Beats Studio Pro Wireless Headphones Review

The Beats Studio Pro have a sleek, rounded look, similar to the Beats Studio3 Wireless and the Beats Studio Wireless. The manufacturer's logo is on each ear cup. They come in a few neutral colors: 'Black,' 'Deep Brown,' 'Navy,' and 'Sandstone.'

The Beats Studio Pro Wireless headphones have a decently comfortable fit for most people. The ear cushions have a plush feel but clamp onto your head quite hard, which can cause fatigue over time. However, it's more difficult to get a good fit if you have a bigger head. The ear cups don't have much range of motion. They're also quite shallow, and your ears might rub against the drivers, which can be irritating. Like the Beats Studio3 Wireless, the headband could also use more cushioning and might cause discomfort with prolonged use. If you're looking for more comfortable over-ears, consider the Shure AONIC 50 Gen 2 Wireless instead.

The Beats Studio Pro have good controls. They provide all the basic functions for controlling audio playback, phone calls, and switching between ANC and 'Transparency' mode, which lets you hear your surroundings without removing the headphones. There's no audio feedback when a command is registered, but the controls are all physical buttons that you can hear click. When connected via USB-C, ANC and 'Transparency' mode are disabled, and you can cycle between EQ presets with the power button. These EQs are only available when you're using the USB-C cable and are only accessible with the onboard controls. There are also volume controls, but you don't get any audio cue for reaching minimum and maximum volume.

The 'b' button:

• Single press: Plays/pauses audio or answers/ends a call.
• Double press: Skips to the next track.
• Triple press: Skips to the previous track.
• Hold: Activates voice assistant.

The ring surrounding the 'b' button:

• One press above the 'b' button: Raises the volume.
• Single press below the 'b' button: Lowers the volume.

The power button:

• Press and hold: Enters pairing mode.
• Double press: When connected via Bluetooth or analog, cycles between ANC on, off, and 'Transparency' mode. When connected via USB-C, cycles between EQ presets.

The Beats Studio Pro are somewhat portable. They fold into a more compact shape to help them fit into bags, but like most over-ears, they still take up a bit of space in a bag or purse.

Unlike previous versions of these headphones, including the Beats Studio3 Wireless and the Beats Studio Wireless, they come with a soft pouch instead of a hard case. This provides less protection against being dropped or crushed than a hardback case. However, the fabric is still quite thick and zips close to protect against dust and spills.

They have a good build quality. They're mostly made of plastic that feels sturdy. However, the foldable hinges on the headband could degrade with use and stop snapping properly into position, and overall, the headphones feel somewhat stiff and creaky.

They're decently stable, so they'll stay in place if you're just sitting and listening to music and during less intense movement, like a run in the park or some stretching. However, they can slip off your head if you move your head quickly.

• Beats Studio Pro headphones
• USB-C to USB-C cable
• 1/8" TRS cable
• Beats stickers
• Manuals
• Carrying case

Their sound profile is quite neutral. A slight boost in the low bass adds a little extra rumble to your audio, and some overemphasis starting in the high-mids lends voices and instruments extra brightness. Sibilants, like S and T sounds, are piercing, but overall the sound is suitable for a variety of genres. These results reflect the headphones' performance when connected via Bluetooth. They don't come with any sound customization features when connected via Bluetooth or an analog cable.

However, you can also use the headphones via analog or USB-C. The headphones have a built-in DAC that lets you stream lossless audio from your phone or computer via USB-C. When connected that way, you can also choose from a few different EQ presets: 'Beats Signature,' which provides the most neutral sound, 'Entertainment,' which boosts the bass and treble, and 'Conversation,' which significantly reduces bass. You can see a comparison between each preset here. Keep in mind that these EQ presets are only available via USB-C connection.

They have decent frequency response consistency. They perform more consistently than the Beats Studio3 Wireless, but you can experience a drop in bass if you have thick hair or wear glasses, which can break the ear cups' seal on your head. Otherwise, if you take the time to adjust the headphones' fit, seal, and positioning on your head, you'll experience a consistent sound whenever you use the headphones.

They have fantastic bass accuracy. The entire range is slightly overemphasized, so your audio has a touch of extra rumble, punch, and boom.

They have excellent mid accuracy. Vocals and instruments sound clear and present in the mix, but some overemphasis in the high-mid adds harshness.

They have decent treble accuracy. Instruments and lead vocals sound clear and detailed, so guitars, like those in the solo at the beginning of Metallica's song, Fade To Black, have definition and detail. However, higher-pitched sibilants, like S and T sounds, can sound piercing.

The Beats Studio Pro have a decent peaks and dips performance, meaning they control their sound profile quite well with a few deviations. There's a dip in the mid-mid, mainly present in the right driver, which nudges instruments and vocals towards the back of the mix, followed by a peak in both drivers in the high-mid, which makes instruments harsh and honky. The most pronounced deviations are in the low- to mid-treble. This range is uneven, so the upper harmonics of voices and instruments are alternately harsh and veiled, and sibilants like cymbals are mostly piercing.

They have excellent imaging, which is typical of the Beats headphones we've tested and an indication of the brand's quality control and ergonomics. The L/R drivers of our unit are well-matched in group delay, which ensures tight bass and transparent treble reproduction. They're also well-matched in terms of frequency and amplitude. A slight mismatch in phase response affects the mid- to high-bass, though, which can cause inaccuracies in the stereo image. Also, when playing audio of low-bass frequencies, you can hear a high-pitched whining sound on the left side. It's sometimes audible on the right side, depending on the volume. It's most noticeable when the headphones are only playing low-bass frequencies, so it's hard to hear this with more variable real-life content like music. Also, imaging varies from unit to unit, so you might have a different experience.

They have a bad passive soundstage performance. They have an over-ear design but don't have as wide a soundstage as other similar headphones, like the Sony WH-1000XM5 Wireless. Their sound also seems to come from inside your head. Their closed-back design means they don't create a very wide or spacious-seeming soundstage.

These headphones support Spatial Audio, which includes 'Fixed' and 'Head Tracking' modes. Head tracking will follow your movements and adjust the soundstage depending on your head position relative to your phone, while fixed simulates regular surround sound. However, it only works with compatible content and might require a subscription to use.

Using Spatial Audio also seems to affect the headphones' maximum volume, but it's a minor difference. With Spatial Audio on, audio can get about one decibel louder. Here are the volume measurements when playing 'Pink Noise for Sleeping' from Apple Music, with Spatial Audio set to fixed, head tracking, and off:

The Beats Studio Pro have a great weighted harmonic distortion performance. There's some distortion in the mid-treble range at regular volumes, but it's hard to hear with real-life content. The rest of the frequencies fall within good levels, producing clean audio.

These are the settings used to test the Beats Studio Pro. Our results are only valid when using them in this configuration.

The Beats Studio Pro have a good noise isolation performance. Their ANC improves on the previous generation's by blocking out more noise in the bass range, but they still aren't ideal for reducing engine noise when flying or commuting. That said, they do a great job of isolating you from higher-pitched noise like voices or computer fans, so they can help cut out distractions when you're at the office. You can't use the ANC feature when you're using a wired USB connection.

They have a great leakage performance. They leak some audio, mostly in the mid to treble ranges, but it's quieter than the noise floor of the average office. You can crank up the music in a moderately noisy environment without bothering anyone.

The mic seems to use an automatic compensation algorithm to adjust the gain. It appears to lower the gain in loud environments and increase the gain when it detects vocal frequencies. Pink noise (a kind of sound containing all frequencies) seems to cause the gain to lower significantly during our testing. That won't affect you during regular use, but it means your experience will be better than the score suggests.

The mic makes your voice sound bright but also hollow and lacking in body. The quality is inconsistent, so during a phone call, the quality can noticeably dip for a few seconds before recovering. The manufacturer advertises better call quality via USB-C. However, we found you can't hear much difference, except for a small improvement via USB-C if you're in a quiet area. You can listen to a recording of the microphone via USB-C here and see a graph of the frequency response via USB-C here.

It has a disappointing noise-handling performance. It can separate your voice somewhat from moderate noise, like at the office, but it'll still be audible in the background. With louder noise, like a train passing, your voice gets completely drowned out. Again, the manufacturer advertises a better mic performance via USB-C. There's not much noticeable difference with that connection, but you can listen to the mic's noise-handling performance with pink noise and speech via USB-C here, and with subway noise here.

Their battery performance is excellent. The manufacturer advertises them to last 24 hours of continuous use with ANC or 'Transparency' mode on, and we measured a little over 28.5 hours with ANC on. The manufacturer advertises a 40-hour continuous battery life with both modes switched off. A 'Fast Fuel' feature also provides four hours of playback for 10 minutes of charging. However, keep in mind that battery performance varies with use. They don't support passive playback via analog since they still need battery power to work, even if you plug them into an audio jack. You can charge the headphones and listen to music simultaneously with the USB-C cable.

The app is pretty basic. It's simple to navigate (see a video of it in action here), and the same features are available in the iOS and Android apps. You can adjust the ANC/Transparency controls (and remove one or the other from the onboard controls) and adjust the controls for ending calls (press or double-press). You can also set up personalized spatial audio and 'Find My Device,' and check the battery level. However, the app doesn't offer any sound customization features. You have access to a few EQ presets when connected by USB-C, but only via the onboard controls.

The Beats Studio Pro come with a 1/8" TRS cable that you can use to receive audio, but it doesn't work with the mic. However, this ensures that your audio is latency-free.

If you want to use the mic, you can also use the USB-C charging cable for a wired connection. Using the USB-C cable allows you to take advantage of their DAC and EQ presets. While their latency is higher via this connection than over analog, it's still low enough to keep audio and visuals in sync.

Unlike previous editions, like the Beats Studio3 Wireless, these headphones don't have a W1 or H1 chip for easier pairing and switching between iOS devices. However, they offer One-Touch Pairing with iOS devices, as well as Google Fast Pair, which similarly lets you quickly pair the headphones but with Android phones instead. On the downside, they have high latency using the default SBC codec and don't support any other codecs that might lower it, so your audio and video will be slightly out of sync if you're gaming or watching a movie on your computer. Some apps and devices compensate for latency, though.

The Beats Studio Pro are fully compatible with PCs via wired USB or Bluetooth. You can also plug them in with the analog cable, but you can't use the mic that way.

These headphones have full mic and audio compatibility with PlayStation consoles via wired USB. You can also use the analog cable to receive audio if you keep the headphones charged.

The Beats Studio Pro are only compatible with Xbox consoles if you plug the analog cable into a controller. However, you can't use the mic that way, and the headphones still have to be charged since they won't work if the battery is dead.