Oh boy, I believe I’m going to anger quite a lot of AirPods Max and audiophile followers with this one. Earlier than you come together with your pitchforks, I implore all of you to do not forget that not everyone seems to be an audiophile and has totally different wants in terms of headphones — that’s why there are such a lot of selections!
With that in thoughts, let me let you know all why, after proudly owning the AirPods Max since they launched, I’ve determined that the Beats Studio Pro are literally the over-the-ear headphones for me. Take a look at BGR’s Beats Studio Max vs. AirPods Max comparability for a deep dive, and maintain studying right here to see why I made the swap.
Beats Studio Execs are extra comfy for me
An important factor I’ve discovered for myself in terms of over-the-ear headphones is consolation. I used to be not anticipating this. Till I got here to this realization, sound high quality was by far the metric I weighed headphones towards one another, and all different metrics had been tiny compared.
That modified, nevertheless, as soon as I owned the AirPods Max for some time. I began to note a development that, regardless of attempting to regulate them to get the very best match for my head, I might discover myself taking them off after an hour or so attributable to discomfort. And the discomfort didn’t come from them urgent on my ears or being itchy or something — it needed to do with the stress they placed on the highest of my head as a result of they had been simply too rattling heavy.
That could be the largest difficulty with the AirPods Max. Attributable to their use of chrome steel and aluminum as a substitute of plastic, they’re the heaviest over-the-ear headphones whenever you evaluate them to the opposite well-liked fashions from corporations like Bose, Sony, and Sonos. Apple actually tried to engineer a option to offset their weight however, it doesn’t matter what I did, I couldn’t discover a match that labored.
The discomfort was so constant that if I had a flight longer than an hour or two, I might discover myself taking my AirPods Professional on the journey as a substitute of the AirPods Max as a result of consolation difficulty alone. That’s not a spot you wish to end up after dropping over $500 on a pair of headphones.
That is the place the Beats Studio Professional beat the AirPods Max for me. Attributable to them sticking with plastic as a substitute of chrome steel and aluminum, the headphones are a lot lighter and, for me, rather more comfy when carrying them for longer durations of time. I wore them for a five-hour flight throughout the USA and solely took them off to make use of the lavatory — I by no means felt I needed to take them off attributable to a problem with consolation.
Sorry, sound high quality. It doesn’t matter how good you sound if you happen to aren’t comfy. For me, consolation is king.
You get quite a lot of the identical options as AirPods Max
Regardless of Beats not being as intently built-in with Apple merchandise because the AirPods Max, they’re nonetheless so tightly built-in that the couple of options you would possibly miss out on are well worth the sacrifice for me.
After all, this tight integration exists as a result of Apple owns Beats, so that they make sure that Beats headphones work extremely properly and supply quite a lot of the identical options as AirPods when related with an Apple product just like the iPhone, iPad, Mac, and even Apple TV.
For instance, connecting my Beats Studio Execs to my iPhone was the identical as connecting my AirPods Max — you get that candy pop-up card with a easy “Join” button. That’s it. No fiddling below the Bluetooth part within the Settings app like headphones from different manufacturers. Similar to AirPods, they retailer that connection in iCloud, so the headphones then change into obtainable for choice on all your Apple units. That additionally makes them suitable with Discover My in case you ever misplace them.
The headphones additionally supply Personalised Spatial Audio, the audio know-how that creates a surround-sound expertise if you find yourself watching suitable TV reveals and flicks or listening to suitable music. In addition they characteristic Transparency Mode — similar because the AirPods Professional and AirPods Max. Talking of TV, they pop up as an audio choice robotically on Apple TV whenever you flip them on — similar as AirPods.
Beats Studio additionally works with Siri and have nice noise cancellation that’s comparable sufficient to AirPods Max that I didn’t discover an enormous distinction when on my flights. It’s also possible to management the audio options of Beats Studio Professional by the Management Middle on iPhone and iPad, identical to you possibly can with AirPods.
The one factor Beats Studio Professional can’t try this AirPods Max can that I’ve run into thus far is automated switching between units, however that’s not a deal-breaker for me.
USB-C and double the battery life
Not solely do Beats Studio Professional share quite a lot of the identical options as AirPods Max, however the headphones even have options that its Apple-branded counterpart at present doesn’t.
The massive one for me is USB-C. AirPods Max, regardless of all the cheaper AirPods fashions like AirPods 3 and AirPods Professional 2 now providing USB-C, remains to be rocking the Lightning connector. Whereas we expect AirPods Max 2 — which may come out this fall — to make the swap to USB-C, shopping for AirPods Max proper now means you might be caught with the previous connector.
As somebody who has made the swap to USB-C on ALL THE THINGS, together with my iPhone, iPad, Mac, Kindle, and extra, I’m not about to hold round a Lightning cable only for my headphones. Sure, it’s that essential to me.
The Beats Studio Professional even have double the battery life as AirPods Max. Proper now, Apple says you’ll get about 20 hours of listening time with the AirPods Max. Beats Studio Professional, compared, boasts a listening time of as much as 40 hours. Is that a large deal if you happen to’re carrying them round residence and charging them is straightforward? No. Nevertheless, that turns out to be useful whenever you’re touring. I’ve already discovered myself with a lifeless pair of AirPods Max on the aircraft, and that’s the final place you need your headphones to be lifeless — particularly if the aircraft doesn’t have a option to cost them.
They’re extra moveable, case and all
Oh yeah, I nearly forgot about this final one. The Beats Studio Professional are additionally rather more travel-friendly than the AirPods Max.
The AirPods Max have two key points in terms of utilizing them whereas touring. The primary is that, in contrast to nearly each different well-liked over-the-ear headphone that folks buy to make use of whereas touring, the AirPods Max don’t fold up. You’ll be able to rotate the earcups to make the headphones extra flat, however the lack of folding up into themselves makes them rather more cumbersome to journey with.
The second difficulty is that whenever you do wish to journey with AirPods Max, your default case is the one which Apple made, which I believe everybody agrees is the worst case that has ever been designed within the historical past of headphone circumstances. It not solely has been given the identify “the bra” by the tech neighborhood, however it additionally solely protects the earcups, leaving the complete headband uncovered. It’s a travesty that spending over $500 on headphones will get you that case, and nearly everybody ought to discover a third-party choice.
The Beats Studio Professional, as if in actual distinction, approaches journey otherwise. They do fold into themselves, making them simpler to retailer in a bag whenever you’re touring. Even higher is the case. It’s small and, regardless of the dimensions, comprises area on your USB-C charging cable, your 3.5mm audio cable (useful on flights which have seatback leisure however don’t have Bluetooth), and one other pouch for a charging brick or one other small accent you wish to retailer.
There’s simply no comparability right here. The Beats Studio Professional are constructed for journey and I skilled the distinction on my most up-to-date journey. It was unbelievable.
The value distinction seals the deal
The entire above was greater than sufficient for me to resolve that, not less than proper now, the Beats Studio Professional are the over-the-ear headphones for me. I discover myself carrying them rather more usually and for for much longer than I ever wore my AirPods Max.
As if all of these causes weren’t sufficient, the final purpose is the worth. The AirPods Max nonetheless value a whopping $549 all full value. You will discover the occasional sale for them going for $449, however that also makes them the most costly headphones of their class.
The Beats Studio Professional, compared, is available in at $349 at full value. That already marks a $200 low cost in comparison with the AirPods Max, however they’re steadily on sale for sale at a discount — you possibly can typically save nearly 50%. I personally picked up mine refurbished by Greatest Purchase for $140, a whole steal for a pair of headphones of this high quality.
Whereas value shouldn’t be your solely issue, having the ability to snag a pair of headphones this similar to AirPods Max for probably 25% of the worth is a no brainer, and that’s precisely what I did.
Let’s see what Apple does with AirPods Max 2
After all, this might all change if Apple nails the discharge of AirPods Max 2. If the corporate releases the second technology at a less expensive value with lighter supplies and so they get all the upgrades which are anticipated, I may discover myself switching again.
Nevertheless, for proper now, there’s no comparability for me. For now, Beats Studio Professional are the one over-the-ear headphones I’ll be carrying. Nice job, Beats.
