Beats Powerbeats Pro 2 Review: Outstanding Running Earbuds With One Big Caveat

Introduction

The Powerbeats Pro stuck around a long time, and for good reason: the ear hook design delivered one of the most secure fits in sports audio. The Powerbeats Pro 2 finally arrives as a proper successor, and it brings meaningful upgrades: heart rate tracking from the ears, active noise cancellation, transparency mode, a smaller charging case with wireless charging, and a slimmer, lighter body that is noticeably more comfortable on long runs.

Testing across marathon training weeks, including well over a hundred miles of indoor and outdoor running plus cycling, yoga and strength workouts, these earbuds proved comfortable, secure and reliable. The heart rate feature is the weak link, but the essentials are excellent.

Who This Product Is For

The Powerbeats Pro 2 are aimed at runners and gym-goers who have struggled to keep regular in-ear buds in place. The ear hook is essentially a guarantee of fit: if buds with wings or plain in-ears keep slipping, this design holds firm. It also suits anyone who wants physical buttons rather than touch controls, and who values long battery life for training weeks rather than casual listening sessions.

If you are happy with standard in-ear buds, cheaper and equally capable alternatives exist, and the Jabra Elite 8 Active Gen 2 offers better noise cancellation at a considerably lower price. But if fit security is your priority, these stand out.

Design and Fit

The new design is smaller, lighter and slightly more vertical than the original, which makes it sit more comfortably on the ear and easier to wear alongside glasses and hats. The smaller charging case is a genuine improvement too, since the old one was bulky and heavy, though it still is not especially pocket friendly.

Comfort is the real story here. The ear hook takes some of the pressure off the ear canal, so the in-ear part does not need to jam in as tightly as it does with winged buds, which makes long sessions far more tolerable. Across many hours of running and daily wear, the fit never shifted and never got uncomfortable. Compared with the Beats Fit Pro, which caused comfort problems on longer runs, this is a clear step up.

Controls and Sound Quality

Physical controls are a highlight. Two volume rockers sit on the outside of the buds, one on each side, and a simple multifunction button handles playback and listening modes. Everything works even with gloves or mittens on, which is exactly what you want from running headphones.

Sound follows the classic Beats formula: big bass, plenty of volume and good clarity in the higher ranges, with a bit more balance and finesse than the original. That makes them versatile enough for podcasts and audiobooks as well as bass-heavy running playlists. Call quality is very good without being exceptional.

Active noise cancellation works well indoors, quietly cleaning up treadmill and bike noise, but it falls short of the best from Bose, Jabra and the AirPods Pro 2, and it does not filter wind noise effectively. Outdoors, transparency mode is the more practical choice, and it performs well, keeping you aware of traffic and surroundings without popping a bud out.

Heart Rate Monitoring: The Big Caveat

The headline feature is a first for Apple and Beats: an optical heart rate sensor in each earbud, using both signals plus the onboard accelerometer to compensate for movement. It works with both Android and iOS, and can pair with compatible gym equipment.

The problem is compatibility and consistency. On iOS, support is limited to a small set of apps, and pairing with a Garmin or COROS watch does not work, scrambling the data if you try. On Android, the experience was noticeably better, with solid readings through compatible apps that came close to a chest strap on easy and long runs. On iOS, results ranged from one brilliant interval session that matched a chest strap beat for beat, to runs marred by dropouts and cadence lock, where the buds tracked stride rhythm instead of heart rate.

The verdict: this is not a feature to buy these earbuds for right now. It needs to just work, and it does not yet. If Apple opens up support and polishes the reliability, that could change.

Battery Life

Battery life is strong. You get up to 10 hours per charge with ANC off, an hour more than the original, and a total of around 45 hours with the case, up from 24. Fast charging delivers roughly 90 minutes of playback from a five-minute charge.

Real-world use comfortably hit a full training week on regular top-ups, with only about 10 percent drain per hour of running when using ANC or transparency. Some smaller buds offer more per charge, but for ear-hook sports earbuds this is among the best available.

Buying Advice

At £249 in the UK and $249 in the US, the Powerbeats Pro 2 are expensive, and better value exists elsewhere if you do not need the ear hook. The Jabra Elite 8 Active Gen 2 is cheaper with better ANC; the AirPods Pro 2 are excellent but need third-party wings to stay put on runs; the Bose QC Earbuds Gen 2 offer impressive sound and ANC at a lower price; and budget ear-hook options from JBL and JLab cost considerably less, though with fewer features and less polish.

If in-ear buds simply will not stay in your ears, however, the Powerbeats Pro 2 are the most complete ear-hook option on the market right now, and a worthy upgrade over the original in comfort, sound, ANC and battery life.

Conclusion

Put the heart rate monitoring aside and the Powerbeats Pro 2 are outstanding sports headphones: secure, genuinely comfortable, loud and balanced, with useful ANC and transparency and battery life that will outlast your training week. The heart rate feature shows promise but is too fiddly and inconsistent to rely on, particularly on iOS. Buy them as premium running earbuds, not as a chest strap replacement, and you will not be disappointed.