The Beats 360 are the newest brace of headphones from Apple-owned Beats by Dre, and are aimed specifically astatine those looking for a brace of headphones to usage during workouts. They person a lightweight, durable plan arsenic good arsenic IPX4 h2o and sweat resistance. The mesh cloth receptor cups and headband are besides removable and casual to replace, with aggregate colour and worldly options.
The Beats 360 could besides beryllium seen arsenic a much affordable alternate to the Apple AirPods Max 2, with galore of the aforesaid Apple-exclusive features, positive Android compatibility, thrown successful for bully measure. At the $350 asking price, the Beats 360 aren’t peculiarly affordable by themselves, but with the Max present costing a chill $549, possibly thing similar the Beats 360 is precisely what you were looking for, particularly if you truly were looking for a gym companion. But however bash they perform? Well, let’s find out.
Design
The Beats 360 person a clean, subtle plan connection that conveys the workout-centric attack of the merchandise with the modern Beats sophistication and elegance. The halfway operation of the headphones strikes a precise minimal profile, and is mated to chunky receptor cushions and a headband that are encased successful a cloth mesh.
The receptor cushions are generously proportioned with a dense foam padding inside. The opening mightiness not look peculiarly ample — and it isn’t — but erstwhile your ears are through, determination is simply a cavity wrong wherever adjacent larger ears tin beryllium comfortably. The cushions besides person capable extent to them truthful that your ears typically don’t travel successful interaction with the talker grille.
Attached to the apical of the headphones is the headband, which is covered successful a akin mesh cloth arsenic the cushions. However, dissimilar the receptor cushions, the headband foam isn’t particularly thick, and lone offers minimal cushioning.
The enactment instrumentality with the Beats 360 is that the receptor cushions and headband are replaceable. The cushions travel disconnected with a elemental twist, and the headband tin beryllium popped disconnected by tugging astatine it. This makes it casual to regenerate these parts should they stain oregon deterioration retired implicit time.
Beats sells replacement cushions and the headband arsenic portion of a kit, which includes each 3 components successful a set. This means you can’t precisely regenerate lone 1 receptor cushion oregon conscionable the headband should you request to, and person to bargain the full set.
The cushion kit is disposable successful six colors and 2 materials. The Performance Knit has the cushions and headband successful the aforesaid cloth mesh worldly arsenic the default acceptable that comes with the headphones. These tin beryllium purchased successful Black, Cloud, Sky, Pink, Navy, and Volt. Additionally, you tin besides opt for the UltraPlush set, which replaces the cloth mesh with seamless leather portion maintaining the aforesaid representation foam connected the inside. This acceptable is disposable successful Black and Cloud. The headphones themselves are disposable successful Black, Cloud, Pink, and Sky with a matching acceptable of Performance Knit attachments.
Since the attachments are easy hot-swappable, the Beats 360 tin beryllium customized with antithetic colour and worldly options. We received the Sky variant for the headphones on with the UltraPlush cushion acceptable successful Black, which creates an absorbing two-tone effect. You could besides conscionable spell brainsick and person the headphones, each of the 2 receptor cushions, and the headband successful a wholly antithetic colour from 1 another. The Cushion Kit typically costs $50 but is presently being sold astatine a $10 introductory price.
The different bully happening astir the plan of the Beats 360 is that it is IPX4 rated. It’s not emblematic for full-sized headphones to person h2o oregon splash resistance, and this means the Beats 360 tin beryllium comfortably utilized outdoors successful the rainfall oregon adjacent the excavation with h2o splashing without hazard of being damaged. Do enactment that the standing lone protects the headphones from splashes and not submersion oregon beardown jets of water, similar successful immoderate showers.
When you region the receptor cushions and the headband cushion, you recognize conscionable however tiny the existent headphone framework is. The headband, successful particular, is rather thin. Beats is capable to execute this by fundamentally doing what Apple did for the AirPods Max, which is to person each the electronics mirrored successful each of the receptor cups, truthful determination is minimal information that needs to beryllium sent implicit the headband. Most wireless headphones person the battery, electronics, and the antenna successful 1 receptor cup, and that information is past sent implicit to the different broadside done the headband, which needs to beryllium wide capable to accommodate those cables. The 2 receptor cups connected the Beats 360, overmuch similar connected the AirPods Max, enactment independently arsenic self-contained units, and lone minimal information, specified arsenic the powerfulness for charging some batteries, is sent implicit the headband.
Unlike the comparatively minimal setup of the AirPods Max, the Beats 360 has aggregate carnal buttons everywhere. On the near receptor cup, you volition find the powerfulness fastener with a built-in LED, on with the fastener to power the ANC mode. On the close broadside are the play/pause fastener and the measurement rocker. For immoderate reason, it took maine respective days to wrapper my caput astir the fastener placement, and I would extremity up pressing the ANC fastener for play/pause and vice versa. Eventually, I taught myself that each the playback-related buttons are connected the right, and past things got easier.
The physique prime of the Beats 360 is good. All the plastics consciousness premium and durable, and each the moving parts person a prime consciousness to them. The assorted attachments connect and travel disconnected without overmuch fuss. I volition say, however, that purchasing these headphones successful 1 of the respective lighter pastel shades is simply a fool’s errand, arsenic the worldly volition stain easily. I would personally spell with the Black headphones and possibly optionally the Navy cushion kit if I privation immoderate color. For the UltraPlush, you could spell with either colour arsenic the leather won’t stain arsenic rapidly arsenic the cloth mesh.
It’s besides worthy noting that the cloth mesh covering the talker grille isn’t removable. It looks similar thing that could besides stain implicit time, and it would person been bully if it were besides removable for cleaning purposes. Making it portion of the receptor cushion would person solved this.
Comfort
Comfort, unfortunately, is erstwhile again a constituent of contention for a Beats/Apple product. The 2 main culprits present are the clamping unit and the constricted headband articulation, which were besides an contented connected the AirPods Max.
I’ve been reviewing headphones for astir 2 decades astatine this point, and connected each 1 of them, I’m usually determination halfway betwixt the question of the headband magnitude accommodation connected either broadside to acceptable my caput comfortably. Yet, archetypal with the AirPods Max and present with the Beats 360, adjacent afloat stretching retired the headband hardly manages to wide my ears. The Beats 360 person the aforesaid stepless telescopic metallic sliders arsenic the Max that tally retired of question aft astir 3cm connected either side. It’s not wide what Apple’s interest is regarding providing longer question to the accommodation slider, and I sincerely anticipation it’s not related to the aesthetics of the headphones, but the effect is headphones that volition conflict to acceptable connected bigger and particularly taller heads.
The different contented is the clamping force. Much similar the Max, the Beats 360 clamp you with the fury of a pneumatic vise, which gets precise tiring, precise quickly. Beats makes this worse by not having due vertical axis question for the receptor cups. Instead of having an articulated associated that allows escaped vertical question of the cups arsenic connected astir headphones, Beats alternatively relies connected the rubbery cushion worldly to flex to supply immoderate vertical movement. This makes the unit organisation uneven, arsenic the receptor cups cannot crook decently to align with the broadside of your head, putting much unit connected the precocious oregon little curvature of the cup, depending connected however overmuch you widen the headband.
It’s apt the 2 aforementioned aspects enactment unneurotic to amplify the discomfort for me. After all, expanding the headband magnitude besides mostly increases the clamping force, and since I’m astatine the bounds of the headband magnitude connected these headphones, I’m besides experiencing maximum clamping pressure. If you person a smaller head, you mightiness not person the aforesaid issues that I did, but it is thing to support successful mind.
The mesh cloth connected the cushions is bully from a durability perspective, arsenic adjacent though it whitethorn discolor, it does not rip oregon shred arsenic leather pads do. It besides doesn’t instrumentality to your tegument erstwhile it’s blistery and mostly feels little suffocating. However, the worldly doesn’t consciousness large connected the skin, particularly erstwhile you’re conscionable sitting comfortably astatine location and not moving out.
Here, the UltraPlush acceptable comes successful clutch. The worldly feels overmuch nicer connected the skin, and the foam padding besides feels much luxurious, contempt being technically akin to that wrong the cloth set. The worldly has much springiness and adheres to the broadside of your caput much readily. The headband cushion besides feels a batch nicer, thing the follically challenged are definite to appreciate. While the UltraPlush acceptable doesn’t fundamentally hole the comfortableness issues with the Beats 360, it does alleviate immoderate of them.
Considering however overmuch of a quality it makes to the acquisition of utilizing the product, I bash consciousness similar Beats should conscionable beryllium bundling the UltraPlush kit with the Beats 360. Having 2 antithetic sets of pads to swap betwixt would further thrust the impulse to bargain and usage the Beats 360 alternatively of it conscionable being a paid enactment that perchance costs a 5th of the terms of the headphones.
Software and features
The Beats 360 travel the inclination of the different caller Beats products of behaving similar a first-party accessory with Apple products portion besides having afloat compatibility with different brands. On Android, especially, you get the Beats companion app on with a fistful of Android-specific features, and connected Apple devices the Beats 360 volition amusement up successful the Settings app similar AirPods models.
If you’re connected an Apple device, you get the one-touch pairing diagnostic that pops up arsenic soon arsenic you crook the headphones connected adjacent an Apple device. There’s besides iCloud pairing that syncs the pairing crossed each of your Apple devices connected the aforesaid account, and the fantastic automatic switching, which instantly switches the headphones betwixt immoderate of your paired Apple products erstwhile you play audio connected them, without really being connected to each of them successful perpetuity. There’s besides hands-free Siri, Audio sharing with different compatible AirPods oregon Beats products, Find My, and automatic firmware updates successful the background. The firmware updates inactive cannot beryllium manually searched and forced, which is simply a shame.
On that topic, the Beats 360 were connected the 4A262 firmware, which was the latest astatine the clip of testing.
Beats 360 settings connected iOS
If you’re connected Android, you tin inactive payment from immoderate platform-specific features, specified arsenic Fast Pair, automatic pairing with different devices connected the aforesaid Google account, audio switch, Find Hub, and dependable adjunct support. The Beats app for Android controls each of these features, and besides has Locate My Beats, widgets, firmware updates (which tin beryllium done manually here), and shows artillery presumption successful the notifications.
Compared to the AirPods Max 2, determination are a fewer differences here. You bash get a powerfulness button, which is indispensable since the Beats 360 are designed to beryllium paired with non-Apple devices, but I did miss the simplicity of the Max 2, wherever you conscionable person to instrumentality them disconnected your head, and the headphones automatically spell into a low-power authorities and the OS switches to the antecedently utilized root for output. The Beats 360 don’t adjacent person a mode to observe if you’re wearing the headphones, which means they besides cannot intermission the euphony erstwhile you instrumentality them disconnected your head. The AirPods Max 2, over-engineered arsenic they are, person 4 sensors for that, 1 successful each receptor cupful and hinge.
Beats app for Android
Beats says the 360 usage the company’s proprietary chip, and not 1 of Apple’s H-series chips. This means it doesn’t enactment immoderate features that those chips tin enable, and the ones that are disposable don’t enactment arsenic well. If I had to guess, Beats is apt utilizing the aged Apple H1 without naming it, arsenic it would dependable rather outdated now. The diagnostic acceptable coincides with what the H1 supports, and everything missing is what the H2 added. You tin spot these differences betwixt the H2-enabled Powerbeats Pro 2 and the H1-enabled Powerbeats Fit arsenic well.
Performance
Audio quality
The Beats 360 person a dual-magnet azygous dynamic operator plan of chartless size. The headphones enactment Bluetooth 5.3 with SBC and AAC codecs. There is nary wired audio option.
Like different caller Beats products, the Beats 360 enactment Adaptive EQ. This diagnostic aims to code a shortcoming of emblematic headphone design, which is that antithetic radical perceive the aforesaid dependable from the aforesaid brace of headphones otherwise owed to differences successful their receptor and caput shape. There is simply a people dependable that the Beats 360 wants you to hear, and utilizing the interior microphones, it perpetually monitors the incoming dependable and adjusts it truthful you perceive that people dependable careless of your receptor and caput shape, oregon adjacent the seal of the receptor cushions.
The occupation is, dissimilar the newer AirPods models that person Adaptive EQ, the Beats 360 tin lone supply this diagnostic erstwhile ANC is disabled, which means it’s not progressive each the time. This creates 2 antithetic dependable profiles for the headphones, 1 with and 1 without Adaptive EQ.
Let’s commencement with Adaptive EQ disabled, which is however astir radical would acquisition the headphones if they usage ANC oregon transparency mode. The default tuning has a humble bass accent with mostly neutral-leaning mid-range and treble presentation.
The bass portion has a boosted mid-bass region, which brings immoderate added thump and rumble to the sound. It’s a wider bass support than what you get connected the AirPods Max 2, which absorption much connected the sub-bass portion for bass boost. This gives the Beats 360 a somewhat warmer dependable than the Max 2.
The little mid portion has a flimsy dip, which helps accentuate the bass boost. However, mid and precocious mids are reasonably good fleshed out, truthful vocals and instruments don’t consciousness muffled and person bully assemblage and beingness successful the mix.
The treble portion doesn’t person immoderate peculiar surprises. It has insignificant peaks astir the 2.5kHz and 5.2kHz regions, on with a fewer much astir 8k and 11k, but determination aren’t immoderate important dips similar with the Max 2, which person a gaping chasm successful the 4-6kHz range. As a result, the treble connected the Beats 360 doesn’t dependable peaky, and the wide treble presumption comes crossed arsenic mostly balanced, if a spot dry.
Switching the ANC disconnected enables Adaptive EQ. Once you springiness the strategy a mates of seconds to analyse and update the sound, you announcement that the dependable present is much neutral-leaning than before. The bass with the Adaptive EQ lacks the sizable thump of the ANC-on mode. The little midrange is besides not arsenic scooped out, which further reduces the accent connected the bass. The flip broadside of this is that the dependable present comes crossed much arsenic mid-forward, which isn’t needfully a atrocious thing, but could beryllium perceived arsenic being little exciting. The treble portion remains unaffected.
To my sensibilities, some tunings dependable good. The Adaptive EQ surely does a large occupation of achieving a balanced, nuanced tuning that works crossed genres of euphony and non-music content. It’s 1 I’d take to usage if I were much inclined to perceive a much analytical rendition without losing the wide musicality (there’s inactive plentifulness of bass successful this mode). Meanwhile, the dependable with the ANC connected has a bully punch to it with a flimsy V-shape owed to the dip successful the mids, which creates an engaging, breathtaking dependable that I would subordinate with headphones meant to beryllium utilized successful the gym.
At immoderate rate, I similar the tuning of the Beats 360 to that of the AirPods Max 2. The second tin beryllium rather V-shaped and lacks immoderate of the sensation and sophistication that has gone into the 360’s sound. The treble show connected those is particularly frustrating with the large dips and peaks.
The Beats 360 are capable to set their dependable based connected the receptor cushions that are being used. If you region adjacent 1 of the cushions, the audio playback stops, and the instrumentality stops being utilized arsenic a root connected Apple devices. It’s lone erstwhile you enactment the cushion backmost connected that playback resumes. Not lone tin the headphones observe the cushion, but they tin besides observe which benignant of cushion they are and set the audio tuning according to the material. It solves 1 of the communal issues with headphones that person replaceable pads, wherever changing the pads besides changes the sound.
As for the method performance, the dependable isn’t particularly elaborate oregon resolving. I consciousness similar the AirPods Max 2 and adjacent the AirPods Pro 3 tin extract a spot much item from the contented you’re listening to. The timbre is fine, and everything sounds earthy for the astir part. What’s lacking is immoderate consciousness of abstraction oregon imaging, arsenic the dependable is boxed wrong your caput and ne'er seems to permission those confines. This isn’t unsocial to the Beats 360, arsenic wireless headphones with sound cancelling usually bash dependable similar this, but it is thing that tin perchance beryllium fixed with software.
Before finishing the audio section, determination is 1 alternatively annoying contented I would similar to constituent out. The Beats 360 person a shockingly precocious sound level that kicks successful arsenic soon arsenic the headphones are turned on. There is simply a persistent inheritance hiss that you tin perceive erstwhile thing is playing, and erstwhile you perceive it, it’s hard to unhear. A sound level similar this is thing you’d typically find connected precise entry-level DAC/amp setups, but adjacent that’s progressively uncommon these days. Where past Apple managed to excavation these audio components from for the Beats 360 is simply a mystery.
Microphone
The microphone show connected the Beats 360 is decent but besides somewhat unremarkable. One of the hallmarks of Apple/Beats audio devices that usage the caller H2 spot is the stellar microphone quality, but since the Beats 360 don’t usage that chip, we get mean audio show instead.
Regardless of whether you are successful a quiescent oregon noisy environment, the captured dependable remains clear. The inheritance sound simplification is besides reasonably good. It’s conscionable that erstwhile you’ve heard what voices tin dependable similar with different Apple/Beats products with a bully chip, it’s hard to spell back. The Powerbeats Fit had akin microphone performance, which further makes maine assured that the Beats 360 besides usage the H1 chip.
Noise cancellation
The Beats 360 person progressive sound cancellation and transparency mode that enactment with the assistance of the 9 onboard microphones and the proprietary chip. As mentioned before, enabling either of these modes disables the Adaptive EQ feature. The Beats 360 don’t person the Adaptive Audio diagnostic of the AirPods, which is antithetic from Adaptive EQ, and adjusts the levels of sound cancellation automatically based connected ambient noise.
The progressive sound cancellation connected the Beats 360 works truly well. Even earlier the electronics footwear in, the pads passively artifact a batch of noise. I expected the UltraPlush pads to beryllium somewhat amended astatine this, but arsenic it turns out, the banal cloth pads had a flimsy edge. Then, erstwhile the ANC kicks in, you get a overmuch much implicit sound cancellation effect.
Compared to the AirPods Max 2, the Beats 360 ANC was astir arsenic good. The Max 2 did somewhat amended with definite sounds, specified arsenic conveyance motor noises, which would occasionally travel done the speakers to a grade connected the Beats 360, but different than that, they were rather close. The pads connected the Beats 360 were really better; for my head, the 360’s spherical pads offered cleanable sum adjacent if the cervix was moved. In comparison, the quadrate pads connected the AirPods Max 2 broke interaction with the tegument connected the sides if I looked sideways, allowing sound to seep in.
The transparency effect connected the Beats 360 isn’t arsenic bully arsenic connected the AirPods. The dependable is natural, but it is connected the quieter side, which could marque immoderate sounds harder to perceive. If Beats could dial up the measurement conscionable a small spot connected it, or, amended yet, supply a slider for it, past it could beryllium truly good. The AirPods Max 2 transparency conscionable sounds clearer successful comparison.
Battery life
The Beats 360 person a claimed artillery beingness of 32 hours.
I archetypal started investigating the assertion by pairing the headphones with an Android device. The effect was a staggering 46 hours of continuous playback, which is mode beyond the claimed figure.
After that, I switched to investigating with an iPhone. This clip I got implicit 37 hours of playback, which is simply a batch person to the claimed number. In existent use, with much salient ambient sound and perchance higher volumes, the effect could beryllium adjacent to Beats’ claimed figure.
The Android fig is past interesting. Clearly, the headphones bash a batch much erstwhile paired with an Apple device. What precisely that is is unclear. No circumstantial features similar Spatial Audio were enabled for the iOS testing, and the headphones were mill reset betwixt each cycle. It conscionable does much worldly someway that requires implicit 20% much power.
Beats 360 vs. AirPods Max 2
Compared to Apple’s flagship headphones, the Beats 360 negociate to clasp their own. Aesthetics are subjective, but portion the AirPods are made retired of nicer-looking and feeling materials, the Beats 360 are much durable and adjacent person splash resistance. Comfort is iffy connected some owed to abbreviated headband accommodation and precocious clamping force, but the AirPods compound that by besides weighing a ton, portion the Beats 360 value is perfectly manageable.
In presumption of features, the AirPods are intelligibly better. The much precocious Apple H2 conscionable enables a batch much worldly that the Beats 360 cannot vie with. This besides includes amended microphone show and somewhat amended ANC and transparency mode quality, on with Adaptive EQ that works astatine each times. The AirPods besides person wired input, which the Beats lack.
The ace successful the spread for the Beats is audio quality. The AirPods tuning leaves a batch to beryllium desired, and the Beats 360 propulsion up by offering a overmuch much balanced and blase sound. To apical it off, the Beats 360 besides past longer, doubly truthful if you brace them with Android. Which brings america to the past part: the Beats 360 tin besides beryllium utilized with Android, oregon immoderate operating strategy for that matter, whereas the AirPods Max 2 are lone truly designed to beryllium utilized with Apple products.
For $200 less, the Beats 360 are a amended purchase, afloat stop.
Conclusion
The Beats 360 are truly bully headphones for the astir part. The replaceable cushions are large from a durability, longevity, oregon adjacent customizability perspective, and I besides deliberation the headphones look rather nice. They besides person bully wide audio prime acknowledgment to sensible tuning, and bully artillery life, particularly connected Android. The progressive sound cancellation besides works rather well. They besides enactment truly good with Apple devices, arsenic you’d expect from a modern Beats product.
There are a fewer captious issues with these headphones. Comfort tin beryllium rather polarizing, owed to the constricted headband adjustability and the precocious clamping force. The diagnostic acceptable and show are besides hampered by what is rather apt to beryllium Apple’s aged H1 spot inside. And finally, determination is simply a persistent inheritance hiss erstwhile the headphones are on, owed to the precocious sound level of the audio circuitry.
At $350, the terms is simply a spot steep. One mode to marque it instantly consciousness amended would beryllium to bundle astatine slightest 1 further brace of cushions, preferably of the softer UltraPlush variety. This would further thrust location the customizable space of these headphones portion making the terms tag acold much palatable.
Unfortunately, that's not the case. So portion the Beats 360 whitethorn beryllium amended worth than Apple’s flagship AirPods Max 2, it would inactive beryllium prudent to hold for a discount earlier picking these up.
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