The Beats Studio Pro is officially a reality. Starting at $349.99, the headphones, unfortunately not in the Netherlands, are on sale. Extraordinary, as the AirPods Max suddenly seems to have become less attractive.
Apple, the owner of Beats, does shoot itself in the foot a bit. Whereas people were already starting to find the AirPods Max a bit outdated, the Studio Pro only seems to prove to what extent that is actually the case.
The brand new Beats Studio Pro
This is the first time since 2017 that Apple-owned Beats has announced new headphones. The Beats Studio Pro is almost identical in design to the Studio 3 from that year, but that doesn’t really say much about the new model.
Beats has made some major improvements. These focus on things like sound quality, noise reduction, comfort and more. They support lossless USB-C Audio Playback and are compatible with both Android and iOS.
The 40mm drivers provide completely customized acoustics, noise cancellation is a lot stronger thanks to several improved microphones, and transparency mode finally finds its way into a pair of the company’s headphones.
So at first glance, the Beats Studio Pro seems to be a big improvement. Especially when you put the headphones next to the AirPods Max.
Studio Pro (Image: Beats)
AirPods Max falls behind the times
The AirPods Max appeared on the market in December 2020 and stood out mainly because of its immensely high price tag of $549. We’ll keep that price in dollars for the moment because that’s when we can best compare the headphones to the Beats Studio Pro.
Because for $200 less, that model seems to not only keep up with the AirPods Max, but even surpass it. Specs at a glance:
AirPods Max
Beats Studio Pro
Spatial Audio
Spatial Audio
Transparency Mode
Transparency Mode
Active noise reduction
Active noise reduction
Up to 20 hours of listening time
Up to 40 hours of listening time
384.8 grams
260 grams
Bluetooth 5.0
Bluetooth 5.3
Lighting connector
3.5mm headphone jack + USB-C
Automatic switching
One-Touch Pairing
1 sound profile
3 sound profiles
Smart Case
Carrying Case
$549
$349
We could previously tentatively say that the AirPods Max is aging. Apple has not upgraded since 2020, and at the time of writing there are also few signs of a new model.
That Apple itself is now launching a solid competitor with the Beats Studio Pro that does a better job for less money speaks volumes.
Beats Studio Pro wins theoretically
Although, of course, this is theoretical. Products can be so close on paper, but it is in practice where the biggest difference usually emerges. Especially in the field of audio products.
So while the AirPods Max seems to have a formidable competitor, we’ll have to try the Beats Studio Pro for ourselves first. But that will be a bit tricky, considering the headphones are not available in the Netherlands.
The Beats Studio Pro goes on sale immediately to consumers in Canada, Germany, France and the United States.
