So after almost 5 years, Apple has finally updated the beats studio pro’s. Now even though I enjoy how these headphones sound and they have a really good microphone on them for phone calls, I feel that these are very hard to justify for premium ANC headphones. But today, we’re going to see how the beats studio pro directly compare to both the Bose QC45 and the Bose NC 700.

Regarding pricing, the beats studio pro retail for $350… where as the Bose NC 700’s have a retail price of $380 and the Bose QC45’s have a retail price of $330… but both of Bose’s headphones like to go on sale now and the Bose QC45’s routinely go on sale for $280. And the bose QC45’s are currently my faovitre headphones to use and recommend. Nonetheless, if you want to pick any of these headphones up they’ll be linked down below.

Now first lets talk about the included cases… both of Bose’s headphones come included with hard shell cases which will protect your headphones if you cram them into your back pack or carry on. But personally I do prefer the QC45’s case here cause their case is way smaller… making it much easier to travel with these headphones. where as the NC 700’s case is larger cause these headphones have a lay flat design to them. But then, there are the beats studio pro, and these come included with a soft shell case… and I feel that this is unacceptable for a pair of premium ANC headphones. Cause who knows, they can get crushed if you plan on traveling a lot with them.

But now, lets talk about the headphones themselves. Regarding fit, this is a big problem for the Beats Studio Pro. First off the Beats Studio Pro’s have a lot of clamping force on them. Making them not big head approved. Where as both of Bose’s headphones are big head approved cause they have less clamping force, giving them a loser and more comfortable fit. But the Bose QC45’s have a super loss fit to them… making them even more comfortable than most other headphones out there. But another issue on the Beats studio Pro is the lack of range of motion on their ear cups. These ear cups apply a little more pressure on the front of your ear than on the back… making them feel a little unnatural when they are on your head. Where as with both of Bose’s headphones, their earcups have a lot more range of motion, so their ear cups apply an even amount of pressure around your ears, making them feel more natural. But then there is the padding underneath their headband… the Studio Pro’s have very little padding underneath their headband, so they can create a hot spot on the top of your head after like 30 or 40 minutes… which can get very uncomfortable. Where as hot spots aren’t an issue for either of Bose’s headphones cause their headbands both have a lot of padding to them. But then there are the ear pads themselves. Now the ear pads on the beats are very shallow, so even if you have normal sized ears like me… these ear pads will press down on your ears which can get uncomfortable after awhile. Where as with both of Bose’s headphones… both have very spacious ear pads and both earpads will be able to accommodate most ear types and even if you have very large ears or ears that stick out a lot… they will both have you covered. Although I will point out that the QC45’s are a little more spacious. So overall, both of Bose’s headphones are way more comfortable than the Beats Studio Pro… but the Bose QC45’s are the most comfortable headphones here cause they are also the lightest. The Bose QC45’s weigh in at 237 grams… where as the Beats Studio Pro weigh in at 260 grams and the Bose NC 700 weigh in at 264 grams. Now both the NC 700 and Beats weigh an average amount for Premium ANC Headphones. But I would consider the QC45’s to be light weight. So the QC45’s lighter weight just helps make these headphones even more comfortable cause they’re easier to forget that you have on and they are less noticeable on your head when you’re walking around with them on. So overall, the Bose QC45’s are the most comfortable headphones and that’s one of the reasons why I like them so much.

But now lets talk about tech specs. The Beats Studio Pro have an advertised battery life of 24 horus with their active noise cancellation turned on and with their active noise cancelation turned off they can go for as long as 40 hours.

Where as with the Bose QC45’s these have an advertised battery of 24 hours with their active noise cancelation turned on… but you can’t use them with the active noise cancellation turned off… so you can’t extend their battery life that way.

And then there are the Bose NC 700’s which have an advertised battery life of 20 hours… which is a little too low in my opinion… but at least you can use these headphones with their active noise cancelation completely turned off, so you can extend their battery life that. So I will admit that battery life wise, the Beats Studio Pro’s are the winners here.

Now when it comes to charging these headphones, they all charge via a USB C port as they should. And when it comes to fast charging, the Beats Studio Pro are easily the winner here. With the beats if you plug them in for 10 minutes from a dead battery they are going to get you 4 hours of playback time. Where as with the NC 700 if you plug them in for 15 minutes they are only going to get you 2 hours of playback time and the QC45’s are going to get you 3 hours from a 15 minute charge.

But also, with the Beats, you can use their USB C port as a wired connection. Where as with the bose, their USB C ports are only used for chargning these headphones. But also, you can still use a wired connection with all of these headphones cause they still have an audio… which is a surprise for the Beats Studio pro cause I thought apple was going to remove the audio jack on these headphones.

The main thing to keep in mind is that the beats have a 3.5 millimeter audio jack where as both of Bose’s headphones are using a 2.5 millimeter audio jack,

Now when it comes to wireless connectivity both of Bose’s headphones can be simultaneously connected to any two devices at the same time so you can easily hot swap between any two devices, making them great for power users who have devices from different eco systems.

Now the Beats Studio Pro’s are also good options for power users cause you can easily switch from one device to another, but switching between devices with the beats isn’t as seamless as with Bose’s headphones.

But when it comes to overall performance, all of these headphones have zero latency across then board when watching movies or videos on your phone whether you’re using an iPhone or an android device… and when it comes to audio codecs, all of these headphones have support for SBC and AAC. Now AAC is perfectly fine but none of these headphones have support for higher quality audio codecs like either APTX or LDAC.

But with all of that out of the way, lets talk about sound. Now Bose’s headphone and the Beats Studio Pro’s sound very different and they are going to please very different people. With the Beats Studio Pro, these have a stock Bass heavy EQ. The bass on these headphones both resonates and kicks a decent amount. If you want to physically feel your bass, then these are the headphones to get here. But even though these headphones have a bass heavy EQ, the vocals and instrumentals have good detail to them and these sound a lot more balanced than their predecessor. But then there are the bose, both of Bose’s headphones are better suited for people who are looking for a more neutral sounding headphone or something that sounds more open than the beats. Cause with Bose’s headphones… their bass doesn’t kick nearly as much as the bass that found on the Beats. Now you can go in on either of Boses headphones and you can adjust their EQ to your liking… but still these headphones aren’t going to rattle your head as much as the beats. Overall, I think more people are going to prefer the sound of the Beats Studio Pro cause of the physicality in their bass… and having that kick in your bass is fun when you’re listening to music or watching movies… but the bose are going to be better suited from someone who wants a more neutral sound signature out of their headphones. But a lot of people assume that the bose sound flat. They dont sound flat, they just sound different.

But when it comes to the media controls on these headphones… the beats are using physical buttons. And some people just prefer physical buttons on their headphones. That’s fine. But personally I don’t like the lay out of the buttons on the beats cause I hate that you have to press these ear cups into your head and plus they’re on the left side. Where as the Bose QC45’s are also using physical buttons, but their buttons are the on the right ear cup and they’re on the side. So pressing them is a lot more comfortable cause you’re not jamming these ear cups into your head. And then there are the NC 700’s which are using a touch pad, this touch pad is fine… but it is a little small and adjusting the volume on these headphones is a little awkward.

But now lets talk about the active noise cancelation on these headphones… now as of August 2023… the Sony 1000XM5’s are currently the king of active noise cancellation… but the Bose QC45’s aren’t too far behind. So combined with their amazing comfort, small case and very impressive active noise cancellation… the bose QC45’s are my favorite headphones to fly with. But then there’s the active noise cancelation on the beats studio pro… their active noise cancellation performs more in line with a pair of mid teir ANC headphones… but so that you can see for yourself we’re going to jump into the ANC Test.

so like you may have just seen, the Bose QC45 block out the most amount here… they also block out more noise than the more preimumly priced Bose NC 700… but then there are the Beats Studio Pro who’s active noise cancellation is more in line with that of a pair of mid teir ANC headphones. Now the ANC on the Beats Studio Pro is going to be useful on lets say a bus or slightly chatty office… but if you plan on trailing or flying a lot, then I highly recommend the Bose QC45’s cause of their superior ANC and comfort.

But then there’s the ambient mode on these headphones. Now all of these headphones have an ambient mode. And all of these ambient modes sound good. But with both the Beats Studio Pro and Bose QC45’s, you can’t adjust their ambient mode to your liking. Where as with the Bose NC 700, you can adjust their ambient mode to your liking. But more importantly, the NC 700’s are the only headphones here that have a conversation mode, where they will automatically lower the volume of your music and pump in all of the ambient sound around you so that you can talk to someone with out having to remove your headphones like this.

And then when you press their ANC Button again they’ll go back to normal again. Now this feature is super useful especially if you’re  traveling cause you can have quick conversations with people without having to remove your headphones. And really this is the only feature that I really miss on the Bose QC45’s cause the QC45’s dont do this… even though they could easily do so.

But finally here’s the microphone test, now overall I feel that all of these headphones have decent sounding microphones on them.

But I do think that the Bose NC 700’s sound a little better than the Bose QC45’s

And I think the beats studio pro sound a little better than the Bose NC 700

But I also think the Beats Studio pro’s do the best job here of dealing with noise pollution, cause right now these are doing a really impressive job of reducing this road noise. Cause for comparison sake, if we were to switch over to my lapel microphone, you’re going to clearly hear all of this road noise, but if we were to switch back over to the Beats Studio Pro, it is severely reduced.

Now the Bose NC 700’s are also trying to reduce this road noise… but they just dont do as good of a job as the Beats…

And with the Bose QC45’s you can hear a decent amount of road noise in the back ground.

And its the same thing when it comes to blocking out chatter… with the bose QC45’s you can hear a decent amount of chatter in the back ground.

And with the NC 700’s these are doing a slightly better job of blocking out this chatter

But with the Beats, these are doing the best job of reducing this chatter. Overall I feel that all of these headphones have decent sounding microphones on them for phone calls while in a quiet room… but I do think the Beats Studio Pro do the best job of dealing with noise pollution

But with all of that being said, I will admit that the Beats Studio Pro have a decent sounding microphone on them for phone calls, I like how they sound and they have the best battery life here… but for me it is hard to justify them over other premium ANC headphones like either the Bose QC45 or Bose NC 700 cause first off, their Active noise cancelation doesn’t compare to the ANC on either of these two headphones, and the beats studio pro are just so uncomfortable to wear, especially when compared Bose’s headphones. If your headphones dont fit well, you’re not going to want to wear them. But also, the Beats Studio Pro’s dont come included with a hard shell case, which is standard for premium ANC headphones. For me, the Beats Studio Pro are a hard pass… and if you’re trying to choose between the Bose QC45’s and NC 700’s… I highly recommend the Bose QC45’s cause of their better active noise cancellation, more comfortable fit, better battery life, and smaller case.