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Powerbeats Pro vs. AirPods 2 Buyer's Guide

I had Powerbeats 2 for a year. I went through SIX pairs. I kept replacing them. They would just stop working during my runs after about a month. Probably had to do with the sweat. After the sixth pair failed Apple let me exchange them for Studio Beats. I will never buy a Powerbeats product again in my life.

I switched to Mpow Cheetahs. Cheap $17 Amazon available product. They last for about 8 months. That's one hour a day of running. So $30 a year for them and I always have a spare brand new pair available.

For $250 I can purchase I can purchase 15 pairs of the Cheetahs and they'll last me 10 years.

I will stay away from these like the plague.
 
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davester said:
They look like hearing aids, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.
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Curiously, people said AirPods looked like hearing aids too. This one just looks more like it. :p

AirPods/EarPods doesn't fit my left ear. So I can only use in-ear headphones. This new PowerBeats seems to be my choice.
 
Ah, I didn't realize those were in-ear headphones from the first pictures I saw. Makes them unusable for me as those hurt my ears after a very short while. One of the most important reasons why I got Airpods.
 
I like the look of the power beats. It's a shame the case doesn't support wireless charging because I've got space for a third device on my charge mat :)
 
I use my airpods every day, and they replaced my Jabra BT set - simply because the BT connection on Jabra was really bad (i bike to and from work, and whit phone in pocket i lost the connection / had so bad sound it was unbearable - SO i wonder how is the BT connection on the Beats ?

I would really like the ear loop since the Airpods dont take much to knock out (jacket barely have to touch them)

on the other hand the tap function on airpods are really great if you live in a contry where you have to wear gloves 1/2 of the year

I want it all... something that has /will :
  1. GOOD BT,
  2. keep on my head,
  3. fit under my helmet,
  4. can be operated when wearing gloves
 
Thanks for a great video. They could be good when running.

Btw Love your expression after the über science explaination of improved sound - I was feeling exactly the same!
 
Almost got the feature parity with the AirPods down but then there’s no wireless charging case. And the case they have is lighting instead of USB-C. I hope they’ll sell a wireless one in the future.
 
The main issue with the Powerbeats line has been the awful microphone, never been able to have a call while using them, hopefully they've addressed this.
 
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tobybrut said:
Whoops, read that wrong. Yeah, that does sound like a lot. The sound quality better be worth that $100.
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The sound quality will be noticeably better in any environment with significant background noise because of the better seal alone these Powerbeats provide. But that kind of improvement shouldn't be costing any real money.
 
Powerbeats will fit my ears so much better than AirPods, so for that reason I'm in. They'll also isolate noise a bit better due to the fit - my AirPods are useless for listening to music near traffic.

I've had Powerbeats in the past and whilst they sounded good and fitted well, I went through 5 or 6 pairs (2 or 3 of each gen) due to them failing - I think the microphone/remote unit was susceptible to water and sweat getting in there. There's no cable on the new ones so I'm really hoping this means they're more reliable. To be fair, my AirPods have never missed a beat despite being used in all weathers so it just makes me think the cable and remote were the weak spot.

Can't wait for these to come out. I've always said that I'd pay twice the price of AirPods for a version which had in-ear buds.
 
sundog925 said:
Not a fan of the 'in ear canal" sensation these provide.
airpods for me feel better than something buried in my ear. Never been a fan of those types of buds.
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I'm with you on that. I have 2 pairs of those plug-style wireless earbuds and after about 5-10 minutes, they hurt. Different size silicone tips don't help. I'm done wasting money on them.

The airpods sound better than I expected (not the best, but not the worst) and they stay in even while I'm jogging (no silicone tips applied). My only concern is how long will the battery last (not per-use, I mean lifetime charge ability). I just got them in Feb, so still new in most respects.
 
chasemac said:
How long do the batteries last? A year or two?
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Depends on how you define it, battery life measured in absolute or relative terms? And on how you use them. If you don't use them more than one currently might use Airpods, almost twice the maximum battery life means after x amount of months, they'll rack up only about half as many charge cycles. If you then add that let's say four hours without recharging is what you consider ok, the Airpods might be down to that after 500 charge cycles, whereas the Powerbeats might sustain 750 charge cycles before they get there.

All in all, 180% the nominal battery life could mean 1.8x as many days before, eg, 500 charge cycles are accumulated, plus maybe a charge cycle limit that is 1.5x larger before a critical battery life is breached. Thus if Airpods are good for 18 months for a given daily usage scenario, the Powerbeats could be good for 2.7x that (1.8x times 1.5x), ie, 48.6 months or four years.
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zorinlynx said:
I wonder if the Powerbeats have the same problem I've had with other "earplug" style headphones; they amplify any sounds I make internally a hundred times, which is incredibly annoying.
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Indeed, using my sonic toothbrush with earplug headphones is not pleasant at all.
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allapple said:
This article is EXACTLY what is wrong with Apple today! WHY are they diluting their brand? What is Apple? Is it Beats or is it Apple? Dump Beats and call them Airpods! Iphone x, xr, xs, xs max etc.......same with Ipads, Mac books etc.... it's a mess......looks like just before Steve came back...... maybe Timmy is leaving!!!!!
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How many Android users buy Airpods? And how many Android users buy Beats earphones?
 
I want to know if they provide as much bass as Beats X do. I have Airpods which are great for everything except listening to music which they fail badly at, i use my Beats X for music as they provide a richer sound. Will be interested if they are just as good.
 
PickUrPoison said:
It may be that you just have the volume up too high. If the music doesn’t seem that loud to you, but other people are complaining about how loud it is to them, do yourself a favor and get your hearing checked.
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Thanks for your concerns; my hearing is still quite ok; incl high frequencies. It’s more that I have the music indeed louder to try to shutoff the ambient noise in OpenSpace office ...
 
I've been using my Airpods v1 when working out using this nice simple rubber product called Earskinz so they stay in place. Noise isolation is decent in my opinion. Excessive sweating or running in the rain never caused any issues for me and they still work great. And they look much sleaker in my opinion than the clanky Powerbeats Pro ones.

So cheaper, plus all the features I want, apart from honestly the only problem with Airpods which is adjusting the volume.
 
ChristianVirtual said:
Thanks for your concerns; my hearing is still quite ok; incl high frequencies. It’s more that I have the music indeed louder to try to shutoff the ambient noise in OpenSpace office ...
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I’m glad your hearing is still ok, but it is definitely at ongoing risk if you’re trying to block out high ambient sound levels with even higher sound levels in-ear. Damage is cumulative and increases with continued exposure. Once lost, you can’t get it back :eek:

In your case, a much better solution than AirPods would be 1) a sealed (isolating) earphone, 2) over-ear, closed back headphones or probably the best option is 3) noise cancelling earphones such as Bose or Sony. Some combination of active noise cancellation, good noise isolation and low external leakage (to minimize disturbance to others) would be much safer than an open design like AirPods.

Unfortunately, with continued high-SPL music listening, you will eventually damage your hearing. It could take weeks, months or years depending on just how loud, how often and how long you expose your ears to unsafe sound levels. Not to scare you too much but hopefully enough! :)
 
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I'm not even going to lie. I'm super interested in these given that Apple is not-so-subtly saying that these don't sound like bass Beats garbage.
 
I hope they offer true sweat/water resistance unlike the PowerBeats 3.
 
manu chao said:
How many Android users buy Airpods? And how many Android users buy Beats earphones?
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Believe it or not, and I know this sounds crazy, but I've seen people walking around with Airpods, using them with Android phones. Apparently they must work well enough on Android.
 
For another $50 you can get Sennheiser Momentum’s. Way better sound, IPX4 rated, smaller case than Beats, transparent optional hearing, good microphone, USBC, and a fantastic warranty. The battery isn’t as long as these, but for the money, I’d fork over another $50 over Beats any day.
 
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alexandr said:
i've worked out using airpods without any issues, and another guy in the gym was doing backflips in them(successfully). so unless you're sweating so profusely that it's going in your ears, i would just stick to airpods for working out.
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I actually do sweat so profusely that sweat drips into my ears... seriously. :D So, I'm definitely curious about these PowerBeats Pro, as unattractive as they are.
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Packerowner1984 said:
For another $50 you can get Sennheiser Momentum’s. Way better sound, IPX4 rated, smaller case than Beats, transparent optional hearing, good microphone, USBC, and a fantastic warranty. The battery isn’t as long as these, but for the money, I’d fork over another $50 over Beats any day.
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Good point, and the Momentum true wireless have received high marks for sound quality from many reviewers.
 
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