After six years, the Apple-owned headphone company Beats has unveiled the Powerbeats Pro 2, a significant upgrade to its popular workout earbuds. This latest model blends features from the AirPods Pro 2 with enhancements tailored for fitness enthusiasts, all while maintaining the original’s price point.
If you haven’t tried Powerbeats before, the ear hook design is their most notable feature, making them more secure and comfortable to wear than other earbuds – especially while exercising.
This second-gen model is 20% lighter than the previous version, with a redesigned nickel-titanium ear hook for a better fit. The wireless charging case is 33% smaller too, even with an improved 45 hours of battery life, and the sound profile has been enhanced for quality and clarity too.
Considering they’re part of the Apple family, it’s no surprise to see a bunch of features ported over from the AirPods range. Powerbeats Pro 2 now include Active Noise Cancellation, Transparency Mode, and Personalized Spatial Audio, thanks to the H2 chip from AirPods Pro 2. Another standout addition is heart rate monitoring, a feature even AirPods Pro lack.
However, the lack of Conversation Awareness, Personalized Volume, and Adaptive Audio – features found in AirPods Pro 2 – is a slight drawback if you’re directly comparing the two. On the bright side, Powerbeats Pro 2 comes in bold color options like orange, purple, gray, and black, a refreshing contrast to Apple’s usual white earbuds.
Considering both products cost $249/£249 and have a lot of feature overlap, it’s a pretty fair fight. How often you exercise and how comfortable you find the ear hook will be the deciding factor.