Apple's newest cans are simple, deliver a nice sound but don't quite have the quality to please the audiophile market
By JEREMY WHITE
Monday 27 November 2017
PROS
Superb wireless performance; top-notch battery; headphone socket
CONS
No auto shutdown; disappointing mid-range; hot ears!
PRICE
£299.95
8 / 10
Apple
Beats has done such a good job with the distinctive design and branding of its Studio line of over-ear headphones that you cannot help but notice the legions of people wearing them. They are almost ubiquitous. And while they seem to be winning on the aesthetic front, attracting a younger, “cooler” consumer, they have yet to win over the audiophile audience.
And it is perhaps with this mission in mind that Apple has launched the new Studio3 wireless headphones with active noise cancelling that are also packing Apple's W1 chip, which means you get the same seamless pairing as with the AirPods. But are they as good as Beats says they are? WIRED has been wearing them for two weeks to find out.
Find out which headphones WIRED Recommends in our guides best headphones and the best wireless headphones
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Design
It’s fair to say that the designers at Beats have not been taxed too heavily with this new model for the lineup. The Studio3s adhere to the brand aesthetic religiously. What I have always liked about Beats over-ears is they do not stick out a mile from the side of your head, they have a slim profile for their category, and as such, if you go for the matt black version, can actually be quite subtle. As with all Beats products, though, go for brighter colours and you’d better have the swagger/wardrobe/youth to carry off the look.
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The synthetic leather on the pads hint at where some cost savings have been carved out, though they are soft and very comfortable. And those who like feel and sturdiness of premium aluminium should look elsewhere, as the all plastic structure does not feel the finest quality, but it doesn’t creak either, to be fair.
One point of note was that after just one week, I noticed the black paint on the outer ear cup of my Studio3s had already started to rub off – this is far from ideal. Another design niggle was that after about 30 minutes use, my ears started to get uncomfortably hot in these headphones. The oval cut-outs in the pads do give enough room for my big ears, but it’s snug, and this maybe why my lugholes started to feel like they were in Southern Spain when the rest of me was in London.
The inclusion of a headphone socket is also pleasing to see - despite the fact that we really should all now be getting on board with wireless being the standard. The carry case is sturdy too, and comes with all your lead needs.
BEATS STUDIO3 WIRELESS SPECS
COLOURS
White, red, blue, black, grey, rose
BATTERY LIFE
22 hours of wireless playback with Pure ANC
CHARGING
Fast Fuel provides three hours of battery life with 10 minutes charge
PROCESSOR
Apple W1 chip
PRICE
£299.95
Performance
From the start you notice that W1 chip in play as pairing these cans is about as simple as it gets, and satisfyingly stress-free (especially with an iOS device). This is what we all wanted from Bluetooth connections from the very beginning: that the devices know each other are in proximity, sync in one tap and connection remains rock solid as long as the headphones are powered up.
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Like with its watches and other recent headphones, Apple is doing great things with battery life on these accessories at the moment. It’s really great to know you are going to have enough juice to see you through a mammoth flight or road trip, and still have hours to spare on wireless connection, even with noise cancellation turned on constantly. With the Studio3s you get a very respectable 22 hours with wireless and ANC, besting Bose by two hours. But switch that active noise cancellation off and they will last up to 40 hours straight, which should be enough for whatever you are about to get up to. If you do need more charge, fast charging means you will get three hours of juice in just 10 minutes.
You get the familiar Studio 5-LED indicator lights next to the power button to show roughly how much battery is charged when you switch them on. And speaking of that power button, it is annoyingly small and recessed so that you often spend time fumbling about feeling for it. The button controls on the left ear cup work much better but do illicit a cheap-sounding clunk for the wearer when pressed.
There’s another issue with that power button, unlike the Bose QC35s, the Studio3s have no auto-off feature when they are left inactive for a period of time. Why on earth not? This seems a ridiculous option to leave out. On more than a few occasions I returned to my Beats headphones to find them still on – and it was only thanks to that impressive battery life that they weren’t rendered useless as a result.
Apple
Noise canceling
Apple's W1 chip enables its new Pure Adaptive Noise Canceling technology, which supposedly calibrates itself up to 50,000 times per second to adjust for head movement, fit and the shape of your ear. It also apparently switches to compensate for whatever environment you are listening in. Of course, this means they sound should be uniform wherever you are, and that is on the whole the impression I got from these cans.
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I have heard better NC in other headphones, but what is on offer here is still very good and mercifully with a much lower level of background hiss that you get with some other NC headphones. Apple said in its briefing that these were designed to have the very best noise cancelling around. They haven’t quite hit this mark, but they are not far off.
Sound
The first thing you notice when listening with the Studio3s is that there is a lack of a bass onslaught on your hearing. This is surprising for the brand, and for some, including myself, it is welcome – initially at least. After a while I could not help but wonder if Apple, in its attempt to make a more grown-up sound for the Studio3s, had gone slightly too far.
On podcasts and talk radio, this soundscape worked very well, but switching to some classic Pink Floyd or funk-laden Meters left me feeling on occasion that something was missing not only in the bass but the mid ranges as well.
This is picking holes to a degree, mind you. It is doubtful that many will don a pair of Studio3s and be disappointed with the sound reproduction.
Conclusion
If you are after good-looking wireless noise-cancelling headphones then you will not be sad to have gone for the Studio3s. They deliver a nice sound, though not audiophile by any means, and are no longer bass monsters. Some will prefer a more engaging soundstage, but most will want the monster battery life on offer here and ease of use. As for the “best noise cancelling on the market”? No, not this time. But Beats could well be getting there.
