to the wayside anytime quickly.

When I reviewed the Studio Buds, I praised their ambition and Beats’ try to cater to Android customers as a lot as iPhone house owners. But regardless of their nice consolation, good sound, and compact design, these earbuds had some key lacking options and fell a bit flat on execution. Not so with the Beats Fit Pros. They’re precisely what you’d need them to be.

These are one of the best earbuds Beats has ever made.

As Beats explains it, the Fit Pros are supposed to fill a niche in its lineup between the Studio Buds and Powerbeats / Powerbeats Pro. Their wing ideas make them extra gym-ready than the Studio Buds, however they don’t go so far as together with the Powerbeats’ signature hooks that wrap round your ears. I’ve marathon runner pals who swear by the ear hooks and say nothing comes near that stability for vigorous exercise. But Beats thinks it has discovered an excellent various with the Fit Pros — all in a design that’s rather more compact, light-weight, and cozy than the Powerbeats.

The Fit Pros are available a case that’s principally a miniaturized model of the Powerbeats Pro case. Just as with these, there’s no wi-fi charging — a really irritating omission at this value — however the case no less than makes use of USB-C as an alternative of Lightning. A longstanding gripe with the Powerbeats Pro is they are often finicky with charging until you place them within the case good. Their ear hooks make it straightforward to get this fallacious, and on many events I’ve gone to make use of them solely to seek out one earbud totally charged and the opposite utterly drained. I’m blissful to say this isn’t one thing you’ll want to fret about with the Fit Pros: every earbud drops into its cradle with a reassuring magnetic pull and I’ve skilled zero charging mishaps. The lid has slightly extra play than I’d like, however I could be nitpicky about that kind of factor.

As for the buds themselves, they’ve received a singular look due to their everlasting, curved wing ideas. Beats is promoting them in black, grey, white, and a pinkish purple. The grey and purple have gotten one of the best suggestions amongst Verge workers. At 5.6 grams per earbud, they weigh in barely heavier than the AirPods Pro however lighter than some fitness-geared buds just like the Jaybird Vista 2s. The new Jabra Elite 7 Active buds are a hair lighter at 5.5 grams. Regardless, the Beats are extraordinarily comfy and still have microventing to alleviate ear stress buildup.

Beats may be very happy with how a lot it crammed into the Fit Pros, which have the corporate’s smallest enclosure but — not counting the wing ideas, clearly. They include 30 % extra elements than the Studio Buds and the transducer is 15 % bigger. Three sizes of silicone ear ideas come within the field, together with a brief USB-C cable.

But what about these wing ideas? They’re meant to assist the earbuds keep put. But I’ve discovered that on some earbuds, like the second-gen Pixel Buds, these wing ideas and numbs may cause discomfort the longer you put on them, so there’s positively a threat in Beats making them a everlasting a part of the design. But the corporate says it sweated the small print over the wing’s form and materials. And after a number of days spent testing the Fit Pros — usually for a number of hours at a time — I haven’t seen any soreness. The wing tip is versatile and pliable sufficient that it doesn’t press into the concha of your ear in an annoying approach. You’ll really feel it there throughout prolonged listening, don’t get me fallacious, however at most it produces slightly itchiness as an alternative of extra critical irritation. And you’ll be able to alleviate that simply by adjusting the earbuds.

Beats says it designed the wing ideas for “every ear imaginable,” however ears are all completely different, and there’ll all the time be exceptions. That stated, I let a number of folks strive the Fit Pros and even these with small ears may discover a strategy to make the wing tip work for them and stated it resulted in a extra regular total match. They handed the fitness center check and didn’t come even barely free throughout excessive depth runs. They additionally stayed in whereas consuming, one thing that’s a problem for a lot of earbuds. The Fit Pros are rated IPX4 for water and sweat resistance, which is ample for exercise functions, however beneath the IP57 of Jabra’s newest energetic buds.

Like the Studio Buds, these have a pleasant and clicky “b” button on every earbud with the standard management scheme: press as soon as to play / pause / reply name, twice to skip to the following monitor, and thrice to return. But there’s one attention-grabbing tidbit: for the primary time, you’ll be able to remap an extended press to regulate quantity as an alternative of toggling noise cancellation or summoning Siri. This could be executed proper within the iOS settings menu and is one thing that the AirPods Pro can’t do, nor can the Beats Studio Buds. I like having the choice, even when I ended up sticking with the defaults. Bring that remapping functionality to your different earbuds, Apple.

Beats has outfitted its newest earbuds with 9.5mm drivers, and so they produce very satisfying sound high quality that I’d rank above the AirPods Pro. This isn’t the bloated bass Beats of outdated: the corporate shed that fame fairly a very long time in the past. The Fit Pro buds may need barely much less total growth and oomph than the Powerbeats Pros, actually, however switching backwards and forwards between the 2, it was shut — and I most well-liked the extra refined sound of the newer buds. If there’s one weak point I’ve seen, it’s most quantity. The Fit Pros appear to have a decrease quantity ceiling than a few of their opponents, so should you are likely to crank issues up for motivation throughout a run or health routine, you could be underwhelmed.

Unlike the Studio Buds, which didn’t have Apple’s common earbud chipset inside, the Fit Pros have the H1 and all of the options that come together with that. The foremost advantages are:

• Dynamic head monitoring for spatial audio
• Automatic machine switching between iPhone, iPad, and Mac
• Automatic syncing with your whole iCloud gadgets
• Audio sharing
• Find My integration
• Hands-free “Hey Siri” voice instructions

Beats notes that lots of different performance — ANC, transparency mode, one-step setup, Apple Music spatial audio (minus head monitoring) — works simply as effectively on Android as on iOS. You’ll want the Beats app for some issues like management customization and extra detailed battery standing. The Studio Buds supported Android’s native Fast Pair characteristic, however the Fit Pros don’t. That’s not shocking contemplating there’s as soon as once more Apple silicon inside. But it implies that there’s an additional layer of seamlessness when utilizing the Fit Pros inside Apple’s ecosystem. You can get many of the approach there on Android, however not fairly.

As I discussed earlier, the Fit Pros basically have the identical noise cancellation system because the AirPods Pro — additionally powered by the H1 chip. Performance between the 2 is kind of similar, and transparency mode sounds pure right here in the identical approach it does on the Pros (with the identical sound results as you turn between modes). When ANC is off, Beats refers to this as “Adaptive EQ” mode. That’s the place you’ll get one of the best battery life: seven hours of steady playback and as much as 30 hours together with case recharges. Using ANC or transparency drops these figures to 6 hours and 27 hours, respectively, so that you’re not dropping a lot irrespective of the way you’re utilizing the buds. Beats says you’ll get an hour of playback (with ANC) from a fast five-minute prime off, and totally recharging each earbuds and the case takes round 90 minutes.

The Fit Pro buds additionally embrace Apple’s new pores and skin detect sensor, first seen within the newest AirPods, for extra correct automated play / pause when eliminated out of your ears. This sensor can inform the distinction between pores and skin and different tight confines like pant pockets, so the earbuds are much less prone to resume enjoying if you don’t need them to.

Voice name efficiency is kind of good however falls wanting the AirPods. If you’re sporting one of many earbuds alone, three mics are used for voice calls. When each earbuds are in use, the voice system leverages 5 mics. The Fit Pros make the most of beamforming mics and voice detection algorithms to assist isolate your voice from background commotion. My co-workers heard me loud and clear on Zoom calls, and other people I chatted with on the cellphone stated I sounded positive, if barely much less pronounced as when utilizing the AirPods.

The Fit Pros efficiently thread the needle between on a regular basis and fitness-focused earbuds. They enhance upon the lackluster noise cancellation that dragged down the Studio Buds, and so they restore Apple’s full arsenal of ecosystem methods. They additionally carry again options that Beats neglected final time like in-ear detection. Making wing ideas a part of the core design was a chance, and there’ll little question be circumstances the place that call causes points for some folks. All I can say is these are among the many most comfy wing ideas I’ve ever had in my ears — and so they succeed at their objective of preserving the Fit Pros locked in place.

If you already personal a set of AirPods or purchased the Studio Buds earlier this yr, these aren’t a should have. But should you’ve been looking for one thing worthy of changing your Powerbeats Pro, the Beats Fit Pro may simply be the ticket. They’re the sporty AirPod Pros lots of people have been ready for.

Photography by Chris Welch / The Verge