I tested the 2025 earbuds while running and working out

What are the Beats Powerbeats Fit?

Earlier this year, Apple released the excellent Beats Powerbeats Pro 2. Incorporating six years’ worth of upgrades in one go, the ear hook buds were a huge leap forward and quickly took pole position on our list of the best running headphones.

Now 2021’s smaller wingtip-style Beats Fit Pro earbuds have been given the same treatment, and the resulting upgrade has a new name: Beats Powerbeats Fit. The list of improvements is shorter, though.

The only changes are design based, with a redesigned wingtip offering “enhanced durability and improved in-ear comfort”, along with a case that’s 17 per cent smaller than its predecessor. They have the same drivers, the same Apple H1 chip, the same noise cancellation and even the same IPX4 water resistance.

While welcome, design changes alone make this an expensive upgrade for happy Beats Fit Pro users. Even newcomers might think twice about paying the £199.95 RRP when the predecessors can now be had for £30 to £50 less. The question is: do the Beats Powerbeats Fit’s design upgrades justify paying extra?

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Testing running headphones is a little different to putting regular buds through their paces. While sound quality and noise cancellation are both factors, they’re less important when running for a long time or distance. Instead, comfort, durability, water resistance and battery life take precedence.

So that’s how I test them: using them during long runs and trips to the gym to see how stable they are when shaken by exercise and dampened by sweat. With running headphones’ increasing stamina, I also wear them while working at home and walking around, as otherwise it would be hard to test the battery without passing out through exhaustion.

While I’m not the fastest runner in the world, I am at least persistent, with over 300 parkruns to my name. I’ve also been reviewing consumer technology for over a decade, with plenty of headphones and earbuds in the mix.

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Score: 8/10