Powerbeats4 are $50 less, have a better design, longer battery life and “Hey Siri” support

Apple has yet to announce its fourth-generation Powerbeats4, but that hasn’t stopped AppleInsider’s Andrew O’Hara from getting his hands on these upcoming sporty headphones.

UPDATE: The new Powerbeats earphones went quietly on sale Wednesday, March 18. They’re available in Black, White and Red, cost $150 a pop and replace the previous Powerbeats3.

A few key findings include:

  • Powerbeats4 will retail for $149, which is $50 less than the previous generation
  • The new headphones have a better design
  • Battery life is significantly longer at 15 hours vs. 12 hours before
  • Powerbeats4 features “Hey Siri” support
  • Fast Fuel gives you 60 minutes of listening time after a 5-minute charge
  • They look mostly the same as the previous models
  • They lack support for active noise cancellation, auto pause or Transparency mode
  • Three colors: Red, White and Black

They’ll be available to order Wednesday, March 18, 2020.

Packaging includes three additional sizes of ear tips, a charging cable, the getting started guides and a nylon travel bag. Given these earphones cost $50 less than the previous model, the new Powerbeats4 will be likely positioned as Apple’s entry-level workout earphones.

Watch AppleInsider’s hands-on video walkthrough of the Powerbeats4, embedded below.

Author Andrew O’Hara wrote:

They are designed to stay in place with ear tips that go into your ears as well as have ear hooks that are moldable and wrap around your ears. A cable connects the headphones together —the biggest difference between these and the Powerbeats Pro.

Apple has likely updated the internal chipset of the Powerbeats 4 to its own H1 chip, replacing the W1 found in the Powerbeats3. The H1 brings new features such as improved battery life, now up to 15 hours, and ‘Hey Siri’ support.

The new earphones are sweat and water resistant like their predecessor.

The left earpiece has a single power button located on top of the bridge, and the right earpiece has a volume rocker in the same location. The right earpiece also has a depressible Beats logo for controlling music playback as well as invoking Siri manually with a long hold.

Unlike Powerbeats3, Powerbeats4 use Lightning charging, but Apple only included a USB-A to Lightning cable and not a USB-C cable as with the AirPods Pro.

We’ve only been using the Powerbeats 4 for a few hours thus far but so far we are very impressed with the improvements. Battery gains are substantial, the new design is much more polished and we like the change from a flat cable to a round one.

These earphones should release later this month because they appear to rely on iOS 13.4 for all features, and iOS 13.4 is currently in beta testing and should release by the end of March.

Visit the official Beats website for further information.

What are your thoughts on the Powerbeats4 so far?

Let us know what you think of them in the comments down below.