Expert review of the Beats Powerbeats 3 Wireless
In short
- The earplugs have a battery life of 12 hours.
- After 5 minutes of charging you use the ear buds for 1 hour.
- Due to the flexible ear hooks the earplugs do not fall out.
- The earbuds automatically connect to all your Apple devices.
- The buttons respond quickly, making it easy to operate.
- Music with low bass tones sounds tinny.
- The controls are on the left, which is impractical for right-handed people.
First impression
The packaging looks stylish. On the back are the properties of the Powerbeats. This is how I read that the ears are splash-proof. The front is transparent, so the ears are immediately visible. The box contains a total of 4 sizes of caps, a micro USB charging cable, a Dutch manual, a Beats sticker and a nice storage case. I wonder if the earplugs are comfortable, because they feel quite heavy. The ear hooks are in any case flexible. Top that the cable is flat. This will make him less likely to get tangled up.
Sound
Beats is known for his big bass sound and the Powerbeats 3 confirm this once again. Whether this is positive or negative depends on the type of music you listen to. When I listened to hip-hop and dance music with lots of bass in it, it sounded good. Especially during exercise, the stirring Beats sound is fine. I became less enthusiastic about the sound when I put on music without too much bass. For example, Coldplay sounded very tinny.
Battery life
The battery of the Bluetooth earplugs lasts up to 12 hours. Compared to other sport earplugs from the same price range, which often last no more than 8 hours, this is a long time. Are you about to exercise, but is the battery of the ears empty? Then you can use them for 1 hour after 5 minutes of charging thanks to the Fast Fuel technique.
Carrying comfort
First I had the wrong size caps, so I did not hear any bass at all. After finding the right size, it sounded better, they were nicer and ambient noise was considerably reduced. With the cable clip you can tighten or loosen the wire in your neck. The Powerbeats did not fall out of my ears due to the flexible earhooks. My colleague also put the caps in, but suffered from the earhooks in combination with the paws of his glasses.
Controls
Just below the left earpiece is a 3 button remote control. This changes number, pause the music, change the volume, activate your Siri and take incoming calls. The buttons react quickly, making it easy to operate. I think it is as right-handedly impractical that the controls are on the left. The operation works 100% on both Apple and Android devices. The earbuds automatically connect to all your Apple devices.