Powerbeats Pro 2 Track Heart Rate Through the Ears (but Not Very Well)

The Powerbeats Pro 2 are a new set of headphones with a really cool feature: Apple says they can measure your heart rate during exercise . Huge if this is true – imagine if you could leave your watch at home (or not bother buying one at all) and still get heart rate readings while you exercise. But this will only be a useful feature if the data is accurate enough. I was curious about how good a reading they could get from your ears, so I compared the Powerbeats Pro 2 with a traditional chest strap and an Apple Watch for good measure. So how do these headphones stack up against these established methods? Not very good, I’m afraid. Not good at all.

My first hint that the heart rate functionality might be a little disappointing was that Apple on its Powerbeats Pro 2 support page stated , “If you wear Apple Watch while working out… Apple Watch heart rate monitor data takes precedence,” suggesting that the heart rate data from the headphones isn’t as good as the heart rate data from the Apple Watch, and they know it .

Okay, maybe the headphone data is a little less accurate or a little less reliable. But how much less? I compare heart rates whenever I test or compare devices by wearing a chest strap next to the device I’m testing and see if it can handle the task. For some examples, see my reviews of the Coros Pace 3 , a watch with an impressively accurate heart rate monitor, and the Whoop , a watch that tries hard to keep up but doesn’t always succeed.

So, I ran the same type of test on the Powerbeats Pro 2 and got some surprising data, namely when I was able to connect the headphones and “compatible” apps work well. Bottom line: They’re not a replacement for a heart rate monitor for serious athletes, and probably aren’t even good enough for everyday use by those who want to track their heart rate. But take a look at my results and see for yourself.

How I tested the Powerbeats Pro 2’s heart rate feature

I took these headphones on a few runs: some outside, some on the treadmill. I’ve tried a variety of apps, but most of the data you see below comes from tests done with Runna on iPhone (iPhone 12 Mini) and Strava on Android (Pixel 9). It was cold outside, so I put a buff on my ears. Indoors, I was in a busy public gym with nothing but the Powerbeats Pro 2 in my ears.

I did the same mini-workout for each test unless otherwise noted. It was:

• 2-minute warm-up (if on a treadmill, jog at 5-6 mph)

• Five rounds of running for one minute (7.0 mph) followed by walking for one minute (3.0 mph).

• There was no recovery period – I usually rested or walked around while reviewing the results and preparing for the next test.

(Quiz for those who follow my fitness reporting: Is this a SIT or HIIT workout? The answer key is here .)

I chose this interval workout because intervals are the best way to measure your heart rate monitor. If I were just running evenly, you’d expect a more or less stable line, and we’d argue about whether the line is a little more (or less) wobbly than it should be. But when my actual heart rate rises and falls repeatedly, it’s easy to see when the sensor is lagging, not peaking, or consistently staying too high or too low compared to the chest strap.

By the way, the chest strap is as close as possible to the gold standard for such field heart rate testing. I used my trusty Coospo paired with a Garmin 265S . For each of the graphs below, data from both devices was collected simultaneously. The software used to generate the graphs is the DC Rainmaker analyzer .

Heart rate data was often inaccurate or simply useless.

Testing a device’s heart rate function is usually simple: I record a workout on the new device, compare it to the readings from the heart rate chest strap, and report here how it did its job. But testing the Powerbeats Pro 2 was more like solving a riddle. I think I understand what’s going on here, and it’s not good news.

When I first took the headphones to test using the Runna iPhone app, I got ridiculously bad readings—two or three data points instead of the hundreds it should have been. Was this Runna’s fault? The bandage I wore over my ears that cold day? Or are headphones really that bad?

For comparison, I did another interval run with the Runna app, but I used the Apple Watch Series 10 as the sensor. The Apple Watch has always had pretty good heart rate sensors, and here you can see the stark difference. (Apple Watch is highlighted in red.)

Oddly enough, in one of my tests that day – on an Android phone with headphones connected to the Strava app – the heart rate graph meandered aimlessly before suddenly jumping to true data for the second half of the workout. So, headphones can report the correct heart rate, but when and how? And why don’t they do this more often?

More research was needed. The next day, I took the headphones to the gym to work out on the treadmill (meaning I kept my ears open for the rest of my testing). With my headphones in front of me connected to an app on my phone and my Garmin on my wrist, I could compare the two mid-run and clearly see that the headphones were simply not doing their job of measuring heart rate. The headphones often reported a heart rate that was much higher than the watch indicated, often by 10 beats or more. (The worst I noticed was a difference of 34 beats: the headphones reported 168 and the chest strap reported 134.)

I had to choose between sound quality and accurate heart rate readings.

I thought carefully about this mystery. I thought about all the factors that could have affected the reading. I looked at other reviews of the Powerbeats Pro 2 and saw that while they too were disappointed with its performance, they had better heart rate graphs than I did. What could go wrong?

Something I noticed in the Powerbeats Pro 2 settings was “check ear tip fit.” I had already chosen the rubber tips that fit my ears best (XS), so I didn’t think I needed them. But I did a test and the app told me that I needed to adjust something: either the earbuds or the position of the headphones in my ears. I was finally able to get a good fit by tilting the earbuds much further forward than I expected. Promotional photos usually show people with ear hooks directly in front of their ears, almost vertically, but mine had to be pointed forward at at least a 45-degree angle for Apple to give me complete freedom. Perhaps matching was the answer to my riddle. So I went to the gym again.

(Fun fact: The fit test requires a quiet environment. I wanted to do the fit test right before I went for a run, so I started it while standing on the treadmill at the gym. I got an error message saying that my surroundings were too noisy. Oh well. I did my best to place the headphones in the same position as I did the test and made sure they felt and sounded like I got a good fit.)

It turns out the answer was appropriate, but not what I expected. I ran with the ear hooks in the allowed position and got terrible readings. Often 20-30 beats too many, and sometimes the headphones failed to send data to the app they were connected to, leaving a blank “- -” where the heart rate should have been displayed.

And then I had an idea. What if I deliberately wear my headphones as poorly as possible? I turned them back so the ear hooks were vertical. The sound became tinny, active noise cancellation did nothing, and it somehow hurt. I could hear the guy on the treadmill next to me breathing and fiddling with his phone. You know, the thing you wear in headphones to block out sound. But my heart rate data? It was almost perfect.

I ran a few more tests in each position of the headphones and confirmed that – whether I connected them to Android running Strava or to an iPhone using Runna – I had two options to choose from:

1. Uncomfortable seating, harsh music, poor sound insulation, but good heart rate data

2. Good fit, comfortable fit, music sounds great, gym sounds are blocked out but heart rate data is useless

I’m not sure if this is “my” problem or “everyone’s” problem. Maybe my ears are weird. But even so, I can’t be the only one with weird ears. Would you, dear reader, find yourself paying $249 for a pair of headphones only to find that one of their advertised features is unusable? I can’t tell you the odds, but I can tell you that they are much greater than zero.

Oh, and a green light will shine from your ears.

The first night I had the headphones, I used them in the evening as I went through my nightly routine of playing word games and listening to music. (Yes, I use my phone in bed. Sleep experts , you may not approve.) My husband was trying to fall asleep next to me, and I noticed a bright green light somewhere in the room. Was it coming from some device of his? It definitely wasn’t something of mine. Then I realized: it must be coming from my ears. (He looked back and confirmed uncertainly.)

Like other photoplesmythography devices, these devices measure heart rate by shining green light through the skin and measuring how much energy is reflected back. This can be used to (theoretically) measure heart rate fairly accurately. This is why the back of your smartwatch glows green from time to time, and why even the Oura ring (3rd generation onwards) glows at you when you’re trying to sleep. (I miss Oura gen 2’s decision to use invisible infrared light, but those days are gone. Sigh.)

To confirm this, I went to the Settings app on my iPhone, selected Powerbeats Pro, and turned off heart rate measurement. The room went dark. I turned the heart rate monitor back on. Green light again. I turned the sensor off again overnight and the next day was wondering why I couldn’t get the heart rate function to work before I realized, yes, I turned it off.

How to Use the Heart Rate Feature on iPhone

Ironically for an Apple product, the heart rate feature is less available on iPhone than on Android. The earbuds fit together beautifully, and you have a dedicated section for them in the main Settings app, where you can adjust noise-canceling or transparency mode, try a fit test, or turn heart rate monitoring on or off. But when it comes to actually using the heart rate feature during a workout, you’ll need to use one of seven “partner apps.” Apple’s reviewer guide lists them as: Nike Run Club, Runna, Ladder, Slopes, Open (meditation app), Peloton, and YaoYao (jumping rope app).

Notably, there are no “just track your run” apps on this list—no Strava, for example—so even my testing wasn’t easy. Nike Run Club is free, but does not export files containing heart rate data. Peloton is a paid app, and I couldn’t find a way to export data without an active subscription (paid members may be able to export data to Strava). Runna is not free, but I was able to use the “free start” feature in the free trial. Ladder is a paid training app. The slopes are meant for skiing and I have to admit I haven’t tried them. Open is a meditation app, and I couldn’t find a way to use it as a replacement for a workout app. Apple says data from your Powerbeats Pro 2 will end up in the Apple Health app, but it won’t be presented in any useful format, such as a graph of your heart rate during a workout.

Above is what you’ll see if you go to Apple Health, then Heart Rate, then Show All Data.

Okay, but how do you even turn this on? Here’s what I did.

1. Pair your Powerbeats Pro 2 with your phone using the instructions that came with them. (You’ll open the case with the headphones inside, next to the phone. Then just follow the prompts.)

2. Make sure the heart rate sensor is turned on (it’s turned on by default).

3. Go to the Health app, then Heart Rate, then Data Sources and Access. Make sure the app you choose has access to read your heart rate data.

4. Do a workout on one of our partner apps (Runna, etc.).

How to use the heart rate feature on Android

Android users, it’s easier for you and you have a much wider choice of apps. You can use any app that can connect to a Bluetooth heart rate monitor, such as Strava, Wahoo, or Polar Beat. (I used Strava for testing.)

1. Connect the headphones the same way you would any Bluetooth headphones.

2. If you want, download the Beats app—I did that first, but there didn’t seem to be a need to pair audio or heart rate.

3. Go to your app of choice, say Strava. Tap any icon or menu that allows you to connect to a heart rate sensor.

4. Double click and hold the “b” button on the headphones (either side works). So, press, release, then press and hold.

5. Powerbeats Pro 2 should show up as an available heart rate sensor. Select it and then start training.

Bottom line: Don’t rely on the Powerbeats Pro 2 to get accurate heart rate data.

If you train your heart rate in any serious way, don’t worry about this feature. Sometimes this may not work (like in my initial tests with Runna). Sometimes it can show that your pulse is 15, 20, even 34 (!) beats higher than it actually is. Sometimes it may be right or close to right, but if you don’t know when the heart rate sensor is working correctly and when it’s not, what good is it?

And this is not just a small difference. If the headphones were a few beats behind here and there, I wouldn’t worry about it. But those 20+ swing discrepancies are enough to make you think you’re in zone 4 when in fact you’re in zone 2 or 3. It’s enough to derail your workout, and if that data ends up being used to calculate VO2max, it will give you a completely inaccurate picture of your cardio performance. The Powerbeats Pro 2’s heart rate data isn’t good enough to do the job it’s trying to do. How sad! I wish this would work! But, alas, this is not so.

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