The new Beats 350 sports a feature the Apple-owned audio brand hasn’t offered before: interchangeable ear and headband cushions to let users change the look and feel of the over-ear headphones.
“Beats didn’t just participate in the rise of over-ear headphones — we helped define the category,” said Oliver Schusser, Apple’s vice president of Music, Sports and Beats. “Beats 360 is the next chapter of that story. We combined our most advanced acoustic performance ever with a perfectly balanced design that moves effortlessly with you. And with our new interchangeable cushions, our customers can express themselves in a way no other over-ear headphone can.”
New Beats 360 headphones offer swappable cushions
Beats has made over-ear headphones since its earliest days. The company launched the original Beats by Dr. Dre Studio headphones in 2008, helping establish its reputation with large, bass-heavy headphones aimed at music fans. The new Beats 360 continues that over-ear tradition.
The interchangeable cushions are the headline feature. Beats 360 comes with Performance Knit earcup and headband cushions that come in black, cloud, pink, sky, navy and volt.
“Performance Knit cushions are crafted from plush memory foam and wrapped in a breathable knit for a light, airy feel, with each diamond-knit strand constructed from 36 strong micro-threads for added durability and long-term resilience,” promises Apple.
Additional kits are available separately. An UltraPlush option made of “seamless engineered leather” comes in black and cloud.
In addition, Beats 360 is the first over-ear headphone in this product line with sweat and water resistance.
Photo: Apple
Beats 360 promise better sound and noise cancellation
Beats 360 features a completely new acoustic architecture with custom-designed drivers. Each driver uses a three-layer diaphragm and dual neodymium magnets, designed to provide powerful bass, precision and low distortion.
The headphones also feature an advanced Active Noise Cancelling system that Apple promises provides up to 1.75 times more combined active and passive noise cancellation than the Beats Studio Pro.
Transparency mode lets users hear what’s happening around them, while Adaptive EQ continuously adjusts acoustic frequencies based on the fit.
Beats 360 also supports Personalized Spatial Audio with dynamic head tracking and Dolby Atmos.
Apple promises that the headphones deliver up to 32 hours of battery life with Adaptive EQ when ANC and Transparency mode are off, and up to 32 hours with ANC and Personalized Spatial Audio on.
Works with Apple and Android
Beats 360 uses a custom Beats chip and Bluetooth 5.3 with Class 1 connectivity. And unlike Apple’s AirPods, they support both Apple devices and Android.
On Apple devices, the headphones support one-touch pairing, hands-free Siri, Automatic Switching, Audio Sharing, FaceTime with Spatial Audio, Personalized Spatial Audio with dynamic head tracking and Find My.
Android users get Fast Pair, Audio switch, Find Hub and more.
Photo: Apple
Beats 360: Price and availability
Beats 360 is available to order now for $349.99, with retail availability beginning Thursday, September 24.
For a limited time, cushion kits cost $9.99 in the Apple Store app, and at Apple Store locations in select markets, including the United States. Standard pricing is $49.99. This introductory price is available through October 31, while supplies last.
Apple is also lowering the price of the Beats Studio Pro to $299.99.
Ed Hardy has been writing full-time about tech for 26 years, and using it for much longer than that. His intro to Apple was a Macintosh SE/30 (which he still has), but now he uses a 13-inch iPad Pro as his primary computer.
That’s because he’s a “tablet first” type of guy. Rather than use a Macbook, he connects a keyboard case to the iPad. And instead of a desktop Mac, he connects his tablet to a 27-inch display and full-size keyboard. (So don’t try to tell him that everyone has to use a Mac to be productive.)
Before coming to Cult of Mac, Ed wrote for NotebookReview, TabletPCReview and Brighthand, as well as other sites.
