Apple’s incredibly popular Powerbeats Pro are back for 2025, and I’ve been hands-on in the gym to see what exactly these new Powerbeats Pro 2 have to offer the discerning fitness fanatic.
The long-rumored Beats Powerbeats Pro 2, frequently spotted in the clutches of various sports VIPs (myself included), have some big shoes (ears) to fill. Apple says its Powerbeats family is the highest-selling Beats in-ear headphones based on available data, and its original Powerbeats Pro were, and continue to be, extremely popular, appearing in our best running headphones guide.
After hours of hands on-testing I can happily report that these are a brilliant pair of workout headphones, although I’m not sure it’s because of their new flagship feature – the much-touted built-in heart rate monitor.
A recipe for workout success
The PowerBeats Pro 2 build on the successful formula of the original model with a helping of features that make them ideally suited to the gym and all manner of outdoor activities. Broadly, anyone looking for workout headphones needs stability and comfort, excellent battery life, and of course, some decent sound quality.
So before I get to the juicy LED-powered heart rate monitoring, let me give you a rundown of some of the more basic workout features and how they stack up.
New for 2025, the Powerbeats Pro 2 sport a reinforced earhook made of a nickel- titanium alloy. They are flexible, extremely comfortable, and very secure. There is no greater flaw in a pair of workout headphones than instability and a penchant for falling out of your ears. I can happily report that these are the most comfortable and secure workout headphones I’ve ever used. They’re a good deal more secure than my AirPods Pro 2 and my Beats Fit Pro.
I cannot think of an exercise discipline that would trip these headphones up. Even a martial arts-based sport where you challenge your opponent to try and pull them out of your ears would yield good results. Effectively, these are an industry leader in terms of comfort and stability.
Plenty in the tank
Exercise is often as much about endurance as it is about strength and stability, and I’m happy to report that the battery life of the Powerbeats Pro 2 is a real headline. Where the original Powerbeats Pro offered up to 9 hours of playback and 24 hours total thanks to the charging case, the Powerbeats Pro 2 offer 10 hours of continuous playback, and another 35 hours of juice from the case. That’s more than enough for all but the most dedicated endurance athletes.
When you do run out, the Pro 2’s fast charging feature – Fast Fuel – gets you 90 minutes of use in an astonishing five minutes. If you’re anything like me, you’ll often be scrabbling for headphones right before you leave the house for a workout, only to find out they’re dead. Fast Fuel is a lifesaver in this regard
Party piece?
As mentioned, the flagship feature of this year’s new Powerbeats Pro 2 is a new built-in heart-rate monitor. Apple has packed in some very exciting technology taken from the best Apple Watches, which we’ll be covering in more depth on TechRadar in the coming days. The Powerbeats Pro 2 use LED sensors to pulse light through the skin in your ears, colliding with your red blood cells. An algorithm turns this data into a heart rate reading, with data combined from each ear to generate a reading every five seconds.
Neither a pair of headphones nor a smartwatch is going to be as accurate as the best heart rate monitors out there, but insofar as either is useful and nice to have, the Powerbeats Pro 2 deliver impressive relative accuracy that easily keeps up with my Apple Watch Ultra 2. In fact, I actually found the readings from the Powerbeats Pro 2 to be more responsive, and that my watch was actually playing catch up on a couple of occasions. I don’t doubt that this is useful, accurate data, I just wish I could do more with it.
The heart rate monitoring in the Powerbeats Pro 2 feels limited by a couple of key factors. To stop the tech leaking, Apple limited development to a select few iPhone app developers, namely: Open, Peloton, Runna, Slopes, Ladder, Nike Run Club, and YaoYao. There’ll be more to come on iPhone now that the tech is live, but you’re stuck with seven apps at launch. Conversely, Apple says that all Android fitness and wellness apps that have heart-rate monitoring capabilities within the Android platform should be fully compatible with Powerbeats Pro 2.
A smartwatch conundrum
Heart rate data is archived and can be accessed in the iOS Health app or any third-party fitness app with heart-rate monitoring on Android. It’s easy enough to find after your session, but if you want to view your heart rate during workouts, things are less clear.
If you’re an iPhone user, and you have an Apple Watch, your Apple Watch heart rate data will override your Powerbeats Pro 2 data, which means that the heart rate monitoring function in these headphones doesn’t really serve any purpose for Apple Watch users. It’s not aggregated or collated, it just disappears into the abyss. Essentially, the HRM feature is of absolutely no appeal to Apple Watch owners.
Apple tells me data from Apple Watch will always take priority over the data from the Beats, citing its large user base as the reason for this. This makes total sense, but does make the Powerbeats Pro 2 a more awkward recommendation. I can’t think of any iPhone user who would spend $250 on a pair of workout headphones that doesn’t also have an Apple Watch. Of course, the Apple Watch doesn’t appeal to everyone, so if your budget precludes a smartwatch, or you find them cumbersome, this is a great way to get a heart rate reading on your workouts.
As mentioned, all Android apps with heart-rate monitoring capabilities will support Powerbeats Pro 2, and Apple has likewise confirmed to me the same behavior on Android. If you’ve got one of the best Android smartwatches, your heart rate data from that will take priority. Android apps like Nike Run Club do allow you to choose a source for your heart rate data (this isn’t an option on iPhone) – but during my testing, I found I could only use one or the other, either the Powerbeats or my Galaxy Watch Ultra, the latter always the default when both were connected.
Whether you’re on Apple or Android, if you’re using a smartwatch or a dedicated heart rate monitor, the feature isn’t of much use. However, they’re still a brilliant pair of workout headphones, probably some of the very best on the market right now.
In short, the heart rate monitor appeals exclusively to customers who aren’t already tracking their heart rate in some form. If you don’t have a smartwatch, these headphones could transform your workouts. You’ll get real-time heart rate information in supported apps. This data is vital in helping you understand whether your training is effective and helping you make real progress. If you want to exercise in order to burn fat or increase endurance markers like VO2 max, you’ll need some heart rate data. The Powerbeats Pro will give you an accurate way to stay on top of your heart rate, giving you real-time data in whichever app you’re using.
If you’re a smartwatch owner, look past the heart rate monitors and consider these as a brilliant pair of exercise headphones with great comfort and fit, excellent battery life, and solid sound.
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stephen.warwick@futurenet.com (Stephen Warwick)
