Beats Releases Beats 360 Headphones

Apple-owned Beats recently released new over-ear headphones: the $349 Beats 360.

The headphones look more or less like an analogue to AirPods Max, at least with the curved canopy part. The Beats 360 features interchangeable ear cuffs so wearers can create their own personalized look; AirPods Max have this too, but seemingly only for the Lightning version. I’ve collected a few Beats products over the years since Apple acquired them in 2014—the Solo 3s, the Studio Pro, and the Studio Buds+—so I pay attention whenever Beats releases anything new.

From an accessibility perspective, I’m curious as to how accessible it is to swap out the Beats 360’s ear cushions. I still have my old Lightning-equipped AirPods Max, and one of the great details about them is how the ear cushions attach magnetically. Likewise, the AirPods’ pairing process is one-tap and Apple cleverly uses iCloud on the backend to propagate pairing to a person’s other devices. The product page for the Beats 360 says Fast Pair is supported on Android, which I’ve said before is great for accessibility for all the same reasons AirPods’ pairing is so damn magical and accessible. Kudos to Beats—and by extension, Apple—for identifying the benefits of supporting Google’s like technology for setup. It makes the Beats 360 user experience that much nicer for Android users. And of course, it’s been my experience Beats’ headphones feel appreciably lighter on my head than AirPods Max. If you’re someone who’s sensitive to sensory input, Beats 360 may well be the better choice than AirPods Max on weight alone.

The Beats 360 are available in Apple Stores now.