While Beats has been busy with the new Solo Buds and the return of speakers with the Pill, it seems the Apple-owned audio brand has also been focused on updating another product… one that’s been in development for five years, as of this story’s publication. The iconic ear-hook Powerbeats Pro are set to make a comeback, at least according to a new teaser video posted to Beats by Dre’s Instagram.
As shown off by LA Dodgers baseball superstar Shohei Ohtani, the Powerbeats Pro 2 are set to arrive in 2025 and will sport a redesigned, modern look. Not much else is known, other than the fact that Ohtani can wear them while batting at the plate and that the caption says they're made “for him.”
Powerbeats Pro 2… coming in 2025
By the time 2025 rolls around, it will have been six years since the Powerbeats Pro were launched in 2019.
During that time, Beats has continued to invest and release other earbuds, all of them directly in-ear – the Fit Pro, Studio Buds Plus, and Solo Buds included. The draw of the Powerbeats Pro is the ear hook, and for those who have been waiting for an upgrade, the faith is being rewarded. The ear hook is in full force on the Powerbeats Pro 2 with more subtle, rounded edges in what I described as a modern look.
According to the presentation video, Ohtani's Powerbeats Pro 2 appear to have a slightly thinner ear hook, but it's hard to say for sure. The bridge from the ear to the hook still has a slope, albeit a bit more pronounced, but like the hook, it's much thinner.
Aside from this quick look at the over-ear Powerbeats Pro 2, everything else is up in the air, including what processor Beats uses inside, the driver to produce audio, and whether they’ve managed to shrink the case size. It’s safe to assume that the Lightning port will be replaced with USB-C, though. A port, like the one on the Solo Buds, likely won’t be removed entirely, though.
The original Powerbeats Pro feature Apple’s H1 chip, a custom unit that supports Spatial Audio, and nine hours of playback. In fact, in TechRadar’s review, the Powerbeats Pro scored a four out of five, with us calling them a big step up from previous Beats headphones and, at the time, “Apple’s most premium workout headphones.” The latter have likely been surpassed by the AirPods Pro or Beats Fit Pro, but for fans of ear hooks, the Powerbeats are probably still the better option.
Those specs seem a little dated now, and Beats could take this opportunity to significantly improve them. It could choose to use its own developed silicon, as with other headphones, or leverage one of Apple's chips.
I think we're all hoping the combined charging and carrying case would at least be smaller. But as someone who used Powerbeats Pro for a while and still uses them occasionally, I'm looking forward to trying out the second generation and I'm grateful that Beats isn't doing away with the ear hooks – if anything, they're making them cooler.
