The highly anticipated Beats 360 are now available for purchase. After being teased prior to the World Cup, Apple’s latest pair of Beats headphones are now on the market. I got an early hands-on with them, and they’re quite an interesting product offering that I’ve thoroughly enjoyed using – though they have one key flaw: no wired connectivity, which will bother some more than others.
Product overview
First things first, the Beats 360 come in at $349.99. At that price, they’re leaning towards the high end of the market, though they still fall well below the AirPods Max at $549. Alongside this launch, the existing Beats Studio Pro are being permanently reduced to a new price of $299.99. Of course, you can find them much cheaper at retailers: they currently run $169.95 on Amazon.
If you’ve been following Beats launches, you’ll know that they sometimes use Apple H1 or H2 chips, and sometimes they use custom Beats silicon. The Beats 360 do use Beats silicon, however there’s one key upgrade here: they now finally support automatic device switching with your Apple Account, Hey Siri support, as well as proper Find My integration. If you’re an Apple fan who’s been eyeing Beats as a more affordable version of AirPods Max, the Beats 360 are closer than ever to providing a true Apple experience. I was certainly pleased when I learned this.
There is one loss compared to most high-end headphones: there’s no automatic pausing when you take them off your head. You learn to live with it, though it takes some time to get used to.
Compared to Beats Studio Pro, the Beats 360 get 12dB louder, and offer 1.75x more active noise cancellation. They also support Adaptive EQ in iOS 27, and are the first Beats headphones to be IPX4 sweat and water resistant. Both offer spatial audio with dynamic head tracking, and the Beats 360 last around 8 hours longer than Beats Studio Pro with ANC turned on.
Beats 360 come in four colors: Cloud, Sky, Black, and Pink. I’ve personally been trying out the Sky’s, but they’re all pretty elegant colors.
Customization
The headlining feature of Beats 360 is their customizable design. You can easily swap out the ear cushions and head cushion for different color options. The ear cushions also have two variants, UltraPlush and Performance Knit. The former will be more comfortable for everyday wear, whereas the latter is better for working out.
Each set of cushions is available for $49.99, though there’s a launch promo while supplies last where you can pick them up for just $9.99. This is an incredible promo for those who want to customize their headphones based on their outfit, or to match their mood. I’d personally take advantage of it.
Customization is really the name of the game with Beats 360. With the four base color options, as well as eight additional cushion options, there are 32 total ways you can mix up your Beats 360. If you mix headband cushions from the earcups, there are up to 256 different options.
You can truly make these headphones yours – which is quite fun. Another advantage to this is the fact that when your ear cushions wear down, you can easily swap them out instead of calling the headphones a loss.
9to5Mac’s Take
The Beats 360 are good headphones for most Apple enthusiasts. If you’re looking to switch away from your AirPods Max to something lighter and more comfortable, I’d say these fit those criteria pretty well, though you’re taking a hit on sound quality. I’d also highly recommend picking up an UltraPlush cushion kit, as I personally find the fabric ones a bit uncomfortable for casual use. With the launch promo for cushion kits, there isn’t much reason not to.
As someone who primarily used AirPods Pro 3 prior to testing out the Beats 360, I’ve actually found myself to much prefer the Beats 360. Noise cancellation is solid, transparency didn’t disappoint, and the fact that they fold down flat didn’t make them too much of a hurdle to fit in my everyday backpack. Of course, earbuds will simply be more convenient for many scenarios, but I found myself missing these headphones when I was away from home (as I couldn’t wear them outdoors during review), which I’ve never really thought for any pair of over-ears in the past.
Frankly, the only major complaint I have with the Beats 360 is that they don’t support wired connectivity. There’s no headphone jack, and USB-C seemingly doesn’t support it either. This is a little bit of an inconvenience if you’re looking to use them in an environment that doesn’t play super nicely with Bluetooth, such as an airplane or with a game console.
Regardless of that, I truly adore what Beats has done with the customizable design. These have been some of my favorite headphones I’ve tested out, even compared to AirPods Max, which I could never get comfortable with because of their weight. Beats 360 have no comfort issues whatsoever, so long as I use the UltraPlush cushions.
Pricing & availability
Beats 360 are launching at $349.99, with deliveries and in-store availability beginning September 24th. You can order them on Amazon and at Apple.com.
The limited-time $9.99 cushion kit promo is available in the US, Canada, the UK, France, China, Australia, and South Korea. It’s valid through October 31st, while supplies last.
My favorite Apple accessory recommendations:
- Anker Ultra-Slim MagSafe Battery Pack
- AirPods Pro 3 (2x ANC vs AirPods Pro 2!)
- Anker Nano 45W Fast Charger with Smart Display
- Anker Prime 3-in-1 25W Compact MagSafe Charger
- Logitech MX Master 4 Mouse for Mac
- AirTag 2 4-pack (50% improved Precision Finding!)
- Belkin MagSafe 3-in-1 Charging Stand for iPhone
Follow Michael: X/Twitter, Bluesky, Instagram
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
Comments