Best Beats headphones 2023: the top Dr Dre headphones and earbuds (2024)

The best Beats headphones come in different styles to suit a range of preferences. They've moved on from the slick pair of red over-ears with the Beats ‘B’ logo on the cups that you’re probably familiar with. Now there are plenty of top headphones to choose from with a 'B' on them, but which are the best Beats headphones for you?

There are in-ear headphones for sports enthusiasts like the the Beats Fit Pro, which are true AirPods Pro competitors but at a cheaper price, comfortable pairs of on-ear headphones and fantastic over-ear headphones for immersive listening. The Beats Studio Pro have now landed too (check back for a review very soon), a pair of over-ears that could give the best noise-cancelling headphones a run for their money.

In this guide, we’ll help you figure out which Beats headphones fit with your preferences, style and budget. We’ve included all of the best Beats headphones you can buy right now, along with details about how well they perform in different environments, what their strengths are and whether they're the right choice for you. Because Beats headphones can be expensive, keep your eyes peeled for a bargain in our best Beats headphones deals guide, too.

The best Beats headphones overall

The Beats Solo Pro are at the top of our list because they bring excellent adaptive noise-cancelling to an on-ear offering that's comfortable and looks good. Beats Solo Pro are a marked step up from previous iterations – particularly when it comes to build quality. Of course, all this could change now the Beats Studio Pro are on their way, but we'll update this guide once we've had some hands-on time with them.

Sturdier than the Beats Solo 3 and sporting a cool matte finish in each color, the Beats Solo Pro feel like the biggest advance in quality the series has seen in some time for this larger line of headphones. Like the 2019 AirPods and AirPods Pro, they come with the H1 chip and this allows for fast pairing and hands-free Siri integration.

Priced at $299.95 / £269.95 / AU$429.95, the Solo Pro will likely appeal most to users who want a great pair of Beats cans without committing to Apple's bulkier, pricier over-ear option, the Beats Studio 3 Wireless or Apple's own Apple AirPods Max.

The active noise cancellation – both in these headphones and the Beats Studio 3 Wireless – brings Apple's Beats somewhat closer to the best offerings from Sony and Bose, although those two are still ahead by some distance – the Sony WH-1000XM4 and the Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700 are our top two picks for over-ear ANC.

We do like the simple-one button access to the transparency mode here, though. This optional feature allows some outside noise to come through, which can be handy in an office if you want to be aware of someone calling your name or making sure you're aware of traffic around you when walking or cycling.

[Update: The Beats Solo Pro were discontinued in late 2021 - but you can still find some retailers selling new and renewed stock. While new stock is still available, they'll remain our top pick for the best Beats headphones you can buy today.]

Read our full Beats Solo Pro review

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The best Beats earbuds overall

The Beats Studio Buds are rock-solid true wireless earbuds with active noise cancellation and support for Apple’s Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos format. They sound great, with a lively sound quality that elevates the highs and lows of your music, and feel supremely comfortable to wear for long periods of time.

They're not without some drawbacks, though. Chief among them is their lackluster call quality and lack of an H1 Wireless Chip. Battery life with either ANC or Transparency mode turned on is a little short at only five hours (15 hours with the case), and their noise cancellation isn’t exactly class-leading, either.

Saying that, they're cheaper than the AirPods Pro and their predecessors, the Powerbeats Pro, making them a more budget-friendly option if you want to buy a pair of Beats earbuds.

Read our full Beats Studio Buds review

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The best Beats earbuds for design

The Beats Studio Buds Plus earbuds are an upgrade to the Beats Studio Buds. So why aren't they higher in our list? Well, despite the fact the Studio Buds Plus are a better pair of true wireless earbuds, they're more expensive and, therefore, not as good value for most people.

That doesn't mean the Beats Studio Buds Plus aren't an accomplished pair of buds, mind you. First up, they're some of the best-looking true wireless earbuds on the market. They don't have the long stems many brands have – we're looking at you, AirPods – but are instead very compact with a transparent design.

Speaking of design, these buds are incredibly comfortable and among the best we've tested in that regard. This means not only are they a good option for all-day listening but because they stay put they're a solid choice for working out.

During our testing, we also rated the battery life on offer here, which is a solid 6 hours from the buds and 24 hours in total from the case with ANC on. Noise cancellation is also worth mentioning, when we were reviewing these buds we managed to block out much of the noise in a relatively loud gym environment.

However, we also commented that the Buds Plus have a crisp sound signature that doesn’t work well for music listening – though it does make phone calls come through clearly – and with no accompanying app there's no way to tweak it.

All in all, these are a good pair of earbuds but you can pick up the Studio Buds for at least $50 / £50 less these days and the improvements are good but not noticeable enough in our books.

Read our full Beats Studio Buds Plus review

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The best Beats earbuds for sports

The PowerBeats Pro true wireless earbuds are special. That's because they do something earbuds often promise on, but rarely deliver: they’re supremely comfortable, sound decent and seem to never, ever fall out.This is (literally) music to the ears of those who like high-intensity workouts but can rarely find buds that keep up – or stay in place.

They might not be the best true wireless earbuds in Apple's audio arsenal now we can choose from the AirPods Pro, but they're Apple’s most premium play into the world ofrunning headphones, and are the buds we'd recommend to most workout enthusiasts for that reason.

That's thanks to features like the pressure-reducing micro-laser barometric venting hole, their long on-board battery life and good sound quality. If we had to choose between wearing these and the original AirPods around the house or office, we'd choose these.

Read our full Beats Powerbeats Pro review

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The best Beats headphones for ANC

With an over-ear, closed back design, the Studio 3 are among the best noise-cancelling headphones Beats has made.

The battery has massively improved since previous models as well, which means you can enjoy music for up to 22 hours, or 40 with the active noise cancellation turned off – you get a similar experience with the Beats Solo Pro.

However, it isn't all good news with the Studio 3. There are sound issues you just don’t hear in other solid headphones at this price. It’s not boomy bass, but a tire of blubber sitting between the bass and mids that makes the Beats Studio 3 Wireless less articulate and open-sounding than most alternatives. This isn't a deal-breaker, but for a fairly premium price it is a little disappointing. Let's hope some of these issues are addressed in the upcoming Beats Studio Pro.

Still, they're a good match for iPhones missing the 3.5mm jack – in fact, you can pair them with any smartphone you have thanks to the Bluetooth technology. The Studio 3s are available in multiple colors too, including red, matte black, white, porcelain rose, blue and shadow grey.

Read our full Beats Studio 3 review

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The best open-ear Beats headphones

The Beats Powerbeats (the PowerBeats 4) are a significant upgrade on the company's wireless workout earbuds, offering a sound quality that's just as good as theBeats Powerbeats Pro. They also boast an IPX4 rating and Apple’s H1 Wireless Chip, which can summon Siri with the sound of your voice.

They’re supposed to last 15 hours per charge – six hours more than the Powerbeats Pro and three more than their predecessors, thePowerbeats 3– and can be paired to multiple devices and share songs wirelessly with another pair of Beats headphones.

They're not quite as good as Apple's high-end alternatives – the Beats Powerbeats Pro and theApple AirPods Pro – especially in terms of the way they fit and sit in your ears, but they have a lot of the same technology and specs to make them a decent cheaper alternative.

Read our full Beats PowerBeats 4 review

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The best wireless Beats headphones

TheseBeats headphoneswere the first fruits of Apple's deal to buy the Beats brand – in terms of actual products at least. That means they're some of the oldest on the list, but we still consider them a solid option if you're looking for a pair of wireless over-ears – especially because they often pop up in deals and during sales seasons.

At first glance, the Solo 3 Wireless don't look all that different to their predecessors, the Solo 2, Apple takeover or not. It's only under further inspection to the internal specs that the improvements become more obvious – Apple's expertise in mobile engineering sees connectivity stabilized and battery life improve.

However, the traditional issues with audio quality are back with the Beats Solo 3 Wireless. Which means we'd only usually recommend these if they're discounted or you're not a Beats brand loyalist, as you'll find better performance from one of the pairs of the best noise-cancelling headphones.

Read our full Beats Solo 3 Wireless review

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The best budget Beats headphones

The Flex are affordable, but still premium, earbuds from Beats. They have traditional Beats sound with a traditional Beats design, as well as many of the same features of other Beats headphones, but at a very non-Beats price.

The price for the Beats Flex is set at $49.99 / £50 (around AU$70) which makes them the cheapest wireless earbuds the company's ever launched.

Some of the most notable features of the Flex include the Apple W1 Wireless Chip; a built-in sensor for auto-play/pause; a 12-hour battery life with Fast Fuel, and, our personal favorite, a laser cut micro-venting chamber to reduce in-ear pressure.

On paper, the Beats Flex are a great deal – and worth it if you have a small budget –but, spend some time with them, and you’ll understand why the price is what it is.We had a hard time getting the fit right and the sound might be good, but it doesn't compare to other headphones out right now.

Read our full Beats Flex review

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The best Beats earbuds for AirPods lovers

Think of the Beats Fit Pro as theApple AirPods Prowith a few modifications and at a lower price. They have a robust feature set that includes active noise cancellation, spatial audio support and hands-free Siri on iOS, as well as a prominent wing tip, which helps to hold them in your ears when you’re working out.

They have slightly better battery life and a smaller carrying case than the olderPowerbeats Pro and deliver better results than the similar-lookingBeats Studio Buds, which makes them well worth an upgrade.

But there are a few niggling issues. Noise cancellation is akin to the AirPods Pro, but they’re not quite as powerful as other earbuds from Bose and Sony. And although the wing tips hold them in place, during our testing we found they also add extra pressure to the outer ears. It's also worth mentioning that Android users won’t quite get the full experience (i.e. spatial audio and hands-free voice assistance) that iOS users get.

But although they're not perfect, these are a snug-fitting, workout-friendly alternative to Apple’s flagship true wireless earbuds.

Read our full Beats Fit Pro review

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The best Beats headphones: FAQs

How we test the best Beats headphones

We've tested all of the best Beats headphones in this guide. Usually when we have a list of the best headphones, we select the cream of the crop and expect them to hit specific criteria to be included.

This guide is a little different as we've included all of the latest Beats headphones you can buy and then ranked them based on which we think are the best and likely to appeal to the widest range of people.

To do that, we tested the headphones putting them specifically through their paces in the areas they're designed to excel. For example, we tested the comfort levels of the Powerbeats Pro, especially when we were exercising, to see if they deserved the title of best workout buds. Similarly, we made sure we tested the Beats Studio 3 Wireless headphones for their noise-cancelling and immersive listening abilities.

However, there were some criteria that we wanted to see from all of the headphones, including a comfortable and solid design, quality audio and good value for money.

The result is a guide to the best Beats headphones that's genuinely useful and easy to understand, whether you're looking for running headphones, cheaper headphones or just headphones to sit back and relax with.

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