The beats studio buds are in the building and on the box it says made for AppleTV, iPhone and iPad. So yeah. Here is an iphone. And this is what they mean.
Pairing
To pair with an iPhone all you have to do is open the case and the iPhone will detect them and ask if you want to pair. And that’s it. Done. Super fuss free.
On anything else that’s not an Apple product you go to the bluetooth settings and search for the buds. When they pop up on the list you select them and pair.
If you want to pair more devices, there is a button in the case between the buds that you press for a couple of seconds to get the buds into pairing mode. In the mode the buds are discoverable to a new device that you can then pair to them.
In the box you get a bunch of paperwork, an Apple Music gift card, a USB-C to USB-C cable for charging and the silicon tips. You get a choice of 3 different sizes. Small and large are in this box and medium are on the buds.https://www.youtube.com/embed/7CCSt8WoTa0?version=3&rel=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&fs=1&hl=en-US&autohide=2&wmode=transparent
Features & Controls
Passive noise isolation is pretty good. They have a good seal round the ear. And if you are in a noisy area these buds also have active noise cancellation which is ok for the continuous noises like air conditioning or computer fans. It’s nowhere near the level of the Sony XM4s.
There is also transparency mode for when you want to listen to your content but at the same time remain aware of what’s going on in your environment. And it works well; it sounds pretty natural, especially at volumes below 50%. It almost sounds like there are speakers on every corner in your room plating whatever it is you are playing on your device.
Let’s talk controls. Really there isn’t much. So the b of the buds is a physical button with a mild click. Takes a bit of getting used to the 1st time but i quickly got the hang of it. So short presses will play or pause whatever media is available and a long press can either summon Siri or switch between the noise control modes.
For the price I’m not too happy that they do not have wear detection built in to auto pause or play when they are removed or worn.
Sound Quality
What about the sound? They sound fine. A pretty flat sound stage really. If anything it’s more biased towards the mids to highs rather and lacks a bit in the low end. I mean there is nothing wow about the sound but that doesn’t mean they are trash.
Best way to describe the audio experience is probably meh. Usable but for just casual listening so a fitting task for them may be listening to podcasts or audiobooks or music but whilst you are performing other tasks like the gym, jogging or chewing through spreadsheets. Stereo separation is good. You can really clearly hear the direction from where the audio is coming from.
Battery life
The battery situation is decent. With noise canceling on you get a total life of 15 hours that is 5hrs for the buds and 10 for the case. With noise canceling off you get a total life of 24 hours with the buds contributing 8 and the case 16.
Charging is via USB-C only. No wireless charging for the case. Oh and if you are in the apple ecosystem it means just pairing them to one of the devices means it’s automatically paired to all the apple devices you have that are under the same apple ID.
How much? R3199 or roughly US$200. That’s a lot of money for buds. I mean it’s 100 bucks cheaper than the Airpods pros but it’s still a lot. And for the sound quality I’m getting it feels like these buds are playing on the nostalgia of the Beats brand and also that Apple reserve the better tech for Apple’s line of audio accessories rather than Beats.
I mean my Huawei Freebuds 3 are now going for around US$100 and they definitely sound a lot better than the beats studio buds with wear detection ontop. A better buying choice might be getting the Airpods 4th gen or the Airpods Pro if you prefer silicone tips. These Beats Studio Buds feel like they are a bit overpriced for what you get.-techzim