Beats Powerbeats Pro 2 Wireless Bluetooth Earbuds - Noise Cancelling, Heart Rate Monitor, IPX4, Up to 45H Battery & Charging Case, Works with Apple & Android - Electric Orange

I had the original Powerbeats Pro from 2018 and had them up until they wouldn’t hold a charge last month. Those were my favorite headphones BY FAR and had the best fit for me. I was skeptical about getting the new pair but since I had such a good experience with the prior pair, I would give them a shot.Overall: they’re good. Just wait for them to go on sale. They are on sale for bigger holidays. I paid $199 and definitely worth that price since I use them every day.Pros: Case is much smaller than the previous generation and can almost just be thrown in your pocket. The connectivity is much better than the previous version in terms of both earbuds connecting all the time. Had problems with the previous generation where only one would connect and I would have to put them back in the case and try to connect again. I have had none of that with these. Sound quality is great.Cons: I might just need to try another size rubber ear tip (they come with a bunch of sizes) but the fit inside my ear is not as “snug” as the previous generation so when I run/workout, I feel like I’m losing the “snugness” inside my ear and have to adjust them a little bit. Could just need to get used to them or break them in but that would be my only complaint.

The main takeaway should be they are not bad earbuds and the negative reviews are exaggerating the cons.I love my Beats Fit Pro, but the Powerbeats were my favorite but lacked noise cancellation until now. These fit better than Powerbeats and are more comfortable, but the ANC is not as good as Fit Pro. You will notice a difference in the ANC quality but over time I have adjusted and can't really tell and future updates could fix the issue completely.If you use the headphones for working out and are like me and just needed to upgrade after having my Fit Pro's for a long time you should get them. However, if you wear them more casually or for lesiure maybe wait to see if Fit Pro's 2 will come out soon.

UPDATE after a few weeks of use:After using the Powerbeats Pro 2 for a few weeks, I’ve found that the tinny non-immersive sound and the poor noise cancellation are frankly too bad to live with, especially on a $250 top of the line product.I wanted to like the Powerbeats Pro 2 ear buds based on the great ear fit, the comfort, the excellent user controls and the smaller/lighter form factor than the original Powerbeats Pro. The fit is also a lot more secure than the fit of the Fit Pro, at least for me.However, if you listen to the Fit Pro back to back with the Powerbeats Pro 2, the sound quality of the Fit Pro is heads and tails dramatically better. The Powerbeats Pro 2 sound quality is not even in the same league. The Fit Pro sound is excellent—strong bass, strong treble, well-balanced, immersive. The Powerbeats Pro 2 sound is thin, tinny, lacking bass, lacking depth.And to compare the noise cancellation between the Fit Pro and the Powerbeats Pro 2: when you turn on noise cancellation in a loud room on the Fit Pro there is an immediate and dramatic cut off in ambient noise. On the Powerbeats Pro 2 it’s hard to notice any difference when you turn on noise cancellation in a loud room.All in all, I’m more willing to live with the Fit Pro with its less secure fit but better sound than I am with the Powerbeats Pro 2 with its more secure fit but totally inadequate sound stage.For a $250 set of ear buds, Apple/Beats needs to fix the sound and noise cancellation issues. I talked to Apple about whether there would be any way to improve the sound.Apple technical support first was almost totally unwilling to even talk to me because I purchased these earbuds at Amazon. And then they offered no assistance that would meaningfully improve the sound.The bottom line: I have reluctantly returned these earbuds.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~My original review:PROS:Better, more custom fit in the ears (at least for me) than the original Powerbeats Pro. The fit in the ear canal is at a different angle than with the Fit Pro. With the Powerbeats Pro 2 I get the best fit with medium ear tips. With the Fit Pro I get the best fit with large ear tips.Much more secure fit than the Fit Pro.More comfortable than either the original Powerbeats Pro or the Fit Pro.Can easily be worn for hours without any discomfort, so a perfect accessory for ultra-endurance athletics.Design, material and build quality are all excellent. They look and feel like a high quality product.Transparency function works well—so well that it’s possible to listen to music AND be safe and connected to your immediate surroundings, like jumping out of the way of e-bikes on busy city multi-use paths, and in dodgy neighborhoods where you’d want to be in yellow alert while moving around.The lighter, less bulky feel is great compared to the original Powerbeats Pro.Sound quality is excellent ON PHONE CALLS and for other vocal-heavy uses.The case is significantly smaller than the massive original Powerbeats Pro case.The case is more robust than the case for the Fit Pro.There’s a toggle to turn off the gimmicky heart rate monitor 😊.CONS:The sound quality for music is more tinny and overall worse than the sound quality of the Fit Pro. Bass response is more subdued and there’s an overall midrange bias. For $250 ear buds, this is disappointing.Some reviewers have said that the sound is also worse than the sound on the original Powerbeats Pro. For me, the sound between the Powerbeats Pro and Pro 2 units is comparable—less rich on BOTH than on the Fit Pro.The pulse monitor seems gimmicky and superfluous. Is there any athlete on the planet doing aerobic sports who isn’t already monitoring heartbeat and using a device that is more accurate and effective than these ear buds? And other than athletes doing aerobic sports, who else has any interest in knowing their heartbeat while listening to music?Noise cancellation seems a bit worse than on the Fit Pro.THE BOTTOM LINE?I love that these things stay in my ears no matter what I’m doing—in that sense they’re unique among the most well-regarded ear buds on the market.I also love that they’re really comfortable.And I love that the feature set includes most of what Apple includes on its best ear buds.For me, those factors trump everything else (even though the sound NEEDS to be richer and more immersive—Apple, please fix this in an update).If the same is true for you, and you’re tired of having your ear buds pop out at inconvenient times, you may want to give the Powerbeats Pro 2 a look.