The Powerbeats Pro 2 are the workout earbuds to beat: a fit that never moves, SoundGuys-measured 83% noise reduction, and battery life double the AirPods Pro. The heart-rate monitor is the caveat — inconsistent at high intensity, and it can't stream to gym equipment while your iPhone plays music. Buy them for the fit, not the sensor.
— THE VERDICT · JUDGEANY EDITORSWhat the Powerbeats Pro 2 are
Launched February 2025 at $249.99, the Powerbeats Pro 2 are Beats' first earbuds to combine active noise cancelling with heart-rate monitoring, running on Apple's H2 chip. On iOS you get the full one-touch treatment — hands-free Siri, Find My, automatic switching — while Android gets a solid Beats app with heart-rate support. The pitch is straightforward: ear hooks that refuse to budge, battery life roughly double the AirPods Pro, and a sensor in each bud. Everything below comes from published tests and owner reports — JudgeAny runs no lab and tested nothing here ourselves.
Fit and comfort
This is the least contested part of the product. RTINGS calls the fit secure and stable; The Verge scored them 8/10 overall with comfort central to the praise; TechRadar called them the most comfortable and secure workout earbuds it has used. The hooks are now reinforced with a nickel-titanium alloy, Beats says the buds are 20% lighter than the original (8.7 g per bud), and five ear-tip sizes (XS–XL) ship in the box. Long-wear comfort is the weak point: The Telegraph reported a dull throb from the hooks after extended sessions, and Digital Trends flagged wearing comfort too. But across nearly every published review, the finding is the same — these do not fall out.
Sound quality
Sound is workout-forward rather than reference-flat. RTINGS describes a balanced sound profile that suits all kinds of audio, while SoundGuys' frequency-response measurements show a U-shaped tuning — emphasized sub-bass and treble with recessed vocals — that tracks their preference curve more closely with ANC on and thins out below 500 Hz with ANC off. SoundGuys' verdict on the sound is quotable and fair: "fine for working out, but not great for any critical listening." There is no custom EQ; tuning follows Apple's Adaptive EQ, so the practical rule is to leave ANC on.
Noise cancelling
This is where the evidence is strong but not unanimous. SoundGuys measured an average 83% reduction in outside noise with ANC on — in line with the AirPods Pro 2 and, in their data, not far behind the AirPods Pro 3's 90%. RTINGS calls the ANC "remarkably effective," and 9to5Mac's reviewer said it might be the best ANC he's experienced in earbuds, better than the AirPods Pro 2 in his testing. The counterpoint: CNN Underscored compared the Powerbeats Pro 2 side by side against the AirPods Pro 2 and found the Beats' suppression "a tad weaker," wishing for more on subway cars full of chatty commuters. Owner impressions mostly back the optimistic side — Best Buy's review summaries (4.4/5 across 1,654 reviews) and Laptop Mag's notes on launch-era Amazon reviews (averaging 4.0/5) both show praise for noise cancelling alongside fit and sound. Transparency mode, by most accounts including CNN's, is natural and genuinely useful for outdoor runs.
Heart-rate monitoring: the caveat
The headline feature is also the most contested. Each bud carries an optical sensor — Beats says the LEDs pulse over 100 times per second — that doubles as a standard Bluetooth heart-rate broadcast for gym equipment and fitness apps. Android Central tested against a Polar H10 chest strap for a week and found the readings excellent. DC Rainmaker's chest-strap-referenced testing told a different story: largely good on an indoor trainer until hard sprint intervals, then — his words — a "hot mess" on outdoor runs, with repeated dropouts and, in one session, inaccuracies across most of the run. There is also a confirmed platform limitation: Apple told DC Rainmaker you cannot listen to music from your iPhone while the buds are paired to gym equipment for heart-rate data, a limitation corroborated by multiple reviewers and user reports, though Android users fare better. Bottom line: treat heart-rate monitoring as a bonus, not a reason to buy. If training data matters to you, a chest strap or an Apple Watch remains the reliable choice.
Battery, calls, and platform quirks
Battery is the clear win here. Beats rates 10 hours per charge (45 with the case) with ANC off, or 8 hours (36 with the case) with ANC on; Fast Fuel gives 90 minutes of playback from a 5-minute charge, and the case supports USB-C and Qi wireless charging. The Telegraph drained a pair in real use and got 9 hours 21 minutes with a mix of ANC and Transparency; RTINGS measured 7.1 hours. Call quality is solid indoors, with computational voice isolation handling wind better than most workout buds, though RTINGS found the mic "a bit muffled." On iOS you get the full suite — one-touch pairing, hands-free Siri, audio sharing, Find My — while Android users get one-touch pairing, the Beats app, and heart-rate support. Missing versus AirPods Pro 2: multipoint pairing, Adaptive Audio, Conversation Awareness, and Precision Finding for the case.