Beats Powerbeats Fit: Tested review

I had high expectations for the Powerbeats Fit. The Beats Fit Pro are some of my favorite earbuds ever, so much so that I ditched my AirPods Pro for months in favor of their more colorful design and snugger fit. So when a sequel got announced, I couldn’t wait to get them in my ears. When I finally did, I was disappointed to realize that they’re pretty much the same earbuds I tested back in 2021.

Of course, more of the same isn’t entirely a bad thing. The Powerbeats Fit have the same workout-friendly ear wings and great sound quality that made the Fit Pro some of the best wireless earbuds, and their slimmer case, slightly longer battery life and new color options are small but welcome tweaks. Still, after spending a few weeks with Beats’ latest buds — and after enjoying the much more advanced Powerbeats Pro 2 and AirPods Pro 3 that launched earlier this year — I can’t help but feel like the Powerbeats Fit are stuck in the past.

If there’s one thing I’m glad Beats didn’t mess with, it’s the design. The Powerbeats Fit have the same excellent look and feel as their Fit Pro predecessors, with those signature wing tips that nestle into your outer ear to add some extra stability while remaining light and unobtrusive. I’ve worn these for close to two weeks now for commutes, walks, hours-long work sessions and sweaty basketball shootarounds, and they’ve remained comfortable and secure the whole time.

Much like the AirPods Pro 2 before them, the Powerbeats Fit include an additional XS size option alongside the usual small, medium and large ear tips, so you’ve got plenty of options for finding the right fit. (Apple’s Ear Tip Fit Test would suggest I’m a large, but I prefer the fit of the mediums) If you’re like me and don’t like earbuds that hook around your ear like the Powerbeats Pro 2 do, you’ll likely find the Powerbeats Fit to be a perfect middle ground.

I thought the Beats Fit Pro case was a little too bulky, which is why I’m glad to see that it’s around 17% smaller and much more pocketable this time around. I’m also a big fan of the new Spark Orange color, which feels like the perfect complement to the new orange iPhone 17 Pro (and, more importantly, matches my collection of New York Knicks gear). That said, I couldn’t resist going with Power Pink as my main pair, especially since they match my Beats phone case. Either way, props to Beats for continuing to offer nice hues, especially when the AirPods continue to be stuck with the same ol’ boring white.

Reliable sound, ANC and battery life

I switched to the Powerbeats Fit after almost a month with the excellent AirPods Pro 3, and I don’t really feel like I’ve made a big sacrifice when it comes to music playback. Beats’ latest buds made it easy to soak up every detail of my favorite tracks, whether I was taking in the meaty triple-guitar attack of The Wonder Years’ “I Don’t Like Who I Was Back Then” or enjoying the layered vocal harmonies of Jay Som’s “Float.” The Powerbeats Fit have the same excellent head-tracked Spatial Audio as most recent Apple headphones, which made the big power chords and lush horn sections of Turnstile’s “Dreaming” sound stadium-sized as I moved my neck around to hear different parts.

The Fit’s active noise cancellation (ANC) held up well, making commutes a little more bearable and performing roughly on par with my AirPods Pro 3 when it came to quieting down my rackety air conditioner. The earbuds’ Transparency mode was as reliable as I’ve come to expect from an Apple product, allowing me to stay aware of nearby pedestrians and cars during my daily dog strolls.

Beats’ latest earbuds got a slight bump in the battery life department, rated for up to seven hours of nonstop playback and up to 30 hours with the case. That’s a nice improvement over the six-hour/24-hour battery we got from the Beats Fit Pro and compares well to the AirPods Pro 3’s rating of eight hours on a charge and 24 hours total. You’re getting Beats’ usual Fast Fuel tech too, meaning you can get about an hour of playback from a quick five minutes of USB-C charging.

The Powerbeats Fit also seem to be holding up well in my own use. After roughly two weeks with Beats’ buds, I’ve only had to charge up the case a handful of times. That said, folks looking for something better suited to a long day of training might want to consider the Powerbeats Pro 2, which are rated for 10 hours of playback and 45 hours with the case.

Cross-platform support remains excellent

One of my favorite things about Beats headphones is that they work equally well on iOS and Android, and that remains the case with the Powerbeats Fit. I was prompted to pair them to my iPhone 16 Pro the second I opened their case (much like you may be used to from your AirPods), saving me from having to fuss with any settings menus. Pairing the buds to my Google Pixel 10 was a bit more of a manual process, but I was all set up within a few taps.

If you’re an Apple user, you can change sound modes, customize the controls and do an Ear Tip Fit Test right in your iOS settings; if you’re team Android, you can do all these things by simply downloading the free Beats app. While the Powerbeats Fit are still behind the AirPods Pro in some key ways, they’re far and away the better choice for folks with Android phones.

While the Powerbeats Pro retain everything I loved about the Beats Fit Pro back in 2021, they don’t make any notable steps forward. I was expecting the heart rate sensing found on this year’s Powerbeats Pro 2 and AirPods Pro 3 to make their way to the Fit, but alas, it’s not here. After the Powerbeats Pro 2 finally shipped with a wireless charging case (a first for Beats earbuds), the lack of one on the Powerbeats Fit feels like a step backward.

I applauded the Fit Pro’s reliable physical controls a few years back, but their functionality and customization feels far more limited than what the latest AirPods Pro and Powerbeats offer. As someone who often relies on Adaptive mode, which offers a blend of ANC and Transparency based on your surroundings, on my AirPods Pro 3, I was bummed to see that the Fit earbuds still don’t offer that either.

These shortcomings made a little more sense when I looked at the spec sheet, as the Powerbeats Fit pack the same older Apple H1 chip as their predecessor and not the H2 processor found on the latest Beats and Apple buds. While the Powerbeats Fit still perform well in everyday use, it’s hard to shake the feeling that they’re a mere repackaging and not a proper sequel.

Processor	Apple H1	Apple H1	Apple H2
Battery life	7 hrs. continuous, 30 hrs. with case	6 hrs. continuous, 24 hrs. with case	10 hrs. continuous, 45 hrs. with case
Wireless charging	No	No	Yes
Water resistance	IPX4	IPX4	IPX4
Ear tip sizes	XS, S, M, L	S, M, L	XS, S, M, L, XL
Heart rate monitoring	No	No	Yes
Colors	Jet Black, Gravel Gray, Spark Orange, Power Pink	Beats Black, Beats White, Sage Gray, Stone Purple; Coral Pink; Volt Yellow; Tidal Blue	Jet Black, Quick Sand, Hyper Purple, Electric Orange
Price	$200	From $150	$249

Taken on their own, the Powerbeats Fit are an excellent pair of exercise earbuds. Everything that made the Beats Fit Pro our best workout headphones pick is accounted for here, including that secure but unobtrusive wingtip design, great sound quality and smooth functionality regardless of what kind of phone you have. But when better options have popped up in the years since their release, the Powerbeats Fit are hard to give a full recommendation.

If you want a more fully featured fitness experience, both the AirPods Pro 3 and the clip-on Powerbeats Pro 2 offer handy heart rate sensing for workouts and useful wireless charging for when you’re back from the gym. And if you do like the Powerbeats Fit’s distinct wing tip design, the older Beats Fit Pro are nearly identical and usually available for $50 less these days. There’s still plenty to like about the Powerbeats Fit, but you can do better for the money in 2025.

CNN Underscored thoroughly tests the products we review and provides full transparency about how we test them. We have a skilled team of writers and editors who have many years of testing experience and ensure each article is carefully edited and products are properly vetted. Senior tech editor Mike Andronico has been writing tested reviews of electronics for more than a decade, and if you see him out in public, he’s likely wearing his second or third new pair of earbuds of the month. As an avid Beats Fit Pro proponent, he’s got some especially strong feelings about Beats’ latest.