The Powerbeats Pro: Apple's Better AirPod Alternative

The AirPods have been a crown jewel for Apple. Damn-near every iPhone user has one or lost one. While the many were awaiting the sequel to Apple’s AirPods, the end results was a mild update to one of the most sold accessories. But the new AIrPods aren’t the only thing that arrived this year.

We also got the Powerbeats Pro from Apple’s Beats By Dre. This is more or less their take on AirPods while retaining the signature look and sound. Many are familiar w/ Beats Powerbeats line for being an ideal workout audio solution. The Pro version of them is that is much more. We’ve spent about 2 weeks w/ them and are confident enough to discuss their strengths & weaknesses as well as should you buy it or not. Keep going to read our Powerbeats Pro review.

The Powerbeats Pro still offers everything you would want in earbuds and due to its unique design, it can be placed and easily accessible. The B logo on both sides act as a play/pause button as well as answer calls, a full volume rocker on the right side, access to Siri & support for voice activation, and a sensor to auto-detect when their in your ear or not. While being IPX4 water-resistant rating makes it ideal for wearing everyday as well as sweating in the gym. All of this makes for an improvement from the Powerbeats3 wireless design by making it 17% lighter.

Comfy and adjustable.

Beats made sure to tackle one of the ailments from AirPod opposers: comfort. One of the main issues w/ the AirPods are its one-size-fits-all design. Beats made sure to fill that void for everyone else. The Powerbeats Pro offers 4 different eartips and an adjustable earhook that can bend/shape to better cover the needs of different sized ears. All within a plastic/rubber build that doesn’t feel cheap but is comfy enough to wear all day – even w/ glasses on.

So moving onto the most important part of this piece: the sound. This is a Beats product so you know to expect good highs and lows. The Powerbeats Pro does not disappoint in regards to your expectations. Good bass, big sound, big output, and great sound effects for viewing media – all w/ zero latency. Listening to podcasts, YouTube content, audiobooks, & audio only content will suit you just fine. Mind you, the closer seal & better noise isolation makes for a better audio experience. However, the treble can be a bit overbearing in select music genres so keep that in mind.

The only thing missing is noise-canceling.

Apple’s H1 chip is present here as well so pairing to your iOS device is a fast & simple. But even on Android, pairing is pretty good as well. So if you’re an Android user, you won’t be missing out too much like you would buying the AirPods.

As more & more wireless earbuds become available, they’re getting better in various areas. The one that isn’t getting the best numbers is battery life. This is where the Powerbeats Pro comes into play. Beats managed to put up to 9 hours of juice per charge in these and a 5-minute Fast Fuel gives you 1 and a half hours of juice in a 5 minute charge. While a 15-minute charge will get 4 and a half hours of juice.

These sit within a massive charging case. I only say massive when comparing it to that of other wireless earbud cases. This helps you yo give you an all-day battery or equivalent to a little longer than 3 8-hour work days. I just wish that Beats made this USB-C instead of Lightning port to charge within the case but nothing’s perfect.

The PowerBeats Pro is Apple's anti-AirPods but better in almost every way.

In hindsight, you can say that Beats By Dre made a better & sportier version of the AirPods w/ the Powerbeats Pro. They are premium-priced at $250 but offers a lot to kind of warrant the price. Like good sound, adjustable ear hooks, sweat/water-resistance, and a lovely 9-hour battery life before running back to its charging case.

While the AirPods made the wireless earbuds popular, they aren’t the only ones offering a good audio product. It just so happens that one of the other ones at the top of the list is also made by Apple w/ the Powerbeats Pro. This time around you’re gonna pay more for it though.