After five years, Apple has come up with an overhaul of the earbuds that put its Beats headphones brand on the map for sports enthusiasts — the Powerbeats Pro 2. It comes with a new design, new drivers, the latest Apple H2 chip, a new built-in heart rate sensor and active noise cancelling for the first time in a pair of Powerbeats.

A disclaimer: I have not used the first generation of Powerbeats Pro, so I am new to the device. I recognise why a lot of people like the ear-hook design. With five years behind Powerbeats Pro, Beats had a lot of time to work on the second-generation product.

Flexibility is the name of the game

In the design department, there are a few big upgrades. First, the company has improved the overall ergonomic shape of the earbud, and acoustic housing and completely redesigned the ear hook, which is 50 per cent smaller and incorporates nickel-titanium alloy, so it’s both flexible and durable. I didn’t have any problem using the device with my glasses. The buds are 20 per cent lighter while the charging case is 33 per cent smaller than its predecessor.

PowerBeats Pro 2 and Apple AirPods Pro 2 both come with the advanced H1 chip.

The device feels comfortable to wear and fits the ears quite well. When it comes to ear tips, there are plenty of options in the box, from XS to XL. The extra large set of tips is new; it’s a size you usually don’t find in boxes from rival companies. More than 90 per cent of users will not have a problem with the default ear tips, others may have to dive into the box for a different size. The ear tips are conical enough to sit snugly in the ear canals to offer a tight seal.

One of the nice things about Beats buds is that they have a physical button to control playback and the Powerbeats Pro 2, like its predecessor, retain that button along with a physical rocker button for volume adjustments. When you’re running or biking it tends to be easier to use physical buttons and the ear hook design will appeal to folks who worry about keeping the buds in their ears during sporting activities or just in general. Like the original Powerbeats Pro and AirPods Pro 2, these are IPX4 splash proof and Beats says they’ve undergone rigorous testing for sweat resistance, so they should work fine even during Indian summer.

The case is 25 per cent smaller and has included wireless charging. Battery life is rated at up to 10 hours with ANC off and up to eight hours with ANC on, besides an additional 3.5 charges in the case. That’s a mind-blowing amount of battery life.

Tech chops

Beats has managed to pack a lot of technology into the buds. They’re not only equipped with Apple’s H2 chip, the same one found in AirPods Pro 2 but there are ear detection sensors along with a tiny heart rate sensor in each bud, which is important to note because many earbuds with heart rate sensors only have one in a single bud. Ear-based heart rate sensors tend to be quite accurate and the one in the Powerbeats Pro 2 is designed to replace a heart rate sensor you strap across the chest and not the heart rate sensor in an Apple Watch. In fact, if you have an Apple Watch, its heart rate sensor takes precedence over the one in the Powerbeats Pro 2. If you’re wearing your Apple Watch at the same time as the buds your heart rate will be monitored by the Watch.

You can adjust noise cancelling and other bits in the iPhone Bluetooth settings or with the Android Beats app.

The sensor seems to work fine and battery life is barely impacted by the sensor. At launch, Powerbeats Pro 2 heart rate monitoring feature is compatible with the following apps in India — Runna, Nike Run Club, Open, Ladder, Slopes and YaoYao. With iOS devices, the heart rate monitor starts up automatically when you put the buds in your ears and parse data every five seconds.

Works with iOS and Android

The earbuds can be enjoyed by both Apple and Android users. This one too works fine with Android devices and I hooked it up to Samsung Galaxy S24 with the Beats app. Of course, there are a few Apple-exclusive features, which include personalised spatial audio, head tracking, answering Siri and iCloud pairing across all your Apple devices. It has a more basic Find My feature rather than the advanced one on AirPods Pro 2, which comes with the U1 chip and a speaker that beeps when you locate the buds.

H2 foundation

Powerbeats Pro 2 appears to be built on the same foundation as AirPods Pro 2. Apple’s H2 chip offers ultra-low latency and can even do lossless audio when paired with, say, the Vision Pro headset.

The sensors on the underside of the earbud pause the music when you take off the Powerbeats Pro 2.

The buds come with active noise cancelling, transparency mode to let ambient sounds in and adaptive noise cancelling but there’s no hearing aid mode and no conversation awareness mode that lowers your music’s volume when you start a conversation.

Top-notch ANC performance

How does the noise cancelling stack up against AirPods Pro 2? It’s top-of-the-line and is quite close to what you get with AirPods Pro 2. The device comes with new drivers as well as a new venting system and amplifier. The sound seems bolder and clearer than most option earbuds in the same category. The overall separation of instruments is worth a mention. As you would expect from a Beats product, there is strong well-defined bass and the earbuds are well-balanced or the bass doesn’t overwhelm the treble or midrange. These are very good sounding earbuds and I found the sound to be detailed.

Thanks to the H2 chip, new microphones and voice accelerometers to help pinpoint your voice, Beats has made some improvements in the voice department and callers are generally impressed with how well they can hear me even in noisy environments. The buds do a good job filtering out background noise while keeping my voice clear. If you are in windy places, the buds can cut that noise out too quite effectively.

Make the call

AirPods Pro 2 have some advantages, including a smaller design for both the case and buds and a few extra features but Powerbeats Pro 2 has its advantages, like excellent battery life, a heart rate sensor and an ear hook design that certainly keeps the buds clinging to your ears.

The optical heart rate sensor sits just inside your ear next to the silicone tip. It’s present in both buds.

There’s no custom equaliser for the Powerbeats Pro 2. The earbuds use Apple’s Adaptive EQ technology to adjust the sound profile based on the fit of the earbuds, which means you get a consistent sound each time you put them on. These are very good workout earbuds offering excellent noise cancellation. Unlike many fitness rivals, the Powerbeats Pro 2 are good enough to be the only earbuds you might need, especially if you’re an iPhone user. These are unshakeable — be it battery life or sturdiness.

At a glance

Device: Powerbeats Pro 2

Price: Powerbeats Pro 2 is available in four colours — Jet Black, Quick Sand, Hyper Purple and Electric Orange for ₹29,900

High notes

Equipped with the powerful H2 chip

• Good noise-cancelling

• Excellent voice-calling performance

• There is a heart rate sensor in each bud

• Great battery life

• Wireless charging

Muffled notes

• There is basic Find My feature

• Case is still on the larger side