I Preferred Beats Fit Pro to AirPods Pro and Would Do It Again
It’s Prime Day again (well, technically we’re in the midst of “Prime Big Deal Days,” but only Amazon calls it that). This means you’ve probably already read about a dozen articles and social media posts warning you about AirPods being on sale. ( Here’s the Lifehacker version .)
This is all good – Apple headphones are very popular for good reason. But these are not the ones I would recommend purchasing. For less money, you can get an equally feature-rich, great-sounding set of headphones from Apple. It’s the Beats Fit Pro , and they’re $50 off right now.
The Pros were actually my second pair of Beats headphones. I started with a set of their cheaper siblings, the Beats Studio Bud , which offer equally powerful active noise cancellation (ANC) and have earned decent ratings from the likes of PC Mag (especially for the price—they’re currently $80). , 47% discount from regular price). But when I left this pair at the hotel and needed to replace them, I decided to upgrade to Beats Fit Pro for several reasons:
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They have high-quality sound and ANC is above average. As our friends at PC Mag noted , they offer “deep bass and crisp highs with above-average noise cancellation.” I’m not an audiophile and mostly listen to podcasts, but my tunes (mostly streamed from Amazon Music) sound pretty good too.
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They provide a snug fit. Apparently my ears are gaping because most headphones fall right out of my ears with the slightest movement. The Beats Fit Pro wingtips provide a snug fit and keep them in my ears even when I’m sweating.
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They have the Apple H1 chip. This was the main reason I upgraded: the Studio Buds don’t have the chip for Apple’s H1 headphones, which means they can’t take advantage of many of the features that make AirPods so cool, like in-ear detection, device switching, and search. My functionality. Beats Fit Pro can do it all.
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They are cheaper. The Beats Fit Pro does almost everything the AirPods Pro do and sells for $50 less. (Even during the current generous Prime Day sale, they’re $20 cheaper than the 2nd generation AirPods Pro.)
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These are not AirPods. I understand that AirPods are their own thing, and their appearance has become something of a brand of its own. But I always thought they looked stupid. The Beats Fit Pro lacks the floppy white feet that are a signature feature of the AirPods, and that’s why I like them so much more.
I’m not including this in my list of reasons, but the Beats Fit Pro also comes in a variety of beautiful colors, although unfortunately not all of them are included in the Prime Day sale. However, if you opt for AirPods, you only have a choice between white and white.