The best Beats headphones 2020: Which should you choose?

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Beats has one of the world's most recognisable brands despite still being relatively young. Apple's now owned the brand for a good few years, though, and its parent company has had a big influence on the tech being used in the headphones, as well as its more recent designs. 

With quite a big range of headphones available across all different fits, whether over-ear, on-ear or in-ear, deciding which pair is best for you can be a bit tricky. Luckily for you, we've broken down every Beats headphone available today, covering size, features and price.

Quick summary

There are eight pairs of Beats headphones available, comprising two pairs of over-ears, three pairs of on-ears and three pairs of in-ears.

  • Beats Studio 3 Wireless are an over-ear design and can connect wirelessly to your mobile device. They're available in a range of colours, have active noise cancellation technology and the new W1 chip.
  • Beats Solo Pro feature an on-ear design, but with a more premium design than its predecessor, the Studio 3's ANC engine, updated H1 Chip and great battery life. 
  • Beats Solo 3 Wireless are an on-ear design, feature the new W1 chip to instantly connect to your iPhone.
  • Beats EP are on-ears and the cheapest Beats headphones connecting via wire. 
  • Beats Pro are over-ear headphones at the very top of the company's repertoire and promise to offer the very best sound from Beats.
  • Beats X are wireless pair of in-ear headphones with a neckband and feature the W1 chip. 
  • Powerbeats 4 are sports-orientated in-ear wireless headphones, with the H1 chip and an ear-hook design.
  • Powerbeats Pro are, essentially, a true wireless version of the Powerbeats 4 but with an improved design and the same internal tech as the Apple AirPods. 
  • urBeats are conventional in-ear headphones.

Beats Studio 3 Wireless

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  • Headphone style: Over-ear
  • Connection: Bluetooth or wired
  • Colours: Matte Black, Titanium, Gold, Gloss White, Gloss Black, Metallic Sky

The Beats Studio 3 Wireless are an over-ear headphone design that encapsulates your whole ear inside the ear cup. This design helps to block out external noises, although it's aided further by active noise cancellation (ANC). This new ANC is different to previous iterations, in that it constantly adjusts its frequency to match the sound of your environment, making it more versatile.

The built-in rechargeable battery can last over 22 hours, and the lightweight build combined with the soft materials used will mean you'll want to keep them on your head for as long as possible. There are controls on the headphones themselves to skip tracks, change volume and accept phone calls. 

The Beats Studio are not just one of the most iconic pairs of Beats headphones available, but one of the most iconic pairs of headphones full stop. Soundwise, they're bassy (as you'd expect), but the entire nature of the audio profile seems to have shifted to make it more refined. They can go loud and hard, and the addition of active noise cancellation should only help focus you on the music. 

Beats Solo Pro

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  • Headphone style: On ear
  • Connection: Bluetooth
  • Colours: Black, Dark Blue, Ivory, Grey, Red, Light Blue

Beats Solo Pro is a pair of headphones that takes the smarts and noise cancelling of the Studio 3 and puts them in a smaller, on-ear pair of headphones. It's arguably the best pair of wireless headphones Beats has made to date. 

The headphones themselves feature a premium anodised aluminium arm that slides smoothly in and out of the headband, while the ear cups have memory foam-stuffed padding. It offers more surface contact than its predecessor, thanks to a redesign and new materials. The ear cups are mounted on arms in a way that allows them to move and angle freely to fit each user. 

There's no option to use a wired connection with the Solo Pro, and you need to use a Lightning cable to charge them, but they are still a fantastic pair of on ears. They're comfortable, last ages on a full charge and sound fantastic. 

Beats Solo 3 Wireless

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  • Headphone style: On-ear
  • Connection: Bluetooth with W1 chip
  • Colours: Gloss Black, Gloss White, Rose Gold, Black, Gold, Silver, Ultra Violet, (PRODUCT) Red

The Solo 3 Wireless were introduced around the same time as the iPhone 7 and come with Apple's W1 wirless chip. It promises greater battery life, a greater Bluetooth range and improved connectivity options for iPhone users.

Touch-sensitive controls are present on the left ear cup for skipping tracks and changing volume. Beats claims up to 40 hours of life - and they do last so long - but naturally you can also plug in a 3.5mm cable for a wired connection to your phone. Or charge them up for five minutes to get three hours of playback time.

In terms of sound they're very much a pair of Beats headphones, that means bass in your face. But they do bass very well. So if you're after a powerful yet portable pair of headphones, the Solo 3s are for you. 

 

Beats EP

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  • Headphone style: On-ear
  • Connection: Wired
  • Colours: Blue, White, Black, Red

The Beats EP represent one of the most affordable ways to get your ears on Beats headphones. They are an on-ear pair of headphones, and connect via a conventional cable, no Bluetooth wireless here. Beats says the EP headphones have been tuned to reproduce sound "the way it was meant to be heard". 

They're designed for portability and as such, have a lightweight, stainless steel frame and come with a carry pouch. The cable has a RemoteTalk unit which is compatible with iOS devices to take calls and control your music. 

They're a stylish pair of headphones that will no doubt provide the signature, bass-heavy Beats sound and will be ideal for anyone looking for an affordable headphone upgrade for their phone. 

Beats Pro

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  • Headphone style: Over-ear
  • Connection: Wired
  • Colours: Infinite Black, White

The Beats Pro headphones are the company's top of the range model and are used in recording studios by producers and artists alike. They don't feature any amplification or noise cancellation as these would add extra frequencies into the sound. Their steel and aluminium build helps to provide a rigid frame to prevent vibrations. 

When they're plugged into a music source, the other ear cup becomes an output, meaning someone else can plug their own headphones into yours to hear what you're hearing.

The Beats Pro are an expensive pair of headphones, but unlike other pairs of Beats headphones, they don't focus entirely on bass, instead delivering a much more balanced sound.

Beats X

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  • Headphones style: In-ear
  • Connection: Bluetooth wireless with W1 chip
  • Colours: Black, White, Grey, Blue

The Beats X headphones are wireless in-ears that have Apple's W1 chip inside to help instantly connect to iOS devices and MacBooks. They're not completely wireless like the Apple AirPods as they still have a neckband connecting the two earpieces, but this hosts the battery, power switch and remote control. When you're not listening to music, you can leave the Beats X dangling around your neck, and the earpieces have magnets in them to connect together to they don't flail about.

You get up to eight hours of battery life from a single charge, and they're recharged using a Lightning cable, not Micro-USB. They benefit from Quick Charge technology too, which gives you two hours of life from just five minutes of charge time. The Bluetooth range of the Beats X is incredibly good, which is largely down to the W1 chip. 

They serve up a relatively bass-heavy sound, which is to be expected, and for the most part it doesn't overly dominate the other frequencies. We did notice it could be a little too heavy with female vocals, but not enough to put us off listening. The Beats X are a great pair of wireless in-ear headphones, the combination of good sound quality and W1 Bluetooth connectivity, for an affordable price, makes them a great addition to your iPhone.

Powerbeats 4

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  • Headphone style: In-ear
  • Connection: Bluetooth wireless with H1 chip
  • Colours: Black, White, Red

Sports headphones need to stay snugly fit in your ears, provide a good sound quality to keep you motivated and be weatherproof. Fortunately, the Powerbeats 4 tick all those boxes - updating the design of the wired Powerbeats line to match the Powerbeats Pro below. 

The Powerbeats 4 have an ear hook style fit, which makes sure they stay on your ears when you're exercising and come with three pairs of ear tips to ensure a tight fit in your ears. The length of the neck cable can be adjusted so you don't have any extra slack flailing about when you're running and they're waterproof, sweat proof and weather proof.

The H1 chip means they connect to your iPhone in an instant and the built-in battery lasts up to 15 hours on a single charge. The sound they produce is big and powerful, and of course, has plenty of bass. When it comes to workouts though, bass can be a good thing to keep you pumping. However they're not necessarily going to be the best pair to use for everyday listening. 

The Powerbeats 4 are the ideal companion for workouts. Their wireless and lightweight design, H1 chip for longer battery life and a good Bluetooth range, and engaging sound will keep you going for longer. 

Beats Powerbeats Pro

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  • Headphone style: In-ear
  • Connection: Bluetooth wireless with H1 chip
  • Colours: Black, Ivory, Moss, Navy

Beats has another option that loses the wire entirely, though, resulting in an even better pair of earphones that give you complete freedom when running or in the gym - they're unashamedly workout-orientated with the distinctive earhooks, but can easily be used for general listening.

They're based on the same technology as the Apple AirPods, but are instead sweatproof and waterproof. They're extremely light in your ears and come in a charging case.

You get super sound across the spectrum, but you don't feel like they're pressing into your ear - you don't have to get a complete seal. They're not noise isolating, so don't expect that. Battery life is brilliant with nine hours of constant listening, while you can charge them twice over again from the case. 

Read the full review: Beats Powerbeats Pro

urBeats

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  • Headphone style: In-ear
  • Connection: 3.5mm wired
  • Colours: Black, Rose Gold, Gold, Silver, Space Gray, Ultra Violet

The urBeats are a conventional pair of Beats in-ear headphones. The offer classic Beats design in a range of colours, and are wired with a 3.5mm headphone connector, so you can plug them into your phone.

The urBeats offer a cable mic for taking calls, as well as offering in-line controls. The delivery of the music is classically Beats, with plenty of bass. 



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