Apple’s first real competitor to AirPods has finally arrived: Beats Powerbeats Pro. Apple has owned Beats since 2014, of course, which explains much of the magic behind the latest truly wireless earphones.

So what are Powerbeats Pro? A serious evolution of the wireless-but-with-a-cord version of Powerbeats earphones. Beats describes Powerbeats Pro as ‘totally wireless’, replacing the microUSB-charged corded hardware with a totally cordless version that has its own Lightning-powered charging case.

Powerbeats Pro also retains the connectivity and intelligence of Apple’s new AirPods thanks to the Apple-designed H1 chip inside, driving reliable wireless connectivity and even voice-activated “Hey Siri” control. There’s more to Powerbeats Pro too…

Powerbeats Pro features：

Color options: black, ivory, navy, and moss

Designed for different ear shapes and high-intensity activity thanks to “four sizes of ear tips and a redesigned, adjustable earhook”

Rated for sweat and water resistance

Up to 4 hours longer battery life than AirPods without recharging with “up to 9 hours of listening time and more than 24 hours of combined playback with the magnetic closure case”

Color choices including black (!!!), higher noise isolation with in-ear tips, and even longer battery life. In short, as I suggested in my AirPods 2 review yesterday:

[…]the reported and leaked Beats Powerbeats Pro truly wireless headphones look like a dream come true for AirPods fans who want a little more oomph out of the otherwise stellar AirPods experience.

Powerbeats Pro colors

AirPods-inspired

Like AirPods and Powerbeats3, the new Powerbeats Pro pair instantly with iPhones and pairing syncs to iCloud-connected devices including iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch without pairing on each device (you can still pair manually with Android).

In terms of portability, AirPods are still king, but Beats says the new Powerbeats Pro are “23 percent smaller than its predecessor and 17 percent lighter.” Beats promises an upgraded experience sonically too:

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.

Powerbeats Pro are also the first Beats earphones to use enhanced technology for improving phone call quality:

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.

These are also the first Beats to ditch the power button in favor of AirPods-style power management:

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.

Hardware control

And even with Apple’s H1 chip and “Hey Siri” voice control, Powerbeats Pro retain physical buttons for controlling volume and track playback, mirrored on each earphone so easy access. The only downside? No wireless charging for powering the magnetic closure case; AirPods now ship with an optional wireless charging case for $80 separately or $40 premium.

Black-PowerBeats-Pro-RGB-Angle07_v11 Black-PowerBeats-Pro-RGB-Angle09_v7

Powerbeats Pro availability

All that power will come with a slight price premium over Powerbeats3 ($199) and AirPods ($159-$199) when Powerbeats Pro launch in May on Apple.com and in Apple Stores for $249.95. Beats says Powerbeats Pro will debut in the US and across 20 other countries to start, followed by more countries and regions later this summer and fall. Stay tuned for a full review closer to launch!

Here’s the promo video and official announcement.

Source: 9to5mac