3 hours ago
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After five years, Apple is back with a full revamp of the earbuds that put its Beats headphones brand on the map for athletes and sports people: the Powerbeats Pro 2.
Designed to hook on to the ear and stay put without wires, the original Powerbeats Pro were the best earbuds for working out and were worn by sports superstars including LeBron James and Anthony Joshua.
For 2025 Apple has taken all the good bits of the originals and refined the fit, slimmed down the bulk, and added noise cancelling and heart rate monitoring for £250 ($250), aiming to retake the premium workout earbuds top spot.
The overall shape of the earbuds has stayed the same. A flexible silicone wire hooks over the back of the user’s ear while an arm connects it to an earbud that sits in their ear. The fit is lighter but no less secure than their predecessors: comfortable for extended listening sessions on the commute while not budging at all during vigorous exercise.
The earbuds last about eight hours of playback with noise cancelling (10 hours without it) and charge in a good flip-top case that contains enough juice for 3.5 full charges of the earbuds. The case is 30% smaller than before but it is still quite large, fitting easily in a bag but only in a pocket at a push.
The Powerbeats Pro 2 have the same H2 chip and connectivity as Apple’s AirPods Pro 2, which means a seamless connection with various Apple gear, including spatial audio for movies and music, audio sharing, Siri support and lossless audio when used with an Apple Vision Pro.
But the earbuds also support advanced features on Android too, using the Beats app for one-touch pairing, customisation, updates and other functions, making them much more flexible than other Apple earbuds.
Great Beats sound and effective noise cancelling
The H2 chip gives the Powerbeats many of the top-class features of the AirPods. That includes active noise cancelling that is almost as effective as Apple’s top buds, able to significantly reduce outside sounds and only falling slightly behind by letting a little more of higher tones break through, such as chatting or clicks.
The earbuds handle wind noise well and have a best-in-class transparency mode, which is excellent while out walking or in the gym. While running it accentuates your own footsteps a little and reduced my awareness slightly compared with bone-conduction headphones, but was perfectly usable in environments such as parks and safer streets.
The new Powerbeats are easily Beats’ best-sounding earbuds, producing a balanced sound with great separation of tones, well-controlled punch in the low end and plenty of detail with high notes. They do justice to pop, hip-hop and big rock tracks while remaining rounded enough for more nuanced genres such as classical or jazz. They aren’t quite as good as the AirPods Pro and have no ability to adjust how they sound, which can be a little too clean and controlled for some tracks, lacking a little energy in dance tracks, but they are far better than most workout buds.
The Beats also have Apple’s personalised spatial audio system with head-tracking for immersive movie sound with Apple devices, similar to AirPods, and excellent call quality for both ends of calls.
Specifications
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Connectivity: Bluetooth 5.3, SBC, AAC, H2 chip, HR sensor
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Battery life: 8 hours ANC playback (36 hours with case)
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Water resistance: IPX4 earbuds (sweat resistant)
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Earbud dimensions: 45 x 41 x 24mm
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Earbud weight: 8.7g each
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Charging case dimensions: 75 x 66 x 34mm
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Charging case weight: 69g
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Case charging: USB-C, Qi wireless
Heart rate monitoring in your ear
The Powerbeats have optical heart rate sensors that can monitor your pulse through your ears similar to Sennheiser’s recent Momentum Sport earbuds. The sensors are on the part of the earbuds that touches the inside of your tragus, and in theory can match or better the accuracy of optical heart rate monitors on watches. The sensors only work when wearing both earbuds, which compare the data between your ears before sending out a reading via Bluetooth to a connected phone or device every five seconds.
In testing they were similar in accuracy to a Garmin Fenix 8 smartwatch and stayed in place, but an appropriate app is needed on Android or iPhone to connect to the earbuds. Neither Beats nor Apple make a workout app for them and only a small number of apps work out of the gate on an iPhone, including the popular Runna, Peloton and Nike Run Club apps, the latter of which worked seamlessly.
On Android, any app that works with heart rate devices such as Bluetooth chest straps should work with the earbuds, including Strava when tested.
Heart rate data is stored in the Health app on an iPhone or in the connected workout app for Android users.
Sustainability
Apple does not provide an expected lifespan for the batteries, but they should last in excess of 500 full-charge cycles with at least 80% of their original capacity.
The earbuds contain recycled plastic in some internal components. They are not repairable but Apple will offer individual replacements for lost or damaged parts. It does not publish environmental impact reports for accessories such as headphones. The company offers trade-in and free recycling schemes, including for non-Apple products.
Price
The Powerbeats Pro 2 cost £249.95 ($249.99).
For comparison, the Beats Fit Pro cost £219.99, the Beats Studio Buds + cost £179.99, the Beats Solo Buds cost £79.99, Apple’s AirPods Pro 2 cost £229 and the Sennheiser Momentum Sport cost £199.
Verdict
The Powerbeats Pro 2 are an upgrade to just about every aspect of the originals, making them some of the very best premium workout earbuds available.
The fit is super-secure but surprisingly light, holding themselves in place for vigorous workouts without the pinching force many similar alternatives with ear hooks require. They sound great for powering through workouts but have enough nuance to be daily earbuds for all sorts of music genres too. The effective noise cancelling helps with commutes or quietening busy roads. The very good transparency mode is miles better than most competitors, but still diminishes your awareness compared with open-ear headphones so best saved for workouts in safer spaces.
Built-in heart rate monitoring in earbuds is still a novelty. The sensors worked well in my ears, but they rely on third-party apps to work, which are in short supply with an iPhone. That’s not a problem for Android users who can use Strava and most heart-rate compatible apps from the off.
At £250, Beats is certainly asking a lot for a set of workout buds. But unlike many fitness rivals the Powerbeats Pro 2 are good enough to be the only earbuds you might need, particularly if you’re an iPhone user who get on with the fit of Apple’s AirPods – these are not going to fall out.
The biggest disappointment is that the battery is still not replaceable, ultimately making them disposable and losing a star.
Pros: great sound, very good noise cancelling and transparency modes, very long battery life, secure and comfortable fit, excellent controls, spatial audio, great call quality, cross-platform compatibility with enhanced features for iPhone and Android.
Cons: expensive, case still not very pocketable, not many compatible apps for the heart rate feature on an iPhone, no multipoint connectivity, battery can’t be replaced making them disposable.
