INTRODUCTION
Helloooooo beautiful people. I miss writing in here. Things have been quite hectic with school and just social life and well, you know the deal. I always appreciate the time to just sit back and connect with the world whether that be with people or with everyday objects — how people use them, how they just exist there in our space, the way they bring ease into our lives. God I just…there is so much to be grateful for in this life.
I feel like I often get overwhelmed with what to write about for the next issues seeing that I have a whole list of ideas, but I remind myself that if I just start now, they will eventually all be visited which is the goal. So today, I will be talking about the latest edition of the Beats Studio Pro.
Now. I need to preface this with an intensive background. I was never a headphones girlie. No one could convince me to get headphones no matter how popular they were getting or if the sound was just that life changing. Well, fast forward to today and they are just nice to have. We'll dive into the nitty gritty later on, but why was I so opposed to purchasing a pair of headphones? I have Apple Airpods, and I like these because they're the regular shmegular thing. No sound cancellation. Lightweight. Simple design. It feels like there's more of a connection with the outside world because I can still hear what's going on, and people don't feel like they can't talk to me compared to if I wore these big ear muffs. I don't know. I know I say that I love connecting with others and living in the present moment, but now that I say this, I think I definitely mean it lol. Everything in my life — making matcha, watching shows, walking through campus — I prefer to do these things with my full attention. I will go long periods of time without making matcha even though I want it because if I know I can't just sit down in a relaxed state of mind with no meetings or homework, I'd rather not have one. Same with shows. I can't start a show if I know I just don't have the bandwidth to watch all of it at once. Now. Walking through campus. This is a big one. I love hearing the wind wash against my ears. I love hearing people laugh. I love walking by club tables on library walk and feeling like they can come up to me and share about their club.
So why did I get them? I honestly don't know lol. That's actually a good question that I will have to look back at my message history with my mom and Kayanne to remember. Because I still very much stand by what I said. Ok. Looking back at the messages, I found that the biggest thing that drew me to them was the battery life. Very true. My airpods are at the point where they die after less than an hour, and one dies faster than the other. I wanted something that could last me throughout the week and would not require me to charge repeatedly.
So this leads me to the birth of my first pair of headphones: the Beats Studio Pro.
SO MANY HEADPHONES IN THE MARKET
I've seen so many different types of headphones. Sony's. Apple. I had actually never really spotted someone wearing Beats before I purchased them. But that's probably because the Sony's and Apple headphones were just blown up the most so it influenced my perception (what's the psychology behind that?). The biggest things to compare between them would be style, battery life, and support/weight for my own personal needs. For different people, it could be the quality of noise cancellation and personalized spatial audio.
THE SLOW BURN
I had first debated getting the Apple Airpods Max because of sleek design we all know Apple for. I thought about Sony because everyone has them. There were too many options, and I really couldn't decide. So I left the decision with my mom. And I am grateful that I did because she chose one that I feel would be timeless, long-lasting, and reliable. My sister and dad have Beats, so I guess she felt more drawn to Beats, and she just loves the color dark blue. So yes. I now have the dark blue Beats Studio Pros. I will be honest, it was a slow burn. I didn't know if I really loved the look of Beats. I didn't know if I was really feeling the color. But now, now now now. I love it. It's honestly really sleek, and the color is softer on the eyes than Black, which is what I originally would've gone with.
THE QUALITIES OF THE BEATS STUDIO PRO
Let's talk about the quality for a second. What are some of the features that prompt more users to buy? The primary features include active noise cancellation, transparency mode, 40 Hours of battery life, personalized spatial audio, and Apple and Android compatibility.
Even I have not fully immersed myself in all the capabilities of these headphones. I usually have these headphones on active noise cancellation mode because I think it's the default lol. But now reading about the transparency mode, this actually seems more up my alley. It has the technology to blend the listening experience with the outside world — how amazing. I've tried the personal spatial audio once, and I mean, it was a vibe. I think it might've been blending my worlds a bit too much though. As for battery life, I charge these suckers for maybe an hour, and this full charge lasts me two-thirds of the week if not the entire week. Amazing. Super easy to connect to my phone, too. Right when I power them on, they automatically connect after setting up bluetooth the first time.
The Beats Studio Pro headphones are made to be portable and compact. They have UltraPlush engineered leather ear cushions as well as an almost silicon like head support to pad the weight of these headphones as they rest on the head. And if the default size doesn't work for you, they have metal sliders that allow the user to adjust it specific to them.
THE PRACTICAL DESIGN
Now how practical is this design really? I've had these headphones for about four months now, and they're my primary choice for listening to music/lectures/videos.
First, let's talk about visual design. On the visceral level, things kindaaa have to look appealing in our own eyes to feel good in them. And that looks different for everyone. I, personally, love the navy blue. I wear a lot of blue whether it be my go-to Abercrombie and Fitch jeans or a blue sweater, so it naturally pairs well with a lot of my clothing items. It's really not too noticeably blue unless you take a close look, and I love that about it. It looks dark enough to be seamless with an outfit, but not too dark to the point where it draws a drastic distinction between the rest of my clothes. The silicon like underside of the head bar is a brighter blue. I would almost say an electric blue. You know me. If you've read the article about the Kobe Easters, you'd know I love a good pop of color. Ugh. I can't get over it.
Overall aesthetic. It's incredibly sleek. The head bar blends seamlessly as it connects to the ear cushions. It connects with it on the outside of the ear cushions. This is contrast to how brands like Sony will have their head bars connect to the inner part of the cushion, leaving the ear muffs to appear as if protruding from the ears.
There's a little metal piece on both sides of the head bar which adds some movement and texture to the otherwise sleek, yet simple design. At this metal section, the user can pull the ear cushions down to lengthen the metal sliders from the inside of the head bar to adjust to their head size. I saw someone wearing these Beats Studio Pros on the bus one day and noticed how they had used the metal sliders to adjust to their head size. I felt as if Beats might have not done the metal bars justice if I'm being honest. Even though they're, in their default state, hidden inside the head bar, I feel as though they could have more of an appealing look to them rather than just being a skinnier metal slider that comes out of the head bar. If they maybe camouflaged it with the head bar or made it look like the rest of the head bar, users that have to adjust their headphones could get the same consistent visual design of the sleek navy blue headphones. Instead, people who have to adjust it sport this random metal slider on the side of their head that almost interrupts the design. That was just something I had thought of. I love how it's adjustable, but I also think a product should be consistent as advertised for all users, visually.
Second, let's talk about portability. Both ear cushions bend in as shown in the second picture at the top. They also wear nicely around the neck if that's how the user chooses to carry them. The headphones, themselves, are not too heavy, so it doesn't cause much strain on the neck when carrying them like this. These Beats come with a black carry bag made of fibers as seen in the fourth picture at the top. The bag is made to be durable and flexible! I do think that it could have a harder shell casing because I tend to put these in my backpack when I'm going to school, and if I'm leaning back on the bus seat, I don't want to worry about squishing my headphones. I also think that the casing could be skinnier like the Sony's casing so that it lays more flat on top of other flat things like my laptop, iPad, and notebooks. Because this bag is more of a rectangular prism, it makes my backpack jut out at the bottom where this bag naturally ends up. I can see how the bag is constrained to this rectangular prism design because of the way the headphones fold. I think if the ear cushions were able to be rotated 90 degrees and then folded in to make for flat and compact portability, it would feel much more similar to the shapes of everyday school objects.
In my design class, we've been talking about affordances, signifiers, and feedback. I want to bring this into this evaluation of the Beats Studio Pro design as we look closer at the buttons. On the left ear cushion as seen in the first picture at the top, it has a "b" logo button. If I didn't read the manual, I would not know what this button is used for off the bat. I know it affords for me to press it because the circle cut out of it from the outer circle signifies being able to be pressed in. Well, the function of this "b" button is to play/pause something. The other buttons are from the circle one layer outside of this inner "b" button. This layer has no signifiers — no icons, no logos. You just have to know that once you press on it, the top of it turns the volume up and the bottom of it turns the volume down. I honestly don't use these buttons because, as a user, they don't feel the most intuitive to me. It doesn't click in my brain that this is what these buttons are used for because of the lack of instruction. On the right ear cushion, it has five mini LED lights that show the battery power. They only glow to show the remaining battery when you long press the mini power button right next to them. I love how the lights light up one by one like a gradient or wave. It makes me feel as ease. One thing that I do wish for this was that these lights stay on while I use the headphones so that I could quickly glance at this to see the battery life. Right now, they turn off maybe 30s into using the headphones, so I just have to wait until I turn the headphones off to see the lights glow again. Or since I have to long press the power button to turn the headphones on, it could have the functionality to quickly press it just to have the lights glow again for another short period of time. I know they probably turn off right now to maybe save battery or whatnot, so this was another alternative for that issue as a user.
Lastly, the audio quality. It really does provide amazing audio quality compared to let's say my Apple Airpods. Because it wraps around the entire circumference of my ears, I feel immersed in good music all the time. Even on active noise cancellation mode, I can still hear a tiny bit of the outside world which I think is a good thing. I think this is a good thing for safety reasons moreso. If something important is happening around me, I should be aware. If someone is trying to communicate something to me, it's good to be able to tell that I need to take off my headphones to hear them.
REFLECTION
I really hope this conveyed an unbiased analysis of the Beats Studio Pros. From skeptical to appreciative, I was introduced to a world of better audio quality as well as a world of my own. I know I've said that I enjoy listening to the outside world, but it's also been helping me at times when I need some me time while walking around. It keeps me in my own little world with my own little thoughts. It's almost crazy how when you lift an ear cushion up, the reality of life is much more quiet. Both great experiences to be immersed in.
Thank you for reading! I hope you are either encouraged to get some headphones or to steer clear. Either or is fine with me. It's really dependent on the experience you want to curate for yourself! And that's important to stand by.