-
Beats Studio Pro
Beats Studio Pro are Apple’s newest over-ear headphones that feature a custom Beats chip. They support active noise cancelation and transparency mode, as well as spatial and lossless audio. With an included USB-C port and a 3.5mm headphone jack, Studio Pro works with both iOS and Android seamlessly.
Pros
- Supports spatial and lossless audio
- USB-C and 3.5mm headphone jack
- Supports ANC and transparency mode
Cons
- Only supports multipoint connectivity on Android
- Limited design changes from previous generation
-
Apple AirPods Max
$470 $549 Save $79
AirPods Max are Apple’s over-ear headphones, first released in 2019. They feature a metal design, a digital crown for volume control, and good sound quality. Plus, they offer ANC and Dolby Atmos support.
Pros
- Premium look and feel
- Great integration with iOS
- Powered by custom Apple silicon
Cons
- Quite heavy
- Loses key features on Android
- ANC isn’t as good
Beats has continued to make great headphones and earbuds since the company was acquired by Apple, and in fact, you could make the case that its offerings have only gotten better. The just-announced Beats Studio Pro are the newest over-ear headphones from Beats (and Apple), and they’re some of the best over-ears you can buy. However, are the Studio Pro good enough to rival the AirPods Max?
Since they debuted in 2020, the AirPods Max have been Apple’s best over-ear headphones, but they’re starting to show their age. Now that the Beats Studio lineup has been refreshed with the Beats Studio Pro, there might be a pair of Apple over-ears that can dethrone the AirPods Max as the best the company offers.
Price, specs & availability
Beats Studio Pro were announced on June 19, 2023, and became available to order that same day. You can find the Studio Pro on Beats’ website, but you’ll be redirected to Apple’s online store if you decide to purchase the over-ears. The Studio Pro will start shipping on June 20 and will be available in-store at Apple and third-party retailers. They’re priced at $350, which is the same as the Beats Studio 3 Wireless they replace. They’re available in Black, Deep Brown, Navy, and Sandstone colorways.
AirPods Max were released in 2020 and are still sold at their $550 retail price directly from Apple. However, they are usually available from retailers like Best Buy and Amazon at a discount. In 2023, AirPods Max are typically sold at or below $500 from third-party retailers. They are available in Space Gray, Silver, Green, Pink, and Sky Blue colorways.
-
Beats Studio Pro Apple AirPods Max Brand Beats Apple Battery Life Up to 40 hours with ANC/Transparency Mode off; up to 24 hours with ANC/Transparency on up to 20 hours Bluetooth Bluetooth 5.3, Class 1 Bluetooth Bluetooth 5.0 Noise Cancellation Fully-adaptive ANC and Transparency Mode Yes Microphones 6 3 Weight 9.17 ounces (260g) 13.6 ounces (384.8g) Colors Black, Navy, Sandstone, Deep Brown Silver, Black, Sky Blue, Pink, Green Charging USB-C Lightning Compatbility iOS and Android iOS Dimensions 7.13 x 7 x 3.1 inches (181 x 178 x 78mm) 6.64 x 7.37 x 3.3 inches (168.6 x 187.3 x 83.4mm) Carrying case Yes included Retail price $350 $549
Design
Photo: Brady Snyder
AirPods Max and Beats Studio Pro both have their own unique design languages. Beats typically goes for a fun and sporty look, and you can see that in the Studio Pro design. It’s mostly made out of plastic, which contributes to their light weight, with a few touches of brushed metal on the Beats logo and on the adjustable headband. The earcups on the Beats Studio Pro are significantly smaller than the ones you’ll find on the AirPods Max, but both are over-ear headphones. That means the earcups will fit around your ears as opposed to sitting on top of them.
AirPods Max couldn’t look more different, featuring an aluminum design and an overall larger footprint. Though the earcups and headband are made out of silicone and mesh fabric, the bulk of AirPods Max is made out of aluminum. That makes the headphones heavy, to the tune of around 385 grams. Apple’s choice to make the headband out of breathable and stretchable materials was designed to counteract the added weight of AirPods Max, but it isn’t as effective as you’d like. Most people will find that the AirPods Max will get heavy or uncomfortable after a few hours of listening, which is less than you’d expect from a $550 pair of headphones.
Overall, though the AirPods Max look a lot more modern and sleek than the Beats Studio Pro, the latter are more comfortable to use daily. Considering that you’re going to have these on your head potentially for hours at a time, comfort is a huge part of purchasing a new pair of earbuds. Until Apple makes a new version of the AirPods Max with lighter materials, Beats Studio Pro will remain the most comfortable pair of Apple over-ears you can buy.
Controls and connectivity
Photo: Brady Snyder
Generally, the battle between the controls and connectivity of AirPods Max and Beats Studio Pro comes down to preference. But there’s no doubt that the Beats Studio Pro outshine the AirPods Max in terms of versatility. The Studio Pro feature both a USB-C port and a 3.5mm headphone jack for audio output. The included 3.5mm cable is a great perk, too, allowing you to use Beats Studio Pro wired with Apple devices via a Lightning adapter.
The Beats Studio Pro also work just as well on Android as they do on iOS. In fact, they actually work better on Android since multipoint connectivity is an Android-exclusive feature at launch. Otherwise, you can get full feature parity on iOS and Android through the Beats app. You can also use the physical buttons on the Beats Studio Buds to control your music on both platforms. The Beats logo on the left earcup doubles as buttons for playback control, which has been a staple of Beats over-ears. Buttons above and below the logo can adjust the volume up or down, and there’s also what Beats calls a system button on the right earcup. This turns the earbuds on and off, and double pressing the button cycles through active noise-canceling and transparency modes.
On the other hand, the AirPods Max are limited to the Apple ecosystem, at least if you want to access their full feature set. There are third-party apps that can bring some of the Apple-exclusive AirPods Max features to Android, but it isn’t a great experience. However, the feature set on Apple platforms is best-in-class, offering quick pairing, automatic switching, and support for spatial audio. You can control the AirPods Max with a digital crown — stolen from the Apple Watch — that adjusts the volume and offers play/pause and forward/back functionality. There’s also another button that cycles through ANC and transparency modes by default. Unfortunately, there’s only a Lightning connector on the AirPods Max, and you won’t find a power button anywhere.
Sound quality and active noise cancelation
Photo: Brady Snyder
When the AirPods Max first debuted in 2019, they had sound quality that rivaled the best options from competitors Bose and Sony. But a lot has changed since then, and the AirPods Max have fallen behind. They still sound great, with a full soundstage that offers a lot of bass. Most modern music sounds excellent on the AirPods Max, including a lot of pop, hip-hop, and rap tracks. However, considering the bass-heavy sound signature, it doesn’t offer the most balanced listening experience.
That heavily contrasts with the Beats Studio Pro, which are the most balanced pair of Beats headphones I’ve ever tested. Considering Beats history of bass-heavy sound signatures, that’s both a surprise and a compliment. In fact, the mids and highs on the Studio Pro are more impressive than the bass. Instruments like brass, piano, and cymbals sound clear and full, whereas past Beats headphones might have drowned out these sounds with extra bass. All told, the Beats Studio Pro have Apple’s latest driver technology within, and that can be heard while listening to music.
AirPods Max offered best-in-class active noise canceling when they were first released, but I and many others found that the AirPods Pro 2 actually outperformed the AirPods Max in terms of ANC. Apple also may have made the active noise cancelation on the AirPods Max worse via an over-the-air software update. That means if you buy the AirPods Max now, you’ll get worse ANC quality than when they were originally released. There is also, of course, the fear that Apple could issue other updates that also have an effect on the usability of ANC in the future. Though the Beats Studio Pro can receive similar updates, there’s no precedent for an update worsening sound or ANC quality on a Beats product yet.
The Beats Studio Pro at least get close to the AirPods Max in ANC, if not match them. Studio Pro has six microphones for ANC compared to the three found on AirPods Max, and the Beats’ active-noise cancelation is fully-adaptive. That means it will adjust based on what’s currently playing to make sure there isn’t any distortion or unwanted sounds.
Transparency mode is better on the AirPods Max, and that’s probably due to the inclusion of Apple’s W1 chip. Though the Beats Studio Pro offer a second-generation custom Beats chip, it’s safe to say that Apple’s silicon is more optimized on the AirPods Max. You can hold full conversations naturally on the AirPods Max, while transparency mode feels a bit awkward on the Beats Studio Pro. It is effective, though, which is great to see, considering the prior Beats Studio 3 Wireless didn’t offer transparency mode at all.
Companion app and battery life
As we mentioned earlier, the Beats Studio Pro are more versatile simply because they can be used on both iOS and Android. Apple devices can manage the Beats Studio Pro straight from their inbuilt Setting app, where the Studio Pro settings page can be found at the top of the screen when connected. Android users will need to download the Beats app to manage their headphones, but the available toggles and features are identical. Both the companion app and the inbuilt settings menu are great ways to customize the Beats Studio Pro.
That’s good news for the AirPods Max, which feature the exact same settings menu as the Beats Studio Pro on iOS. There’s no companion app on Android, but you can use them as a regular pair of Bluetooth headphones with a non-Apple device. However, you’ll need to connect to an Apple device every once in a while to update the earbuds or tweak your settings. Notably, you’ll only be able to see your exact battery life on an Apple device unless you use a third-party app.
Battery life is tricky on the AirPods Max since they never fully power off. When you place them in the included Smart Case, they enter an ultra-low power mode. Apple says that you should get up to 20 hours of listening time on a single charge, but standby time can impact that figure. By comparison, Beats says that you’ll get up to 40 hours of listening with ANC or transparency mode off and up to 24 hours with those features enabled. When you do run out of power, a 10-minute charge will get you four hours of additional listening time.
Which is right for you?
For most people, even those that don’t plan on using non-Apple devices, the Beats Studio Pro are the best over-ear headphones from Apple you can buy. They simply have newer hardware, and Studio Pro is the culmination of four years of developments Apple has made in audio since AirPods Max were first released. From featuring a newer Bluetooth 5.3 connectivity standard to offering double the amount of included microphones, the Beats Studio Pro outperform AirPods Max in a lot of ways. Plus, they’re $200 cheaper, so they’re a much better value.
Beats Studio Pro
Editor’s choice
Beats Studio Pro are Apple’s newest over-ear headphones that feature a custom Beats chip. They support active noise cancelation and transparency mode, as well as spatial and lossless audio. With an included USB-C port and a 3.5mm headphone jack, Studio Pro works with both iOS and Android seamlessly.
Though we’d recommend waiting to see whether Apple plans to refresh the years-old AirPods Max anytime soon, they’re still a solid pair of headphones in 2023. The price is easy to balk at, but you do get the best design and the most premium build quality of any over-ear headphones on the market. The integration with Apple’s products with services is great as well, even if compatibility wanes when you try to go outside the Apple ecosystem. Until Apple refreshes the AirPods Max, they’re still going to be one of the best-over ears you can get.
Apple AirPods Max
Good alternative
$470 $549 Save $79
AirPods Max are Apple’s over-ear headphones, first released in 2019. They feature a metal design, a digital crown for volume control, and good sound quality. Plus, they offer ANC and Dolby Atmos support.