Beats Fit Pro Review: The Best Beats (or Apple) Buds So Far
RRP $ 200.00
"They're the AirPods Pro, but more secure, Android-compatible, and lower-priced."
advantages
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Comfortable, secure fit
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Excellent ANC
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Excellent transparency
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Very good sound quality
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Funny extras (head tracking)
disadvantage
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No wireless charging
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Limited control settings
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No EQ settings
When looking for a set of true wireless earbuds, you have more choices than ever and many more features to consider. Active noise cancellation (ANC), comfort, secure fit, battery life, sound quality, wireless charging, in-ear sensors and so on. This can be a tough decision even if you're using our guide to the best true wireless earbuds.
Well, your decision has gotten even tougher: the $ 200 Beats Fit Pro, with its unique wing tips and loads of advanced features enabled by Apple's H1 wireless chip, makes a compelling case that you actually do it all can get – without compromise. How good are they? We think they are Beats' best earbuds yet.
These wings
Beats Studio Buds (left) and Beats Fit Pro. Simon Cohen / Digital Trends
Probably the most unique aspect of the Beats Fit Pro is the wing tips that protrude from the outer surface of the earbuds and curve inward towards your ear. When the earbuds are properly positioned, the tips should anchor just below the arch of your anthelix – a firm, ridged fold of cartilage. Insertion is pretty easy – just slide the earbuds into your ear canal, then twist them back and forth a little. With a little practice you can do it in one go.
When I first saw photos of the Fit Pro, I was skeptical of how convenient these pointy tips would be. Beats isn't the first company to use this design – you can find similar rubber anchors on the Sony WF-SP800N, Jaybird Vista 2, Bose QuietComfort earbuds, and the JBL Reflect Mini NC – but unlike those other earbuds, the Fit Pros wingtip shows are more dramatic in your ears.
If you need prescription glasses or want to wear sunglasses, then you should. The Fit Pro is not in your way.
I didn't have to worry. They are made of super soft silicone rubber. And while I wouldn't go so far as to say that you won't notice them at all, they are very convenient, even for long periods of time. More importantly, they do what they were designed to do: lock the Fit Pro in place so you don't keep pushing it back whenever you try to remove it while running or doing activities.
But what I like most about the wingtips is that they don't bother the glasses at all – unlike the Powerbeats Pro's over-ear hooks. So if you need prescription glasses or want to wear sunglasses for protection, go to the Fit Pro, out of the way.
The design has only one possible downside. The wingtips are nicely integrated into the plastic of the multifunction buttons – so much so that you can't really see where the rubber ends and the plastic begins. However, this means there is no way to replace them if the wing tips are ever damaged or simply wear out with use. You need to buy new earbuds.
The multifunction buttons are super easy to press – almost too easy. Inserting the buds into your ears without accidentally squeezing them can be tricky. However, they reward you with a tactile click that leaves no doubt that you pressed them correctly. There's no way to customize the controls other than the long press action, which can be set using iOS or the Beats app for Android to trigger either ANC mode changes or volume.
Eliminate the noise
Simon Cohen / Digital Trends
The Beats Fit Pro use the same ANC and transparency system as the AirPods Pro, with similarly impressive results. External noises like the roar of fans or the rumble of traffic are significantly reduced, leaving you with a nice, quiet bed to play your audio on, whether it's music or podcasts. Hell, you can just turn on ANC and use it for some quiet in a noisy home or coffee shop.
From Chick Corea to Megan Thee Stallion or a Brahms concert, the Fit Pro will make everyone happy.
Oddly, while the Fit Pro's transparency mode is way better than the Studio Buds – and slightly as good as the AirPods Pro – the ANC mode isn't quite as good as the Beats Studio Buds, which is frankly a surprise. I attribute it to Fit Pro's slightly larger pressure equalization openings, a feature that increases the overall comfort of wearing ear canal-sealed headphones. In this case, however, those vents seem to let in just a little more sound than they did on the Studio Buds, and I believe that's what degrades the Fit Pro's ANC performance. To be clear, we are not talking about day and night, or even close to such a difference. It's subtle, and you might not even notice it, but hey, you are paying me big bucks to point out this stuff.
Highest sound …
Simon Cohen / Digital Trends
The Fit Pro sound really good – better than the Studio Buds, and I think they're better than the AirPods Pro, too. They have a wide soundstage and a defined stereo image that puts them on par with the excellent Jabra Elite 7 Pro. But the real surprise here is the Fit Pro's sound signature.
Despite its workout-friendly design (which screams to be compared to the Powerbeats Pro), the Fit Pro doesn't place special emphasis on the bass. Not that there isn't a lot of bass response – there is – it's just that Beats tamed the lower end of the Fit Pro to be more proportional to the rest of the frequency bands. While they may not offer the pounding rhythm you want for an intense workout, they are much better suited to playing a wide variety of genres.
Fit Pro includes head tracking sensors that allow you to experience Dolby Atmos in a whole new way.
You can create the world's most eclectic playlist, jumping from a jazz master like Chick Corea to Megan Thee Stallion and then to a Brahms concert, and the Fit Pro will happily render them all, with lots of detail and zero harshness in the high frequencies.
I still wish Beats (and Apple) would give us control of the EQ when a little more boom is needed, but it's really hard to complain considering how great the Fit Pro is right out of the box Box sounds.
… and also spatial audio with head tracking
Simon Cohen / Digital Trends
For Apple – and therefore for Beats – spatial audio is a big deal. The company has done it all with the support of Dolby Atmos Music on the Apple Music streaming service. Any headphone lets you enjoy the 3D aspects of Dolby Atmos, but the Fit Pro includes head tracking sensors that allow you to experience Dolby Atmos in a whole new way. When the feature is on (you can turn it off in the iOS Control Center), Dolby Atmos songs will respond to the orientation of your head. Sounds strange – and takes getting used to. But when you turn your head from side to side it sounds like the song is being played "in front of you," so turning your head to the left balances the chant towards your right ear and vice versa. If you turn your head for more than a few seconds, this position becomes the new front.
It also works with Dolby Atmos, 5.1, and 7.1 movie soundtracks, but in these situations the “front” is always the position of your screen, whether it's an iPhone, iPad, or your TV (Apple TV 4K only ). I'm not sure if head tracking is a big reason to buy the Beats Fit Pro, especially if you're an Android user (only Apple devices currently support head tracking), but it's a fun feature that does Music and movies can do a lot more entertaining.
Call quality
Simon Cohen / Digital Trends
In all but the loudest environments, the Fit Pro delivers very good call quality. Like most true wireless earbuds, you struggle with loud noise, but when it's relatively quiet your callers will be able to hear you without a problem. They're much better suited for calls than the Studio Buds, which sound a little mushy in comparison.
Beats doesn't include a separate sidetone adjustment so you can hear your own voice clearly, but you can switch to transparency mode before or during a call, which boils down to the same thing. And because the Fit Pro's transparency mode is so good, it helps make these earbuds very capable conversationalists. The fact that you can use both earbuds independently for both calls and music is a bonus.
Battery life
Simon Cohen / Digital Trends
After a few years of stagnation, Apple has started to improve the listening time you can get on a single charge of its earbuds. The Beats Fit Pro are designed for six hours with the ANC or transparency mode activated, which makes them the longest-lasting ANC earbuds in the Beats or Apple range (the AirPods Pro are 4.5 hours at the end and the Studio Buds are preserved five hours). . Better still, if you turn those modes off, that number jumps to seven hours – not quite the nine hours you get from the Powerbeats Pro, but pretty decent nonetheless.
The charging case, which disappointingly does not support wireless charging (Qi or MagSafe), can increase these numbers to up to 27 or 30 hours. A quick five minute charge gives you an extra hour of playtime.
Our opinion
Simon Cohen / Digital Trends
The Beats Fit Pro are essentially Apple's AirPods Pro, but with a more secure fit, Android compatibility, slightly better sound, and a lower price point. That makes them almost perfect in our books.
Is there a better alternative?
If you want everything the Apple ecosystem has to offer (head-tracking spatial audio, Find My Network, quick toggling between Apple devices, and hands-free Siri) then no, there aren't any better alternatives at this price point if it is the truth is about wireless earbuds. If you really want / need wireless charging, get ready to pay $ 49 more for it AirPods Pro.
However, if you are less picky about these features, this is the Jabra Elite 7 Pro deserve your full attention. They're just as good or better for ANC, transparency, and sound quality, and many people will find them more convenient, but almost as certain. They also have wireless charging and an incredible amount of customization for EQ, controls, and more. And they are the same price as the Beats Fit Pro.
How long will they last?
It's good that the Fit Pro has a longer battery life than Apple's other earbuds (except for the Powerbeats Pro) as, in our experience, this is the only area that can greatly reduce the life expectancy of the earbuds. Even if they drop 50%, you still get three hours on ANC, which while not great, is still perfectly usable for most situations.
It's harder to tell how much life you're getting out of the flexible wing tips. If those get shredded or torn, it's the earbuds.
Should you buy it?
Yes sir. Despite some missing features like EQ, control adjustments, and wireless charging, that is Beats Fit Pro are an outstanding set of true wireless earbuds.
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