Apple's acquisition of Beats continues to be a wildcard in the history of the Cupertino company - and sometimes it almost makes sense. One of the advantages is that Apple can use Beats to outmaneuver the competition, destroy the ability for copycats to eat up too much market, and prove that its reality distortion field can extend beyond the brand.
Yes, Beats remains a separate brand and - to a certain extent - a separately managed business that is able to benefit from Apple's technology, resources and integration. Otherwise, it's completely different. And the proof is that short after Apple announced the latest generation of AirPods (without ANC) for $179, Beats now announces the Beats Fit Pro, its most advanced earbuds to date, that effectively rival the AirPods Pro ($249, but now heavily discounted), which will be eventually replaced.
We did not forget the fact that the AirPods Pro were announced without any warning by Apple in October 2019, following a lot of rumors and leaks coming from China. While rumors this year indicate that the AirPods Pro are not likely to be updated until 2022 due to current manufacturing bottlenecks, component shortages and logistical problems, with this announcement from Beats, Apple shows it can always surprise us.
Very positively in this case. The new Beats Fit Pro seem to be a great new contender at the top of the TWS market, engineered for an active lifestyle and top sonic performance in the category. The IPX4 design features a highly refined wingtip system to ensure a secure and comfortable fit, allowing beats to label the Beats Fit Pro as "all-day earbuds" - not only for fitness but actually ready for daily challenges. "The unique wingtip was digitally modeled using measurements from thousands of ears to achieve the perfect combination of soft, pliable material around a rigid core for a comfortable and stable fit on any ear shape or size," the company explains.
Like all of Apple's earbuds, the new Beats Fit Pro are a Class 1 Bluetooth design that offers extended range and exceptional cross-body performance, meaning reliable connectivity and fewer dropouts - this continues to be a key differentiator. The earbuds also deploy an all-new custom transducer to deliver a unique identity as a Beats product, combined with an innovative vent system to minimize treble distortion. This new acoustic architecture is tuned by Beats to deliver the brand's signature tuning - emotive, powerful and balanced are the words used to describe the sound.
In the announcement, Beats promises "all the magical features enabled by the Apple H1 chip," and this means a lot of things. Starting with the three listening modes: Active Noise Cancelling (ANC), Transparency, and Adaptive EQ - the things that are increasingly recognized to be essential for all-day-use.
While using ANC, outward-facing and inward-facing microphones work together to limit unwanted environmental sounds with targeted anti-noise, even as the environmental sounds change. The Beats Fit Pro earbuds are able to adapt continuously, up to 200 times per second, to account for variances in fit and movement.
When the user switches to Transparency mode - with a push of the ‘b’ button on either earbud - the same ANC circuit converts to let external sounds in, allowing users to still listen to the music, while remaining aware of the world around and still being able to interact with others. When both ANC and Transparency are turned off, Adaptive EQ is enabled and takes it a step further.
Adaptive EQ is powered by Apple’s computational audio and is a different mode where the inward-facing microphone in each earbud listens to the sound the user is hearing and automatically tunes the low and mid-frequencies to the shape of the user's ear for superior sound quality and a consistent listening experience. The results are varied in the AirPods Pro, depending of how good the in-ear design fits with each user. With the Beats Fit Pro, at least there is a slightly different option that might work better for some.
Next up, thanks again to Apple's H1 chip, the Beats Fit Pro also support spatial audio with dynamic head tracking, allowing users to enjoy immersive, theater-like experience for content recorded in 5.1, 7.1, and Dolby Atmos. The gyroscopes and accelerometers in both the Beats Fit Pro and any recent iPhone or iPad are used to track the motion of the user's head as well as the device and compare the motion data. The sound field is then remapped so it stays anchored to the device, even as the user's head moves.
The Beats Fit Pro use skin-detect sensors to automatically play/pause content when earbuds are placed in or removed from the ears. The ‘b’ button allows controlling music (pause/skip/back), conducting calls and switch between listening modes. And even without the stem of the AirPods, during phone calls the earbuds leverage beamforming microphones that target the user's voice, acting in coordination with the internal mic and voice accelerometer to filter out ambient noise and create a natural conversation experience with the caller on the other end.
The battery performance is also impressive. With ANC or Transparency on, the Beats Fit Pro deliver up to 6 hours of listening time per earbud. The pocket-sized carrying case charges via USB-C (but no MagSafe) and provides 21 additional hours of battery life, giving up to 27 hours of combined playback. In Adaptive EQ mode, each earbud has 7 hours of listening time and 30 hours with the case. A quick 5-minute Fast Fuel charge offers 1 hour of playback.
And obviously, the Apple H1 chip delivers a seamless ecosystem experience for iPhone users including one-touch pairing, an eartip test to ensure best fit, Automatic Switching between iCloud devices, Audio Sharing, hands-free access to “Hey Siri” and Find My in iOS. For those who for some unfortunate reason are stuck with Android devices, the Beats Fit Pro will work together with the Beats companion app for Android, allowing to setup one-touch pairing, customize controls, and do a guided fit test.
Following Apple's aggressive environmental practices, the Beats Fit Pro use internal components all made from recycled plastic, the packaging content comes from a zero-waste facility, and the packaging is 88% wood fiber based - 74% of which is post-consumer recycled material.
The Beats Fit Pro are available to order for $199.99 in the US, with shipping beginning November 5, 2021. They will be available in China starting early December and in additional regions in 2022. By that time, it's likely that Apple has announced or even launched the new AirPods Pro, but at least these from Beats are available in four different colors: Black, White, Sage Gray and Stone Purple.
www.beatsbydre.com
