There are definitely plenty of headphone choices, and while they are beginning to arrive in more colours, there are the typical colours you can expect headphones in. They are exactly what you probably expect: black and white.
A monochromatic take for music and the like, black and white headphones are the norm, while just about any other colour is the exception, and one that typically comes with a premium, especially if you want to expand on it.
Apple’s excellent AirPods Max 2 come in five colours and the magnetic headphone pads can be snapped off to mix and match, while Dyson’s OnTrac headphones provide customisation of colours, as well. Neither is particularly inexpensive, however, making that feature of colour control more of a nice-to-have rather than something you might actually want to pay for.
Beats has been paying attention, and could have something that works as a bit of a compromise of sorts.
Its latest pair takes another stab at the world of active noise cancellation complete with replaceable colour pads, but aims to do so for less than what most high-end ANC headphones typically charge.
That could make this new model, the Beats 360, one of the more interesting pairs of headphones this year, and given what we’ve seen so far, that’s saying something.
This clearly isn’t Beats’ first noise cancellation rodeo, but it has been a few years since the last over-ear noise cancelling pair arrived, with the Studio Pro launching back in 2023. In the time since, Beats’ releases have largely been in-ear only.
A lot can change in the space of three years, and that appears to be the case with the 360.
The updates include improvements to noise cancellation with nearly twice the cancellation (1.75X technically) compared to the Studio Pro, and something those headphones didn’t offer: IPX4 water resistance. That doesn’t translate to a lot of resistance, but is basically “sweat resistance”, meaning it’s made for the gym of all places.
There are also features that sound like they’re right out of the Apple ownership of Beats, such as the adaptive equaliser and personalised spatial using head-tracked Dolby Atmos, the latter of which will likely work with Apple Music on the iPhone, something other headphones can only get to by emulating the result.
Like pretty much every other Beats headphone in the past decade, these will work with Android and iOS alike, and will even support an app on Android.
Each ear cup includes controls, and there are eight microphones for noise cancellation, but nine in total, with a combination of mics shared for voice. Even the battery is expected to be solid, with up to 32 hours of sound.
The other factor is the customisation, and it will see playfulness applied to headphones with optional extra cushions. Those extra pads will cost roughly $80 later on, but in the beginning, Beats plans to offer cushion kits for $15 in Australia, with two types of materials: a “performance” knit pad made with memory foam, and a more lush variant using engineered leather (which is likely not animal-based) known as “UltraPlush”.
Essentially, you’ll be able to mix and match the pads, making it properly easy to replace, something other headphones struggle with. Most headphones don’t offer replaceable pads, and those that do are rarely easy to switch out.
The price could be Beats’ other aspect worth paying attention to, with an Australian recommended retail price of $499.95 and an assortment of four headphone colours: white, black, pink, and light blue. Granted, white and light blue have more fashionable names of “cloud” and “sky”, but if you fancy black and pink, you simply need to look for those names.
Expect them in stores shortly, while the Beats Studio Pro drops in price for this launch down to $479.95, as well.
