Powerbeats Pro 2 announced with slimmer design, heart rate monitoring
The latest fitness-focused Beats earbuds can help monitor your health while delivering punchy sound
🎧 Beats has announced the new fitness-focused Powerbeats Pro 2
📐 The headphones come with a slimmer and lighter design than before
🏃 Built-in sensors can measure your heart rate while you work out
🔊 Sound quality has been improved, while ANC finally gets added
⚡️ Qi wireless charging and USB-C are also here
💰 The Powerbeats Pro 2 are priced at $249
Beats has finally given its fitness-focused earbuds an upgrade. The Powerbeats Pro 2 were announced this morning, six years after the original Powerbeats Pro hit the market, and they come with a slew of meaningful upgrades like ANC, a slimmer design, and heart rate monitoring. The best part? The price isn’t going up.
🏃 A slimmer design with built-in fitness tracking
The most noticeable changes in the Powerbeats Pro 2 include the design and its new fitness tracking ability. Beats has trimmed down the look and feel of Powerbeats with a 33% smaller case, a 20% reduction in weight, and 50% smaller ear hooks. The result is a pair of earbuds that will feel more natural when resting on your ears. I always want a pair of workout earbuds that barely feel like they’re there, but it’s hard to find them, so I generally stick with my AirPods Pro 2 or Nothing (Ear).
Fortunately, it looks like the Powerbeats Pro 2 won’t just be comfortable enough to work out, but functionally good for working out in, too. On the earbuds themselves are tiny LED optical sensors that can track your heart rate through your ears. Beats says the sensors pulsate over 100 times per second to record your heart rate in real time, giving you accurate information on how your heart is performing during workouts. At launch, the data collected from the sensors can be read in Open, Peloton, Runna, Slopes, Ladder, Nike Run Club, and YaoYao, with more to come in the future.
🎧 Better sound, less noise, and easier charging
Beats is promising a better listening experience with the Powerbeats Pro 2. The buds come with a redesigned acoustic architecture that delivers more defined sound quality with punchy bass and clear mids. I have yet to test the earbuds so I’m not sure how accurate these results are, but stay tuned.
To back up the upgraded sound quality, Beats includes personalized Spatial Audio for a more immersive listening experience, as well as active noise cancellation (ANC) and transparency mode. There’s also an adaptive EQ, multi-device pairing support, Find My support, hands-free Siri integration, and more all powered by Apple’s H2 chip.
For battery life, Beats says the Powerbeats Pro 2 can last up to eight hours on a full charge with ANC turned on, which is quite impressive. With the charging case, you’re looking at 36 hours of usage with ANC. Turn noise cancellation off and you’ll get up to 10 hours of usage on a charge and up to 45 hours with the case.
When it’s time to recharge, there’s a speedy USB-C port near the bottom of the case as well as Qi wireless charging, which is a feature I personally believe should be on every pair of earbuds shipped from now on.
💰 Pricing and availability
The Powerbeats Pro 2 come in four colors: Jet Black, Quick Sand, Hyper Purple, and Electric Orange. The buds are priced at $249 (just like the original Powerbeats Pro) and are available starting today from Apple.com. The headphones are also available at Best Buy.
I’ll be working to get my hands on a sample to test out to let you know whether to buy them. Until then, subscribe to The Shortcut so you don’t miss out on more coverage like this.
Max Buondonno is Editor at The Shortcut. He’s been reporting on the latest consumer technology since 2015, with his work featured on CNN Underscored, ZDNET, Newsweek, TheStreet, and more. Follow him on X @LegendaryScoop and Instagram @LegendaryScoop.
