Ever since I ditched my AirPods Pro for the Jabra Elite Active 75t earlier this yr, I’ve been craving for a pair of Apple buds that borrow the superior colours and controls which have made my Jabras a every day staple. The brand new AirPods 3, whereas nice in their very own manner, will not be that. However a number of days after being considerably underwhelmed by Apple’s newest buds, the $199 Beats Match Professional arrived at my doorstep.
The newest Beats earbuds are geared toward of us who need a extra compact model of the Powerbeats Professional for his or her every day exercises, whereas additionally borrowing key AirPods Professional options like energetic noise cancellation and spatial audio. However at the same time as somebody who isn’t a health freak, the Beats Match Professional are largely the AirPods I’ve been ready for Apple to make.
A wonderful AirPods Professional different
The Beats Match Professional mix all the AirPods Professional’s finest options with a trendy, safe and workout-friendly design.
The who, what and the way
Who it’s for: The $199 Beats Fit Pro are for somebody who needs a pair of high-quality, workout-friendly earbuds that aren’t as cumbersome because the Powerbeats Professional. In addition they make a terrific and extra inexpensive AirPods Professional different, providing most of the Professional’s key options inside a extra gym-friendly and colourful design.
What you must know: The Beats Match Professional mix the perfect of the most recent Beats and Apple earbuds, packing options like energetic noise cancellation and a Transparency mode for amplifying your environment inside a singular wingtip design constructed to remain in your ear throughout intense exercises.
The way it compares: Beats’ newest earbuds are fairly similar to the $249 AirPods Pro in relation to options and sound high quality. In addition they have a less expensive retail value (on the expense of wi-fi charging), although the AirPods Professional are steadily discounted. The Match Professional are extra compact, versatile and inexpensive than the $249 Powerbeats Pro, that are nonetheless price looking at for folk who need the added safety of an ear hook design.
The Beats Match Professional have three main options I’ve been wishing the AirPods would undertake: bodily controls, USB-C charging and, most significantly, some actually cool colour choices. In addition they simply really feel unbelievable.
These trendy buds look much like the Beats Studio Buds launched earlier this yr, however with an added wingtip designed to offer some additional assist when you’re vigorously figuring out. I’ve by no means been a fan of the huge ear hooks on the bigger Powerbeats Pro, and I’m actually happy with simply how compact the Match Professional are by comparability.
It feels redundant to name a premium pair of wi-fi earbuds comfy at this level — as a result of most of them are nice — however the Match Professional actually are a pleasure to put on. I don’t sometimes use wingtip earbuds, however I nearly by no means felt the additional padding due to a tender, light-weight and versatile rubber design.
As with the AirPods Pro, you get three units of ear suggestions and may do a fast match check in your telephone to search out the best ones for you. As soon as I settled on the bigger set, the Beats Match Professional felt cosy and safe all through days of working, strolling and commuting with out ever feeling tight. These IPX4-rated buds endured a number of strolls within the rain with out points, and a number of other of my extra fitness-minded colleagues reported that they stayed agency and comfy throughout exercises.
I’ve been ready for AirPods that are available in precise colours (you don’t depend, AirPods Max), however now that I’ve a pair of Beats Match Professional in attractive Stone Purple (which is admittedly pink), I won’t need to anymore. The Match Professional actually aren’t probably the most refined buds I’ve worn, however they’re nonetheless glossy sufficient that I be ok with sporting them on the prepare. Plus, there aren’t any pesky stems that hang around of your ear like on the AirPods. There aren’t fairly as many colour choices as there are for the Powerbeats Professional — I’d love a pair of Match Professional in Glacier Blue — however the buds’ Black, Sage Gray and White variations are all fairly slick and subdued.
I’ve by no means had a lot of a problem with tapping or pinching the AirPods and AirPods Professional to regulate my music playback, however ever since utilizing Jabra’s earbuds, I a lot desire the satisfying accuracy of a bodily click on. Happily, the Beats Match Professional provide simply that, with snappy management buttons on both bud that made it simple to pause and skip tracks or swap between varied sound modes. I simply want the controls have been extra sturdy and customizable — whereas Jabra’s buds allow you to management quantity, playback and sound modes suddenly, the Match Professional basically make you select between whether or not you need to toggle quantity or change modes with a long-press of a button.
I used to be delighted to search out that the Beats Match Professional’s case costs through USB-C moderately than Apple’s proprietary Lightning cable, because the former lets me juice them up with the litany of USB-C cables I have already got helpful at any given second. You’ll have to stay with out wi-fi charging (which is obtainable on the most recent AirPods Professional and AirPods circumstances), however that’s not a characteristic I’ve ever gotten a lot use out of. My solely actual gripe is that the case is slightly cumbersome — it’s not practically as gargantuan because the one which homes the PowerBeats Professional, but it surely additionally takes up extra pocket house than the AirPods Professional or Jabra Elite 7 Active.
The Beats Match Professional are fairly much like the AirPods Professional within the audio division, which is to say they sound nice. These earbuds have been my primary music headphones for practically every week now, and due to their potential to pump out clear audio with crisp guitars and vocals (and no scarcity of bass), I don’t plan on dropping them anytime quickly.
Beats’ newest buds have what Apple is asking a “new acoustic structure,” which could clarify why my favourite songs sounded much more spacious than I used to be used to. For instance, on a observe like “Cat’s Cradle” by Tigers Jaw — which I’ve listened to dozens of occasions — I may abruptly hear the particular left-right placement of vocal harmonies significantly better than on the Jabra Elite 7 Pros I’ve been utilizing every day.
This spectacular audio separation goes even additional whenever you’re listening to music or watching films that assist Spatial Audio with head monitoring, which is identical 360-degree audio tech discovered on most AirPods fashions. After I warped again to highschool and rocked out to Fall Out Boy’s “Sugar We’re Goin Down” on Apple Music, every instrument got here from a constant route at the same time as I moved my head round. It’s a cool impact that type of makes you’re feeling such as you’re at a stay present, although I nonetheless desire to hearken to most songs in good ol’ stereo.
The Beats Match Professional have the identical energetic noise cancellation (ANC) and Transparency modes because the AirPods Professional, they usually work equally nicely right here. The buds’ energetic noise cancellation did an excellent job suppressing sounds just like the rattle of a subway and the whirring of close by vehicles, and Transparency mode successfully amplified these noises after I wished to remain conscious of my environment whereas strolling my canine. You continue to can’t regulate the degrees of ANC and Transparency like you possibly can on Jabra’s earbuds, however every mode labored nicely sufficient for me in on a regular basis use.
The brand new Beats additionally borrow the AirPods’ Adaptive EQ characteristic, which equalizes your music in real-time to offer the perfect combine potential when ANC and Transparency are turned off. It makes a refined distinction in my expertise, however I did discover songs to sound a bit louder and brighter after I had Adaptive EQ on.
The entire perks of Apple earbuds — after which some
Even for those who take away the flamboyant sound modes, one of many primary causes I like the Beats Match Professional is that they work identical to some other pair of Apple earbuds. Due to the Apple H1 chip packed inside, the Match Professional paired to my iPhone the second I opened them up, and would mechanically pause my music any time I took even a single bud out. This performance is nothing new, but it surely’s the largest factor I’ve missed since switching to Jabra buds — which sometimes give me funky pairing points and aren’t at all times good sufficient to cease playback after I take them out of my ears.
You’ll additionally get all the different now-standard AirPods options, together with hands-free Siri management, the power to have your notifications learn aloud and Discover My assist for monitoring down the buds in case you lose them. However in contrast to the AirPods, the Beats Match Professional can nonetheless do an entire lot even for those who’re utilizing an Android telephone.
The brand new Beats buds paired impressively quick to my Google Pixel 5a, and the Beats app for Android permits you to do issues like change listening modes, customise the controls and carry out the Ear Tip Match Check to search out the best match. Sure perks akin to Spatial Audio, Discover My monitoring and Computerized Switching between a number of gadgets are unique to iOS, however you received’t be lacking out on an excessive amount of for those who’re not utilizing an iPhone.
Superior all-day battery life and good name high quality
On high of trying and sounding nice, the Beats Match Professional are a few of the longest-lasting Apple earbuds I’ve examined. I went practically three days with out even having to cost the case throughout on-and-off use, and was ready to make use of the buds for a steady 7 hours straight — most of which was spent with energetic noise cancelling on — earlier than lastly draining the battery.
That’s sufficient to get by an extended flight and most of a workday, and largely matches up with Apple’s claims of 6 hours with ANC/Transparency on, 7 hours with ANC off and as much as 30 hours whole with the case. It additionally barely exceeds the 6 hours and 10 minutes we bought from the AirPods 3, and beats out the five-ish hours we often get out of the AirPods Professional.
I spent an excellent chunk of time utilizing the Beats Match Professional on lengthy private and work calls, and by no means bought any complaints about my audio high quality. The recordings I captured on Beats’ buds have been fairly stable with only a trace of audible fuzziness, and one colleague famous that I sounded very clear whereas we caught up over the telephone.
As somebody who’s hopped between the AirPods Professional and varied Jabra choices over the previous yr, the $199 Beats Fit Pro are a virtually excellent center floor between the 2 for me. They’ve every thing I like about Apple earbuds — together with seamless iPhone connectivity, numerous helpful options and nice sound — whereas sporting the colourful design and bodily controls that made me leap ship to Jabra within the first place. I’m undecided if the Beats Match Professional are my new everlasting go-tos (I just like the controls and case on my Jabra Elite 7 Pro only a bit extra), however I additionally don’t see myself placing them down anytime quickly. And I’m not even the goal person for these buds.
In case you spend numerous time on the observe or on the fitness center and need one thing much less cumbersome than the Powerbeats Pro, the Beats Match Professional are an apparent (and cheaper) alternative. In addition they get you just about all the AirPods Professional’s options for $50 much less whereas providing higher performance on Android, so until you discover the AirPods Professional on sale, the Match Professional are a superb and rather more versatile different. The $149 Beats Studio Buds and $179 AirPods 3 are good choices if you wish to pay rather less, however for everybody else, the Beats Match Professional are a few of the finest Apple earbuds you should purchase proper now — even for those who’re not breaking a sweat each day.
