Beats Fit Pro (1st Gen) - True Wireless Noise Cancelling Earbuds - Active Noise Cancelling - Sweat Resistant Earphones, Compatible with Apple & Android, Class 1 Bluetooth®- Beats Black

I’ve been using my Beats Fit Pro for a while now, and I’m really impressed. The battery life is excellent — I can get through multiple workouts and still have plenty of charge left.What really stands out, though, is how well they fit and stay in place, even during intense exercise. I never have to adjust them mid-run or mid-set, which is a huge plus.Sound quality is solid too, but for me, it’s the combination of comfort, secure fit, and long battery life that makes them totally worth it. Highly recommend if you want earbuds that can keep up with your workouts!

These are hands-down the best in-ear headphones for active workout, running or just anyone whose ears aren’t well suited to AirPods and other in-ear headphones. The small inner ear rubber “fin” holds the buds so securely in the ear that no amount of head movement or activity is likely to dislodge them. They are extremely comfortable for extended use. Sound quality is very good and product offers solid bass for such a compact design. Apple has obviously focused on maintaining consistent quality across its own AirPods and the Beats line, but they always save the best of the best features for their Apple branded products. That said, if you’re an iPhone user, the compatibility and integration with the beats is far superior than if using with an android device, but sound quality is essentially the same regardless of platform. Noise cancellation and transparency modes are excellent and arguably better than AirPod Pro based on the more secure seal with the ear. Only criticism is that the Beats occasionally experience drop out, even when paired to iPhone. It’s not clear whether the issue is with the Beats, the iPhone or the connection, but it’s an issue that shouldn’t happen in the Apple ecosystem and doesn’t happen with Apple’s self-branded products.

These little powerhouses are my go-to for everything from workouts to travel days. With active noise cancellation, built-in mic, and crystal-clear sound, they’re perfect for tuning out the world (hello, airplane hum) and tuning into music, podcasts, or calls. Bonus: they stay snug even during workouts and connect seamlessly with both Apple + Android. A total win for busy parents on the move.

UPDATE 17 Feb 2024: Had to buy another pair after 13 months. The takeaway is: clean your earbuds thoroughly every 3-4 weeks with a earbud cleaning tool. There is a small screen on the little earbud sound exit point that’s visible when the ear tip is removed. That screen came entirely off on one earbud and the other earbud was partially blocked from impacted ear wax that had hardened so much that it fused to the screen (which is fragile and not attached to the housing with much glue). I cleaned the silicone tips regularly, but never cleaned those small openings and screens, much to my peril. (And yes, I clean my ears daily.) The earbuds still technically work ok, but without those screens in place, it’s only a matter of time before additional ear wax begins to change the sound and eventually corrode or block the drivers.Otherwise, my year-plus of experience with these earbuds was great. I used them for a minimum of an hour every day, and often much longer. They fit comfortably, produce great sound, hold good battery life, easily connect to all my Apple devices. I misjudged the battery life in my original review. Transparency mode is fine and noise canceling is good, although I’m not sure the trade off with battery life from “normal” mode is always worth it. The trade off of wired USB-C charging and no wireless charging is something I can live with. Don’t think any earbud is comfortable enough to wear all day on conference calls, but certainly around four hours is fine. I’ve experienced more than a few instances where the sound stops playing via my iPhone randomly and it looks like the Bluetooth connection has severed. I can’t just press on the left earbud to start playing again, I have to physically press play on my iPhone app and magically the earbuds start working again. Hard to tell what the problem is, but it happens once a week or so. Still think the price/value ratio is about as good as any other wireless earbud, especially in the Apple ecosystem, including AirPods.Original review … Pros: comfy for in-ear buds, especially for physical activity, works really nicely with Apple’s ecosystem including spatial audio, noise cancellation is very good as is transparency mode, sound quality is decent, can use one bud at a time if desired, USB-C charging. Cons: no multipoint connectivity, no wireless charging, water resistance rating lower than many other earbuds, battery life is barely adequate (both buds and charging case), outgoing audio voice quality is also just adequate.These are good earbuds, no question. But there are some maddening features skipped here that appear on much less expensive Bluetooth products. I still don’t understand why Apple’s Bluetooth audio products don’t include multipoint connectivity, even within their own ecosystem. My ancient Plantronics ear piece and my Bose headphones have had multipoint for years, and lack of it is really annoying when using the Beats for work purposes. Lack of wireless charging is less a concern for me, but is annoying at this price point if you’ve invested in the technology. The outgoing voice quality is probably fine for the form factor of the Beats, but it does sound like a telephone call when using Teams or Zoom rather than high quality audio. Biggest bug for me is these won’t make it through a full eight hour day of calls without a recharge, and the case only holds enough charge for 35 hours of use. I have a pair of Anker Life Dot 2s that are 5.5x less expensive with a 100 hour case that isn’t really any bigger. I realize many other buds won’t hit that eight hour mark either, so maybe it’s a complaint about the form factor.The sound quality is fine considering the Bluetooth codec used by Apple (either source or headphone) isn’t high def or even CD quality, despite what Apple might want you to think with the inclusion of spatial audio capability on the Beats. The drivers on the Beats are certainly acceptable for most users and given the mission and price point of the Beats, it’s about as good as anybody should expect. There’s room for improvement, but not much more without moving up in price or a change in codec use by Apple.One thing I did expect was a better water resistance rating. IPX4 is a little weak considering iPhones are at IP67.What I do really like is the noise cancellation (and transparency mode done well) of the Beats. Really works well. The earbuds are very comfortable to wear and get a good seal. The ear wings hold the earbuds in the ear without turning uncomfortable. Love the Apple ecosystem integration - these connect very easily with simple adjustments to iPhone and MacBook Pro alike.If you like the idea of AirPods Pro that fit better and stay in your ear more securely, you’ll probably like these. Again, for the price, these seem to hit most marks for what they are, which is a sort of Jack-of-all-trades Bluetooth earbud. Be sure to shop around if you value one specific element over another, like audio quality or battery life.