Beats Studio Buds Plus, an improvement from the original Beats Studio Buds introduced two years ago, was formally unveiled today by Apple‘s Beats brand. It comes with a longer battery life, stronger active noise reduction, and transparency mode, etc. Most significantly, the headset is also offered in a transparent form that lets users see the headgear’s internal components.
The Beats Studio Buds+ have undergone the most significant upgrades in Active Noise Cancellation and Transparency. Beats claims that the performance of active noise reduction and transparency mode of Beats Studio Buds Plus has increased by 1.6 times and 2 times, respectively, compared to the first-generation devices. The revised design with a 3x bigger microphone and enhanced ventilation technology, according to Beats, is to blame for this. A more advanced microphone system also contributes to better call quality, lowers background noise, and clearer voice.
Beats claims that consumers may receive up to 9 hours of battery life with the Beats Studio Buds+, and with the USB-C charging case, a total of up to 36 hours of battery life. This is another significant boost. However, transparency mode and active noise reduction were off when these data were collected. The battery life when actually in use will be drastically decreased if these functions are enabled. The Beats Studio Buds, in contrast, provide 8 hours of battery life with ANC and Transparency modes off.
Beats Studio Buds Plus Shortcomings
The greatest shortcoming of the first generation, however, was not addressed by Beats. The headphones feature a Beats audio chip rather than Apple’s H2 audio chip. While this makes Android devices more compatible, it also prevents Apple consumers from using some of the essential functions of AirPods and other Beats products that make use of Apple’s exclusive semiconductors. For instance, because the Beats Studio Buds Plus don’t enable auto-detection, music won’t start or stop when the headphones are taken off or placed on.
Additionally, the new headphones don’t sync linked devices through iCloud or allow seamless device switching, necessitating a manual connection on each new device. Meanwhile, Android users benefit from additional features like Google Quick Pair, audio switching, and a Beats app that has been specially designed for Android.
Despite considerable improvements to the active noise cancellation and transparency modes of the Beats Studio Buds Plus compared to the second-generation AirPods Pro, the new headphones are still roughly $100 less expensive overall.
The addition of a new transparent design option, which allows users to view both the Beats Studio Buds + charging box and the headset’s internal structure, is another notable modification to the headset’s appearance.
Beats Studio Buds Plus is available for purchase on the official Apple website. It comes in black gold, ivory white, and a transparent variant in addition to those other colors.