The powerful Beats Studio Buds+ go official as Apple's first-ever transparent earbuds
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In case you haven't gotten the (nine year-old) memo, Apple owns the Beats brand (also known as Beats by Dr. Dre) after paying the rapper and co-founder Jimmy Iovine $3 billion in cash and stock. While true wireless earbuds were not exactly a thing back in 2014, they most definitely are right now, and the global market just so happens to be comfortably dominated by Apple's AirPods.
Among their biggest rivals, an ever-expanding Beats portfolio has risen in recent years, which obviously means more sales, more profits, and more control over the wireless audio industry for Apple.
Yes, we know precisely what you're all thinking. Shame on Apple for copying the see-through design of 2021's Nothing Ear (1) and the further-refined Ear (2) unveiled earlier this year! But... why? Why not take inspiration from smaller, pluckier, and far lesser-known companies to bring a fresh and bold aesthetic concept to a much larger audience?
We'll obviously need to rigorously test them out before trying to objectively answer that question, but on paper, it definitely looks like Apple is onto something here. By no means radically upgraded, the latest contender for the title of best wireless earbuds money can buy in 2023 purportedly delivers "up to 1.6x more powerful" active noise cancellation and "up to 2x" better Transparency than the already pretty great Studio Buds.
Said portfolio is today gaining yet another member like no AirPods model released thus far, with not only state-of-the-art active noise cancellation and spatial audio technology on deck but also a decidedly eye-catching and somewhat unconventional design.
Nothing groundbreaking to see here
It's not like the Beats Studio Buds+ are cloning the competition, very clearly doing their own thing as far as their shape, tips, stems (or lack thereof), and the shape and size of the charging case are all concerned. In fact, if you ignore the (semi) visible guts of these bad boys, you'll probably notice they look virtually the same as the "regular" Studio Buds.
Besides, the aptly named Transparent version is just one of three options available to order starting today from Apple and retailers like Best Buy, with early adopters who may not want to stand out getting a choice between Ivory and Black/Gold flavors.
All three models are officially priced at $169.99 a pair, which predictably slots the Studio Buds Plus smack-dab between the $149.99 non-Plus Studio Buds and $199.99 Fit Pro. The main difference, of course, is that those two industry "veterans" have become pretty easy to get at substantial discounts in recent months, which will likely only be true for the newest family member around the end-of-the-year holidays.
So are the Beats Studio Buds+ worth it?
Those are some lofty promises... that Apple generally makes good on, and the battery life, connectivity, iOS and Android compatibility, and overall sound quality are all similarly improved, at least if we are to trust the world's largest vendor of "hearables" right now.
The Studio Buds+ are said to last up to 9 hours on a single charge (compared to just 8 and 7 as far as the Studio Buds and Fit Pro are concerned respectively), with that endurance rating jumping to a mind-blowing 36 hours when you also consider the "pocket-sized" charging case (which unfortunately still doesn't seem to support wireless charging).
Whether you're an iPhone or Android handset user, you're guaranteed blazing fast pairing and rock-solid connectivity, not to mention things like Hey Siri and Find My support for the former and Audio Switch for the latter category.
Last but certainly not least, "high-quality" call performance is also promised as a result of "upgraded" microphones, an "intelligent" voice-targeting algorithm, and an "entirely new" acoustic architecture. Of course, voice calls sounded crystal clear on the Studio Buds as well, but as with everything else, it's amazing to see Apple not rest on its laurels and constantly look for new ways to improve, enhance, and upgrade its (Beats-branded) earbuds. Let's hope at least some of these changes will also come to the non-Pro AirPods soon.
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