Odi Productions
In this article, I’m going to share my HONEST Beats Studio Buds Plus review for those who are wondering whether they are WORTH IT. I’ll also be comparing the Beats Studio Buds Plus vs Beats Studio Buds, Powerbeats Fit, AirPods Pro 3 and 2, AirPods 4 ANC, Powerbeats Pro 2, and more!
I’m going to do my best to share whether these earbuds are worth it, and ideally who these headphones are for. I bought these earbuds with my own money, and was NOT sponsored, paid, or received a free copy for review. All thoughts are my own.
I’ll be sharing my critical opinion with 10 years of experience as a professional music producer, audio engineer, and tech journalist. I also run the RecordingNow YouTube channel with over 25,000+ subscribers and over 5 million views.
Let’s dive right in!
Beats Studio Buds Plus Review in Short
The Beats Studio Buds Plus is comfortable and is a valid AirPods-alternative with native Android support, but is not very competitive in its noise cancelling or sound quality anymore. Personally, I’d much rather have the AirPods Pro 3, AirPods 4 ANC, or Beats Powerbeats Pro 2. Competes with Beats Studio Buds, AirPods Pro 2, Sony WF-1000XM6, Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Pro, and Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds 2nd Gen.
Pros and Cons
- Comfortable fit
- iOS and Android app support
- Noise cancelling is below average
- Sound quality is mediocre
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Comfort + Features
Comfort
I find the Beats Studio Buds Plus to be very comfortable earbuds with quite a small form factor and size.
They stay fairly secure inside of the ear canals without needing to be wedged too deep inside the canal.
Because these are in-ears with eartips, they are more like the AirPods Pro models instead of regular AirPods.
That said, I do prefer how the Beats “Powerbeats” lineup like the Powerbeats Fit and Pro 2 have more secure designs such as wingtips and ear-hooks, creating a more consistent seal.
One small nitpick about the Beats Studio Buds Plus design is that they don’t have a stem, so they can be tricky to handle and can slip out of your hands when putting inside or taking out of the charging case.
Features
The Beats Studio Buds Plus was originally released in May 2023, so it has many modern wireless earbud features:
- IPX4 water resistance rating (resistant to sweat and splashes of water)
- Built-in microphones for taking calls
- Bluetooth 5.3
- Multi-point connection
- Adaptive Noise Cancelling
- Transparency Mode
- Native apps for both iOS and Android
It’s really important to emphasize that unlike AirPods, the Beats lineup of earbuds does have native Android app support. This can be a game-changer for getting the most out of the earbuds vs AirPods which are more limited on Android.
Microphone Quality
The microphone quality on the Beats Studio Buds Plus is serviceable in quieter environments, but isn’t as impressive as the Beats Powerbeats or AirPods lineup that utilizes Apple’s H1 and especially the newer H2 chips.
The Beats Studio Buds Plus is a bit older and utilizes a different chip, resulting in more background noise seeping in and a less-natural voice.
Overall, if microphone quality is important to you, there are much better options in this class.
Battery Life
- With ANC on: 6 hours of battery life on a single charge
- With ANC off: 9 hours on a single charge / 36 hours total with charging case
- Fast Charge: 5 minutes = 1 hour of playback
This battery life is fairly average for the class, which tends to be around 6 hours with noise cancelling turned on.
This is a bit overshadowed by the best-in-class Beats Powerbeats Pro 2 that boasts up to 10 hours on a single charge and a whopping 45 hours with charging case.
Comfort + Features Score: 9.0 out of 10
Active Noise Cancelling (ANC) Performance
As mentioned in the microphone quality section above, the Beats Studio Buds Plus doesn’t have the benefit of Apple’s H1/H2 chip like the Beats Powerbeats Fit and Powerbeats Pro 2.
Because of this, I find the noise cancelling performance to be a clear step down from both Powerbeats models, and especially the flagship Pro 2 utilizing the newer H2 chip.
The noise cancelling is improved over the regular non-plus Beats Studio Buds model, but I still put it at below average for the class as a whole.
In very noisy environments, I just find that a lot of noise gets through compared to most earbuds I’ve tested.
Also, the Transparency mode has been improved from the non-plus, but it has quite a fair bit of hiss and doesn’t sound natural like the AirPods lineup.
Noise Cancelling Score: 6.0 out of 10
Sound Quality
The Beats Studio Buds Plus has a little more balanced tuning than I was expecting, focusing more on the vocals in the midrange and treble instead of bass.
Frankly, I’m a bit underwhelmed by the sound quality and tuning.
I’d like to hear a more “fun” consumer-friendly tuning for these that emphasizes bass, as the bass is non-existent at times.
The vocals can be detailed, but they don’t really sound warm or natural.
I much prefer the sound on the AirPods, including the regular AirPods 4 ANC, but especially the AirPods Pro 3.
For the Beats lineup, only the Powerbeats Pro 2 impressed me when it comes to sound quality, which I would still put below the AirPods Pro 3.
Sound Quality Score: 6.7 out of 10
Value
The Beats Studio Buds Plus retails for $169.95 USD but can be sometimes found on sale for as low as $99.95.
At the sub-$100 sale price, I think the Beats Studio Buds Plus is okay, but they’re aging now and there’s plenty of other options I’d rather have with better noise cancelling and sound quality.
I do like the comfort and small form-factor of these, but I’d rather have the AirPods 4 ANC instead.
The $100 price bracket is getting pretty competitive these days, with newer options like SoundPEATS H3 on sale, EarFun Air Pro 4+, and Soundcore Liberty 5, to name a few.
Value Score: 6.5 out of 10
Overall Scoring Breakdown
Comfort + Features (15% of score): 9.0 / 10
Noise Cancelling (25% of score): 6.0 / 10
Sound Quality (50% of score): 6.7 / 10
Value (10% of score): 6.5 / 10
Total: 6.20 out of 10
Is the Beats Studio Buds Plus Worth it?
Personally, I think this one’s a skip.
I like the comfort, the look, and the native Android and Apple support, but the noise cancelling and sound quality just aren’t that competitive for me.
The sub-$100 price point is attractive, but there’s many competitors around this price like SoundPEATS H3 (on sale), EarFun Air Pro 4+, and Soundcore Liberty 5, that are much more compelling.
Within the Beats lineup, I like the Powerbeats Pro 2 and Powerbeats Fit better.
For Apple users, I prefer either the AirPods Pro 3, AirPods 4 ANC, or even the older AirPods Pro 2 as well.
Some very strong alternatives in this class of wireless earbuds are:
- AirPods 4 ANC
- Beats Powerbeats Pro 2
- Beats Powerbeats Fit
- AirPods Pro 3
- Sony Linkbuds Fit
- Beats Studio Buds
- Nothing Ear 3
- Sony WF-1000XM6
- Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Pro
- Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds 2nd Gen
- Status Pro X
- Sony WF-1000XM5
- Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 4
- Google Pixel Buds Pro 2
- Apple AirPods Pro 2
- Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro
- Technics EAH-AZ100
- Bowers & Wilkins Pi8
- SoundPEATS H3
- Denon PerL Pro
- OnePlus Buds Pro 3
Order HERE for the LOWEST PRICE AVAILABLE (Do NOT pay retail):
Save money with RENEWED!
Disclosure: These affiliate links may provide a discount and in return, give us a commission in order to keep this website 100% independent to ensure honest unfiltered reviews 🙂
How We Tested and Our Methodology
RecordingNOW.com is a 100% independent publisher with over 10 years of experience testing and reviewing consumer electronics and headphones.
We currently purchase the products we test with our own money, and are not paid by any company or manufacturer to influence our opinions or decisions.
After purchasing the product, we conduct up to hundreds of hours of detailed hands-on testing in a controlled, acoustically-treated environment.
ODi Productions is our resident expert and author of this article, with 10 years of experience as a professional music producer, tech journalist, and audiophile.
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