Apple Launches Beats Powerbeats2 Wireless Earphones in Apple Watch Sport Band Colors

[lavajgh]

I just purchased a pair of these after much debate. I luckily have gotten them from Best Buy which allows me 15 days to try them out. So far they stay in the ear really well, and don't move while I am running. However, they have had a terrible drop out issue while i am running, choppy audio from the Phone that is in my pocket, and horrible robotic voice if someone was to call me. I will update again after i try a new pair, but so far not work the price tag for the no wires.

 

[AdonisSMU]

Somewhat lost among all of the announcements coming out of WWDC last week, Apple on Monday introduced a new set of colors for the Beats Powerbeats2 wireless in-ear headphones, with the new colors matching the Apple Watch sport band options of black, white, blue, green, and pink.

Carrying the same $200 price as the original Powerbeats2 introduced last June after Apple had announced it was acquiring Beats but before the deal officially closed, the new versions are identical with the exception of the new colors. The new headphones have begun showing up in Apple's retail stores, where they are being given a significant amount of promotional space.

The Powerbeats2 have received mixed reviews over the past year, with reviewers disagreeing over whether the headphones suffer from the excessive bass that has been common with Beats products over the years. The headphones come with a set of ear tips in various shapes and sizes, and the listening experience appears to vary significantly for many users depending on which tips are used.

As Bluetooth headphones, the Powerbeats2 can connect wirelessly to a wide variety of devices, including the iPhone, iPad, and now the Apple Watch. With the Apple Watch's ability to store music on the device for playback via Bluetooth and serve adequately as an exercise tracker under certain circumstances even without a paired iPhone present, wireless headphones are proving to be a popular accessory for Apple Watch owners and something Apple has clearly chosen to capitalize on with the new Powerbeats2 colors.

(Thanks, Ben!)

Article Link: Apple Launches Beats Powerbeats2 Wireless Earphones in Apple Watch Sport Band Colors

I bought these at the Apple Store and immediately sprinted back and return them because they had 0 bass at all. I was so mad. PowerBeats === Worst earphone purchase ever!!!!

 

[PinkyMacGodess]

I bought these at the Apple Store and immediately sprinted back and return them because they had 0 bass at all. I was so mad. PowerBeats === Worst earphone purchase ever!!!!

The ones I had had zero bass if they popped out, but as long as they stayed in, the bass, and over all sound was AWESOME (IMO)!

I just can't see running, or riding, with my fingers holding them in my ears...

 

[Thunderhawks]

Show us, please, your Sony or Aldi branded in-ear headphones at those prices with Bluetooth wireless operation and IPX4 sweat / water resistance.

An ongoing problem in this thread is people not comparing apples with apples, so to speak.

Yes, but earphones are earphones, which is why you get peoples preferences or dislikes wired or not.

As for bluetooth, I can't really say what is good or not.

My comment was only made to show an alternative to $ 200 earphones for those who may think basic
is fine.
It's not so difficult to tuck wires away with a little planning and no worrying about forgetting/charging anything.

 

[Thunderhawks]

Zimmy68 said: ↑
So, after Apple acquired Beats, what do we get after a year+?
Innovation?
Special lightning connection for enhanced audio?

Nope, crazy new colors that match Apple products!

Yeah

Apple forgot to announce that the made a $ 3 million deal with Andrea Bocelli to pick the colors.

Nothing learned from 5c, talk about dense!

 

[s1m]

Yes, but earphones are earphones, which is why you get peoples preferences or dislikes wired or not.

As for bluetooth, I can't really say what is good or not.

My comment was only made to show an alternative to $ 200 earphones for those who may think basic
is fine.
It's not so difficult to tuck wires away with a little planning and no worrying about forgetting/charging anything.

I think you are missing the point massively. Not everyone connects their headphones to an iPhone and even if they do wired may not work for them. I use headphones to watch TV once the other people in the house are asleep. Wireless means I can be up and walking about but still listening to the TV and not filling the house with sound.

 

[s1m]

I will wait for Earin

Good luck making a phone call with those...

 

[AdonisSMU]

The ones I had had zero bass if they popped out, but as long as they stayed in, the bass, and over all sound was AWESOME (IMO)!

I just can't see running, or riding, with my fingers holding them in my ears...

Maybe I need to give them another go but it was nothing like the beats I have come to know and love.

 

[/dev/toaster]

You couldn't pay me to use beats headphones. They are such low quality and poor sound. Why on earth is Apple tarnishing their brand with such crap.

 

[Truefan31]

You couldn't pay me to use beats headphones. They are such low quality and poor sound. Why on earth is Apple tarnishing their brand with such crap.

Lol

Money.

 

[Aragornii]

Maybe I need to give them another go but it was nothing like the beats I have come to know and love.

The key with the PB2s I found was to adjust the earhooks properly. They're not going to fit perfectly out of the box, and if they're not adjusted so that the earbuds fit nicely in your ear they will sound distant and you won't here the bass.

Remember, these are not designed to seal in your ear canals, so you need to adjust the hooks so the buds sit very close. These are designed to let in external noise, so that for people like me who run on the street we are not unaware of our surroundings when we wear these.

 

[rob.james.arias]

Which iPhone comes packaged with wireless headphones??

You missed the point. The free wired "cheap" headphones that come with the iPhone are much better than the $200 wireless beats. Better from a sound, durability and comfort standpoint based on my experience.

 

[kylera]

How does this hold up in terms of sweat resistance?

I've had a pair of BlueBuds X and I notice that to my sweat puts it on the fritz when i really sweat it up.

 

[AdonisSMU]

The key with the PB2s I found was to adjust the earhooks properly. They're not going to fit perfectly out of the box, and if they're not adjusted so that the earbuds fit nicely in your ear they will sound distant and you won't here the bass.

Remember, these are not designed to seal in your ear canals, so you need to adjust the hooks so the buds sit very close. These are designed to let in external noise, so that for people like me who run on the street we are not unaware of our surroundings when we wear these.

hey thanks for this tip. much appreciated. I may give them another go.

 

[iConnected]

... Apple earbuds that come with your iPhone are far superior in sound quality.

Which iPhone comes packaged with wireless headphones??

You missed the point. The free wired "cheap" headphones that come with the iPhone are much better than the $200 wireless beats. ... .

Connect your Apple earbuds to your iPhone, place your iPhone on a table and put your earbuds in. Play music.

Then walk 20m away and report back on how the sound quality at that distance compares to doing the same thing with Powerbeats2.

 

[s1m]

You missed the point. The free wired "cheap" headphones that come with the iPhone are much better than the $200 wireless beats. Better from a sound, durability and comfort standpoint based on my experience.

But they fail on the key feature of the wireless Beats - being that they are wireless.

 

[The Tuck]

I own a pair of these and have come to really like them as workout headphones as well as for everyday use. Sound quality is very dependent on using the best earbud tips for your ears.

Tuck

 

[dannys1]

I have them. They suck.

If you're saying that, you probably bought the fake ones from eBay. Or your ears don't work.

 

[Truefan31]

I'd say for Bluetooth sport earphones it's basically the powerbeats and jay birds.

 

[Ploki]

Let me first say I used to be dead set against Beats without giving them a fair chance. The two things I've learned since the release of Apple music after reading all of the comments on these tech blogs are (1) how cheap most of you avid tech followers are and (2) how little tech people know about music. I tried all these headphones (Sennheisser, AKG, Beyerdynamic, and a bunch of other junk) these little YouTube nubbers said were the best, and they sucked. Don't know about the Powerbeats, but I got Beats Pro and they blew this crap away... Best sound separation I've experienced from a headphone. Maybe it's these little teeny boppers or 20 something justifying junk because it has a cheap price tag to make themselves feel better about not being able to afford better equipment...

Not saying they're bad, just saying there are a lot of great headphones out there for less money, but you have to be willing to try them. There's always the subjective factor, and actually the shape of your head and ears.

I have AKG K702, AKG K272HD and AKG K450 portables.

When I was buying K702, I also tried HD650 but K702 suited my head better... Sound quality is somewhere there.

Granted, I don't own K812 or HD850, but I do tried some of those, and all beats I tried weren't anything special regarding sound or comfort.

I really really like EarPods, and I absolutely hated AKG K318 ear-buds. I can't stand ear-ins, not my type of headphones.

I'm hoping to try Focal Spirit Pro someday soon to replace my K702, have big hopes for them.

My main monitors are Focal Twin6 Be coupled with Adam Sub12.
My Hi-Fi speakers are vintage Jamo 707 (5-way with push-pull woofers) driven by a vintage transformer JVC amplifier... not the best amp for the job, but its fine. I'm used to good separation and wide and deep stereo image.

 

[xlost6]

The key with the PB2s I found was to adjust the earhooks properly. They're not going to fit perfectly out of the box, and if they're not adjusted so that the earbuds fit nicely in your ear they will sound distant and you won't here the bass.

Remember, these are not designed to seal in your ear canals, so you need to adjust the hooks so the buds sit very close. These are designed to let in external noise, so that for people like me who run on the street we are not unaware of our surroundings when we wear these.

Oh, wow. Thanks for this. I just bought a pair this past Saturday and I was jogging in them and noticed they would slip a little from my ear canal and the sound would get low and I would turn my music up. I know they aren't ear canal earphones like the UrBeats. They are just like Apple's EarPods but wireless. I'll experiment with this later. But thanks for the tip!

 

[iAbc21]

I got some Studios last year when they were on sale for $250 and I ended up paying about $230 for them. Pretty nice if you ask me. Definitely better than the $50 Sony pair I had before with noise-canceling. The rotating headphone on that one broke, so I had just been dealing with earbuds since.

I've heard love and hate for Beats. It was hard to determine from the store displays since kids with bad parents pretty much love to destroy them. Bose also sounds good, but the Bose model wasn't on sale and I know I had seen the Beats Studio model had a cord with a microphone and volume control built in. There was a 30-day return policy, so I tried them. Still really love them.

People who think other brands are better: Those brands should try putting demo units out somewhere. I am not going to spend $300 or whatever on headphones without trying them on first. Even with some return policy, is my shipping covered and how long is it going to take to figure out whether I like different models?

The reason I didn't go wireless is it wasn't worth another $150. I was honestly on the fence about paying $230. I thought about getting Monoprice's $80 BT wireless set, but again see above. If I ever get a raise again, I may get some of those wireless ones. My mission in life is to help kill all wires.

I got mine on Amazon. I have Prime, and it happened to cover my Metallic Sky Beats (lowered the price down to $299 from $380). Also, I prefer this color to the Matte Black, so it all kind of worked out in my favor.

 

[iAbc21]

Can't agree. I loved the design and comfort, but the auto noise canceling is beyond annoying. They need an off switch of a companion app like parrot, that lets you adjust the level.

That would make it even better for me. Now I don't really have any complaint against mine except sometimes it disconnects itself, especially when the youtube video buffers or when the Beats is on low battery.

 

[Michael CM1]

I got mine on Amazon. I have Prime, and it happened to cover my Metallic Sky Beats (lowered the price down to $299 from $380). Also, I prefer this color to the Matte Black, so it all kind of worked out in my favor.

Nice! I have been surprised at the quality compared to the vitriol I read here and elsewhere. It's like there is a nice cottage industry for hating Beats and Bose. I don't know whether most of the other brands are good because YOU CANNOT TEST THEM ANYWHERE. Put a display in Target if you're so good.

There are going to be various preferences based on different levels. I personally love bass, but not over dominant bass. Zack Snyder uses these while filming, so I'm guessing they aren't total crap.

 

[iAbc21]

Nice! I have been surprised at the quality compared to the vitriol I read here and elsewhere. It's like there is a nice cottage industry for hating Beats and Bose. I don't know whether most of the other brands are good because YOU CANNOT TEST THEM ANYWHERE. Put a display in Target if you're so good.

There are going to be various preferences based on different levels. I personally love bass, but not over dominant bass. Zack Snyder uses these while filming, so I'm guessing they aren't total crap.

Yeah. The peasants like to hate shiny looking toys that actually work well. In all their latest gen headsets, Beats has turned down the bass level and balanced everything else. So the quality won't disappoint you. However, I have heard that Bose gives you slightly crisper sound.