Beats Fit Pro review

The main appeal here is the decision to add a flexible silicone “wing tip” onto each of the buds, meaning they fit snugly in the ear even while you are moving about. It takes the exercise-friendly design of the Powerbeats Pro (£219.95) but combines it with the more subtle and stylish aesthetic found in the Beats Studio Buds (£129.99).

As should be expected for the pricing, the Fit Pro earbuds have many of the high-end features found in Apple's iconic white flagship buds – the AirPods Pro. This includes Active Noise Cancelling (ANC), spatial audio with dynamic head tracking, “Hey Siri” control and “Find My” support, alongside a solid 27-plus hour battery life.

But even if iOS it’s the users that will get the most feature-full experience, Beats has thankfully made sure Android users can still enjoy enhanced features via its official app, which opens up fast pairing, battery icons and button customisation.

So if you have a Google Pixel 6 Pro or a Samsung S21 FE, be assured that you can access most, if not all, of the Fit Pro’s abilities. While the Fit Pro are not perfect, they remain a very compelling option for anyone who loves the features and ANC of the AirPods, but wants a pair of earbuds that are much better suited for exercise.

For alternatives or to find out how the Beats Fit Pro compare to rivals in the market, don't miss our lists of the best wireless earbuds and best budget wireless earbuds.

Jump to:

• Beats Fit Pro review: summary
• What are the Beats Fit Pro?
• How much are the Beats Fit Pro?
• Design
• Features
• Beats Fit Pro set-up
• Our verdict
• Where to buy

Beats Fit Pro review: summary

The Beats Fit Pro earbuds with noise cancellation are positioned as a premium entry in the Apple-owed audio giant’s 2022 line-up, in between the Beats Studio Buds and the Powerbeats Pro. The £199.99 pricing reflects how much tech has been stuffed into the small buds, placing them in the same arena as the AirPods Pro (£189).

Whether you are willing to part with that much money is ultimately your call, but we found the Beats Fit Pro to be a worthy rival to the AirPods Pro, especially if you love running or heavy gym sessions – largely thanks to the addition of the wing tips.

Those wing tips that protrude from the back of each bud are fashioned in a way that keeps the buds ultra-secure while being worn. They’re built-in so thankfully there’s no fiddly setup – just a simple twist to find the right positioning for your own ears.

Audio is punchy, crisp and clear in all of the listening modes, and we found the Beats Fit Pro can easily handle all genres of music alongside voice calls with clarity, while the bass – especially with ANC on – sounds full without overwhelming the mix.

Broadly, the Fit Pro spec sheet is great: spatial audio support, dynamic head tracking, active noise cancellation, IPX4 water resistance, on-bud controls and over 25 hours of battery life using the charging case. The design looks, and feels, sleek.

And it’s great to see Beats catering for the Android crowd, even if it's iPhone holders that will ultimately get the most feature-full user experience thanks to the iOS-only capabilities such as Automatic Switching and support for the Siri assistant. You will also never hear this reviewer complain about Apple products using USB-C.

Even so, while there are often glimpses of Beats earbud greatness to be found here, in our opinion, they are held back from perfection by a few small factors. Namely, the case’s rather bizarre lack of wireless charging, the lack of an option to have volume control and listening mode switching at the same time, and longer-term comfort.

None of those were deal-breakers during our time with the wireless earbuds, and we were ultimately very impressed with them. While many users may be drawn towards the instantly-recognisable AirPods, the Beats Fit Pro’s are an enticing alternative.

Price: £199.99 (RRP) at Apple

Pros:

• Wing tip design great for the gym
• Contains Apple’s H1 chip
• Works well with Android and iOS
• Fantastic audio quality for all genres

Cons:

• May be too pricey for some users
• No wireless charging case
• Not quite as comfortable for all day use
• No vocal alerts for switching modes

What are the Beats Fit Pro?

The Beats Fit Pro released in the UK on 28th January, 2022 – pitched as a premium entry in its line-up of buds and headphones. They are powered by the Apple H1 chip, and will give you a variety of premium features including active noise cancellation (ANC), spatial audio with dynamic head tracking and 25+ hours of battery life. One major draw is the wing tip design that keeps them secure while exercising, alongside a full-sounding audio mix that performs very admirably with all types of music.

The design should be flexible enough for most ear shapes, and you will also find a selection of different ear cover sizes in the box that will help you find the best fit.

How much are Beats Fit Pro?

The Beats Fit Pro wireless earbuds cost £199.99 in the UK. That places them below the Powerbeats Pro (£219.95) but above the Beats Studio Buds (£129.99). Apple’s AirPods Pro buds - which have very similar ANC, audio quality and features - are now priced from £189.99, while the third-generation AirPods set you back £169.

They may be considered pricey for some, especially as there are now viable budget wireless earbud options out there. We can recommend the EarFun Free Pro 2s which also have a type of wing tip design and noise-cancelling but cost under £80. For Beats fans, though, the Fit Pro buds combine design, audio quality and several genuinely high-end features so we don’t feel short-changed. Quite the opposite.

Beats Fit Pro design

While the Beats Studio Buds had a more traditional in-ear design – the Fit Pro’s offer a slightly more unique wing-tip styling that you can manoeuvre into your ear for the right fit. The flexible silicone end piece isn't removable, but we feel that it’s malleable enough that the buds should mould into most ear shapes and sizes.

We tested the Beats Fit Pro over the course of a week, using them both in the gym for weights and running, and working at a desk for multiple hours paired to devices including a Google Pixel 6 Pro and a MacBook. We are fans of the design choice, and believe it to be a major win. They stayed in place even during more rigorous routines and we didn’t encounter any issues with having to stop to fix placement.

That said, we did notice some slight discomfort after multiple hours of use – with the wing tips not being just as comfortable as over-ear headphones or even a wired set of EarPods. That’s ultimately not surprising, however, as the Beats Fit Pro appear to have been intentionally made to be snug while others are a bit looser to wear.

We found during testing that wearing the Beats Fit Pro for between 30 minutes and 1.5 hours was generally fine for comfort levels, but anything after that and they may need a slight readjustment to reduce some slight discomfort.

The “b” button on each of the earbuds gives you additional music control, take calls and switch between the three listening modes – ANC, Transparency or Adaptive EQ, which like the AirPods Pro is turned on as standard if not in the other two settings. Tapping once pauses music, tapping twice will skip the track while tapping in three quick clicks will go back. Holding down will switch through the three modes.

It’s a bit of a shame that there’s no voice announcement to tell you which mode you are actually in as you switch, however, and the fact it's only a small chime may be a bit confusing for newcomers to Beats. This can be solved by opening up the Beats app, which lets you toggle between each of the labelled modes while also showing other helpful metrics including the battery life of the buds and the case.

In the Beats app menu, you can choose to alter the bud press-and-hold to be used for volume control instead of changing between the listening modes (left for higher and right for lower) but you can only have it set as either/or – not both. Again, not a deal-breaker – and it’s actually an option for AirPods users to be jealous of, even if they do have the ability to control output using the Siri assistance.

We tested the black version of the Beats Fit Pro and they looked sleek, with only the “b” logo standing out in the brand’s typical red colour. The Beats Fit Pro earbuds are also available to buy in White, Sage Grey and Stone Purple. They all look good.

None of our major downsides are linked to the buds. We found it was the charging case that had the most issues. For earbuds in this price range in 2022, it feels like a huge missed opportunity not to have the option of wireless charging. The case is larger than expected, the lid doesn't feel strong enough when extended too far and the plastic material is smooth enough to feel just a little too fiddly in the hand.

Read more of our earbud reviews

• Sony WF-1000XM4 earbuds review
• Beats Studio Buds review
• Beats Powerbeats Pro review
• EarFun Air Pro 2 review
• Razer Hammerhead X gaming earbuds review
• Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 review
• Jabra Elite 85t review
• Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 2 review
• Cambridge Audio Melomania 1+ review

Beats Fit Pro features

The Fit Pro earbuds have a feature set to match the premium pricing. That goes for both iOS and Android users, although it’s the iPhone holders that will clearly get the most of the product. Thanks to the same Apple H1 chip found in the AirPods Pro, you can expect a very similar quality of audio and specs with the Beats Fit Pro.

The more affordable Beats Studio Buds do not have this chip so are more limited in how they connect to other Apple devices and software. The H1 opens up a variety of high-end features for iOS users, including spatial audio with dynamic head tracking – which is essentially surround sound – automatic switching between iCloud devices, audio sharing, integration with the “Find My” app and “Hey Siri” voice control.

That doesn’t mean that these instantly become too much of a lesser product for any Android phone users, though, as the Beats app can be used to enable fast pairing, switching between listening modes and customising what the on-buds controls do – and that includes using one to launch the connected device’s voice assistant. So yes, iPhone users may get the smoothest experience, but Android is not far behind.

No matter the device, the Fit Pro use Apple’s skin-detection sensors to automatically play or stop content when the buds are put in or removed. This ended up being very useful during testing as it reduced unwanted playing while saving battery.

In terms of that battery life, the Beats Fit Pro will give you up to six hours of listening time for each bud, and that increases to around 27 hours of total playback when also using the charging case. You can boost the length to around 30 hours in total if you only use the buds in Adaptive EQ mode. We never had an issue with the power, and a “fast-fuel” feature gives you one hour’s playback with five minutes of charge. The earbuds will go from dead to full in about one hour and 30 minutes.

Of course, sound quality is hugely important for a pair of high-end earbuds. And the Beats Fit Pros don't disappoint. We threw a wide range of genres at them - from rock to synth-wave via folksy acoustic – and were impressed with the audio profile. There’s more than enough bass in the mix without being overpowering, and you can clearly hear every aspect or instrument of the song playing. All of the listening modes were solid, although our preference was to have ANC on for some extra oomph.

The buds were plenty loud for the gym and did a nice job blocking out background noise coming from the (always too loud) TV and other people working out. They also blocked out a lot of some nearby construction noises when at louder volumes.

Beats Fit Pro set-up: how easy are the earbuds to use?

It won’t be surprising for anyone who is used to Apple products but setting up the Fit Pro buds is almost shockingly easy on both iOS and Android. Thanks to fast pairing you simply open the charging case beside an unlocked iPhone and follow the basic on-screen instructions. On Android, you download the Beats app, select the right model and open the case lid beside the phone. A notification will show at the top of the screen and you tap to pair them together. It takes well under a minute. If you do need to re-pair after changing devices, there’s a reset button on the case.

Our verdict: should you buy the Beats Fit Pro?

The Beats Fit Pros are a pricey but feature-rich set of wireless ANC earbuds that find a sweet spot between the existing models in the line-up. Essentially they take many of the abilities of the AirPods Pro and put them into a smaller frame that will be very appealing for anyone who spends hours exercising. The wing tip design means they won’t fall out, while the active noise cancellation and audio quality are great. While they are slightly held back by the case – especially the strange decision not to have wireless charging – the Beats Fit Pros are more than worth your time and money.

Our rating:

• Set-up: 5/5
• Design: 4.5/5
• Features: 4
• Sound quality: 4.5
• Value for money: 4

Overall rating: 4.4/5

Where to buy the Beats Fit Pro

The Beats Fit Pro released in the UK on 28th January 2022 after pre-orders went live four days prior. Here's where you can pick up a new pair today:

• Buy Beats Fit Pro at Very
• Buy Beats Fit Pro at Currys
• Buy Beats Fit Pro at John Lewis
• Buy Beats Fit Pro at AO
• Buy Beats Fit Pro at Argos
• Buy Beats Fit Pro at Apple
• Buy Beats Fit Pro at Beats

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