Beats Fit Pro Wireless Earbuds review: For both the gym rat and the couch potato

The Beats Fit Pro are workout headphones that don't explicitly feel like workout headphones. They're sportier than the likes of AirPods and Galaxy Buds, but won't automatically out you as a gym rat. They're like a piece of activewear you can sneak into your regular attire without becoming the person wearing your workout clothes to the coffee shop.

When it comes to the buds themselves, the Beats Fit Pro are reasonably subtle. They don't have big hooks that go over your ears, like many rival workout headphones, and they also don't use a stemmed design a la the AirPods and every copycat. The only tell that the Beats Fit Pro are fitness headphones - well, other the name - is a stabiliser wing-tip that's just a tad more pronounced than alternatives like the Google Pixel Buds A.

I've found the Beats Fit Pro super comfortable to wear, even over extended time periods. Most importantly, they just won't fall out of your ears. The stabilisers do their job, and no matter how sweaty I've gotten, I haven't had a single incident where a bud accidentally popped out. For comparison, I often find myself having to readjust headphones like the AirPods Pro and Galaxy Buds Pro as I build up a sweat. (As workout buds, they're rated IPX4 for sweat resistance.)

Your mileage may vary when it comes to comfort, however. The stabiliser wing-tips are integrated, and can't be removed. My partner, who has much smaller ears than me, tried out the Beats Fit Pro and found them a bit painful. While the wing-tip material is rather flexible, they dug into her ears too much. If you have small ears, the Beats Fit Pro probably aren't for you.

The Beats Fit Pro case is also a little on the chonky side. It's about a third larger than an AirPods Pro case, making it rather prominent in pockets. The lid of my unit felt a bit flimsy; there's some flex to it, and it wobbles on its hinge. Neither was a major issue in day-to-day use, however.

The case has enough juice to top up the Beats Fit Pro three extra times. You can get a little over six hours per charge with noise-cancelling on, bringing you to around 24 hours before you'll also need to top-up the case. That's not industry leading, but above average. It's worth noting that the case doesn't have wireless charging (which isn't a massive omission), and it recharges over USB C, rather than Lightning as with many previous Beats products.

Despite this small concession, the Beats Fit Pro are still very much designed for use with Apple products. They feature the same H1 chip you get in any pair of AirPods, getting you instant pairing with any iOS device, fast swapping to any Apple product using your Apple ID, Hey Siri, and support for Spatial Audio with Dynamic Head Tracking and Dolby Atmos in Apple Music.

The Beats Fit Pro will still work with Android phones - there's even a companion app - and other devices, but you won't get features like instant pairing and voice assistant support.

Sound quality is excellent, similar to the AirPods Pro but with a little extra oomph in the low-end. Bass isn't overwhelming as per Beats' old reputation, but gives your music a bit of extra drive without overwhelming the entire mix. They don't quite hit the lofty heights of Sony's WF-1000XM4s, but the Beats Fit Pro are nonetheless great for day-to-day listening. T

In the same vein, the Beats Fit Pro do a great job at noise cancellation. No earbuds are going to give you the same kind of cone of silence a pair of over-ear headphones can deliver, but the Beats Fit Pro are still respectable. They'll drown out the generic EDM playlist at your gym, and easily block out the bustle of an office.

At $299, the Beats Fit Pro represent a solid deal. They're ostensibly AirPods Pro that have been redesigned for the gym and are also $100 cheaper. The only feature you're missing out on is wireless charging, and the only real trade-off is the largish case. Even if you're not looking for workout headphones, the price difference is a compelling argument for opting for the Beats Fit Pro. And hey, they're far more subtle than lycra.