BeatsX Wireless Earphones

Meet some good-sounding earbuds that can charge in five minutes.

The BeatsX by Beats by Dre is a bold new product for what has become a traditional headphone maker. Instead of sticking to bass-heavy earbuds or expensive over-ears, the company has crafted a new pair of musically inclined in-ears. That said, the BeatsX borrows much from its predecessors – including but not limited to the flat, no-tangle cable – while carving out its own niche as one of the first evenly-balanced pair of headphones from the low-end loving company.

But the BeatsX has two tricks up its sleeve that few headsets from Beats by Dre have had before: the first is Fast Fuel, a feature that enables the earbuds to last up to two hours off a single five-minute charge; and the second is Apple’s W1 wireless chip. We’ll talk about the latter later, but we’ll preface it by saying that it vastly improves the headphone’s peformance and battery life over Bluetooth.

One carry-over from previous generations, however, is pricing. At £129.95 ($149.95), the BeatsX is certainly more expensive than other similar-sounding wireless headphones, but less expensive than others made by Beats.

Design

As of late, in-ear headphones have taken one of three designs. They’re either wired in-ears that connect the drivers to a 3.5mm jack; two wireless earbuds that connect to one another through Bluetooth; or two earbuds connected via a cable that wraps behind your neck. The BeatsX falls into the last category.

Having the two earbuds connected via a cable might not sound like the ideal solution to some – after all, a cable has the tendency to weigh the earbuds down – but it’s not without its advantages. First is the fact that they’re harder to lose than fully wireless earbuds. Second is that the wire between the two buds can provide a home to in-line controls and a battery, enabling the headphones to last longer.