Meet the tester
Beats Fit Pro: first impressions
These Beats Fit Pro buds have achieved what all the other in-ear running headphones I’ve tested haven’t: they don't fall out. With three sizes of ear bud tips and a bendy arm that slots into your ear to secure the fit for fast running and thumpy, hilly trail running, these headphones stay comfortable for over two hours.
• List price: $200 (USA) / £220 (UK)
• Weight (out of case): 11g / 0.4oz
• Weight (with case): 55g / 2oz
• Colors: Black / Dark Gray / Gray / Navy / Coral / Yellow / Lilac / White
• Water protection: IPX4 – splashproof
• Battery life buds/case: 6/18 hours
• Quick charge time: 5 mins for 1hr playback
• Full charge time: 1.5 hours
• Charger type: Case & USB-C to USB-C cable
• Dual device connection: No
• Best for: Running, trail running, gym workouts, commuting, home chores, walking
The sound quality is also as excellent as you would expect from Beats, for music, podcasts and calls. It’s easy to play, stop, skip tracks, call Siri and switch from noise cancellation mode to ‘transparent’ mode, which lets in some ambient sound.
On a busy road you can immediately hear much more traffic noise and on the trails you’re suddenly reminded of the grit, grit, grit sound of your feet on the path alongside twittering birdsong. There’s also a woosh of wind noise on a blustery day, but the mics seemed to cope better with this than my favorite bone-conduction headphones, the Shokz OpenRun Pro. (That said, even the Fit Pro’s Transparent mode struggles to compete with bonephones if you really want to feel safely connected to your environment while outside.)
The battery life is not as good as many of its competitors, running at six hours rather than the more standard eight or 10, but the charging case is light enough to carry with you for an extra 18 hours of power.
The headphones are only splashproof, but that’s good enough for most of the situations you’d be wearing these in – just don’t forget to take them out when you get in the shower!
Beats Fit Pro: on the trails
“Disaster!” I thought at first. “These pop straight out of my ears!” Then I lifted the charger case tray out of the way to reveal a set of smaller and larger silicone ear tips, nestled neatly like four blueberries next to the charging cable.
As soon as I slotted the smallest ones on, I was able to twist the buds securely into my lugholes and hook the bendy wings into the outer ear – eureka! At last! These are the first pair of in-ear buds I’ve used that don’t wriggle their way out like little bugs determined to ping back into the undergrowth never to be seen again.
I was dead pleased and immediately took them on a local run here in Stamford, Lincolnshire, taking in both busy roads and trails to see how the Transparent mode compared to bonephones and over-ear headphones.
Unsurprisingly, this type of headphone still comes in last when it comes to hearing outside noise, but there’s most definitely a difference between the Active Noise Cancelling mode and Transparent. I won’t be ditching the Shokz OpenRun Pro yet, but I will be switching to these super light earbuds on windier days when my bonephones don’t go loud enough for me to hear my beloved podcasts on long ultra training runs.
