Excellent workout headphones, but not quite ready to replace your HR monitor or smartwatch
The Powerbeats Pro 2 offers a compelling mix of fitness tracking and premium audio. They excel in comfort, design, and battery life, making them one of the best sports headphones available. However, while heart rate tracking is undoubtedly accurate, we encountered consistent pairing issues, especially on iOS. If Beats can finesse the heart rate features, the Powerbeats Pro 2 could become a top alternative to smartwatches and chest straps. In their current state, though, they're only a must-consider for those craving top audio features in a secure fit.
Pros
- Secure and comfortable fit
- Heart rate monitoring is accurate
- Audio features are outstanding
- Long-lasting battery life
Cons
- Connectivity issues with heart rate sensor
- Case still isn't the smallest
- Different HR tracking experience for iOS and Android
Despite years of rumors and analyst predictions suggesting that heart rate monitoring is on the way for the Apple AirPods, the Powerbeats Pro 2 has instead debuted the technology first. This marks a significant moment for Apple’s sub-brand Beats, representing the company’s first step in what many foresee as a long journey toward deep, accurate biometric monitoring from the ear.
This isn’t a completely new concept. We’ve encountered it with Jabra, Sennheiser, Bose, Amazfit, and long-forgotten startups like Bragi. All have attempted to make heart rate monitoring headphones work. As our testing over the past decade has shown, the latency and accuracy are impressive enough to compete with a heart rate monitor chest strap—the gold standard for tracking during workouts. Yet, none have stood the test of time.
Beats says it’s doing things differently, looking to the sensor technology and neural network of the Apple Watch to give its well-loved sports earbuds the added tracking powers.
It’s not just heart rate monitoring that’s new for this generation. Beats is showcasing a notably smaller ear hook, lighter and more compact earbuds, and enhanced battery life, all while reducing the size of the charging case. Apple’s H2 chip now also powers the audio, offering features like active noise cancellation (ANC), Personalized Spatial Audio, and Adaptive Transparency Mode.
We’ve been testing the audio and heart rate monitoring in outdoor and indoor workouts over the last few weeks. Here’s our full Beats Powerbeats Pro 2 review.
Note: Additional testing and images by Conor Allison, Wareable’s Editor
Price and competition
As we mentioned in the introduction, the number of convincing ‘hearables’—earbuds or headphones with integrated tracking features—available on the market is limited. However, following an initial boom in the late 2010s, we are starting to see new options emerge.
Polar and Sennheiser collaborated on the Momentum Sport last year, and the Suunto Aqua—swimming headphones featuring AI coaching—debuted at CES 2025 in January.
Of course, the list of non-tracking sports headphones is endless and dominated by brands like Shokz, Beats, and Apple. But the state of play is what makes Powerbeats Pro 2 relatively unique. They’re the most significant release in the hearables category in years.
Therefore, the $249.99 RRP is not particularly surprising. The heart rate tracking technology also provides users with an option to avoid investing in a smartwatch or heart rate monitor chest strap, making it a great way to incorporate audio and tracking in one solution. Overall, we think it’s excellent value if you’re the right kind of user.
Design, comfort and controls
The original Powerbeats Pro’s longevity is partly due to how well they fit your ears. That high-quality, secure fit hasn’t changed with the Powerbeats Pro 2, and they comfortably pass the fit test.
Beats continues to use an ear hook design, but it’s now 50% smaller than the original Powerbeats Pro. The logo-stamped stem is also positioned more vertically to the ear and remains secure without gripping too tightly.
We’ve worn Powerbeats Pro 2 for hours at our desk without experiencing any of the usual discomforts associated with hook designs. In fact, we preferred them over the smaller Beats Fit Pro. However, the true test of any sports headphones is how well they handle high-intensity workouts that involve significant head movement. We can confirm that the Pro 2 meet that challenge.
There are five different sets of ear tips to enhance overall comfort, ranging from XS to XL. Thanks to this variety and the eartip fit test in iOS, we’re confident that most people will achieve a secure seal. We tested two sample units, with one reviewer satisfied with the out-of-the-box medium size, while another switched to large (though medium worked perfectly fine as well).
Like the last-gen model, Beats uses an IPX4-rated design to offer protection against sweat and rain. We thoroughly tested this in one long run in very stormy conditions. The headphones got soaked but were okay to use after we dried them off, and they never seemed to struggle with sweat.
We’re pleased Beats chose to keep the physical controls that were so well executed on the original Powerbeats. Pressing the logo button makes it easy to switch between listening modes or play and pause audio, while Siri also provides hands-free support for iPhone users. Above that are volume rockers that make adjusting the volume a breeze while on the move.
When they’re not in your ears, they live inside the matching-color charging case. This case still doesn’t disappear in your pocket like other charging cases (such as an AirPods Pro 2 case), but the size reduction is a very welcome improvement.
The case also thankfully supports wireless charging this time, allowing you to place it on a Qi-certified mat and avoid using a USB-C cable to power it back up.
Heart rate monitoring: How it works
As mentioned earlier, heart rate monitoring headphones aren’t new. Jabra and Under Armour launched hooked, single-wire offerings many years ago, though more recent, true wireless designs implementing the tech (like the Sennheiser Momentum Sport) have been wobbly at best.
Have the Powerbeats Pro 2 fared better? Well, while accuracy has been excellent, we’ve still had our share of problems with connectivity and stability across iOS and Android testing.
Beats measures heart rate using an optical sensor and a unique algorithm, much like other heart rate monitoring earbuds that derive data from the ear. What sets it apart is that it includes sensors in both earbuds, unlike competitors that usually only implement a single earbud sensor. This design increases the chance of achieving the most accurate heart rate data.
An onboard accelerometer motion sensor also compensates for movement (or motion artefacts, as they are often referred to) to improve tracking accuracy when you start working out.
The heart rate tracking feature is available for both iOS and Android users. As we’ll explore below, though, it operates quite differently on the two platforms.
Heart rate monitoring experience with iOS
When paired with iOS, heart rate monitoring can only be accessed through a select collection of compatible apps, which includes Nike Run Club, Peloton, Runna, Open, Slopes, YaoYao, and Ladder. There are no native HR readouts or storage for workouts, and you’re not able to start workouts from within the Apple Health or Fitness apps.
To view data in real-time when using compatible third-party apps, you first need to authorize access to your heart rate data in the Apple Health app. After a workout, the data is saved in the heart rate section of the Health app and should, of course, be viewable in those apps as well.
In addition to the app support, you can also connect the onboard heart rate monitor to compatible connected gym equipment. We managed this with a Technogym treadmill in the gym while attempting to pair to an app, and it worked well.
However, if you’re considering using it with your Apple Watch, we have bad news: the heart rate sensor data from the smartwatch takes precedence over the earbuds, leaving no option to choose between the two. During our attempts to pair it with non-Apple smartwatches, we also encountered connection issues. Specifically, with a couple of Garmin watches, we noticed that the heart rate tracking was disabled, which required a restart to resolve.
On one hand, we can understand Apple’s reluctance to allow a pair of Beats headphones to potentially undermine a key feature of the Apple Watch. However, this results in a pretty clunky experience on iOS right now.
Both of our testers were unable to connect the Powerbeats Pro 2 to most of the compatible apps (though it’s unclear whether this is due to app software not being ready for the newly released model). We attempted to use Nike Run Club, Peloton, Runna, Ladder, and Open; however, we only succeeded in getting the Open app to track heart rate data. The breathing and meditation app (shown above) delivers heart rate as a visualizer and then provides a summary of biometrics after a session.
We’ll continue to use the Powerbeats Pro 2 on iOS over the coming weeks and months, and we’ll update this section if things improve. As it stands, they’re difficult to recommend to iOS users from this perspective alone.
Heart rate monitoring experience with Android
Contrastingly, Android users have more freedom to use them with any fitness apps that support pairing with Bluetooth heart rate monitors. The difference in the process is that you need to tap twice and hold the button behind the Beats logo to connect the onboard sensor to the app.
After our frustrations with iPhone pairing, we moved to Android, where we were able to gather some data and compare it with a chest strap HRM. The first successful test was using the Strava app. Pairing was straightforward, and the data matched the Polar H9 heart rate monitor chest strap very closely.
On a very relaxed outdoor run, the Powerbeats Pro 2’s average heart rate was recorded as 151 bpm, with the maximum at 169 bpm. In contrast, a heart rate monitor chest strap recorded a 153 bpm average heart rate reading and a 172 bpm maximum heart rate reading.
The next successful test was an outdoor run with the Nike Run Club Android app. A glance at the data (below) shows that the Powerbeats Pro 2 fared almost identically to the Polar chest strap, which is very encouraging.
We would have liked to have more data to review, but, unfortunately, the instances in which Powerbeats Pro 2 connected and those in which they did not definitely leaned more toward the latter. Again, like with iOS, we’ll continue testing and update this section if we see improvements.
Audio quality
Subtle was not a word typically associated with the sound quality of the original Powerbeats Pro. That bassy sound profile remains unchanged in the Pro 2, but it aligns more with the Apple and Beats headphones launched since the original.
Thanks to the inclusion of Apple’s H2 chip, iOS users invariably get more of those new features. This chip grants access to Personalised Spatial Audio, which remains as outstanding here as it does on the AirPods Pro 2. Audio swapping between Apple devices is also incredibly seamless—we’ve constantly shifted between iPhone, iPad, and Mac during desk time without issue.
The Find My functionality, Transparency mode, and Adaptive EQ offered on the latest AirPods are also here, while both Android and iOS users get access to the Active Noise Cancellation mode.
When you activate these modes, they perform well. The ANC effectively mutes sounds around you while working at a desk in a co-working space or working out in the gym (next to a blaring speaker) at peak hours. Blustery, windy conditions pose more challenges on outdoor runs. Thankfully, they don’t ruin things if you’ve got a good eartip seal. The ear hook design feels key to ensuring those added ANC powers work well.
The Pro 2 still delivers power and bass, offering a more balanced overall sound than its predecessor and sports earbuds. Like Apple’s AirPods, the call quality is also impressive here.
Battery life and charging
As expected, the battery performance has greatly improved compared to the original model. While adding ANC does lead to more significant battery drain, we are still very impressed with the Pro 2’s battery life performance.
They can deliver up to 10 hours of battery life on a single charge, up from 9 hours. Beats’ Fast Fuel quick-charge mode also provides 90 minutes of listening time from just a 5-minute charge. A fully charged case offers 3.5 charges, giving you a total of 45 hours of playtime.
In contrast, the original model promised 24 hours, so this is a significant upgrade—especially considering the overall design has shrunk considerably.
Using the Powerbeats for a week with 1-2 hours of listening each day is easily achievable, especially if you have a fully or partially charged case to place them in. Generally, listening for an hour with ANC or Transparency mode on leads to over 10% battery drain, and this is naturally a bit less if both features are turned off.
When comparing the performance of various Apple and Beats earbuds, the Beats Fit Pro offers up to 6 hours on a single charge, while the AirPods Pro 2 provides approximately 5 hours. This means the Powerbeats Pro 2 comfortably delivers more battery life, even with active noise cancellation (ANC) or transparency mode enabled.
