These Beats earbuds are incredibly easy to get along with
Headphones | £200 | whf.cm/BeatsFitPro
The Beats Fit Pro are an intriguing proposition. At first glance, they look every bit the stylish, workout-friendly, active noise-cancelling earbuds with all the latest trappings that are currently glutting the market.
But there are glimmers of brilliance here: the presence of a Beats app for Android, for example, allows non-Apple users to reap the benefits and features of Apple’s own brand products, which are usually closed off to anyone not in the iOS ecosystem. Better ANC, better sound and Spatial Audio are also teased – and all for a decent price. Beats pricing is more competitive than its Apple, Bose and Sony rivals, all of which we tested at £249 – although discounts are now available across the board.
The earbuds themselves are lightweight, comfortable and offer a very secure fit thanks to new flexible wingtips that tuck into your ear. Whether you are running or on your daily commute, the Beats Fit Pro stay put without feeling uncomfortable. The IPX4 rating for water and sweat resistance means they will survive rain or a sweaty workout too.
You get just three sets of ear tips (small, medium and large) in the box, but we found a good fit easily.
The Beats Fit Pro come in four finishes: black, white, sage grey or stone purple. Battery life is a total of 27 hours with the charging case, with ANC mode turned on. You get a decent six hours in the earbuds with ANC on, which rises to seven hours with ANC off.
Beats is owned by Apple, and with that comes all the slick convenience of AirPods and the superb H1 chip – which brings support for Spatial Audio – powering the buds. They are supremely easy to use and we don’t once experience any drop outs or connectivity issues when paired with our iPhone 12.
Instead of touch-sensitive controls the Fit Pro use reliable button-presses for the likes of music playback and switching between active noise cancellation (ANC) and Transparency modes. On the subject of ANC, we find the Beats effective at damping down traffic and crowd noise to a distant murmur.
Beats emphasises that Android users get the same advantages of one-touch pairing, Ear Tip Fit Test, battery status and customisable controls as Apple users, using the dedicated Beats app.
Improving the balance
These earbuds sound lively and enjoyable with any song you play through them. Beats is moving away from its bass-heavy past and the Fit Pro continue this progression towards a more balanced approach.
There is still more energy at both frequency extremes than wo
