If you splash the cash you won’t be disappointed by just how good they sound.

What we love

• They sound great
• 40-hour battery life
• 3.5mm socket and cable included
• Solid Active Noise Cancellation
• Comfy to wear 
• Work seamless with Apple and Android

What we don’t

• No auto switch off
• Design hasn’t moved on much
• Lacking Apple’s H1/H2 chip
• Expensive

Beats is back with a new pair of premium music makers and they sound really, really good. The Studio Pro cans get all the features you’d expect from £349.99 headphones including Active Noise Cancelling, Spatial Audio and upgraded drivers that produce clear audio and rich bass.

There’s also an impressive 40-hour battery life (24 hours with ANC switched on), comfy cushions that cup your ears and a design that folds neatly into a carry case. You also get a 3.5mm headphone port and cable included so you won’t have any issues plugging into the entertainment system on your next long-haul flight. Fast pairing with both Apple and Android devices takes all of the hassle out of connecting up these cans plus they work with Find My apps on both of these platforms which means you should be able to track them down if they get lost.

There’s plenty to like about the Beats Studio Pro but we do have some niggles which are tough to ignore. Firstly, they don’t auto pause or switch off when you remove them from your ears which means the battery can drain fast if you forget to tap the power button. Despite Beats being owned by Apple, there’s no H1 or H2 silicon inside – this means key features such as auto switching between your iPhone and MacBook are missing.

The design also hasn’t moved on that much from previous Beats cans. Yes, it’s an iconic look but an update to the styling might have been welcomed to really set these new headphones apart from their predecessors.

Finally, there’s the price as at £349.99 they are going up against some stiff competition from the likes of Sony and Bose.

The Beats Studio Pro are solid cans that work just as well on Android as iPhone. Yes they are expensive and there are some niggles that mean they aren’t going to score a perfect 10 but if you splash the cash you won’t be disappointed by just how good they sound.

JUMP TO…

If you’re looking for a new pair of wireless headphones there’s plenty of pitch-perfect choice on the market right now. Firms such as Sony, Bose, B&O and Sennheiser are all selling top-rated cans and now Beats is back with some new premium music makers that it hopes will grab your attention. The Studio Pros come packed with features such as Active Noise Cancelling, Spatial Audio and long battery life plus, despite being owned by Apple, Beats has made it just as easy to connect them to Android devices as iPhones.

So should you invest almost £350 of your cash and go grab a pair? Here is Express.co.uk’s full Beats Studio Pro review.

Set up and design

The first thing you’ll notice when taking delivery of the new Beats Studio Pro is the simplistic packaging. Like most firms, the Apple-owned company is trying to improve its eco credentials by cutting down on damaging plastics. The box is 100% fibre-based and made using recycled material and virgin wood from sustainably managed forests.

We’ve got to be honest and say that the unboxing isn’t quite as exciting as tearing off the silky cellophane but it’s clearly way better for the environment and that’s only a good thing. Once you have the new cans in your hands setting up is an absolute breeze, simply power them up and hold them near your iPhone. An image will then appear on the display and one tap will see them connected in a flash. Despite being owned by Apple, Beats has also made it just as easy to hook up the Studio Pros with Android devices as well thanks to full compatibility with Google’s Fast Pair technology. As long as your device has this feature, you won’t have any issues or find yourself digging through endless Bluetooth settings to get up and running.

Despite being owned by Apple, Beats has also made it just as easy to hook up the Studio Pros with Android devices as well 

Now it’s time to pop them on your head and you’ll be instantly struck by how comfortable the Beats Studio Pro are to wear. Soft “UltraPlush” cushions wrap neatly around your ears and the lightweight design means you’ll have no issues having them on all day. We still probably prefer the WH-1000XM5s from Sony when it comes to sheer wearing pleasure but the Studio Pros are not far behind.

When you’re done they fold neatly up and pop inside a supplied soft carry case which includes pockets for the supplied USB-C charging cable and 3.5mm lead.

If we had a preference we’d rather this case was a little more rigid especially if you’re endlessly shoving them in your backpack but as long as you’re careful the case should keep things looking pretty box fresh.

Sound

Beats has packed plenty of upgrades inside its new Studio Pro headphones and they really do sound pretty impressive. Music is rich in detail with the audio firm not doing its usual trick of overdoing the bass – in fact these cans strike the perfect balance that should suit most tastes.

That’s all thanks to custom 40mm drivers which not only produce crystal clear audio but also cut down on distortion at high volume levels. It’s probably not great for your ears but pump things up to 11 and everything remains perfectly in tune.

To help boost the experience you get full Active Noise Cancelling (ANC) which does a solid job of drowning out screaming kids on the commute home from work and you’ll only hear your music and not much else.

This ANC is also adaptive which allows it to tweak things as your environment changes. It all works really well and we have no complaints about the sound-blocking tech Beats has packed inside its most premium headphones.

if you happen to find yourself at the airport and need to hear your flight being announced, a transparency mode lets some background audio hit your ears.

There’s also Spatial Audio with dynamic head tracking which makes it appear as if sounds is hitting your ears from all directions. It’s a nice addition although it’s worth noting that you need to find compatible content for this system to work its magic.

Overall, the Beats Studio Pro’s audio really impresses no matter what your taste in music.

Battery life and charging

There’s good news for anyone wanting a pair of headphones for their next long-haul flight with the Beats Studio Pros lasting for over 20 hours with the ANC switched on and more 40 hours with that sound blocking turned off.

That’s more than enough juice to keep the tunes going and when things do run flat they can be quickly charged with 10 minutes plugged in offering around four hours of playback.

That refilling is done via a USB-C port – there’s no Apple Lightning in sight which will please Android users. There’s also a neat row of lights that show how much juice is left inside – just tap the on switch and you’ll instantly know if they need a refill.

We can’t fault the power or charging but there is one thing we really don’t like as the Beats Studio Pros don’t auto switch off or stop playing music when you take them off.

During our tests, we found we often left them on which meant the tank was depleted without us realising. It’s really annoying and we can’t help feeling auto pause should feature on such expensive headphones.

Extras but some things are missing

There are plenty of extras tucked inside the Beats Studio Pro including easy-to-use touch buttons which give off a satisfying click when you press them to pause tunes and pump up the volume. We actually prefer this way of interacting with the cans and find it far more simple than some touch-style controls.

There’s also Find My tech to spot where you last left them and you get that 3.5mm headphone port which lets you plug into devices such as airline seats without any hassle.

Beats is also promising over-the-air updates in the future to help keep the Studio Pros fresh and there’s an app which lets you customise settings and controls. The final good news is for anyone who makes calls using their cans Beats improving the mics and it makes a big difference especially when chatting outside.

Sadly, there are some things missing including Apple H chip which lets you easily switch between devices such as the iPhone, MacBook and iPad. That lack of auto pause is also highly annoying and, unlike the AirPods Max, you can’t change the cushions if they start looking well past their best.

Fast Fuel gives you up to 4 hours of play time from a quick, 10-minute charge

Price

At £349.99 these are not cheap headphones. That price puts them right at the top of the premium market and makes buying a pair a serious investment. No, they aren’t as pricey as Apple’s AirPods Max but with Sony’s award-winning WH-1000XM5s now almost a year old there are some deals to be grabbed which them a serious rival to the Beats Studio Pros.

Are they worth £349.99? They are certainly very good headphones and sometimes you have to pay to get the better things in life.

Just be aware that there are plenty if deals out there on rival headphones and things could get even cheaper with Black Friday just a few months away.

Final verdict

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