BeatsX Wireless In Ear Headphones Review

BeatsX Pros&Cons

Pros

  • Good design
  • Fast charging
  • Sound quality

Cons

  • Perhaps not intended for sports
  • Sound quality relative to price


BeatsX Specs

  • Battery life: Up to 8 hours
  • Connectivity: Bluetooth
  • Form factor: Neckband IEMs
  • Weight: 20g

Packaging

The BeatsX’s packaging is pretty much identical to that of other Beats products’, and is rather unsurprisingly Apple-esque. The front of the box is almost entirely made up of a transparent window, clearly displaying the BeatsX in all its glory, along with a sticker which proudly boasts “Up To 8 HR Battery Life”.
Neither the top, bottom, or sides feature anything of particular interest, whilst the back lists a few features in multiple languages. No useful specs such as frequency response, weight, total charge time (from empty to full), driver sensitivity, nor driver size is provided. But this is to be expected; after all, it is still essentially Apple.

What’s in the box?

  • BeatsX
  • Silicon pouch
  • 3x Pairs of single-flange eartips
  • 1x Pair of double-flange eartips
  • 2x Pairs of wingtips
  • Lightning USB cable
  • Promotional Apple Music offer
  • Beats sticker
  • Safety booklet
  • Warranty booklet
  • Setup guide

 Read: MEE Audio X7 Plus Wireless Sports Headphones Review

Accessories

Apple included an acceptable number of accessories with the BeatsX. The all-black silicon storage case seems to be similar to the one included with the PowerBeats 3. There’s nothing particularly interesting about the case, but it’s sufficient to fulfill its purpose.
A total of 4 pairs of eartips are included, only one pair of which is of the double-flange variety. Depending on the size of your ear canals, the double flange may very well prove to be the most valuable, due to its ability to sit more securely in the ear, along with providing better isolation.
The two pairs of wingtips are also rather useful if you plan on using the BeatsX during training/exercise sessions, as these will aid in a more secure fit.
The Lightning cable is on the short side, suggesting that this is intended for charging the BeatsX from a laptop or desktop computer, rather than from a power adapter.

Design

The BeatsX seems to be a pretty well-designed product, offering users a lightweight and comfortable wireless solution. Ever since Apple bought Beats back in 2014, we’ve steadily seen improvements in the build quality and design departments of Beats branded products, and the BeatsX is no different.

Underneath it all lies Apple’s low-power W1 chip, which essentially means that the BeatsX is very closely related to the Apple AirPods, but in a neckband-style package and at a slightly cheaper cost too. It’s also more sport-friendly than the AirPods (no need to worry about losing an earpiece during activities). Although, it should be pointed out that the BeatsX doesn’t seem to offer any “sweat proof” features, suggesting that they probably weren’t designed or intended for intense exercise sessions, and as such prolonged exposure to sweat or other forms of moisture may damage the product’s finish or possibly even the internal components.

Beats also included another nifty little design element, in the form of magnets. When not wearing the BeatsX in your ears, the back of each earbud will snap to the other by magnetism. This is a somewhat unique design, and does help keep the cables under control.

Sound

It’s no secret that in the past Beats were flamed for producing massively over-priced and exceptionally poor performing products. In fact, the Beats tagline “People aren’t hearing all the music” was actually a fitting description of Beats’ own products, rather than its intended purpose to “diss” other headphone manufacturers. Heck, perhaps this tagline was even an inside joke to mock their own customers.
It was a classic example of telling people what they need, introducing a product which supposedly fills that need, but in reality does the complete opposite. The founder sure was an artist of the “con” variety. Perhaps Beats was an acronym for Brainwashing Everyone And Touting *hit.
Roll a few years forward to 2017 and what we have is a more refined and mature Beats line of products. Whilst ALL of the Beats products still carry that inherent elevated bass DNA of their predecessors, improvements certainly have been made.
In the case of the BeatsX, it’s sound signature and character is actually rather good…surprisingly so. No, you still cannot look forward to an intimately detailed and wonderfully natural sounding set of IEMs, but the BeatsX certainly is leaps and bounds better than what we’ve seen thus far from Beats.
Instead of the usual deep v-curve and muddy sound, the BeatsX manages to be more balanced and clear than what was expected. But perhaps this non-flat signature is exactly what is needed for these Beats.
As previously mentioned, the BeatsX works really well for low to moderate intensity activities. I took the BeatsX along on a 2-hour cycling routine, and they genuinely performed admirably. In fact, it is perhaps for this very type of exercise where the BeatsX’s sound signature makes complete sense. When cycling, no one wants to listen to Mozart, Bach, or even Livingston Taylor…and if you are listening to those, you’re not cycling hard enough.
What you want is something that pumps you up and keeps you gunning up the hill. This is where a deep and powerful bass response can be exceptionally pleasing. Wireless connectivity was excellent too, with no hint of the BeatsX losing signal to the Hidizs AP60.

The BeatsX also produces above average isolation, Further strengthening their case for use during commuting or exercise routines.


Value

When all is said and done, does the BeatsX finally offer some worthy value for their price? Absolutely.
The sub-$200 market has become quite interesting lately, with a lot of competition happening in both the wireless and wired IEM/headphone markets. This competition is good, as it drives innovation and forces manufacturers to stuff more and more value into their products. In the end, the customer wins.
The BeatsX seems to be a strong contender in this department, and it almost certainly seems like the BeatsX is the best sounding and most value-packed product from Beats to date. But what it will ultimately come down to is personal preference. If you absolutely MUST have a set of wireless IEMs, then the BeatsX is well worth putting on your shortlist. However, if you’re looking for a set of IEMs that were very much designed for sport use and you value sound quality and fidelity over wireless connectivity, MEE Audio’s M7P is much better value at a mere $40 MSRP (can be found even cheaper online).

 

Rating

The TECH MERIT rating system is designed to take as many aspects of the device into account as possible. As such, we have a basic rating, as well as a final rating. The basic rating rates the product purely as a high quality portable audio device, and is generally a good indicator of how it stacks up to its rivals in terms of standard features and specs. The final rating, however, grants bonus points for any extra features and specs that aren’t quite as common, and is a great way to judge the product as a complete package.


Packaging
Look and feel: 8 / 10

Included Accessories
More than 3 pairs of eartips included: YES
Protective case: YES

Build
Quality control: 9 / 10
Seems durable: YES
Microphonics: 9 / 10
Comfort: 9 / 10

Sound
Relatively balanced signature: –
Soundstage: 7 / 10
Detail retrieval: 7 / 10
Sibilance: 9 / 10
Instrument separation: 7 / 10
Isolation: 9 / 10
Hiss: 10 / 10


Portability

Small size: 8 / 10
Relatively low power required: 9 / 10
Weight: 9 / 10

Value
Competitive price-point: –
Relative value: 7 / 10

Basic Rating: 8.3

Bonus points
Removable cables: –
Number of cables included: –
Premium cables: –
Pairs of eartips above 3 pairs: 1
How premium the case looks and feels: 4 / 10
Battery life above 8 hours: –
Bluetooth: YES
Apt-X: –
Volume/remote controls: YES
Metal body: –
Interchangeable filter system: –
Premium look and feel: –
Use of exotic materials: –
Bluetooth connection quality: 10 / 10
1/4” adapter included: –
Cable management: –
Aircraft adapter: –

Final Rating: 8.7

 

The Competition:

PowerBeats 3 wireless headphones

MEE Audio X7 plus wireless Headphones

Mee Audio X8 Wireless Headphones

 

 

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