Apple announces Powerbeats Pro, the first true wireless earbuds from Beats for $249

Just days after Apple launched **refreshed AirPods** with wireless charging support and Bluetooth 5.0, the company’s finally unveiled the new, true wireless and water-resistant Powerbeats Pro. Like the new AirPods, the Powerbeats Pro use Apple’s H1 Chip for hands-free ‘Hey Siri’ and will offer improved connectivity and faster connection time. These new Beats by Dr Dre-branded earphones have taken a while to arrive but Beats claims that it is a worthy upgrade from its previous wireless Powerbeats 3. [caption id=“attachment_6387791” align=“alignnone” width=“1024”] Beats Powerbeats Pro will be available in the US starting May. Image: Apple[/caption] Apple claims that the new Powerbeats are smaller and lighter than the Powerbeats 3. The design has also been adjusted for a more comfortable fit. There have also been a number of improvements to the in-house driver that Apple says will bring “incredibly low distortion and great dynamic range across the entire frequency curve.” The Powerbeats Pro also gets two beam-forming microphones on each earbud to filter out external sounds such as wind and ambient noise as well as a speech-detecting accelerometer that’s used to enhance speech recognition.

In terms of battery life, Apple says that you can expect around nine hours from the headphones themselves, and around 24 hours of battery life on a full charge with the charging case. For better battery life, the Powerbeats Pro can automatically go into rest mode after a short period of inactivity and will automatically turn off when they’re put back into their case. Priced at $249 (approximately Rs 17,200), the Beats Powerbeats Pro can’t be categorised as affordable. The price here, in fact, considerably higher than the AirPods 2 which are priced at $159 (approximately Rs 11,000). They will be available in four colours — Black, Ivory, Moss and Navy, starting May.