Beats Powerbeats Pro review: The perfect workout partner

The Beats Powerbeats Pro are truly wireless earbuds firmly built for exercise. They’ve got a design-dominating earhook and are available in a good array of colorful looks if you want it to better match up with your running kit. It’s also giving you some nice extras like ANC and the ability to share audio with other Beats and Apple headphones if you like the idea of  working out together.

Beats Powerbeats Pro: Price and availability

The Beats Powerbeats Pro have been around for a while now and actually launched back in 2019. Despite being a few years old, they remain an expensive set of buds at $249.95/£269.95. That puts them firmly in the expensive price bracket and are more expensive than Apple’s own AirPods Pro 2 and the Beats Fit Pro.

You can grab them from Apple’s website as well as the BeatsbyDre website and there’s still plenty of retailers including Amazon that stock them. So while they launched a while back, they are still pretty easy to get hold of. 

Beats Powerbeats Pro: Specs and features

The big deal here is the design. The Powerbeats Pro uses quite sizeable earhooks that can be adjusted to improve the reliability of the fit. On the buds you’ve got two sets of controls to adjust volume, skip tracks and handle calls. You do also have hands-free control support here too, if you don’t want to fiddle around with the physical ones. It doesn’t offer ANC if you like to drown out the world around you, but does include dual-beaming microphones to handle intercepting calls from your phone. The charging case along with the buds offer 24 hours of battery life and an impressive 9 hours off a single charge.

Beats Powerbeats Pro: Build and Performance

There’s nothing discreet about wearing these buds, but while they look big and bulky, they don't feel like it. They clamp securely but not uncomfortably on the ears and come with four size ear tips to improve overall fit. The sound is undeniably big and ideal if you value power and bass, which for workouts is going to be ideal for most I imagine. 

While it’s a shame they lack ANC, especially given the price, the volume you can crank them up to does a pretty good job of blocking the world out. Listen at quieter volumes and they’re still letting the world in. You’re getting a good battery here too that really does deliver. Granted the case to charge them up is on the big side, but you do have the Fast Fuel charge mode to give you over an hour from a quick 5-minute charge.

Beats Powerbeats Pro: Competition

If we’re talking ear hook-style earbuds, then you’re looking at things like the Shokz OpenFit and the affordable JBL Endurance Peak 3. They both offer good sound and fits for runs, though I’d say in comparison the PowerBeats Pro offer a far more secure design, especially compared to the OpenFit. Those two options do also offer the ability to tap into EQ settings if you’re not satisfied with the sound out of the box.

Beats Powerbeats Pro: Should you buy it?

You should buy it if..

• You want really secure-fitting wireless earbuds for running workouts
• You like your sounds big and bassy 
• You want some of the best battery life you can get on truly wireless earbuds

You shouldn’t buy it if…

• You want ANC to drown the world out 
• You like a earbuds and a case with a smaller and more discreet design

Beats Powerbeats Pro: Verdict

Despite being around for a while now the Powerbeats Pro remains a really great set of truly wireless earbuds for running and for workouts on Fitness Plus. It delivers a very secure fit that should work for most, even when you’re going at your fastest. The sound is enjoyable overall and the battery life is top notch too. It’s by no means the sleekest or smallest set of buds you can put in your ears, which might put some off, but these are truly built for workouts and that’s certainly the scenario where they impress most.