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The Beats Fit Pro are great wireless, noise-cancelling earbuds that offer some of the best bits of the Airpods Pro, and some great sports and fitness features, for an attractive price.
After Beats were bought by Apple in 2014, many people thought they would just end up merging the company into Apple and taking the best elements for Apple's own products. That hasn't been the case though, and Beats has maintained lines away from Apple. However, there is no doubt there is cross-pollination between the two brands, and this comes through especially clearly with the Beats Fit Pro.
These perform in a very similar way to the Airpods Pro, not just in terms of functionality with Apple products, but in how they sound. Given that the Airpods Pro have become my go-to cycling earbuds, I see this as no bad thing.
Although these don't compare to some of the high-end earbuds, they sound great and are more than adequate for everyday use. I mainly rode listening to spoken word and even when going full pelt, with London traffic around me and transparency mode on, I never struggled to hear.
That transparency mode is (thankfully) similar to the Airpods Pro's, and works well. As you would expect there is a degree of wind noise as wind rushes past the external microphones, but it isn't overwhelming and I never found I couldn't hear what I was listening to.
When I did use these for music they sound strikingly similar to the Airpods Pro, with deep bass, clear uppers and a strong midrange. I didn't ever want something more powerful.
The active noise cancelling also works well, managing to drown out all but the loudest sounds. If you're really into your earbuds you can get better noise cancelling at higher prices, but for 99% of us the Fit Pro's is more than enough.
The Beats Fit pro excel at connectivity – at least with Apple products. They still offer the same sound quality on other devices, but the ease of use is not even close.
One element I really like is the way you can switch easily between Apple devices. I can have these connected to my Macbook, for instance, and they will automatically switch to my iPhone if I answer a call, or to my iPad if I start watching a film. It means that they are, by some distance, more convenient than any other earbuds I have used (aside from the Airpods Pro, inevitably).
Connecting these to an Apple device is just a case of having the earbuds in the case, then opening the case near a phone, which then prompts you to connect. This then automatically pairs them with all of my other Apple devices. It is a seamless process, though only if you have lots of Apple products... still, with other brands all you need do is put the case into pairing mode and find them through your device's Bluetooth menu.
I had no dropped connections throughout the review period, which given several hours of use per day is particularly impressive. It is not uncommon for earbuds to drop a connection.
The case itself is the only part I wasn't really impressed with. It seems big compared to others I have used, and the material feels a little scratchy and not as high quality. It also lacks wireless charging – not the end of the world, but it would be a nice to have.
The case has a useful LED to indicate battery level, although if you leave the case open near your phone it (the phone) will display both case and earbud levels.
Operating the earbuds on the go is pretty simple. A single press on either ear stops or starts whatever you're listening to, double press skips forward, a triple press skips back, and long pressing on the left earbud switches between transparency and noise cancelling modes.
This works well, although I sometimes found myself accidentally skipping tracks or modes while adjusting them in my ears, which was a little annoying.
The Beats Fit Pros beat the Airpods Pro for security – especially during activity – thanks to silicone wing tips, which help anchor these into the ear very well. I used them for a lot of general riding, some intensive runs and workouts and even for awkward drilling during DIY, and nothing dislodged them. In fact, the only time I needed to adjust them was after catching them with a helmet strap or by putting on a hat.
The IPX4 water resistance is effective; I used these for some very sweaty activities and some wet February rides, without any incident.
Beats claim a life of six hours per charge for the buds and 18 hours for the case. This is pretty good, and tops the Airpods Pro buds by 1.5 hours. It isn't quite up to the the Beoplay EQs though, as they offer 7.5 hours and 20 hours in the case.
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Charging them in the case is a cinch by just nestling them easily in place, and the case is charged via USB. It can go from empty to 100% in a couple of hours, and there's a five-minute quick charge which gives you one hour of listening time. This has been a lifesaver on long days, where I can just stick them in the case and know I'll get another hour out of them very quickly.
At £199.99 these are a good price, especially as they offer much the same functionality, a better fit, better battery life and very similar performance the Apple Airpods Pro at £239.
You could also look at the Jabra Elite 75t which can still be found for £149.99 and offer similar battery life, though they don't have anything close to the same connectivity and features and appear to have been superseded.
I think these are a great pair of earbuds that offer amazing connectivity (if you're using Apple devices), impressive battery life, and a secure fit with minimal wind noise. Okay, if you're outside the Apple ecosystem you won't get the most from them and the case could be a higher quality, but really these are small downsides against a great set of earbuds.
Great earbuds that sound good, fit securely and have a long battery life
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Make and model: Beats Fit Pro Wireless Noise Cancelling Earbuds
Tell us what the product is for and who it's aimed at. What do the manufacturers say about it? How does that compare to your own feelings about it?
Beats says theses are: "True wireless noise cancelling earbuds that comfortably lock in place, however you move through your day."
Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the product?
Fully adaptive Active Noise Cancelling (ANC) uses real-time audio calibration to continuously pinpoint unwanted external sounds and optimise sound output
Transparency mode allows you to hear the world around you
Custom acoustic platform delivers powerful, balanced sound
Spatial Audio with dynamic head tracking immerses you in music, movies and games
Flexible, secure-fit wing tips for all-day comfort and stability
IPX4-rated sweat and water resistant earbuds
Apple H1 chip delivers Automatic Switching, Audio Sharing and 'Hey Siri' hands-free voice assistant
Industry-leading Class 1 Bluetooth for extended range and fewer dropouts
High-quality call performance and voice assistant interaction via dual beam-forming mics
Use the Find My app on your iOS device to locate your Beats Fit Pro7 with a sound or see them on a map if they are lost or missing
Beats app for Android8 includes enhanced features like one-touch pairing, customised controls, battery levels, firmware updates and a Fit Test for the best sound and fit
Industry-leading Class 1 Bluetooth for extended range and fewer dropouts
High-quality call performance and voice assistant interaction via dual beam-forming mics
Up to 6 hours of listening time10 (with ANC turned on) plus an additional 18 hours11 provided by their pocket-sized charging case
5-minute Fast Fuel charging gives you up to 1 hour of playback when your battery is low
USB-C to USB-C charging cable
Single multifunction button per side
On-device controls for music, calls and voice assistant
Built-in microphone with wind reduction for elevated voice clarity
Auto Play/Pause via optical sensors and motion accelerometers
Silicone ear tips with three size options – S/M/L (medium pre-installed)
USB-C to USB-C charging cable
Beats Fit Pro packaging is made from 89% plant-based material sourced from recycled fibre and/or sustainable forests
They are well made and they feel secure in the ears, although the case feels a little cheap.
They perform very well, fitting well in the ears, sounding great, and allowing for easy use on the bike.
Lots of silicone and very little breakable plastic means these are likely to survive several falls.
Very comfortable in the ears thanks to the wing tips that keep them in place. I've heard some people say it causes irritation during long use, but I haven't found this at all.
Mst of the best parts of the Airpods Pro for £40 less, so they represent pretty good value.
Tell us how the product performed overall when used for its designed purpose
They perform very well; they sound great, sit well in the ears, don't suffer a huge amount of wind noise, and they have a good charge too.
Tell us what you particularly liked about the product
Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product
The case feels a bit cheap.
How does the price compare to that of similar products in the market, including ones recently tested on road.cc?
At £199.99 these are a good price, especially as they offer much the same functionality, a better fit, better battery life and very similar performance the Airpods Pro at £239. You could also look at the Jabra Elite 75t which can still be found for £149.99 and offer similar battery life, though they don't have anything close to the same connectivity and features and appear to have been superseded.
Did you enjoy using the product? Yes
Would you consider buying the product? Yes
Would you recommend the product to a friend? Yes
Use this box to explain your overall score
This is a very good set of earbuds that sits nicely in the ear and offers all the best bits of the Airpods Pro, whilst costing less. The case feels a little cheap but beyond that there's little to complain about.
I usually ride: CAAD13 My best bike is: Cannondale Supersix Evo
I've been riding for: 10-20 years I ride: Every day I would class myself as: Expert
I regularly do the following types of riding: commuting, club rides, sportives, general fitness riding, fixed/singlespeed,
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George spends his days helping companies deal with their cycling commuting challenges with his company Cycling for Work. He has been writing for Road.cc since 2014.
When he is not writing about cycling, he is either out on his bike cursing not living in the countryside or boring anybody who will listen about the latest pro peloton/cycling tech/cycling infrastructure projects.
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