Noise cancellation in a pair of fitness-focused earbuds is getting a new pair to consider, as one of our favourite pairs is upgraded for 2025.
When you’ve reviewed headphones, earphones, and earbuds as long as this reviewer has, there are some gadgets you don’t forget. Devices that are designed well, that stick out in your mind, and that you turn to on the regular because they’re so solid, considered, and convenient.
I could rattle off a few names and products, but one that continuously sticks out would be the Beats Fit Pro, a pair of earphones that used the sound and wireless technology from the first-gen AirPods Pro, but managed to design it in such a way where the earbuds fit better, handy for people who definitely need that.
A more stable fit is incredibly important if you plan on moving around a bit, such as when you run, jog, jump, and do the things expected of training and being physically fit, and it’s why fitness earbuds and earphones tend to be a little different from other earbud choices out there.
They typically include extra parts designed to hold position, such as a neck strap, ear wings, or a design meant to wrap around the ear to hold position. Anything to hold a pair in place, because if the grip is lost, so is the sound, and possibly the rhythm to keep you going.
Some earphones do one of these better than the other — fit vs sound — but another handful get it all right, and the Beats Fit Pro were those.
Released a few years ago, they are easily one of the best pairs Beats has managed, and this year, they’re getting an update and a new name.
Arriving the same year as Beats’ other update in the Powerbeats Pro 2, the Powerbeats Fit (as the Fit Pro are now called) use the same approach for the design and fit, with little wing-tip arms that stick to the folds in your ear, tucked in place. Beats has tweaked the design slightly to hold even more, providing four types of ear tip sizes, making them more like earphones than standard AirPod-style earbuds.
Like the Fit Pro they come from, the Powerbeats Fit will use technology that largely seems like a pair of AirPods Pro made into a different pair, including the Apple H1 wireless chip, support for Active Noise Cancellation, Spatial Audio, and also personalised spatial with support for head-tracking on the iPhone and iPad.
Android users won’t miss out on compatibility, at least to a degree. Beats earphones include support for Android using the Beats App, complete with customisable controls, even if they may not get the Spatial Audio support on their devices, as we’ve seen from other Beats earphones with Android support.
For the most part, the Beats Powerbeats Pro sound like a recycling of Apple AirPods technology into a slightly different shape, and that would track. The Fit Pro were basically first-gen AirPods Pro in a fitness-focused design, and it wouldn’t surprise terribly if the Powerbeats Pro were second-gen AirPods Pro with much the same focus on fitness.
Up to 30 hours of playback is also being offered via the recharge case, though with up to 7 hours of playback per charge, essentially suggesting an extra three-and-a-bit full recharges when returned to their case. However, the case is a little smaller, and made to be IPX4 sweat and water resistant, just like the earbuds.
Australians can expect the Powerbeats Fit in stores shortly, priced from $329.95 in black, grey, orange, and pink, with New Zealanders seeing the earbuds for $369.
