Last month, Apple subsidiary Beats Electronics unveiled new Beats Studio Buds, US$149 earbuds with Active Noise Cancellation (ANC). They are stemless and smaller than Apple’s AirPods and flagship AirPods Pro earbuds. There are some key differences between the AirPods Pro and the Beats Studio Buds that make them unique for different use cases, so MacRumors has done a comparison for prospective buyers.
Design wise, Beats Studio Buds are smaller and more compact than the AirPods Pro, but the design is similar because they offer silicone tips. Beats Studio Buds actually have a stemless design rumored for the next-generation AirPods Pro, so in the future, the two sets of earbuds could be even more similar when it comes to overall look.
Like the AirPods Pro, the Beats Studio Buds have Active Noise Cancellation with a Transparency mode. Fit always varies from person to person, but we found the AirPods Pro to be more comfortable with a more snug fit and a better seal. That said, the noise cancellation was about the same on the Beats Studio Buds and the AirPods Pro. There’s also very little difference in sound quality.
There is one major difference that separates the Beats Studio Buds and the AirPods Pro and accounts for the price difference – there’s no H1 chip. The AirPods Pro have an H1 chip that allows for useful features like cross-device switching.
MacDailyNews Take: Apple users will want to have the H1 chip found in the AirPods Pro. If you’re looking for a stemless design, wait a bit for Apple to reveal their next-gen AirPods Pro.
Beats Studio Buds are for Android settlers who aren’t bright enough to understand or too cheap to achieve the benefits of the Apple-designed H1-based System in Package that powers everything from sound quality to Siri. The H1 chip employs 10 audio cores which creates incredibly low audio processing latency that enables real-time noise cancellation.
Regardless of what customers choose, Apple gets the sale either way. 🙂