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Powerbeats Pro Pre-Orders to Begin May 3 Ahead of May 10 Launch

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The all-new Powerbeats Pro will be available to pre-order from Apple.com starting Friday, May 3 at 7 a.m. Pacific Time in the United States and Canada, followed by in-store availability starting Friday, May 10, according to 9to5Mac.

powerbeatsproiphone-800x517.jpg

Powerbeats Pro are essentially sportier AirPods, complete with a totally wireless design and Apple's new H1 chip for hands-free "Hey Siri" control. Like the existing Powerbeats3 Wireless, they also feature adjustable ear hooks, four sizes of ear tips, sweat resistance, and playback controls on each earbud.

The earphones deliver up to nine hours of listening time per charge, and it is possible to get more more than 24 hours of combined playback with the included charging case, according to Apple. There is also a Fast Fuel feature that provides 1.5 hours of playback with just a five-minute charge.

Powerbeats Pro will be available in black at launch, followed by ivory, moss, and navy later this summer. They are priced at $249.95 in the United States and $329.95 in Canada on Apple.com, compared to $159 to $199 for the second-generation AirPods and a regular $199.95 for the Powerbeats3 Wireless.

Article Link: Powerbeats Pro Pre-Orders to Begin May 3 Ahead of May 10 Launch
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2019/04/29/powerbeats-pro-preorders-may-3/
abrantes09 said:
AirPods > PowerBeats Pro

They’re cool tho, but the design of AirPods is more futuristic. I just like the volume buttons, those are cool.
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I’d say the AirPods really aren’t that futuristic of a design, as they are more traditional of what the ‘wired EarPods’ were in the past years, minus the wire. As for a more discrete style, I would prefer the AirPods, being I prefer ‘in-ear’ versus over-ear design.
 
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Is the sound quality of these wireless earbuds better than the wired ones? They seem to charge a huge amount for them. Are you just paying for the bluetooth or do they sound better?
 
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Relentless Power said:
I’d say the AirPods really aren’t that futuristic of a design, as they are more traditional of what the ‘wired EarPods’ were in the past years. As for a more discrete style, I would prefer the AirPods, being I prefer an ‘in-ear’ versus over-ear design.
Click to expand...
No in ear design for the AirPods means that anyone without ears that the AirPods fit well are going to have very poor sound quality.
 
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Can't wait! Although sad to hear not all colors will be available at launch...
But will wait anyway for sound quality, but glad we have an option which doesn't look as hideous as Airpods. In my ears, they stick out so you look even more stupid wearing them. In my opinion.
 
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haruhiko said:
No in ear design for the AirPods means that anyone without ears that the AirPods fit well.
Click to expand...

The way you worded this is confusing. I’m not really worried about superior sound, I just prefer the in-ear design, as it feels more secure for my personal preference versus over- the-ear. That’s all I really meant by my post.
 
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Relentless Power said:
I’d say the AirPods really aren’t that futuristic of a design, as they are more traditional of what the ‘wired EarPods’ were in the past years, minus the wire. As for a more discrete style, I would prefer the AirPods, being I prefer ‘in-ear’ versus over-ear design.
Click to expand...

I still think that he design is at least unique to other pods on the market, and I agree very much with in-ear vs. over-ear.
 
Really want a pair of these as the Air Pods simply don't stay in my ears. (Gave my set to my daughter and she loves them). But man, $249? Maybe I'll wait to see if you can get them free with a new Mac this year - daughter also needs a new Macbook for college!
 
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rotlex said:
Really want a pair of these as the Air Pods simply don't stay in my ears. (Gave my set to my daughter and she loves them). But man, $249? Maybe I'll wait to see if you can get them free with a new Mac this year - daughter also needs a new Macbook for college!
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Black Friday and thereafter these will probably be selling between $150 and $190, depending on the retailer. My youngest wants these for her b-day to replace her AirPods. I agree that $249 is steep for these, but they won't remain full retail for long.
 
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Will wait until I read the reviews on the microphone, Powerbeats 1 and 2 were HORRIBLE for making calls with them, gave up after one attempt on each.

My hopes are so high right now...
 
Seanm87 said:
Is the sound quality of these wireless earbuds better than the wired ones? They seem to charge a huge amount for them. Are you just paying for the bluetooth or do they sound better?
Click to expand...

You're paying for the branding. Old and new Powerbeats use the same chips as AirPods so no improvements in sound quality just faster pairing and Siri integration.
 
Relentless Power said:
The way you worded this is confusing. I’m not really worried about superior sound, I just prefer the in-ear design, as it feels more secure for my personal preference versus over- the-ear. That’s all I really meant by my post.
Click to expand...
This pretty much sums up the wireless earbud market - for folks who prioritize convenience over superior sound. Apple now caters to the wireless crowd.
Seanm87 said:
Is the sound quality of these wireless earbuds better than the wired ones? They seem to charge a huge amount for them. Are you just paying for the bluetooth or do they sound better?
Click to expand...
This question can't really be answered in a blanket fashion, as it is contingent on which earbuds you are using for comparison. As a rule, high quality wired headphones or earbuds will nearly always deliver a preferable sound to similar quality wireless devices. Part of the reason for this is that the digital signal propagated by bluetooth is already compressed by a CODEC standard before your wireless device receives it. When the wireless earbud/phone receives the transmission, its internal DAC converts it to analog for the speakers. Wired headphones can receive an analog signal as directly processed by a DAC internal to the phone or other sound generator. This will produce a sound less diluted than the CODEC processed bluetooth sound. This also makes the bluetooth signal more susceptible to delay/latency. If you use wired headphones through a lightning dongle, your sound will be dependent upon the DAC located in the dongle. Here's a somewhat dated explanation on IFIXIT which came out in 2016, when Apple first removed the headphone jack on the iPhone 7:

https://ifixit.org/blog/8448/apple-audio-adapter-teardown/
 
haruhiko said:
No mention of other countries?
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Not sure if they updated the article, but I was very happy to see some pricing outside of the US mentioned, Canadian in this case. Too often these articles are written as if they think all of their readers are American, so this is a nice change to see. But to list every country would be insane.
 
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haruhiko said:
No in ear design for the AirPods means that anyone without ears that the AirPods fit well are going to have very poor sound quality.
Click to expand...

No in-ear design for the AirPods also means that I'll keep buying those, because in-ear headphones hurt my ears after a few minutes (and I've tried several different sizes - either they hurt or they don't stay in).
 
coolfactor said:
Not sure if they updated the article, but I was very happy to see some pricing outside of the US mentioned, Canadian in this case. Too often these articles are written as if they think all of their readers are American, so this is a nice change to see. But to list every country would be insane.
Click to expand...
The PowerBeats Pro was announced to be released in May in several countries in the world. I'd expect at least the availability in these countries will be covered.
 
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Khedron said:
You're paying for the branding. Old and new Powerbeats use the same chips as AirPods so no improvements in sound quality just faster pairing and Siri integration.
Click to expand...

Sound quality involves more mechanics that than electronics. They may tweak the mechanics slightly with each release.
 
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