Review: Powerbeats 2 by Dre: (Is it all Hype?)
6 weeks ago when I walked into an AT&T store to place a pre-order for the iPhone 7 I was offered two Powerbeats 2 for the price of $200. Considering that the iPhone 7 doesn’t have an earphone jack, and my wife was also looking to order the iPhone 7, I figured I might as well take them up on the offer – and I did.
To preface this review, I do want to say that I am not new to Beats by Dre products. I do own the Studio’s and I’m perfectly aware that much of the money that I pay for comes down to the brand. At the end of the day, I suppose I’ve stayed as a customer simply due to how stylish their products tend to me.
I’ve been using the Powerbeats with my iPhone 7 for a month now, and believe that I am fit to put together a review on the product.
They look good in multiple colors. My wife picked up them in white, and they look very clean.
Impressive durability. I’ve worked out in them, ran, played basketball, and even wore them when it was raining outside. They’ve held up well and show no signs of damage.
Comfortable to wear and do not tire my ears from hours of use. An issue that I have with many earphones would be that after two hours, my ears would hurt but I haven’t found that to be too big of an issue with the Powerbeats2. If I do wear them past 4 hours, I would begin to feel some discomfort, but it’s rare that I wear them for as long as past 4 hours.
Very poor noise cancellation when on a call. Whenever I have to talk to my wife and I’ve using the Powerbeats2 for the conversation, if I have any background noise or even slight wind on my end, she hears everything on her end. I was also able to confirm this when I would call her and she would be using her pair, and I would be able to hear absolutely everything on her end making it difficult to understand her.
Overall poor phone quality. Even in the perfect condition, conversions through the Powerbeats isn’t great. The microphone has difficulty in picking up my voice, and in most cases, my voice is too low on the other end. It’s gotten to the point where there is no point in using the Powerbeats for a conversation.
Buggy at times. There will be times when there would be a very loud pitch coming through the beats or my music would all of a sudden be very low. To fix these bugs, I would have to restart my beats. It’s a quick fix, but still an inconvenience.
If you’re someone that works out, or runs, then the Powerbeats may fit you just fine. I’ll admit, the sound quality is impressive and the bass is great. It also helps that the Bluetooth signal can be picked up as far as 25 feet from your phone. BUT, if you want to actually use your earphones for phone calls then, then Powerbeats2 is NOT the earphones for you. To me, that is the biggest letdown about the product, and it’s a major one for me. I need a pair of earphones that can play my music well and also allow me to have a phone conversation. Since I haven’t mentioned this yet, the battery lasts for about 6 hours and the beats can fully charge in 2 hours.
