Everyone has seen someone at the gym or running around their neighborhood wearing headphones that were never designed for workouts. Quite often those headphones are Beats. Good news for the earbud haters: The new Beats 360 over-ear headphones are durable and built to withstand sweat, with water resistance and swappable knit ear cups. And there aren’t many headphones out there like them.
IP ratings are a bit out of the ordinary on any headphones, and the Beats 360 are the first IP-certified headphones from the company. Like Beats workout earbuds, the Powerbeats Pro 2 and Powerbeats Fit 2, the Beats 360 are rated IPX4, which protects against splashes of water and sweat. It’s the minimum rating I would recommend anyone use for a pair of workout headphones or earbuds if you want them to survive for more than a short time.
There’s no way to avoid sweat accumulating around the ear cups when using headphones during a workout. But both wearables senior reviewer Victoria Song and I wore the Beats 360 while exercising, and we both found that the default performance knit ear cups on the Beats 360 did a good job wicking away that moisture. Still, by the end of her 40-minute run and my hour-long gym session, each of our headphones were wet and, as Victoria put it, “icky.” The ear cups are easily removable, so they can be cleaned separately — Beats recommends wiping them with a soapy solution, then a damp cloth with water only, and finally removing any leftover dampness with a dry cloth — and I didn’t run into any issues doing so.
$350
The Good
- Beats’ first IP-rated headphones
- Easily removable ear cups in six colors
- Replaceable battery
The Bad
- ANC not as good as other $350 headphones
- Midrange sounds shush-y
- Can shift during high-intensity workouts
The Beats 360 have decent clamping force to keep the headphones secure during most workout movements without causing discomfort. For exercises where my head position was consistent — such as back squats, planks, and lunges — the Beats 360 stayed comfortably in place.
Still, we both had moments where we needed to readjust them: sprints for Victoria and sit-ups for me. The movement isn’t excessive, and for explosive workouts — like the sprints, or even burpees — the Beats 360 would do in a pinch, but both of us still prefer earbuds.
The Beats 360 come with performance knit ear pads, which are good for workouts (particularly because of the moisture wicking), but after a few hours of non-workout use, they make the side of my head itchy. But since it’s super easy and fast to change the ear cups, switching to one of the plush engineered leather options for regular listening is the right move (it’s the same material used with the Studio Pro headphones).
With six different ear cup color options, you can find a combination that suits you.
There are also plush eco-friendly leather ear cushions in white and black.
The headphones come in black, white, light blue, and pink, and you can buy extra cushion sets to customize the look. The performance knit ear cups come in black, white, light blue, pink, navy, and a fluorescent green — though the plush are only in black and white. Each cushion kit comes with two ear cups and a headband and costs $50, although until the end of October, they’re available for $10 through Apple. There’s promo pricing for Canada, Australia, France, the UK, China, and Korea, as well.
The Beats 360 have sensors that can tell whether you’re using the knit or plush ear cushions and automatically adjust the tuning. I didn’t hear any significant differences going back and forth between the two (although of course noise canceling was a bit better with the plush padding). The bass sounds nice and supportive, with good oomph for bass-heavy tracks without being too overpowering, like the Beats of old could be. And most of the high end sounds clear, if a bit peaky. My main issue is with the midrange, where it feels like a wash of sound. There isn’t much separation of guitars and vocals during the chorus of the Foo Fighters’ “The Pretender,” mostly because the shushiness of Taylor Hawkins’ cymbals overwhelm everything. It’s not a dealbreaker, but for $350, I prefer the Sony XM5.
A quick twist locks the ear cup in place, with a tone played if the headphones are on.
Noise-canceling performance is very good. Not as silent as the Bose Ultra Headphones Gen 2 or as solid a fit as the AirPods Pro 3, but the only reason I knew the gardeners were using their accursed leafblowers outside my window while I listened to some tunes on the Beats 360 was the lingering smell of gasoline. The ANC is enough to let you focus on your own music and block out the gym bro that says they know exactly how to correct your form.
One of the benefits of all Beats headphones and earbuds is their integration across both Apple and Android ecosystems — an advantage of being owned by Apple, but not being Apple. On Apple devices, the Beats 360 support one-touch pairing, iCloud pairing, automatic switching between devices, audio sharing with AirPods and recent Beats headphones, Find My, and hands-free Siri. Native Android features include fast pairing, pairing across devices on the same Google account, audio switching (on supported Android devices), and Google’s version of Find My called Find Hub. Voice assistant works with Android, too, but requires a press of the play/pause button. It all makes them a great option for someone in either ecosystem.
The Beats 360 have physical instead of capacitive buttons, which helps prevent accidental activation.
Since Beats are an Apple company, they integrate easily into the Apple ecosystem.
They come in four different colors with the distinctive Beats b on the side.
The 360 feel light and comfortable to wear.
Instead of a hard case, the Beats 360 have a soft-sided bag that has a magnetic clasp at the top and a loop on the back to hook to a clasp on your bag. I would have preferred a hard case at this price. They also have a replaceable battery, although there currently isn’t any documentation about the process or pricing for the replacement battery.
For those who cannot abide earbuds or bone-conduction headphones at the gym, the options for solid, dependable headphones are few. The Beats 360, with their IPX4 rating and knit ear cups, are there for those who need something designed for that sweaty environment. And the replaceable ear cups and battery will help extend their life regardless. They’re not my first choice for everyday listening, but if I wanted to focus in on my reps without a worry — while showing off some color — I’d grab a pair.
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