Beats Studio Buds True Wireless Headphones Review

These earbuds have a small, understated design. The glossy front face of the buds has the same protruding pill-shaped grip as the Beats Fit Pro True Wireless, with a small logo printed on the lower side. However, unlike Beats Fit Pro, these buds don't have stability fins. They come in a few color variants to suit your style: 'Black', 'White', 'Ocean Blue', 'Moon Gray', 'Sunset Pink', and 'Beats Red'.

These buds have a comfortable fit. They're lightweight and don't put too much pressure on your ears. Registering commands using the physical buttons doesn't push the buds deeper into your ear. They come with three pairs of differently-sized tips to help you get the best fit.

These headphones have mediocre controls. They're easy to use since the left and right buttons have the same controls. The buttons have mechanical feedback, but they're not very clicky. The earbuds beep to let you know when they've registered a command, but there aren't voice prompts. While they didn't have volume controls when first launched, firmware update 1B56 allows you to enable volume controls on the buds via the companion app.

On either bud:

• Single press: Plays and pauses audio. Also answers and ends calls.
• Double press: Skips the track forward.
• Triple press: Skips the track backward.
• Press and hold: Cycles between ANC, 'Transparency mode', which is intended to let you hear ambient sound while listening to audio, and both modes off. You can change this command to activate voice assistant or offer volume controls in the companion app. However, you can only have one kind of command at a time, so you can't have volume and ANC controls simultaneously, for example.

These headphones have a very breathable design. They won't trap heat around your ears, meaning you won't feel a temperature difference over time, even while working out.

These earbuds are very portable. Like most truly wireless headphones, they have a small footprint and can easily fit into most bags and pockets.

The carrying case is decent, but it's a step down from their successor, the Beats Studio Buds + True Wireless. It's small and made of semi-glossy plastic that feels durable but retains fingerprints if you have oily skin. One small light near the bottom indicates when it's charging. However, the lid doesn't stay open easily due to its flimsy hinge.

These headphones have good build quality. They're made of plastic and feel durable enough to survive a couple of accidental drops without taking damage. They're also rated IPX4 for resistance against water splashes, making them a solid choice for sports use. Unfortunately, the silicone ear tips are flimsy and feel like they can rip over time.

These in-ears are decently stable. Unlike the Beats Fit Pro True Wireless, they lack stability fins to hold them in place when you're on the move. They won't fall out of your ears if you use them at your desk, but they can move around during workouts or runs.

• Beats Studio Buds headphones
• 3x tip options
• Carrying case
• USB-C to USB-C charging cable
• Manuals
• Beats sticker

These earbuds have a somewhat neutral sound profile, which makes them versatile enough for most audio content. It's different from other Beats products, known for their bass-heavy sound. The Beats Studio Buds lack bass, so your audio sounds a bit veiled. However, there's a boost in the high-mid that makes vocals and instrumentals sound clear in the mix. Unfortunately, their companion app doesn't have any sound customization features like an EQ to help you tweak their sound.

The frequency response consistency is outstanding. Once you get a good fit and seal, you'll get consistent audio delivery each time you use them.

Their bass accuracy is decent. It's underemphasized across the range, so songs like Telephone by Lady Gaga and Beyoncé lack warmth and thump, punch, and boom in their bassline. They're much less neutral-sounding than the Beats Powerbeats Pro Truly Wireless earbuds, which have more prominent bass well-suited for thumpy genres like EDM and hip-hop.

These earbuds have good mid accuracy. The low to mid-mid is underemphasized, so in songs like Juice by Lizzo, vocals seem thin and nudged to the back of the mix. The high-mid is very flat, so vocals and lead instruments still have clarity and intensity.

The treble accuracy is decent. The response is underemphasized across the range, so vocals and lead instruments are veiled and lacking in detail. Sibilants like cymbals are also dull and lispy.

The peaks and dips performance is great. The peaks and dips are quite minor, meaning the headphones can control their sound profile well. A bump in the low-bass adds thump and rumble to mixes, while a dip between the high-bass and low-mid thins out vocals and lead instruments. Another dip in the mid-mid nudges these sounds to the back of your mix, while a bump in the high-mid to low-treble makes the upper harmonics of vocals and lead instruments harsh. The uneven mid-treble makes sibilants like cymbals alternatingly bright and sharp.

Beats tend to have good quality control and ergonomics, which helps ensure that their products have well-matched drivers. In turn, well-matched drivers have a high imaging performance, so objects like voices are accurately placed in the stereo image. Imaging varies between units, though. Our unit's L/R drivers are well-matched in group delay, amplitude, frequency, and phase response.

The Beats Studio Buds' passive soundstage is bad. Because they're earbuds, they don't interact with your outer ear, which needs to be activated by sound to create an open and immersive soundstage. The resulting soundstage seems small and as if coming from inside your head. They also have a closed-back design, meaning their passive soundstage seems less spacious than open-back headphones.

These headphones don't have any virtual soundstage features. While they support Apple's Spatial Audio, it only works on tracks mixed in Dolby Atmos via Apple Music, and you'll need a subscription to access these features. Spatial Audio can create a more 3D soundstage to immerse you in your audio.

The weighted harmonic distortion performance is good. There are a couple of small peaks in the treble range. However, these peaks are hard to hear with real-life content, and we lose our sensitivity to high-pitched sounds over time. The rest of the frequencies fall within good limits, producing clear and pure audio reproduction.

These are the settings used to test the Beats Studio Buds. Our results are only valid when using these headphones with these settings.

These earbuds have disappointing noise isolation, and do a worse job of blocking out sound than their successor, the Beats Studio Buds + True Wireless. Their ANC hardly blocks bass-range sounds like rumbling bus and plane engines and is just okay at reducing office chatter. However, it does a better job of reducing high-pitched sounds like a humming A/C unit. Unlike other ANC earbuds, like the Sony WF-C700N Truly Wireless, the Beats also block out more noise if you just turn the ANC off, which isn't ideal. Unfortunately, we noticed that when the ANC is on, you can sometimes hear more white noise in your audio in a quiet environment. If you've experienced this issue, let us know in the forums.

The buds' leakage performance is outstanding. Noticeable frequencies are concentrated in the bass range, and while escaping audio sounds somewhat full, it's not very loud. It won't bother people sitting nearby, even if you're listening to your music at high volumes.

The integrated mic has sub-par recording quality. Your voice sounds thin, distorted, and lacking in depth.

The microphone's noise handling performance is sub-par and performs worse than the Beats Fit Pro True Wireless. The mic struggles to separate your voice from moderate ambient noise around you, and speech can be drowned out. If you're taking a call while commuting, it can be difficult for someone to hear you on the other end.

The Beats Studio Buds have a sub-par battery performance. They have roughly five hours of continuous playback time, which likely won't last throughout your workday unless you pause to recharge them. Keep in mind that battery life varies depending on use, though. Luckily, the case holds two extra full charges, making it easy to top up their battery when not in use. You can also use one bud while the other one is charging, and they have a 'Fast Fuel' feature that gives you one hour of playback from five minutes of charging. Thanks to firmware update 10M359, iOS devices now show the battery status of both buds if the carrying case is nearby and open.

The Beats app is mediocre. You can see how it works here. It doesn't offer any sound customization features like an EQ or presets. You can rename your buds in-app and remap the press-and-hold command to summon your device's voice assistant or cycle between ANC modes (On/Off and Transparency Mode). Firmware update 1B56 also added volume controls, although you have to disable ANC controls to make room for them, as you can't have both simultaneously. You can also register your buds for updates using the Android app, but this feature isn't available on iOS. Consider the Sennheiser CX True Wireless or the JBL Tune Flex True Wireless if you're looking for a pair of truly wireless in-ears with a fuller-featured companion app.

The Beats Studio Buds have satisfactory Bluetooth connectivity. Unlike other Beats headphones, like the Beats Fit Pro True Wireless, these in-ears don't have an H1 chip, so you can't seamlessly pair them with your Apple devices. They also don't support multi-device or NFC pairing. While their latency on PC is high, causing your audio and visuals to fall out of sync, their iOS and Android latency is much lower, which is nice if you like to stream video. Some apps and devices compensate for latency differently, though.

You can't use these earbuds wired. They come with a USB-C to USB-C charging cable to charge the carrying case.

These headphones are only compatible with Bluetooth-enabled PCs. You'll have full audio and mic compatibility, though.

The Beats Studio Buds have a carrying case with two additional charges. It has a USB-C port to charge the case. This case doesn't support wireless charging, just like their successor, the Beats Studio Buds + True Wireless.