Design & Construction

Even since Apple acquired Beats By Dre, the Beats lineup have changed significantly to complement Apple's main audio offerings. Nowadays, we are seeing more sport-focused true wireless earbuds from the brand instead. However, the Beats Fit Pro is a built off the Studio Buds rather than the successful Powerbeats Pro. Starting off with the design, the Beats Fit Pro's case has a similar take to the Powerbeats Pro original case but made it way more compact to fit nicely into the palm of your hand and would never be an issue for you to slip it into a small pocket. The exterior features a matte surface that resists fingerprint smudges very well. Inside, a more standardised grey interior houses the earbuds in snugly with particularly strong magnets to ensure that the earbuds will never fall out when the case is flipped or dropped. As for the earbuds, the Beats Fit Pro now integrates a fixed wingtip design onto the existing Beats Studio Buds to make it sports-ready. Personally, coming from a previous user of the Studio Buds. I would say the fit is similar as you can hardly feel the additional wingtip design. It does a great job in locking in the earbuds without any added wearing fatigue. The earbuds do also feature skin-detect sensors that helps to detect when one or both earbuds are removed to pause the music. Sticking to physical old-school buttons, the controls feel tactile and responsive and is never affected by sweat. Now for controls, a single tap will play/pause, a double tap skips forward and a triple tap skips backwards. Holding it down will cycle through the noise control settings from Passive Noise Isolation (Off), Transparency Mode and Active Noise-Cancelling. Alternatively, you can change this setting to control the volume as well in the settings app on your IOS device. Of course, not forgetting the Siri smart assistance that can be brought up with a simple spoken command. If you need to put the earbuds in Bluetooth pairing mode. you may long press the single pairing button found in the earbuds case to do so. As for calls, a single tap will pick up the call and a double tap will end the call. However, this setting can be customised to end a call with a single tap too. It takes about 1 hour to charge both the case and earbuds from a dead battery. However, if you are in a rush, a quick 5 minutes charge gives you an hour of playback. In the box, there are extra sizes of silicone eartips to ensure a tight seal and secure fit. Since, the Beats Fit Pro is a sports earbud, the earbuds supports IPX4 water and sweat resistance, giving you a peace of mind when used during rainy days or during vigorous exercises with heavy sweating. The earbuds also do a great job at resisting fingerprint smudges with a matte finish.

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Sound Quality

Exciting, bass-focused and energetic is how I would describe the sound of the Beats Fit Pro. So let's start off with the bass response. In short, it is deep, punchy, and tight. It never managed to distort at loud volume and never bleeds into the mids when it is at a low volume level. It hits as deep as the Sony Linkbuds S and Jabra Elite 4 Active. I would say it is slightly stronger than the AirPods Pro (2nd Generation) but weaker than the Marshall Motif ANC. The highs sound decent enough with clarity, hoever not too much details can be perceived in fast-paced songs. The mids do sound very crisp but as with most earbuds, the Studio Buds are tuned to a V-shaped sound signature where the emphasis on the mids is reduced. The soundstage is quite non-existent when compared to other earbuds that are of a higher price point like the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 3. The instrument separation is decent but is lacking openness in fast-paced songs. Now, the Beats Fit Pro is more suited for Pop, R&B, Hip-Hop and more mainstream genres. If you listen to more niche genres of EDM and Rap, it with a heavy heart to let you know that it will not be easy to alter the equaliser unless you are using a third-party option. There is a compatible Beats app for Android users and built-in settings for IOS users. First up, you will see the battery life of both the earbuds as well as the case. Other than those, you can switch between Noise-Canceling, Transparency Mode or Passive Noise Isolation (Off). You can then customise the press and hold control on the earbuds to change between Noise Control or to bring up Siri or adjust the volume. The Ear Tip Fit Test is next to help you ensure that you have a good seal for better bass. Basically, a tone will be played while the earbuds measures for leakage and lets you know if you need to change another size of ear tip for stronger ANC and deeper bass. As mentioned above, you can choose to end a call with a singple press or a double press. With sensors on both earbuds, automatic ear detection tracks if you have the earbuds in and automatically pauses when you are remove either earbud. By default, the Beats Fit Pro will automatically connect to your iPhone too. Found on most Apple and Beats audio products today, Personalised Spatial Audio with dynamic head tracking makes its debut on the Beats Fit Pro to open up the soundstage and surround so the audio doesn't feel constricted. Of which, I also realised it in turn increases the overall volume and deepen the bit of bass depth. Dolby Atmos music and movie content is supported so you can be sure that you are getting the best sound yet. Back to the app, the microphone usage can be set to either earbuds or automatically switch between the two. Being part of the Apple ecosystem, the Beats Fit Pro is FInd My compatible so you can trace back your earbuds should you happen to misplace it. For those in need or hungry for my customisation, you can tap into accessibility controls when there is noise-cancellation with one earbuds, allowing spatial audio to track against your IOS device for head tracking as well as adjust the tone prompts volume etc. Lastly, in the About tab, you can check the mode name, number, serial number, version as well as the case name alongside the limited warranty timeframe. In terms of ANC performance, the Beats Fit Pro fares decently well at blocking out sounds in the gym and for outdoor running. It was able to filter out most traffic noises and loud sounds of chatter and construction works were kept to a minimum. It is commendable that the earbuds have pressure-reliving vents built-in that ensures that the ANC does not produce any cabin pressure on your ears. I would say that its ANC strength is comparable to the Sony Linkbuds S and the Jabra Elite 7 Active, but nowhere as efficient as the AirPods Pro (2nd Generation). Transparency Mode is a feature that allows you to hear your surroundings without removing your earbuds. In day-to-day use, I found that the Transparency Mode does a decent job in blending in surrounding ambient sounds with your music so as to let you be aware of your surroundings should you be running on the road. The Beats Fit Pro does use dual beam-foaming microphones to take in your voice and I would say the experience was decent and pretty usable though is it is far from the best of the best from the Apple AirPods Pro (2nd Generation) or Jabra Elite 7 Pro which are the widely acclaimed champion of call quality experience. The mics do pick up my voice pretty well but surrounding noises and wind noise does affect its effectiveness when used outdoor. Lastly, to take advantage of the Apple's integration, the earbuds do feature Apple's H1 chip for instant one-touch pairing, automatic switching between devices as well as audio-sharing with another Apple or Beats product which enable the playback of the content's audio output twice to two audio devices at any one time.

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Connectivity & Portability

The earbuds support the basic AAC and SBC codecs together with Class 1 Bluetooth. The earbuds also automatically power on/off when docked and taken out from the case. The battery life peaks at a decent 6 hours per use with ANC and Transparency on and up to 7 hours without. In total. you can get an additional of 18 hours of playback to give you 24 hours with the case with ANC and Transparency or a maximum of 27 hours without ANC. As much as the case looks like it can fit wireless charging, it is rather disappointing to note that it is not Qi wireless charging. In the box, you do get a USB-C to USB-C cable for charging. Either earbuds allow for one-sided listening as they use an independent connection to your phone. If you try to watch videos or movies with these, they do not have any latency in audio transmission.

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PROS​​

• Durable Case Design

• Compact and Secure Fit

• Dynamic Sound Signature

• Personalised Spatial Audio

• Strong Active Noise-Cancelling

• Transparency Mode

• IOS & Android Compatibility

• Long Battery Life

• Customisable Button Controls

• Quick Charge

• Find My Location Tracking

• IPX4 Water-Resistant Earbuds

• USC-C Charging

• A Range of Colours

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CONS​​​​​​

• No Sound Customisation

• No Wireless Charging

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The Bottom Line

In all, the Beats Fir Pro is a great successor and smaller alternative to the popular Powerbeats Pro. With a lightweight yet secure fit, IOS and Android duo integration, strong ANC as well as straightforward user experience, the earbuds are positioned well to be one of the best recommendation for those looking for a gym-ready earbud that can easily double up as an everyday commuting option. It is indeed a seamless and hassle-free experience that Beats has nailed after taking their user's feedback seriously. The Fit Pro do come in 4 colours of Stone Purple, Sage Grey, White and Black and in typical Beats fashion, 3 new colour-ways of Tidal Blue, Coral Pink and Volt Yellow have recently been launched too.