Powerbeats Pro, Apple’s truly wireless earphones with the in-house designed H1 headphone chip, hands-free Hey Siri, IPX4 water resistance and other perks, have been available since May 10. We though we’d check them out to give iDownloadBlog readers a closer look at one of the most important new audio product under Apple’s ownership of Beats.
The earbuds ship in Beats’ signature black packaging with a couple of stickers inside, some printed stuff, eartips with four differently sized options, a black Lightning to USB cable and the product itself. Black Lightning cables are included with all iMac Pro configurations, but Beats has always used black charging cables so this isn’t that much of a surprise.
iDB’s Harris Craycraft took them for a spin so be sure to watch his hands-on video walkthrough giving you a good impression of the unboxing experience and the product’s key features.
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The buds arrive in a much larger charging case than AirPods’. The case rocks a Lightning port for charging an internal battery that extends each earbud’s 9 hours of listening time to more than 24 hours of combined playback. And if you need to top them up quickly, a five-minute charge gives you enough juice for 1.5 hours of continuous playback.
Like AirPods, Powerbeats Pro work on Android, but they act as standard Bluetooth earphones without any of the advanced functions afforded by Apple’s H1 chip, like Hey Siri or seamless pairing. For those wondering, on Android you can bring up an assistant of your choice by pressing the hardware button.
One notable omission from Powerbeats Pro is a lack of wireless charging, an odd choice considering Apple has already released the new AirPods with a wireless charging case.
Powerbeats Pro cost $250 and can be found on Amazon, Apple.com, B&H Photo in Black, with Moss, Navy and Ivory colorways arriving at a later stage.
How do you like the new Powerbeats Pro and how do they compare to other sporty earphones in the $200-$300 price range? Let us know what you think of them by sharing your thoughts in the commenting section down below.