Beats Fit Pro Review: Apple’s Best Earbuds Ever | WIRED

The latest AirPods might be garbage, but that doesn’t mean Apple isn’t still making some of the best headphones on earth.

Apple-owned Beats, in particular, has made a wide array of fantastic models in the past several years. From the affordable Powerbeats (8/10, WIRED Recommends) to the flagship Studio3 (8/10, WIRED Recommends), the improved fit, sound, and build quality in the Apple-owned era has impressed me and my colleagues.

For years we’ve been telling people that Beats are great Apple alternatives. But it wasn’t until now that I thought you’d be crazy for buying the Apple-branded buds. These new noise-canceling in-ears sound and feel better than the AirPods Pro and have significantly better battery life—plus the same perfect iOS compatibility—for $50 less.

As far as I’m concerned, the Fit Pro are the best earbuds for iOS by a country mile. You can use them for Netflix in Dolby Atmos, sweaty workout sessions, and boring Zoom calls. They even come in purple!

Fit(s) and Finishes

Photograph: Beats

When Apple dropped $3 billion on Dr. Dre and associates for the Beats brand in 2014, I thought the folks in Cupertino had lost their minds (unlike my esteemed colleague at the time). The plastic, bassy headphones I’d heard from Beats in the past looked flashy but mostly sounded and functioned like they had a trip to the landfill in the near future.

A lot has changed in the Apple era. Beats are now made of robust materials and have less bass-heavy tuning. They feel like the brand’s original products went to college, got a degree in mechanical engineering, and ditched track sweats for chinos and a job inside Apple’s mothership.

In particular, the Fits Pro are among the most elegantly designed of any modern Apple product. The in-ears have soft silicone tips and squishy fins to improve stability and make them fit better in a wide array of ears. The outside of each earbud hides a simple, clicky button below the Beats logo—no annoying touch controls here. Underneath the headphones, you find sensors that tell the buds when you’ve taken them out.

In addition to all of this, you get all of the benefits of Apple’s H1 chip, which also powers the latest AirPods and AirPods Pro. That means instant pairing with iPhones, iPads, and MacBooks, and the same spatial audio head tracking that those buds boast. Spatial audio isn’t great for music, but I use this tech a lot when watching Netflix on my phone, where it brings a more immersive surround-sound experience on the go.