Beats Studio Buds Review: All About that Bass
Retail price: $149.99
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The Beats Studio Buds have many of the same features as other Bluetooth earbuds, but there’s a few particular qualities that truly make it shine.
What You Need to Know
The Beats Studio Buds have a fairly standard unboxing experience. The Studio Buds come with a convenient charging case weighing in at 48g and each individual earpiece weighing just 5g. They also come with three different sizes of ear tips for a secure fit. Like most Bluetooth earbuds, these come with a USB-C charging cable for easy charging. We’ll touch more on additional features later, but the Beats Studio Buds also have Active Noise Cancellation as well as a Transparency mode, which allows users to set what level of surrounding noise they want to hear. The Studio Buds also use Class 1 Bluetooth, allowing up to 100 meters (328 feet) of range. This alone is pretty impressive as most earbuds don’t have ranges that extend as far as these. These earbuds are also advertised to have eight hours of play time and can be recharged in the case to play an additional 24+ hours of play time. For those looking to use these for sports, the Studio Buds have an IPX4 rating and each earpiece has its own physical multi-function button. Let’s dive a little deeper into what this all means.
A Few Charging Qualms
The battery life on the Beats Studio Buds were actually quite solid during my review period with them but in all honesty, this was mainly tested without ANC on. However, I did use ANC for short periods of time and did not notice any major differences in battery life consumption. Without using ANC all the time, battery life is excellent and never did I have to worry about running out of juice. Beats used a special battery called Fast Fuel so even when you need to charge it, all it takes is approximately five minutes to give users up to one hour of playback time. This is plenty enough to finish your workout or run. To be honest, it wasn’t the battery life itself that frustrated me though. The Beats Studio Buds comes with a USB-C cable but usually these cables are USB-C to USB-A and unfortunately, these were USB-C to USB-C. I don’t disagree that USB-C is the future but it definitely took some extra time for me to dig around my drawer for a USB-C compatible charging brick. Just keep this in mind if you’re looking to buy these because they do not come with a USB-C brick (very Apple). On top of that, the Beats Studio Buds don’t have wireless charging. Although this isn’t necessarily a deal breaker, for the $150 price tag that these earbuds come in at, I would have hoped for Qi charging capability especially when there is no include brick.
A Perfect Fit
These earbuds fit so well that I honestly never really felt the need to turn on Active Noise Cancelling. The earbuds fit nice and snug into my ear canal and on top of that, they look fantastic! Unlike other Bluetooth earbuds, the Studio Buds don’t have a stem sticking out so the design is basically a small tab protruding with a button that includes the Beats logo. This makes them subtle, modern, and easily the slimmest earbuds I’ve used yet. As an avid basketball player, I was able to go out and shoot some hoops with them regularly without ever worrying about them dislodging. Part of the reason they fit so well is a result of the multi-function button. Every time I click to skip a track or pause, the earbuds get pushed back into my ear naturally. Even if I don’t touch the settings, the ear tips are nice and secure in my ears without ever getting loose. Frankly, it’s hard to complain about these on any level.
If I had to nitpick something about the Beats Studio Buds, it would be the size of the earbuds. I don’t have the biggest hands and for some reason, I always seemed to have trouble getting a good grip when putting them on or taking off these earbuds. They have a tapered design to the button on these that were just not ergonomically friendly to grasp. I’ve dropped them a few times as a result of not being careful when removing them so while the design is impressive, there are some quirks sacrificed to usability.
Functions and Features
The biggest selling point about the Beats Studio Buds are the Active Noise Cancelling and Transparency modes. In all environments I tested them in, both these features worked really well but like I mentioned before, the fit of these earbuds alone acted like a natural ANC. Considering Beats is now owned by Apple, I was expecting a similar quality of ANC to the AirPods Pro but I was able to compare them side by side and honestly thought the AirPods had a slightly better ANC earbud. While the Studio Buds were good, I thought they were a step down in quality when it came to ANC in Transparency mode compared to the AirPods Pro.
Other features on the Studio Buds come pretty standard in Bluetooth earbuds nowadays. As mentioned before, this includes the multi-function button that allows you to pause/play, skip tracks and answer calls easily. These earbuds also pair quickly to devices. Although you unfortunately can’t swim with these, the IPX4 rating gives some wiggle room for sweat and water splashes. As someone who enjoys roaming around without my phone often, the Class 1 Bluetooth range is an especially nice functionality.
The Sound Quality You Expect
Compared to Apple’s AirPods Pro, the Beats Studio Buds shines in this category. The sound quality on these Studio Buds sound exactly as you would imagine signature Beats headphones to sound like. Music is heavier on the bass and vocals and trebles sound a little drowned out. For the music I listen to, they’re not the most ideal, but if you primarily listen to hip hop or rap or other bass-heavy sounds, these would be perfect for those playlists. That’s where the Beats brand has always aimed to satisfy.
Should You Buy Them?
Like other Beats headphones, the aesthetics are spot on when it comes to the Studio Buds. The brand knows how to make great looking headphones and they always tune the sound quality for those who like more bass. For most people, this is exactly what they’re looking for since it suits a more modern music genre. As for features, I honestly don’t think they’re as good as the Apple AirPods Pro. The price of the Beats Studio Buds are at $150 and the AirPods Pro retail for about $250. As of the publishing date of this article, they’re on sale for $200. My honest opinion is it comes down to what you (the user) are looking for. If aesthetics and heavy bass fits your lifestyle, the Beats Studio Buds are the way to go. They pack in solid features and the fit is fantastic.
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Martin
Always in tune with the beat, audiophile doesn’t even begin to describe Martin’s intense passion for music. Whether it be in the front row of an Anderson .Paak show or popping to a Lizzo track in the back of a coffee shop, this Mechanical Engineer is meticulous with what goes through his earlobes simply because he knows exactly what it takes to make a quality headset.