Review: Beats by Dre Powerbeats2 Wireless Headphones

Favored for their pre-game music by soccer superstars such as Neymar, Cesc Fabregas, Robin Van Persie (remember the epic 2014 World Cup video?) along with athletes across every sport, Beats By Dre has released the groundbreaking Powerbeats2 wireless headphones. You may have seen them in TV spots featuring sporting royalty Serena Williams. Now we’ve got a real world look at them. Read on to find out what they’re like!

What Beats by Dre Says About the Powerbeats2 Headphones

Completely redesigned, Powerbeats2 Wireless revolutionizes the workout experience. Inspired by LeBron James, the wireless earphone brings to life enhanced performance with its sweat and water-resistant design, 30ft Bluetooth connection, rechargeable battery, 6-hour nonstop playback, and Beats signature sound.

What’s in the Box

– Powerbeats2 Wireless earphones with RemoteTalk™ wrap around cable
– Hard shell carrying case
– Universal micro USB cable
– Cable management clip
– Four (4) pairs of multi-sized/shaped ear tips
– Quick Start guide

What We Thought

With limited marketing Beats By Dre has become a modern business phenomenon. Their headphones are now as ubiquitous as the iPhone of now parent company Apple. They’ve established a good reputation via word of mouth advertising so we were excited to try out the Powerbeats2.

Design

Unlike anything seen to date! The Powerbeats2’s beauty is in its simplicity. When running or at the gym the last things you want with are headphone wires getting in your way and earphones slipping out of your ears (we’ve all been there). The Powerbeats2 have pliable over the ear hooks that let you get them in place. Both fairly small side are joined by a flattened cord that sits comfortably behind the next. A volume adjustment / microphone combination sits on the cables left side. There is a bit of electronics with the Beats By Dre logo on each headphone that does the signal to noise work to give you the workout tunes you so crave.

We tested the “Apple white” version of the Powerbeats2 headphones as worn by Cesc Fabregas. As you can see from our pictures, they look completely modern and are quite eye-catching.  Fellow runners and gymrats thought the same as we noticed many look of admiration from those poor souls trying to maintain their fitness in between long dangling wires.

Fit

The Beats By Dre Powerbeats2 comes with four pairs of ear tips in varying sizes. The small ones that seem to be the on the default build of the headphones did not offer a perfect fit for any of the team at Football Fashion so we opted for a pair of the larger tips. They worked as we wanted and protected the inside of our ears from the plastic portion of the headphones that go inside your ears.

The ear hooks can be adjusted to give an excellent fit as long as you are either not wearing glasses or wearing spectacles with thin wired arms. If you’re a hipster rocking wayfarer styled classes with wide plastic arms or some beefier running shades then you’ll find that you have to stick some of the arms under the ear hooks. This creates a loss of sound and bass from the Powerbeats2. The only fix we could find for this was to lose the glasses or wear Aviators (sine they’re the coolest  wire framed sunglasses around).

Sound

This is what matters the most and wear Beats By Dre have established their reputation. Getting straight to the point we will say that the Powerbeats2 delivers a fantastic audio experience. Queue your favorite tracks or pull up your favorite music app and immerse yourself in the music of your choice. There is absolutely nothing to complain about as long as you’re playing quality files or have a good stream via your phone. We tested the Powerbeats2 using IHeartRadio, Spotify and 320 kbps music files. The sound quality was comparable to the crisp, clear aural experience you get from high-end wired headphones.

We will point out that the Powerbeats2 headphones are not noise canceling by design. Since they will be used by outdoor runners, noise cancellation would be dangerous since the sounds of bicycles and cars will not be heard. Using snugger fitting ear tips from the collection provided does drown out more ambient sound but not all of it. You’ve got to turn these up high to fully block out the loud grunters at the gym. The good thing is that the sound quality does not deteriorate when doing so.

Extras

The Beats By Dre Powerbeats2 package is impressive and does include a couple of value adds that we really appreciate.

The first is the short USB cable for charging the headphones and upgrading firmware. They fit in the headphones carrying case and plug into a small micro USB slot at the bottom side of the left headphone. This is great for getting a quick charge off your laptop when needed (and particularly at work).

The hard carrying case is another favorite of ours. The Powerbeats2 cost $199 and are a big investment for many athletes. The hardcase keeps them well-protected.

Verdict

No long wires, sexy in design, sweatproof, great sound and including a few extras – the Beats By Dre Powerbeats2 headphones are a must-have for hard-training athletes for the Fall / Winter season of 2014. With Christmas coming we recommend adding them to your wish list or gifting them to the special athlete in your life.