As previously rumored, Beats earlier today officially unveiled a brand new pair of wireless Powerbeats headphones with an AirPods-inspired design. In other words, imagine the current Powerbeats3 design without the connecting cord.
The new headphones, dubbed Powerbeats Pro, naturally incorporate many of the same technologies Apple recently introduced with AirPods 2, including hands-free Siri functionality and the company’s brand new H1 chip. As an exercise-oriented pair of headphones, Powerbeats Pro will of course be sweat and water-resistant.
The new Powerbeats Pro headphones don’t have an official release date, though Apple notes that they will be coming sometime this spring. Price wise, Powerbeats Pro will retail for $250. Powerbeats Pro will be available in four colors: ivory, moss, navy, and black.
With respect to battery life, each individual earbud offers up 9 hours of playback and “more than 24 hours of combined playback with the magnetic closure case.” Further, the earbuds can charge up to 1.5 hours of playback after just 15 minutes of charging. It’s also worth noting that the new Powerbeats Pro earbuds are 23% smaller “than its predecessor and 17 percent lighter.”
Some other interesting tidbits via the press release include:
Sound
Sound was the highest priority in the development of Powerbeats Pro. Completely re-engineered from the inside out, the earphones boast an upgraded linear piston driver that leverages an efficient, pressurized airflow to create a powerful acoustic response in a small package. Enhanced sound quality means incredibly low distortion and great dynamic range across the entire frequency curve.
Fit
A great solution for comfort, fit and stability was paramount to Powerbeats Pro because of its direct impact on sound delivery. To achieve the best possible fit on the widest array of ears, over 20 configurations were electronically modeled and physically tested. The result is a completely new, ergonomically angled acoustic housing that nests comfortably in the concha bowl of the ear with an off-axis nozzle. It comes with four sizes of ear tips and a redesigned, adjustable earhook—an iconic part of the Powerbeats line since its launch in 2010.
FUNCTIONALITY
Powerbeats Pro features a fully functional, ambidextrous design with identical, physical volume and track controls on each earbud. This means full control over your music and phone calls, regardless of whether you use the left, right or both earbuds.
Long- and short-range optical sensors drive automatic play/pause and call handling when the earphones are placed in or removed from your ears.
Telephony
Powerbeats Pro delivers incredible voice performance for phone calls. A first for Beats, a speech-detecting accelerometer in each earbud and two beam-forming microphones per side target your voice and filter out external sounds such as wind and ambient noise. This means you can answer a quick mid-workout call at the gym with clarity and confidence.
No power button means no worries. Powerbeats Pro earphones power on when taken out of the case and power off (and charge) when placed inside. Motion accelerometers detect when the earphones are idle and not in use, automatically entering them into sleep mode.
You can read more about Powerbeats Pro over on the Beats website.
