Last week, word surfaced that Apple's Beats brand was preparing to launch new colors of its Beats Studio Buds wireless earbuds, and today the news has become official. Starting tomorrow, Beats Studio Buds will be available from Apple in new Ocean Blue, Sunset Pink, and Moon Gray colors at the same $149.99 retail price as the original colors.
For U.S. customers looking to buy from channels other than Apple, Moon Gray will be exclusive to Amazon, Ocean Blue will be exclusive to Best Buy, and Sunset Pink will be exclusive to Target. Reseller options in other countries will vary.
I've had the new Beats Studio Buds on hand for a few days to see how they look in person, and the expanded color palette offers some nice variations beyond the original white, black, and red options that were available at launch last year.
The insides of the Ocean Blue and Sunset Pink in particular offer a bit of additional visual interest compared to the relatively monochrome cases for other colors, with the interior of the Ocean Blue case being a light blue and the Sunset Pink case being a lavender purple. The shading difference of the Moon Gray case interior is more subtle, appearing as a slightly darker gray than the earbuds and the rest of the case.
The launch comes with a new video-game-inspired "Choose Your Player" ad campaign featuring avatars of model Kaia Gerber and Olympic gold medalist freestyle skier Eileen Gu.
Beats Studio Buds feature a stemless design along with Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) and Transparency modes. The external surface of each earbud is a clickable button that can be configured to control playback, phone calls, noise control modes, and Siri activation, although hands-free "Hey Siri" activation is also supported.
Basic Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos is supported for an immersive audio experience, although the Studio Buds don't include the head tracking found on some other Apple earphones that can anchor sound to your device even as you move your head.
While the Beats Studio Buds don't include an Apple H1 or W1 chip, they do offer a number of features like Find My support, one-touch pairing, and a total of five microphones for high-quality phone calls. Three sizes of ear tips should allow the Beats Studio Buds to fit most users, and there's a short USB-C to USB-C cable included for charging. Wireless charging for the case is not supported.
Coinciding with the launch of the new Beats Studio Buds colors, Beats is also announcing some enhancements to the Beats App for Android that will bring new features to users of all Beats products compatible with the app. With the addition of "Locate My Beats" and new widgets, Android users will now be able to locate their earbuds, view battery life info, and control listening modes directly on their devices.
Top Rated Comments
Now, Apple needs to step up their game and introduce AirPods in new colors this year.
First, which model?
The new Beats Fit Pro feature the same H1 chip as the AirPods Pro.
So imagine an AirPod Pro that’s got subtle ear hooks and a slightly more aggressive EQ (no, not ‘twice the bass’).
Maybe the only tradeoff is no wireless charging. Otherwise, they’re a better purchase all-round - especially if you use them for workouts.
However, these Studio Buds are a weird product. I think they’re catered more for the Android crowd.
Beats Fit Pros are a much better purchase - well worth the price difference.
Overall, Beats headphones today are typically a decent purchase; with a slightly more aggressive EQ than comparable Apple products.
The AirPod Pros are the only AirPods better than these since they have spatial audio, they beat AirPod 3rd and 2nd Gen.