8.0/ 10 SCORE Beats Powerbeats Fit Pros
Redesigned built-in wingtip affords a extra snug safe match and and is extra sturdy
XS ear tip now included
Same robust sound high quality as Fit Pro’s
Effective noise canceling and good transparency mode
Smaller charging case that has a greater hinge and is IPX4 splash-proof
Powered by Apple’s H1 chip, so the buds have particular options for Apple customers, together with spatial audio with head-tracking
Beats app for Android customers
Cons
While their wingtip design has improved the buds’ match and the case is 17% extra compact, they’re basically the Beats Fit Pro (launched in Nov
2021)
Aren’t powered by Apple’s extra superior H2 chip that unlocks a number of new options and improves efficiency
No wi-fi charging
Not deal at their listing worth (however they need to be steadily discounted).
One of the brand new earbuds I’ve been trying ahead to is the Beats Fit Pro 2. I imagined some design tweaks, upgraded drivers, an Apple H2 chip changing the H1, together with improved sound, noise canceling and voice-calling efficiency. But wait — queue the screeching sound of a report going backward — the Beats Powerbeats Fit, with their redesigned winged suggestions and 17% smaller charging case and no different vital upgrades, are what we’re getting as an alternative of the Fit Pro 2 for a similar $200 listing worth?Yep. That’s the state of affairs — at the least for now. Perhaps in 2026 we’ll get the actual Fit Pro 2 with all of the upgrades I listed above. But the Powerbeats Fit appear to be type of a transitional Beats product that does not actually get in the best way of Apple’s glorious new AirPods Pro 3, leaving them loads of room to run within the market (Beats’ sporty H2-powered Powerbeats Pro 2 are presently extra of direct competitor to the AirPods Pro 3).Read extra: Best wi-fi earbuds of 2025Normally I do not quote firm executives in my opinions, however I feel it is price listening to from Oliver Schusser, Apple’s vice chairman of Music, Sports and Beats, on how the buds are being positioned. “Reintroducing Beats Fit Pro as Powerbeats Fit — alongside Powerbeats Pro 2 — unifies our lineup under a name synonymous with athletic performance and gives customers a clearer choice between two distinct, fitness-first form factors,” Schusser stated. “Powerbeats Fit combines the best of Beats Fit Pro with next-level comfort, durability and portability — making it a worthy addition to the Powerbeats family.” The Powerbeats Fit are available in 4 colours, together with pink. David Carnoy/CNETMarketing spin and identify modifications apart, I’ll say the design upgrades to the wingtips and case do enhance the buds, which stay fairly interesting for these searching for secure-fitting earbuds for exercises and on a regular basis use, regardless that their most important parts are technically 4 years outdated (the Beats Fit Pro have been launched Nov. 1, 2021). Let’s get proper into these design modifications, as I’m going to focus the majority of my assessment on them as they’re the one factor that is actually new in regards to the Beats Powerbeats Fit apart from the extra compact charging case.More snug with softer, extra sturdy wingtipsBeats engineers have completed a number of issues with the wingtips to enhance their design. The materials they’re made out of feels totally different, with a soft-to-the-touch end and a slimmer, extra pliable design. The wingtips are a tad shorter and rounded off and now not have an edge (it was a comfortable rubber edge beforehand nevertheless it was nonetheless an edge). Apple has clearly completed its analysis by way of ear designs and the way the unique Beats Fit Pro wingtips slot in folks’s ears and made the changes to make them match a bit higher and extra comfortably. The Powerbeats Fit (left) wingtip subsequent to the Fit Pro wingtip (proper). The Fit’s wingtip is a bit more pliable and has a soft-to-the-touch end. David Carnoy/CNETI personally did not have any actual problem with the earlier wingtips however I do know of us who discovered that they began to get uncomfortable over longer listening classes. And they did not match inside folks’s ears equally effectively, with the wingtips not fairly becoming into the concha (or extra particularly the cybma concha) in some ears. Or, they match however created a stress level.Beats additionally informed me the wingtips are extra sturdy they usually appear so in my three days of testing them. I did not have a problem with the Fit Pro’s sturdiness, however my son managed to fully rip the wingtips off each of his Fit Pro buds. It was unclear how he did it, however he continued carrying them with out the wingtips, which made them appear like Beats Studio Buds Plus buds with a broken end. The different small addition Beats made was so as to add an additional small ear tip, bringing the full variety of ear suggestions included as much as 4 sizes as an alternative of three (XS, S, M and L). I might have most well-liked an additional giant tip as a result of the included giant tip does not get me the proper seal to optimize sound high quality and noise canceling, so I’ve to carry my very own tricks to the celebration (Sennheiser’s giant ear suggestions work greatest for me).I wish to see Apple redesign its ear suggestions prefer it has completed with the AirPods Pro 3. While most of you need to get a good seal from one of many included ear suggestions, I think a small fraction of individuals will not get an optimum seal. And, as I stated, that may influence the sound high quality and noise canceling efficiency.Read extra: Best earbuds or exercises and the health club in 2025Smaller charging case was one different key enchancmentAs Beats says, the charging case is 17% smaller, and I definitely respect a smaller charging case, although it nonetheless does not assist wi-fi charging, simply USB-C charging. The different design improve to the case is to the lid’s hinge. The lid was a bit floppy on the Beats Fit Pro and Beats has tightened the spring up on the lid so it opens and closes extra easily and the lid feels extra sturdy. The new case can be additionally IPX4 splash-proof just like the buds themselves. And be aware that the Bluetooth pairing button continues to be on the within of the case. The Powerbeats Fit’s case (left) is 17% smaller than the Fit Pro’s (proper). David Carnoy/CNETNo efficiency enhancements however nonetheless strong-performing budsIn the previous 4 years I’ve sporadically used the Beats Fit Pro, notably for operating and figuring out on the health club, though I additionally used them for my commutes to the workplace, at all times appreciating their locked-in match so I did not have to fret about them falling out of my ears as I walked over a grate on the streets of New York and disappearing underground (that is at all times one thing of a priority once I put on the usual AirPods, which do not match my ears in addition to the AirPods Pro). I usually examine the Fit Pro to different sports activities buds and have a tendency to return away liking them higher, even 4 years later. And I nonetheless like that they’ve a bodily button as an alternative of contact controls to regulate playback.They principally function the identical expertise as the unique AirPods Pro, which got here out in late 2019 and have been additionally powered by an H1 chip. In my assessment of the Beats Fit Pro, I known as them “the sportier AirPods you’ve always wanted” and stated they appeared to sound barely higher than the AirPods Pro. I assumed that they had a contact extra readability and the bass packed a bit extra punch and went a bit deeper.While they do not sound pretty much as good because the AirPods Pro 3, which provide higher total readability and bass efficiency together with a extra spacious soundstage and airier sound, the Beats Fits’ sound holds up effectively all issues thought of. The Powerbeats Pro 2’s sound is arguably barely higher with higher total readability and barely extra dynamic sound. But the Powerbeats Pro 2’s match could also be a problem for some of us and they’re bigger earbuds with ear hooks which have a bigger case.
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The Powerbeats Fit in orange to match the orange iPhone 17 Pro. They have the identical bodily button to regulate playback because the Fit Pro. David Carnoy/CNETAs you would possibly anticipate, the Powerbeats Fit’s noise canceling and transparency aren’t pretty much as good because the AirPods Pro 3’s (the Pro 3’s noise canceling is an enormous step up), however each are respectable. I really feel the identical approach in regards to the voice-calling efficiency: it is good however not top-tier. Callers stated they heard extra background sound than once I was calling with the AirPods Pro 3, however they stated my voice sounded comparatively clear once I was calling with the Powerbeats Fit. Same options as Fit Pro, plus assist for Android customersThe Beats Fit depart off a number of options accessible to AirPods which might be powered by the H2 chip, together with the AirPods Pro 3, AirPods 4, AirPods 4 with Noise Canceling and the Beats Powerbeats Pro 2 (though the Powerbeats Pro 2 do not have Apple’s Live Translation function or Hearing Aid mode). You do not get all the brand new options that Apple delivered to the AirPods Pro 2 and Pro 3, together with Adaptive Audio, Conversation Awareness and the aforementioned Live Translation and Hearing Aid mode. While they do have spatial audio with head-tracking, auto-switching between gadgets in your iCloud account and hands-free Siri, they definitely fall effectively brief within the options division in comparison with what you get with AirPods Pro 3. On a extra optimistic be aware, like different Beats buds, they’re extra Android pleasant than AirPods, with Android customers in a position to obtain the Beats app on their gadgets to unlock “one-touch pairing, customizable controls, battery status, Locate My Beats and a Fit Test for Android users.” And as a result of they do not have that many options to start with in comparison with the AirPods Pro 3, Android customers aren’t actually lacking out on a lot apart from spatial audio.
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The buds are actually designed to lock in your ears and work effectively for operating and sporting actions. David Carnoy/CNETBattery life is similar because the Beat Fit Pro, Beats says. It’s rated for as much as 6 hours with noise canceling on at reasonable quantity ranges, with a further 18 hours of juice within the charging case. A five-minute cost will get you 1 hour of battery life. Beats Powerbeats Fit ultimate ideas If you need a deeper dive into what the Beats Powerbeats Fit are all about, you’ll be able to learn my Beats Fit Pro assessment (which is a bit dated as a result of I wrote it 4 years in the past). But in a nutshell, these are nonetheless very interesting wi-fi earbuds for a similar motive I acknowledged in that assessment and why I awarded the Beats Fit Pro a CNET Editors’ Choice award in 2021: Not solely do they provide a snug, safe match that is been barely improved because of the redesign of the wingtips, however they sound excellent and provide respectable noise-canceling and voice-calling efficiency together with transparency mode.Even with their disappointingly restricted upgrades, I nonetheless like them fairly a bit and like their match to the Powerbeats Pro 2’s (Beats did make some enhancements with the design of the Powerbeats Pro 2, they usually match my ears higher than the earlier mannequin, however I feel the Powerbeats Fit are a safer wager fit-wise for extra folks than the Powerbeats Pro 2). But I just like the AirPodsPro 3 higher. They’re simply superior earbuds total, and their new ear suggestions and design modifications have helped me get a safer match so I do not want the wingtips as a lot as I used to. The large query, after all, is how a lot will the Beats Fit actually promote for. I am unable to advocate you purchase them for $200, however their road worth at Amazon will possible be considerably decrease, although you by no means know with the Trump administration tariffs how pricing will play out. Hopefully, they’re going to comply with the same pricing path to the Beats Studio Pro, which listing for $350 however usually promote for $100 to $150 much less and value as little as $140 for a refurbished mannequin.In June, the Fit Pro have been all the way down to $110 at Woot. I do not assume the Powerbeats Fit’s worth will dip fairly that low anytime quickly, however there is definitely room for vital discounting. As it stands, these buds make much more sense — and simpler to advocate — at lower than $140.