Beats launches Powerbeats3 Wireless earbuds with Apple's W1 wireless chip

Posted:
in General Discussion edited October 2016
Apple's Beats division on Tuesday officially launched the Powerbeats3 Wireless, just the second audio product on the market with Apple's W1 wireless chip.




Partly because of the W1, the earbuds feature a battery life up to 12 hours. Like the over-the-ear Solo3 Wireless, a "Fast Fuel" feature offers a basic charge in five minutes -- in this case lasting an hour versus the Solo3's three hours.

The W1 chip should enable easier pairing with Apple devices, and much greater range, thanks to its use of Class 1 Bluetooth. Informal testing of the Solo3 Wireless found that it can be used up to a distance of 400 feet -- in any case Class 1 devices can officially manage 328 feet, much farther than the 33 feet most Bluetooth products support.

Each Powerbeats3 Wireless comes with four sets of differently-sized eartips. Beats is also promising a better overall ergonomics when compared with the Powerbeats2. Integrated controls let users trigger Siri, take phone calls, and control music.

At the moment, the Powerbeats3 Wireless can be pre-ordered from B&H for $198.46 with free expedited shipping and no tax outside NY, offering shoppers the lowest price available from an Apple authorized reseller. They can also be ordered on Apple's website for $199.95. Black, white, yellow, blue, and red colors are available at Apple -- while most options are shipping between Nov. 1 and 3, some deliveries may already be taking 2 to 3 weeks.

Apple announced an assortment of W1-equipped devices at its Sept. 7 iPhone event, but two are still unavailable: the Beats X earbuds and the Apple-branded, fully wireless AirPods.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 39
    Love my Powerbeats2 Wireless, so I can't wait for these! But now I'm torn between these and the Air Pods. Hmmmm....
    polymnia
  • Reply 2 of 39
    sflagelsflagel Posts: 803member
    Can anyone answer one question: will these have the same audio delay when watching videos as the Powerbeats2 Wireless do? Can these be used to watch a movie on the iPhone?

    (I don't care about the W1 chip at all; I think pairing by pressing the on/off button on the headphones is as convenient as anything can ever be)
  • Reply 3 of 39
    Well will be curious if I'll get these when I go in for my bi-monthly replacement of PB2... in 8 months I'm on my 5th pair... clearly I do a far more serious workout than LeBron that the Beats can't handle (but they keep replacing them under the warranty)
    randominternetperson
  • Reply 4 of 39
    mknelsonmknelson Posts: 1,120member
    I'm waiting for a review of their sound quality.

    The Powerbeats2 are "OK" - mostly I like them because they don't fall out of my ears while I'm cycling.
  • Reply 5 of 39
    Love my Powerbeats2 Wireless, so I can't wait for these! But now I'm torn between these and the Air Pods. Hmmmm....
    I'm in the exact same boat, ready to upgrade my Powerbeats2, but not sure if I want to go w/ the Air Pods or the 3s. The 3s have the ear hooks, and cable making easer to keep attached to me, and are water/weather resistant. The APs look so sleek and futuristic though and like the charging case idea (I only use my headset for an hour or two at a time).
  • Reply 6 of 39
    mac_128mac_128 Posts: 3,454member
    That W1 chip must be harder to make than Kaby Lake processors.

    I cant believe a month an a half later and the one innovation that makes removing the headphone jack a positive is still not available for purchase, except in the most expensive bulky form of the Beats Solo3.
  • Reply 7 of 39
    jbdragonjbdragon Posts: 2,305member
    So do these W1 type headphones connect with any iPhones, or does it work with only the new iPhone 7's? I know they work with normal Bluetooth, but do they work the fancy W1 way or not also? As in is it software as part of iOS10, or is there some type of hardware needed in the new iPhones? I've been using Bluetooth headphones for years, but these sounds nice. 12 hours of life and a nice long range? Sounds great to me.
  • Reply 8 of 39
    SoliSoli Posts: 10,035member
    Sweet, but I'm going to test out the EarPods befor I make a final decision.
    nolamacguy
  • Reply 9 of 39
    SoliSoli Posts: 10,035member
    jbdragon said:
    So do these W1 type headphones connect with any iPhones, or does it work with only the new iPhone 7's? I know they work with normal Bluetooth, but do they work the fancy W1 way or not also? As in is it software as part of iOS10, or is there some type of hardware needed in the new iPhones? I've been using Bluetooth headphones for years, but these sounds nice. 12 hours of life and a nice long range? Sounds great to me.
    1) They connect to any iPhone or other BT-capable device.

    2) I believe to take advantage of the W1 chip it just has to be an iPhone running iOS 10.
    nolamacguywlym
  • Reply 10 of 39
    sog35 said:
    Where the hell is my Airpods?

    I got my $285 ready!!!! come on Apple!!!

    I hate my wires, HATE THEM

    What did you spend your $14 on?  Apple better get their act together or your wallet won't be able to get fund your AirPods.
  • Reply 11 of 39
    mac_128mac_128 Posts: 3,454member
    jbdragon said:
    So do these W1 type headphones connect with any iPhones, or does it work with only the new iPhone 7's? I know they work with normal Bluetooth, but do they work the fancy W1 way or not also? As in is it software as part of iOS10, or is there some type of hardware needed in the new iPhones? I've been using Bluetooth headphones for years, but these sounds nice. 12 hours of life and a nice long range? Sounds great to me.
    The hardware is all in the headphones, such that they will reap the benefits of the W1 across all of your Apple devices capable of running the latest operating system via iCloud.
    ration almatrix077
  • Reply 12 of 39
    zer0her0 said:
    Love my Powerbeats2 Wireless, so I can't wait for these! But now I'm torn between these and the Air Pods. Hmmmm....
    I'm in the exact same boat, ready to upgrade my Powerbeats2, but not sure if I want to go w/ the Air Pods or the 3s. The 3s have the ear hooks, and cable making easer to keep attached to me, and are water/weather resistant. The APs look so sleek and futuristic though and like the charging case idea (I only use my headset for an hour or two at a time).

    Do people like this earhooks?  Perhaps I haven't used them enough to get used to them, but they seem tricky to put on and introduce a new area of discomfort.  Personally, I'm lucky that the Apple ear buds fit my ears perfectly.  Therefore I expect the AirPods to be ideal for me.  Already on my Christmas list.
  • Reply 13 of 39
    Soli said:
    jbdragon said:
    So do these W1 type headphones connect with any iPhones, or does it work with only the new iPhone 7's? I know they work with normal Bluetooth, but do they work the fancy W1 way or not also? As in is it software as part of iOS10, or is there some type of hardware needed in the new iPhones? I've been using Bluetooth headphones for years, but these sounds nice. 12 hours of life and a nice long range? Sounds great to me.
    1) They connect to any iPhone or other BT-capable device.

    2) I believe to take advantage of the W1 chip it just has to be an iPhone running iOS 10.

    According to the Apple site:  The footnote for "After a simple one-tap setup, AirPods are automatically on and always connected." says "Requires iCloud account and macOS Sierra, iOS 10, or watchOS 3."  So no special hardware required.
  • Reply 14 of 39
    SoliSoli Posts: 10,035member
    Soli said:
    jbdragon said:
    So do these W1 type headphones connect with any iPhones, or does it work with only the new iPhone 7's? I know they work with normal Bluetooth, but do they work the fancy W1 way or not also? As in is it software as part of iOS10, or is there some type of hardware needed in the new iPhones? I've been using Bluetooth headphones for years, but these sounds nice. 12 hours of life and a nice long range? Sounds great to me.
    1) They connect to any iPhone or other BT-capable device.

    2) I believe to take advantage of the W1 chip it just has to be an iPhone running iOS 10.

    According to the Apple site:  The footnote for "After a simple one-tap setup, AirPods are automatically on and always connected." says "Requires iCloud account and macOS Sierra, iOS 10, or watchOS 3."  So no special hardware required.
    Yes, I should have included dat on macOS Sierra and watchOS 3 support.
  • Reply 15 of 39
    SoliSoli Posts: 10,035member

    zer0her0 said:
    Love my Powerbeats2 Wireless, so I can't wait for these! But now I'm torn between these and the Air Pods. Hmmmm....
    I'm in the exact same boat, ready to upgrade my Powerbeats2, but not sure if I want to go w/ the Air Pods or the 3s. The 3s have the ear hooks, and cable making easer to keep attached to me, and are water/weather resistant. The APs look so sleek and futuristic though and like the charging case idea (I only use my headset for an hour or two at a time).
    Do people like this earhooks?  Perhaps I haven't used them enough to get used to them, but they seem tricky to put on and introduce a new area of discomfort.  Personally, I'm lucky that the Apple ear buds fit my ears perfectly.  Therefore I expect the AirPods to be ideal for me.  Already on my Christmas list.
    I don't care for earhooks. I also don't care for EarPods, but I'm hoping the reviews saying that AirPods fit better and feel more comfortable are true.
  • Reply 16 of 39
    Where are the Beats X? C'mon Apple, take my money!!
  • Reply 17 of 39
    neilmneilm Posts: 985member
    And we can tell that these are wireless by...the wires hanging from them?
  • Reply 18 of 39
    Soli said:
    jbdragon said:
    So do these W1 type headphones connect with any iPhones, or does it work with only the new iPhone 7's? I know they work with normal Bluetooth, but do they work the fancy W1 way or not also? As in is it software as part of iOS10, or is there some type of hardware needed in the new iPhones? I've been using Bluetooth headphones for years, but these sounds nice. 12 hours of life and a nice long range? Sounds great to me.
    1) They connect to any iPhone or other BT-capable device.

    2) I believe to take advantage of the W1 chip it just has to be an iPhone running iOS 10.
    Yes i believe it is related to iOS 10 not the device, although that is also related, No instant switching on my iPad2.
    As I understand they will technically seem to be connected to all of your devices at the same time and you can switch by simply selecting them in the control center. It may even be possible they switch automatically when a call comes in.
    When I switch devices I have to go into bluetooth settings and reconnect on each new device sometimes disconnect from the first one or disable bluetooth first.
  • Reply 19 of 39
    SoliSoli Posts: 10,035member
    smiffy31 said:
    Soli said:
    jbdragon said:
    So do these W1 type headphones connect with any iPhones, or does it work with only the new iPhone 7's? I know they work with normal Bluetooth, but do they work the fancy W1 way or not also? As in is it software as part of iOS10, or is there some type of hardware needed in the new iPhones? I've been using Bluetooth headphones for years, but these sounds nice. 12 hours of life and a nice long range? Sounds great to me.
    1) They connect to any iPhone or other BT-capable device.

    2) I believe to take advantage of the W1 chip it just has to be an iPhone running iOS 10.
    Yes i believe it is related to iOS 10 not the device, although that is also related, No instant switching on my iPad2.
    As I understand they will technically seem to be connected to all of your devices at the same time and you can switch by simply selecting them in the control center. It may even be possible they switch automatically when a call comes in.
    When I switch devices I have to go into bluetooth settings and reconnect on each new device sometimes disconnect from the first one or disable bluetooth first.
    If I recall the demo correctly, iCloud is used to save and sync your W1-chip setup details so you can set them up on one device and have them work with all the others without any additional setup (as easy as it is), and it will more intelligently know when you're using a certain device for audio. Yet, you can still use them with any device that can use BT audio. Seems like a huge advancement to a useful yet clumsy technology. If headphone sales already surpased the 50% of revenue I can only imagine this will push that even further, not to mention make Beats even more money for Apple.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 20 of 39
    Soli said:
    smiffy31 said:
    Soli said:
    jbdragon said:
    So do these W1 type headphones connect with any iPhones, or does it work with only the new iPhone 7's? I know they work with normal Bluetooth, but do they work the fancy W1 way or not also? As in is it software as part of iOS10, or is there some type of hardware needed in the new iPhones? I've been using Bluetooth headphones for years, but these sounds nice. 12 hours of life and a nice long range? Sounds great to me.
    1) They connect to any iPhone or other BT-capable device.

    2) I believe to take advantage of the W1 chip it just has to be an iPhone running iOS 10.
    Yes i believe it is related to iOS 10 not the device, although that is also related, No instant switching on my iPad2.
    As I understand they will technically seem to be connected to all of your devices at the same time and you can switch by simply selecting them in the control center. It may even be possible they switch automatically when a call comes in.
    When I switch devices I have to go into bluetooth settings and reconnect on each new device sometimes disconnect from the first one or disable bluetooth first.
    If I recall the demo correctly, iCloud is used to save and sync your W1-chip setup details so you can set them up on one device and have them work with all the others without any additional setup (as easy as it is), and it will more intelligently know when you're using a certain device for audio. Yet, you can still use them with any device that can use BT audio. Seems like a huge advancement to a useful yet clumsy technology. If headphone sales already surpased the 50% of revenue I can only imagine this will push that even further, not to mention make Beats even more money for Apple.

    What are you referring to with your last sentence?  (Perhaps 50% of Beats revenue is now from wireless?)
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