Beats by Dr. Dre has introduced new wireless earphones called Powerbeats Pro, designed to offer a claimed industry-leading battery life, exceptional fit and beautiful sound. As an Apple brand, the Powerbeats Pro earphones are first and foremost designed to work best with iPhones, but they will work on Android too.
The two focus areas for the Powerbeats Pro earphones are sound and fit, two areas that most users care about. Utilising an upgraded linear piston driver, the Powerbeats Pro earphones deliver a powerful acoustic response in a small package. Beats claims low distortion and great dynamic range, which is excellent for tiny wireless in ear phones.
Fit is another pain point; for me, personally, most in-ear phones fit very poorly and uncomfortably, and in many cases, simply fall out. To achieve the best possible fit on the widest array of ears, over 20 configurations were electronically modelled and physically tested. The result is a completely new, ergonomically angled acoustic housing that nests comfortably in the concha bowl of the ear with an off-axis nozzle.
It comes with four sizes of ear tips and a redesigned, adjustable earhook—an iconic part of the Powerbeats line since its launch in 2010. In other words, almost certain to fit and stay in most ears, comfortably. A big selling point.
It’s not just about doing the job comfortably, it’s about function too. Powerbeats Pro features a fully functional, ambidextrous design with identical, physical volume and track controls on each earbud. This means full control over your music and phone calls, regardless of whether you use the left, right or both earbuds.
Long and short-range optical sensors drive automatic play/pause and call handling when the earphones are placed in or removed from your ears.
Each earbud has up to 9 hours of listening time and more than 24 hours of combined playback with the magnetic closure case. With Fast Fuel, you get 1.5 hours of playback after just 5 minutes of charging and up to 4.5 hours after 15 minutes of charging.
No power button means no worries. Powerbeats Pro earphones power on when taken out of the case and power off (and charge) when placed inside. Motion accelerometers detect when the earphones are idle and not in use, automatically entering them into sleep mode.
Setup is made easy. Pairing is done via the Powerbeats Pro case—simply opening the lid for the first time prompts pairing mode, and the earphones are compatible with both iOS and Android devices.
Pricing and Availability
Powerbeats Pro will come in Black, Ivory, Moss and Navy for $349.95 AUD.
Availability is expected online at apple.com from the Apple Store in May.
Works with Android? But there is no Google Assistant. Beats is an Apple product, designed and built by Apple, and Apple is never going to allow the Google Assistant into its products.
Another thing… Apple has added all sorts of its own proprietary extensions to the Bluetooth protocol that can’t be accessed by Android users.
So, yes, the Beats ear plugs do work with Android, but with minimum functionality. If you’re an Android user, there are much better things out there.