Apple Powerbeats Launched, More Affordable Than Powerbeats 3 With Better Battery Life
The official website states the new Powerbeats will be able to give 1 hour of playback from a 5-minute charge.
Apple has made the new Powerbeats official as listed on the Beats by Dre website. The wireless earphones will be replacing the Powerbeats 3 but are not called the Powerbeats 4 but simply ‘Powerbeats’. Interestingly, they follow the design of the Powerbeats Pro and are priced at $149.95 (roughly Rs. 11,000) which makes them $50 (roughly Rs. 3,600) cheaper than the previous Powerbeats 3. But, the website does state that the $149.95 price point is a limited time offer. They will be available in three colours, Black, Red, and White from Wednesday in the US.
Coming to the specifications of the new Powerbeats tethered wireless earphones, they have up to 15 hours of listening time and Apple claims a 5-minute charge will give you up to 1 hour of playback. To put that in perspective, the Powerbeats 3 have a battery life of up to 12 hours of listening time. They are sweat and water resistant, and have a round cable which minimizes friction. The new Powerbeats come with Audio Sharing technology which allows pairing two sets of Beats headphones or AirPods to a single iPhone. There are multiple on-ear microphones as well as on-ear controls which allow you to skip songs, take calls, and adjust the volume. Powerbeats also have support for activating Siri with the press of a button.
They are powered by the Apple H1 chip and Class 1 Wireless Bluetooth, which is the configuration found in the Powerbeats Pro. The Powerbeats Pro have a completely wireless design and have up to 9 hours listening time and are priced at $249 (roughly Rs. 18,400) making them a lot more expensive than the new Powerbeats.
So, the Powerbeats have the same design as the much more expensive Powerbeats Pro, except for the cable that connects the two earphones, and the same H1 chip but, come in at a cheaper price.
The new Powerbeats were have been popping up on the Internet and were also seen in Walmart but now, finally, they can be seen on the Beats By Dre website and according to a report from 9to5mac, they will be available from March 18.