Beats has made a name for itself after 17 years in the audio industry, but with a range of headphones and wireless earbuds in its arsenal, you might be having a tough time deciding which pair is right for you.
We’ve compiled only the best Beats headphones in this guide with the aim being to make your purchasing decision a little easier.
Beats is a company that emerged on the scene back in 2006 as ‘Beats by Dr. Dre’. The audio brand was formed by music producer Dre and record company exec Jimmy Iovine with a focus on releasing headphones and speakers.
After a short stint of being owned by HTC, Beats was eventually acquired by Apple in 2014 where the company has remained ever since.
In the time since the Apple buyout, Beats products have become more deeply intertwined with Apple’s iOS operating system, with some models offering features that the company would typically reserve for its own AirPods line. This includes automatic switching between iOS devices, spatial audio and support for the Find My device tracking app.
Beats’ sound has evolved over the years too, with the company loosening the hold on its signature bass levels to deliver a more natural, balanced tone on many pairs.
We examine each pair of Beats headphones we test thoroughly, looking at the design, fit, features, battery life and sound quality while detailing everything we learn in our in-depth reviews. We then select only the top products to include in our best lists so you can be sure you’re getting a pair of headphones that are a cut above the rest.
Scroll down to find our picks for the best Beats headphones, or visit our other best lists to get a wider view of what’s leading the market right now from the best headphones and best over-ears to the best wireless earbuds and best noise-cancelling headphones.
Best Beats headphones at a glance
- Best Android Beats true wireless: Beats Fit Pro – check price
- Best affordable Beats true wireless: Beats Studio Buds – check price
- Best running Beats true wireless: Beats Powerbeats Pro – check price
How we test
Not just anybody can review a pair of headphones. You don’t need superhuman hearing to tell what’s good, but you do need to know what to listen out for.
Our headphone tests are done by some of the best and most prolific reviewers in the industry, with years of experience listening to everything from the plasticky freebie earbuds that come with your smartphone, to five-figure beasts of glass and marble. We love music and we want your tunes to sound good, too.
So we listen every pair of headphones we can get on or in our ears. We use a variety of sources, from basic MP3s playing on a laptop to high-quality tracks on dedicated hi-res audio players.
Our test tracks are wide-ranging to give headphones a thorough challenge. They’re also familiar, so we know every track backwards, and we know which bits might trouble the lesser performers.
We listen again and again, and we do that for weeks in case the sound changes – because it usually does. Then we’ll listen to similarly priced rivals and come up with a verdict that reflects the performance and features for the money.
- Stable fit and good comfort levels
- iOS and Android support
- Useful noise cancelling
- Physical controls
- Can’t customise sound/noise cancelling
- No wireless charging
- Tough competition
- Natural, balanced tone
- Solid noise cancellation/transparency mode
- iOS and Android support
- Comfortable to wear
- Battery life less than rivals
- No wireless charging
- App is slim on features
- Stable, comfortable fit
- Decent sound
- Very good battery life for true wireless
- Connectivity isn’t perfect
- Slightly synthetic mid texture
- Bass boost improved, but not high-end
Pros
- Stable fit and good comfort levels
- iOS and Android support
- Useful noise cancelling
- Physical controls
Cons
- Can’t customise sound/noise cancelling
- No wireless charging
- Tough competition
The Beats Fit Pro can be worn for casual use as well as for exercise with their wing-tip design. Powered by Apple’s H1 chip (the same one found in the AirPods), the headphones have a number of iOS-exclusive features but can work handily with Android devices too
Connected to an iOS device and the earbuds operate at a system level, which means there’s no need for a separate iOS app – and users benefit from exclusive features such as dynamic head tracking with Spatial Audio and Dolby Atmos. There’s also automatic switching between iOS devices, audio sharing with Apple products and hands-free voice assistance from Siri, and for even more convenience there’s one-touch pairing and support for the Find My app in case they go missing.
Thankfully, Android users can access a good number of features through the Beats app, which include control customisation, battery levels and the Ear Tip Fit Test, with one-touch pairing possible when setting the buds up. However, some Apple-exclusive features such as Spatial audio are lost on Android users.
Regardless of your device’s operating system, the Fit Pro offer a good number of features, including solid adaptive noise cancellation, Bluetooth 5 connectivity and a six-hour battery life. That’s longer than you’ll get from the AirPods Pro. We found the Fit Pro’s audio to be crisp and rhythmically adept, with detailed mids and highs, naturally reproduced voices and weighty and authoritative bass. Compared to the Studio Buds, the Fit Pro’s performance is treated with a little more scope and width as the cheaper bud’s soundscape can sound on the small side.
Reviewer: Kob Monney
Full Review: Beats Fit Pro
Beats Studio Buds
Best affordable beats true wireless
Pros
- Natural, balanced tone
- Solid noise cancellation/transparency mode
- iOS and Android support
- Comfortable to wear
Cons
- Battery life less than rivals
- No wireless charging
- App is slim on features
The Beats Studio Buds are a solid pair of all-rounders for anyone searching for Beats on a budget. The earbuds feature a sculpted boot-shaped design with ear-tips to help them slot into the ear, which give them an edge over the standard AirPods for noise isolation. However, the fit isn’t quite secure enough that you could take them on a run – instead, we’d recommend the Powerbeats Pro if that’s your use case.
Like the Beats Fit Pro, the Studio Buds come with a good range of features for both Android and iOS users, including one-touch pairing. The earbuds even support Find My on Android, which is a feature the Fit Pro (surprisingly) do not currently offer.
The earbuds offer solid active noise cancellation for their price provided you get a tight seal (not always the case we found with its fit), and there’s a Transparency mode along with voice assistant support for whichever device you’re using. All of this operates at a system level for iOS users, whereas Android users will need to download the Beats app.
As far as audio quality goes, the Studio Buds offer a natural and well-balanced sound across the frequency range, though the soundstage is limited in its width compared to the Fit Pro. Highs are described with a sharpness but can become too bright if the fit isn’t correct, while the bass is fairly impressive but does lack some depth.
Reviewer: Kob Monney
Full Review: Beats Studio Buds
Beats PowerBeats Pro
Best running Beats true wireless
Pros
- Stable, comfortable fit
- Decent sound
- Very good battery life for true wireless
Cons
- Connectivity isn’t perfect
- Slightly synthetic mid texture
- Bass boost improved, but not high-end
For those searching for a great pair of Beats for running and fitness, the Beats Powerbeats Pro are your best bet. While the Beats Fit Pro offer a sturdy enough fit and IP resistance to be used in the gym, the Powerbeats have a sporty design with a lightweight plastic build, hook design and a malleable rubber stem. In that regards they offer the better, more stable fit.
As far as features go, the Powerbeats Pro don’t have as many as the other pairs on this list. There’s no noise cancellation as found on the Fit Pro or Studio Buds, although we wouldn’t expect on a design such as this. That would make the Powerbeats Pro less suited to being used in busy areas like the Tube, but for those who exercise and work out often, the noise isolating qualities of the design mean you can hear what’s around you to a decent degree.
However, the earbuds are water and sweat resistant (at IPX4) and include an IR proximity sensor to automatically play and pause your tunes when you move them in and out of your ear. There’s a mono mode and support for your phone’s voice assistant, as well as a nine-hour battery life that blows away many true wireless headphones.
Like the Fit Pro, the Powerbeats Pro pack the same H1 chipset found in the AirPods and AirPods Max. Despite being powered by an Apple chip, our reviewer found these earbuds felt perfectly at home when paired with an Android phone.
When it comes to sound, the Powerbeats Pro pack Beats’ characteristic of old, with a bass lift without obvious boominess. There’s some extra bite in the upper mids and treble that gives the vocals more energy, making them a great signature for runs and workouts. However, despite the “Pro” name, we wouldn’t consider the Powerbeats a pair that would appease audiophiles. The Studio Buds and Fit Pro are much more neutral-sounding in their performance.
Reviewer: Andrew Williams
Full Review: Beats Powerbeats Pro
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See all reviewsFAQs
Whether you should get AirPods or Beats depends on the specific models you’re looking at, as well as which features and sound you need from your headphones.
No, Beats work with both iOS and Android devices. However, Beats headphones tend to work on a system level with the iPhone but require an additional app to be installed on Android phones. Some features are also Apple-exclusive, so its important to check which ones will work with your device before choosing a pair of headphones.
The Beats Fit Pro are the newest pair of Beats, having been announced toward the end of 2021.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.