Beats Fit Pro are not AirPods.

But that’s not a slight. It’s not necessarily praise either. They’re just different. And I love them both for what they are good at.

First, there’s no point in beating around the bush: AirPods Pro (2nd Generation) are better in almost every single aspect. If you have the money, buy those and you’ll live a happy, and extremely well-noise cancelled life. But, if you want to save $100+, or are comparing the Beats Fit Pro to the first-gen AirPods Pro, or pretty much any other in-ear headphone, I would tend to go with the Beats Fit Pro every time.

Yes, some people can’t wear in-ear buds at all. A lot of audiophiles don’t like the Beats sound. Others absolutely despise the fit of the Beats Fit Pro, and their weird little wing-thing designed to hold them secure in your ear. And I guess it did take me a few tries to get the fit just right.

It’s this wing-thing, however, that has absolutely made me love the Beats Fit Pro for running. AirPods are fine, and generally stay in my ears for a run, but I always feel like I am one stride away from them falling out. As such, I am constantly feeling the need to re-position them in my ears about 100 times on any given 5k. With the Beats Fit Pro, I put them in my ears, tuck the wing-thing in, and the only time I think about them again is when I’m back home and ready to take them out of my ears.

I also find the controls to skip songs or advance 30s in a podcast easier to manage while running than with my AirPods Pros. A simple quick double-tap seals the deal, and it by no means feels like I’m slapping myself in the side of the head, as others have complained about, especially with regards to the original AirPods. A quick triple-click will rewind 30s or go back to the start of your currently-playing song. Siri integration – including ‘Hey Siri’ – works about as well as it does on AirPods Pro for volume control (which, to say, is not great during a run), but you can also set up a long press on the Beats Fit Pro button to control volume as well instead of invoking Siri (by default, long press on the right bud is for Volume Up, while long press on the left is Volume Down).

Of course, on iOS, just like the AirPods Pro, Beats Fit Pro also support Active Noise Cancelling, Transparency Mode, Personalized Spatial Audio, Automatic Ear Detection, have an Ear Fit test, and automatically switch to any of your iOS devices once paired to one of them (you can disable this “feature” if you like). I can’t really comment on how they work with Android, but my understanding is that Apple have gone further in supporting the Beats Fit Pro with Android than they have with AirPods.

For charging – and in a nod to Android and the future of iPhones – the case charges via USB-C. Sadly, the Beats Fit Pro case doesn’t have MagSafe or feature any sort of wireless charging. In my usage however, battery life is excellent, lasting several 5k runs (about 30mins each) before needing to be charged. Typically with my sporadic run schedule, this means plugging in the case every two weeks or so. Clearly, if you’re a more motivated runner, you may need to charge much more frequently. Regardless, plugging in with USB-C is a non-issue for me, and much better than lightning to me.

So why do I have both AirPods and Beats Fit Pro? Well, pretty much cause I’m an idiot and spend money on things I really don’t need. Really, if I had to choose only one pair for every single use case, despite the amazing noise cancellation of the AirPods Pro, I think I would choose the Beats Fit Pro. The main reason for this is for running, but they are great for walks, YouTube, Podcasts, music or anything else you need earbuds for. I’m extremely happy with them, and my only one complaint about the case not supporting MagSafe is really an extremely minor nitpick. That being said, I do prefer the AirPods Pro for longer-term use, or just general every-day use.

Fortunately, I don’t have to choose, and have carved out a use-case for each pair of headphones. Runs and late-night YouTube call for the Beats Fit Pros (as they are more comfortable if I fall asleep with them in than AirPods). Pretty much everything else I reach for the AirPods Pro. As an added benefit of living the two earbud lifestyle, with two pairs of headphones, I am essentially doubling my battery capacity.

Either way, you really can’t lose. Apple is absolutely firing on all cylinders with their headphones and it’s great that they have so many ‘can’t lose’ options at a lot of price ranges.