Apple purchased Beats two years before the release of the first AirPods. Beats earphones are now quite comparable to AirPods, which is excellent because they are generally less expensive yet offer similar capabilities.
The Beats Studio Buds plus are the greatest true wireless Bluetooth earbuds from Beats to date, and they are an excellent alternative to Apple’s AirPods Pro.
Some of the more sophisticated capabilities found on the $249/£249 AirPods Pro and other AirPods models, like as spatial audio and smart device switching, are absent from the Buds+. However, at $169/£179, they are less expensive and feature greater interaction with Android smartphones.
I didn’t miss the extra features throughout my time with the Buds+. The AirPods Pro cost $80/£70, and we recommend saving money by getting the Beats instead.
Design & build
- Four tip sizes in box
- Clever grip/button design
- IPX4 rating
The Studio Buds+ offer an appealing and utilitarian design that, luckily, does not attempt to imitate AirPods. Instead of a lengthy stem, the buds are little, well, buds with a tapered edge that you can grip between your thumb and fingers and pull out of the casing or your ear.
This is a creative design that also includes a tactile button on the edge of each bud with the Beats ‘b’ logo printed on it. The grip allowed me to rotate the buds to acquire a better fit instead of awkwardly pushing them farther into my ear. There is some of this when pushing the button on either bud, but it is OK if done at the proper angle. At 5g per bud, it is scarcely noticeable in the ear.
I tested the black and gold variant, but there’s also an ivory and a stunning transparent version available. My black buds and tips readily gathered up dust and filth, but the matt plastic case picked up a few surface scratches but is amazingly unharmed after a week of being flung around in bags and pockets.
Beats included four different eartip sizes in the packaging, which I appreciated because my ear canals are fairly tiny. I was able to obtain a good seal with the smallest ‘XS’ size, so you should be alright with one of the selections. I found the Buds+ to be pleasant to use for a couple of hours before experiencing some pain, which is normal with closed seal earphones.
The Studio Buds+ have an attractive and functional design that thankfully doesn’t try to rip off AirPods
For what it’s worth, the Buds+, like many other truly wireless buds, have circular silicone tips. AirPods Pro are more comfortable for me since they have slightly flattened, oval-shaped tips.
The buds fit snuggly in the pebble-shaped charging case, which is kept in place by a powerful magnet. Instead of Lightning, the case charges via USB-C. This is great news for me because I use a lot of USB-C devices for work, but if you have an iPhone, you might prefer AirPods because of their Lightning port. A USB-C to -C cable is included in the box.
Sound quality
- Universal, well rounded soundstage
- Good bass response
- No hi-res support
Most significantly, the Studio Buds+ have a superb sound. There’s not much difference between them and the AirPods Pro, Bose QuietComfort Earbuds 2, and OnePlus Buds 2 Pro that I’ve recently tested or reviewed.
The bass guitar in Madonna’s ‘Like A Prayer’ sounds fresh and alive, bopping about in the mix with the trebly drums and supporting vocals.
On a crowded London Underground tube carriage with a lot of noise but noise cancellation turned on, I could hear and enjoy the bass guitar tone on boygenius’s ‘$20’ more than on other buds.
Beats is known for producing bassy music, and the Buds+ are no exception. They don’t go overboard, but there’s more low end here than with AirPods. Unfortunately, the Buds+, like the AirPods, lack EQ controls. You’re stuck with whatever Beats thinks is best – fortunately, it’s really nice.
When I listened to Bush’s ‘Machinehead’ at a reasonable intensity, I noticed a small trace of distortion in the buds, which I attribute to the song’s trebly, ’90s mix. However, all of the instruments sound sharp and clear. The Buds+ are a wonderful sounding earbud that can be used for any type of music.
There are just a handful wireless earbuds that enable hi-res music playing, and these aren’t one of them. Despite being Apple-made headphones, the Buds+, like the AirPods, cannot stream Apple Music hi-res tunes at their full resolution. Instead, they support Bluetooth 5.3 and the commonly used AAC and SBC codecs.
The Buds+ don’t have any EQ controls. You’re stuck with what Beats deems best – luckily, it’s pretty good
Noise cancelling & smart features
- Good ANC
- Fast pairing with iOS and Android
- No in-ear detection
It’s a little strange that my thoughts on the Beats’ smart features are lengthier than the part on sound quality here, but wireless earbuds all have so different smart capabilities these days that it takes longer to explain.
When you take the Buds+ out of their case, they immediately connect to the last device with which they were paired. I spent a lot of time with them linked to an iPhone, Pixel, and Mac, and I switched between them manually in the settings on the devices every time.
One of the nicest things about the Buds+ is that its smart functions work across iOS and Android, unlike the AirPods, which only support quick pairing with iPhones. One of the worst aspects about the Buds+ is the lack of in-ear recognition, which means music will not automatically halt when you remove a bud and resume when you replace it. This is due in part to the Beats’ lack of the H1 chip, which is featured in all AirPods.
Pop-ups appear in pairing mode, allowing you to easily connect the Buds+ to iPhones or Android phones using Google’s Fast Pair standard. When connected to an Apple device, the Beats become discoverable across additional Apple devices that are linked to the same iCloud account, however there is no auto device switching as with AirPods. You also lose access to the ear tip fit test.
The Buds+ also operate with Android’s audio switch, allowing me to connect to two Android devices at the same time. With the buds automatically linked, pausing audio on one device and then hitting play on another works. The buds may also be found using the Google Find Device app and the Apple Find My app.
Active noise cancellation (ANC) is adequate, but falls short of the second-generation AirPods Pro and the industry gold standard of the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds 2, but I appreciate how little the Buds+ are in compared to the enormous Bose.
Active noise cancellation (ANC) is good, but a shade below the second-gen AirPods Pro
I could comfortably listen to tunes on a crowded train with the Beats and even when a bloke appeared outside my window to drill for an hour. Noises are still present, but they are hidden by an ocean of noise canceling signal.
When the Buds+ are connected, there is a background hiss of static noise that I do not hear with the AirPods Pro but do hear with other wireless earbuds. When music was playing, I didn’t hear it as much, but it is audible when listening to podcasts in a calm area.
The transparency option is excellent enough to listen to your surroundings or converse with people while wearing the buds (but you should certainly remove them).
The Buds+ enable spatial audio playing for Apple Music on iPhones and compatible Android applications, but they don’t have the head-tracking or customized spatial audio of the AirPods, and you can’t turn it on or off on compatible tracks. This is a little irritating because I like it turned off when listening to Apple Music.
To select between noise cancelling and transparency modes on an Android phone, use the Beats app, but the options show in the iPhone’s Control Centre, just like they do with AirPods.
Battery life & charging
- Incredibly good battery life
- USB-C charging
- No wireless charging
The Studio Buds+ are always moving. Beats claims 36 hours of battery life with fully charged buds and case, which I found to be accurate. In a whole week of using the Buds+ for many hours every day, I only had to charge the case once.
You get six hours of playback with ANC and nine hours without, with the case adding up to 27 hours off a full charge. The Buds+’s battery life is one of its strongest features, and it’s the least concerned I’ve ever been about charging while reviewing earphones.
Only wired charging through USB-C is available here, but that’s a small price to pay for such long battery life.
Price & availability
The Beats Studio Buds Plus are priced at $169/£179. They will be available for purchase on June 13, 2023.
You’ll be able to purchase them directly from Amazon or Apple or Beats.
This is a reasonable price given the available sound quality, ANC, and smart features. The only thing I missed about the $249/£249 second-generation AirPods Pro while using the Beats was the fit and comfort over several hours – other from the obvious lack of spatial audio choices, they deliver almost the same experience.
The Studio Buds+ are less expensive than the $229/£219 Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro and about comparable to the $179/£179 OnePlus Buds Pro 2. I like the Beats over both of those buds due to their superior battery life and compatibility with iOS and Android.
Verdict
Even if you don’t need to switch between iOS and Android devices with your Bluetooth earphones, the Beats Studio Buds plus support both, which means they’re suitable for everyone, not just iPhone users.
The fit is great, despite some tiredness after a few hours of usage, and the sound quality is just slightly below that of Apple’s own AirPods Pro and Sony’s WF-1000XM4.
The battery life is genuinely exceptional, and the noise cancellation is excellent, making the Studio Buds+ not just the greatest Beats earbuds yet, but also one of the best true wireless earbuds available.
Specs
- Google Fast Pair
- iOS one-step pairing
- Active noise cancellation
- Wireless: Bluetooth 5.3, SBC, AAC
- Voice control: Siri
- Button controls
- Battery life: Up to 36 hours
- Four eartip sizes
- IPX4 sweat and weather resistant
- 5g per earbud
