Apple has updated its popular Powerbeats sports wireless headphones for 2020, pitching them somewhere between the Powerbeats 3 from 2016 and the current Powerbeats Pro. They offer the earbud design, H1 chip, and (allegedly) audio performance of the latter at a more affordable price tag than either. How well do they live up to this billing? The Beats Powerbeats (2020) review includes in-depth testing of their audio quality, battery performance, ease of use, new features, and much more. Come on, let’s find out with us!
1. Design
The new Powerbeats 2020 inherited the classic Beats design. Not just talking about the earphone body but also the solid packing. The process of unboxing was so delightful that we all agreed that the packing design of the new Powerbeats 2020 is one of the best Sport-headset designs that we have seen.
The familiar Beats shape was never outdated. Another new Beats product using the same design is the Powerbeats Pro. The connected wire makes the Powerbeats feel like a ‘wired-version’ of Powerbeats Pro. Although you may find that the Pro version is $50 more expensive than the Powerbeats, the Powerbeats probably is an all-around better choice except for the connected wire. Just think differently, then you would find out the wire of Powerbeats should be more practical as we could loosen our ears from the discomfort of sport earhook headphones rather than totally take them off. The wire would allow you to drape them around your neck as you feel the discomfort. Meanwhile, the wire with proper length does not size-up the Powerbeats and it is still portable enough.
In addition, the Powerbeats 2020 is so light that it won’t cause too much discomfort. The special material of the ear hook part naturally matches the body part with a solid build and design. As we worked out with the Powerbeats, its sweatproof and waterproof design ensured that we could be at peace.
The ear-in design probably is the main reason that forced some consumers to give up on these earphones. But as a solid sporty headphone providing various-size ear tips, the wearing experience of the Powerbeats 2020 has been already improved a lot. Indeed, for people who have not worn the design before, it may take some time to adjust for the first time. Another important point here is that the Powerbeats 2020 may not be so friendly for those who wear glasses.
2. Sound Performance
The Beats Powerbeats sound identical to the Powerbeats Pro, which means they sound ok. The frequency response is consumer-friendly: bass and treble notes are markedly more amplified than mids. De-emphasized midrange notes can make it difficult to perceive vocals, but when exercising the bassline takes precedence. Beats is known for this kind of sound and is a major reason that people are drawn to the brand, aside from general recognition. The upper-midrange frequencies also receive a minor boost, allowing instruments to remain audible.
In order to maintain the strong bass response, you’ll have to get a good seal. Fortunately, Beats provides listeners with four pairs of silicone sleeves to experiment with. Finding the proper ear tips is about more than just comfort: it creates a solid seal and optimizes sound quality. If you’re a commuter, this is particularly important; so much so that you may find it worthwhile to invest in third-party memory foam tips to block out some low-end noise (e.g. train rumbles).
Joy Oladokun’s song Sober begins with the chorus backed by the piano; just a few seconds in, she begins the chorus and her vocals are easy enough to detect over the electric guitar pattern that cycles through the chords G-D-Em-D-C.
The low-end impact of the kick drum at 0:34 masks Oladokun’s vocalization of the lyrics, “… years and fifteen days.” The kickdrum enters right as she says “years,” which seems to quiet at this very moment. It’s not that Oladokun thought it would be a great idea for her to temper vocal power on the word “years,” but rather the effect of auditory masking. The louder, lower sound of the kick drum makes it difficult for us to perceive the relatively higher pitched sound of her voice.
3. Battery & Charging
The cord also has another purpose: by going tethered, the battery life can be pushed up a bit, and you get that in the 2020 Beats Powerbeats earphones. Supporting as much as 15 hours, the Powerbeats will keep going as you walk or run with them, not needing a charge until you’ve hit more or less close to that time.
It’s a different type of runtime compared to the wireless and cordless, which went for an admirable nine hours before needing a charge in the battery case.
In contrast, the Beats Powerbeats for 2020 go for 15 hours but don’t have a charging case. We found they handled much of the day, and regardless, that’ll be a handy battery life for folks who plan on taking them out for most of the day, and who want to run, jump, and play.
But we’re on the fence about the use of Lightning to charge from. Apple’s Lightning port is fairly ubiquitous, though moswtly for owners of an iPhone or iPad. Meanwhile, Type C USB is considered the universal connection these days, so we’d like to have seen that over the Apple port.
Rather than say the Powerbeats 2020 is a lower version of the Powerbeats Pro, it’s more like an upgraded version. The price of $150 is the reason that we consider it as an upgraded Powerbeats Pro. It lets consumers have a better choice by costing less but giving the same sound experience as the Powerbeats Pro, and even the AirPods Pro. If you like to enjoy music when working out, we think the Powerbeats is definitely designed for you.
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