Best Beats headphones 2020

The Studio 3 Wireless are the most fully featured Beats headphones and have a decent claim to be the best you can buy. This also means they are the most expensive, but their RRP still undercuts similar products from Bose and Sony.

They work best with an iPhone or iPad but it’s great that you could use them with any other Bluetooth device should you want to. Sound quality is close to as good as you’ll find on headphones for this price, but they may not be the ones to go for if your main musical love is loud, guitar-led rock music.

That said, it’s hard to fault the Studio 3 headphones and they stand out further thanks to exceptional comfort and class-leading battery life.

The Powerbeats (2020) are a classy pair of Bluetooth headphones that will suit runners with a penchant for bass-heavy music. They’re good value for money, too.

They fit snugly, resulting in solid passive noise isolation and very little chance of them falling out of your ears; this is backed up by both ear hooks and a neck cable which might even be overkill, and do make the headphones difficult to put on and take off.

Audio quality fulfils all the promises and the Powerbeats are particularly good at delivering that essential bass punch. But they’re not one-trick ponies, and gentler tracks were still rendered with warmth and detail.

Finally, battery life is excellent, and while Fast Fuel wasn’t quite as effective for us as the manufacturer predicted, it remains a useful option for quick-charge emergencies.

Those on a tighter budget should look to the Beats Flex considering they are available for under £50/$50 making them the cheapest wireless headphones Beats has made.

Despite being cheap, the Flex headphones still offer strong performance with good audio quality and a solid 12 hours of battery life before you need to charge. 

There are colourful designs on offer, you won’t lose them easily but they don’t come with any water resistance.

Powerbeats Pro will appeal to a particular kind of user and they will sort of have to considering the price, which is more than a pair of AirPods and a lot of other Beats headphones.

However, they fit a lot better, offer higher quality audio and longer battery life too. These features, along with waterproofing, make them a perfect choice for runners, gym bunnies and anything in between. 

A chunky case to fit the large design is a downer and we’ve had connectivity issues using them with Android phones but it’s likely you’re an iPhone user anyway.

If you can afford them, then the Solo Pro are excellent headphones and easily one of the best pairs of Beats you can buy. They are, of course, especially good for iPhone users.

While they don’t move things on a huge amount compared to the Solo 3, the design has been tweaked, they sound better and namely add active noise cancelling.

Nothing is exactly ground-breaking but these are the on-ear wireless headphones to get if you want the best to go with your iPhone. Look to the Solo 3 if you want something cheaper and don’t need noise cancelling.

If you’re looking for a stylish, discreet pair of earphones, the BeatsX are an ideal option. Featuring a variety of wingtips and eartips to find the perfect fit, the BeatsX stay securely in your ears no matter what you’re doing. They’re incredibly lightweight and comfortable to wear, thanks in part to the Flex Foam cable.

The highlight of the BeatsX is, surprisingly, in the battery department. It features Fast Fuel tech that provides two hours of playback with five minutes of charging, and can go from flat-to-full in only 40 minutes. 

In the sound department, the BeatsX don’t disappoint. The bass is punchy but not overpowering like older Beats headphones, providing nice, balanced audio with warm mids and crisp highs. 

Our one disappointment is that these sporty earphones don’t offer any kind of water- or even sweat-resistance.

If you just want a simple and no-nonsense pair of Beats headphones then the EPs fit the bill.

They’re affordable and get the job done with minimal fuss. Plug them in, put them on and you’re away. Considering the price difference to some pairs, we’re impressed with the build quality and sound performance.

These are the everyman’s Beats.

The Beats Solo 3 Wireless are potentially amazing headphones – assuming you’re happy with the familiar plastic (and durable) design to start with.

We’re impressed with the features on offer here, particularly the best battery life we’ve ever seen on a pair of wireless headphones.

Sound quality is good, but more than most headphones you need to be a fan of bass-dominant music for the Solo 3 Wireless to suit you. If you’re likely to listen to other genres far more, then we’d recommend looking elsewhere.

If you must have Beats and you want in-ear wired headphones then the urBeats3 are the best you can get. Their audio is similar to the wireless BeatsX but with the advantage of a headphone jack.

Comfort was a slight issue for us over extended periods, but you might find otherwise. With an RRP at under half the price of the BeatsX, the urBeats3 are a bit of a steal.