Beats Announces ‘Beats × nike’ Powerbeats Pro
Beats on Tuesday unveiled its newest collab: the $249 Beats × Nike Powerbeats Pro 2.
The earbuds will be out Friday, March 20. There’s a video with LeBron wearing them.
“Keep your head in the game (and everyone else out) with the ultimate earbuds for athletes,” Beats said of the Powerbeats in its brief product description. “The first official collaboration between two powerhouses in sport, these special-edition Nike Powerbeats Pro 2 comfortably lock onto your ears for ultimate stability and focus.”
Functionally, there’s nothing “special edition” about these earbuds apart from some obvious external visual flourishes. For all intents and purposes, they’re the exact same Powerbeats Pro 2 that came out a little over a year ago. Like the AirPods Pro 3 and refreshed AirPods Max, the Nike Powerbeats Pro feature the exact same H2 chip, USB-C and Qi charging, built-in heart rate monitoring, and sweat and water resistance.
As a journalist and avowed gadget nerd who’s also a big Nike fan, I really want to get my ears on these special Powerbeats Pro. I’ve long been intrigued by the Powerbeats Pro’s ear-hook design from an accessibility standpoint, as I’ve never used such a style of earbuds. Broadly speaking, I make it a point to somewhat keep my finger on the pulse of Apple’s subsidiary, most recently with the Beats Studio Buds+. I find Beats to be a compelling, more “sporty” alternative to AirPods and, as it turns out, iPhone cases and charging cables. In particular, the Beats-branded cables are interesting from an accessibility perspective insofar as the various colors (and braided cord) can make for more accessible use in terms of identification and grip for visual and motor acuities.
