The highly anticipated Beats 360 are now available for purchase. After being teased prior to the World Cup, Apple’s latest pair of Beats headphones are now on the market. I got an early hands-on with them, and they’re quite an interesting product offering that I’ve thoroughly enjoyed using – though they have one key flaw: no wired connectivity, which will bother some more than others.
First things first, the Beats 360 come in at $349.99. At that price, they’re leaning towards the high end of the market, though they still fall well below the AirPods Max at $549. Alongside this launch, the existing Beats Studio Pro are being permanently reduced to a new price of $299.99. Of course, you can find them much cheaper at retailers: they currently run $169.95 on Amazon . The Beats 360 do use Beats silicon, however there’s one key upgrade here: they now finally support automatic device switching with your Apple Account, Hey Siri support, as well as proper Find My integration. If you’re an Apple fan who’s been eyeing Beats as a more affordable version of AirPods Max , the Beats 360 are closer than ever to providing a true Apple experience. The headlining feature of Beats 360 is their customizable design. As someone who primarily used AirPods Pro 3 prior to testing out the Beats 360 , I’ve actually found myself to much prefer the Beats 360 . Beats 360 have no comfort issues whatsoever, so long as I use the UltraPlush cushions.
Because of their weight, these have been some of my favorite headphones I’ve tested out, even compared to AirPods Max , which I could never get comfortable with. If you’ve been following Beats launches, you’ll know that they sometimes use Apple H1 or H2 chips, and sometimes they use custom Beats silicon. I was certainly pleased when I learned this. You can easily swap out the ear cushions and head cushion for different color options. The ear cushions also have two variants, UltraPlush and Performance Knit. The former will be more comfortable for everyday wear, whereas the latter is better for working out. Noise cancellation is solid, transparency didn’t disappoint, and the fact that they fold down flat didn’t make them too much of a hurdle to fit in my everyday backpack. Of course, earbuds will simply be more convenient for many scenarios, but I found myself missing these headphones when I was away from home (as I couldn’t wear them outdoors during review), which I’ve never really thought for any pair of over-ears in the past. Regardless of that, I truly adore what Beats has done with the customizable design. My favorite Apple accessory recommendations:
