7 iconic Beats by Dre headphones and speakers

posted by Victor H. / May 29, 2014, 5:46 AM

7 iconic Beats by Dre headphones and speakers

After weeks of rumors and speculations, Apple finally confirmed yesterday that it will spend $3 billion to buy Beats Electronics, a company co-founded in 2006 by rapper and producer Dr. Dre, and record and film producer Jimmy Iovine.

In just seven years, Beats Electronics has managed to became a name associated with the young and hip, after Dre and Iovine’s marketing effort put the Beats headphones in front of millions of Americans in a huge product placement on American idol, and most recently - on the heads of celebrities like LeBron James, Lady Gaga.

Beats headphones and other audio products are known to deliver bass-rich sound that is appreciated most by those who listen to music genres like hip-hop. Audiophiles, however, often point out that Beats’ headphones feel overpriced and often offer sound that adds an artificial bass ‘sweetener’, changing the music from the way artists intended it to sound.

The argument is endless, but what is clear, is that Beats Audio with its aggressive tactics has captured nearly 60% of the premium headphones market, making $1 billion in revenue last year. Right belwo, you’d find the 7 iconic headphones and speakers that took Beats to where it is today, take a look.

Beats headphones and features

7 iconic Beats headphones and speakers

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24 Comments

1. FingerMyApple unregistered

I'll take the beats pill :)

posted on May 29, 2014, 5:50 AM 0

11. JC557

Posts: 1925; Member since: Dec 07, 2011

It's not worth the asking price. I tried it out a while back and I've heard better sound from speakers costing half as much and speakers in the same price range blew the Pill out of the water. The Beats Tour 2.0 in-ear headphones are quite good (much improved sound over v1) but it's not really worth the asking price of $150. Maybe in the $100 range but I'd rather have the Monster iSport Immersion since it can be found for around $70 (their cables may be overpriced junk but their earbuds are surprisingly good in both sound and price... usually).

posted on May 29, 2014, 6:39 AM 3

2. StraightEdgeNexus

Posts: 3689; Member since: Feb 14, 2014

I thought iconic was a exclusive word from PA for iPhones.

posted on May 29, 2014, 5:53 AM 6

8. Finalflash

Posts: 4063; Member since: Jul 23, 2013

Yea and now apple owns beats and hence, they are iconic by association. The whole iconic thing is to further reinforce the idea that apple was the first or something while everyone else was copying. And really that is all apple has left going for them now, thier past glory days.

posted on May 29, 2014, 6:21 AM 9

14. Napalm_3nema

Posts: 2236; Member since: Jun 14, 2013

Tell me, is it all unicorns, pixie dust, and rainbows in the fantasy land you call home? Let's just brush the whole "best selling smartphone, laptop, tablet, MP3 player, and ultraportable laptop" under the table. We can forget about the fact that in 2013 they designed, in-house, a proprietary SoC that will finish 2014 as the second most powerful mobile chipset behind the one they will release in 2014 (Nobody goes backward), while Qualcomm, Samsung, Mediatek, and others continue to peddle 2012 vintage (28nm Krait/A15 FTL!) SoC's (Nvidia might get close, and even eclipse the A7) while they play catch up. Let's also forget that EVERYONE knows what an iPhone is, but if you're lucky, the average consumer knows what a Galaxy S5 is, but more commonly, it will be called a "Droid," and no other model even moves the needle after the Galaxy line.

posted on May 29, 2014, 6:58 AM 1

10. Victor.H

Posts: 1095; Member since: May 27, 2011

Now that Apple acquired Beats Electronics, they extended our paycheck to cover for the usage of 'iconic' in relation to Beats. /sarcasm

posted on May 29, 2014, 6:23 AM 15

3. UglyFrank

Posts: 2194; Member since: Jan 23, 2014

Beats Pill XL was much better than the regular pill

posted on May 29, 2014, 5:59 AM 0

4. ihavenoname

Posts: 1693; Member since: Aug 18, 2013

#7 Urbeats: 2.5 stars on Apple online store.

posted on May 29, 2014, 6:03 AM 1

12. JC557

Posts: 1925; Member since: Dec 07, 2011

Yeah, they sucked so bad. Definitely not worth the $100 price tag. Thankfully Apply has a no hassle return policy. I was curious to see if they were any good. They looked good but that's about it. I buy a lot of in-ear headphones from all brands and most Beats in-ears were the absolute worse. I'd place them below Skullcandy.

posted on May 29, 2014, 6:43 AM 1

5. The13thKing

Posts: 849; Member since: Feb 26, 2014

I used to own Red Beats Studio when they were the hot thing to have. now it doesn't have the appeal it used to 2 years ago.

posted on May 29, 2014, 6:07 AM 0

7. zuckerboy

Posts: 898; Member since: Dec 22, 2011

doesnt matter beats not good in terms of sound quality when you consider its price ( I have solo HD)

posted on May 29, 2014, 6:19 AM 0

20. The13thKing

Posts: 849; Member since: Feb 26, 2014

Yes, I bought it at the time just because everybody was getting one and all were fascinated by it. now I feel like I paid money for nothing while I could have bought something more useful ...

posted on May 29, 2014, 10:12 AM 1

21. zuckerboy

Posts: 898; Member since: Dec 22, 2011

lololol I think the same now. I should have bought ipod touch instead of solo HD :( my friends recomended it but its really cr*p

posted on May 29, 2014, 10:19 AM 0

22. The13thKing

Posts: 849; Member since: Feb 26, 2014

yes, I thought about the same thing .. an iPod touch 32 gb ... feels stupid paying 300 for something like this :/

posted on May 29, 2014, 10:30 AM 1

6. Planterz

Posts: 2120; Member since: Apr 30, 2012

Overpriced nonsense. Which I suppose makes them a good fit for Apple.

posted on May 29, 2014, 6:12 AM 5

9. GreekGeek

Posts: 1276; Member since: Mar 22, 2014

is this a flame bait article?

posted on May 29, 2014, 6:22 AM 2

15. androiphone20

Posts: 1654; Member since: Jul 10, 2013

it depends on who's asking.

posted on May 29, 2014, 7:28 AM 0

13. Astoni

Posts: 649; Member since: Sep 28, 2013

As a owner of Beats Solos, Studios and a Pill i regret i bought 2 of the 3 products.. The only Beats product i was happy with was Studios (but still a bit overpriced..) My Current PC headset is almost half the price the Beats Solos are and is almost better than my Beats studios in sound (Creative Soundblaster Omega). Solos - pros: Good portability, nice looking. Cons: Bad build quality and overpriced. (sound is ok) Beats Pill - Pros: its portable ofc.. Cons: Overpriced for that weak sound. I have a little sony portable speaker that i bought for 1/3 of the price that has a crisper and clearer sound. As for the Studios, they deliver nicely and both sound and compfortability is a big +, But still i've tried other headsets for a minor price with same sound quality.

posted on May 29, 2014, 6:57 AM 2

16. dexter_jdr

Posts: 1163; Member since: Jun 28, 2012

what is the best headphone/earphone under 100$?

posted on May 29, 2014, 7:40 AM 0

18. JC557

Posts: 1925; Member since: Dec 07, 2011

What are you looking for, over the ear or in-ear headphones? I only deal with in-ears with Sennheisers being the only over the ear that I own

posted on May 29, 2014, 8:30 AM 1

24. dexter_jdr

Posts: 1163; Member since: Jun 28, 2012

overears and in-ears . i dont like on ears because it hurts my ears due to pressure on long sessions. i got the black razer kraken. bought it for the design XD but sound quality is great too. just need the right equalizers and/or smartphone for it. senheiser, razer and i guess urbanears(because of their unique features).these are some in my toplist

posted on May 30, 2014, 9:13 AM 0

17. bucky

Posts: 3794; Member since: Sep 30, 2009

While they apple earpods are crap compared to high end offerings I actually really like them. I hope they don't stuff them full of bass as they carry a happy medium right now.

posted on May 29, 2014, 7:53 AM 0

19. R-vjn

Posts: 301; Member since: Jan 07, 2013

Beats is the most over rated headphone manufacturer ever. Its almost like Samsung of headphones, their marketing and name captures customers. They don't even have adequate performance for the money we are paying. I was looking for a $100 headset last year, and I tried out products from Beats, sennheiser, JVC, Sony and Klipsch. And I finally decided to go with the Klipsch Image S4A II, and my gosh its such an awesome IEM, the best I used of the lot.

posted on May 29, 2014, 9:35 AM 0

23. dorianb

Posts: 617; Member since: Oct 24, 2012

I have the Beat Solo (because I got them 1/2 off thru employee discount) If you're into heavy bass, rap, dance/electronica, most pop/top40's then yeah. They are worth it.... at the price I bought em. But I wouldn't pay sticker. I'd go sennheiser (sp?).