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Not positive, but it looks like the ReMarkable2, with one of the "dots" templates.
Maybe. Both the undulating edges and then penmanship (or is it penpersonship?) makes me think "traditional paper notebook." I could be wrong.

Back to the earbuds: I'm pretty diligent when it comes to earbud hygiene. Still, I've been curious to see how much gunk finds its way down into the device. With this design, we'd know. Which is gross.
 
After nearly two months of leaks, the Beats Studio Buds + earphones are now official, with the audio brand from Apple revealing improved performance and some new color choices compared to the original Beats Studio Buds, including an eye-catching Transparent option.


Priced at $169.99, a $20 increase over the original model, the Beats Studio Buds + deliver improvements to fit, Active Noise Cancellation (ANC), Transparency mode, microphones, battery life, and more.

The most immediately obvious change for the Beats Studio Buds + is the overall look, with the new Transparent color option being the standout alongside a Black option with Gold accents and an Ivory option. The Transparent design is reminiscent of what Nothing has been doing with its phones and earphones, although the specific look is rather different. While Nothing has gone with a completely transparent outer surface for portions of its devices, Beats' transparency isn't quite as clear but includes essentially every part of the exterior of the buds, case, and even the eartips.

beats-studio-plus-triple.jpg

Beyond the new colors, the Studio Buds + look essentially identical to the original Studio Buds, but Beats says 95% of the internal parts are brand-new including 3x larger microphones for improved sound capture and a brand-new venting and mic port design. As with the previous model, the Studio Buds + include IPX4 sweat and water resistance to stand up to workouts and weather.

beats-studio-buds-plus-1.jpg

When it comes to fit, Studio Buds + offer improvements there as well with a new extra-small eartip option joining the existing small, medium, and large sizes to fit a wider range of ears with a better seal.

The multi-function "b" button on each earbud has been redesigned to reduce accidental presses and offer a firmer feel. The button continues to offer standard media controls where a single press handles play/pause, a double press skips forward, and a triple press skips backward.

A press-and-hold function allows you to toggle between ANC and Transparency mode, but it can also be configured to activate a voice assistant or adjust volume up and down. Call handling functionality can also be customized to require either one or two presses to end a call.


beats-studio-buds-plus-4.jpg


Transparent Studio Buds + vs. White Studio Buds

Aside from ANC and Transparency, Beats Studio Buds + also support Spatial Audio content on Apple Music, although they do not include the immersive head-tracking functionality found on the Beats Fit Pro and several AirPods models.

Rather than using Apple's H1 or H2 chip, the Beats Studio Buds + use a custom second-generation "Beats Proprietary Platform" that offers many of the same features as Apple's chips such as "Hey Siri" and Find My support, automatic device switching via iCloud and more, while also offering similar features on Android such as Find My Device, one-touch pairing, and automatic pairing to all devices linked to the same Google account.

beats-studio-buds-plus-2.jpg

With a revised vent design and ANC processing now housed on the primary chipset, the Studio Buds + have up to 1.6x better ANC than the previous model and up to 2x better Transparency performance. The buds also include playback correction, which attempts to remove residual acoustic artifacts that can be introduced by ANC or Transparency processing. A feedback microphone and secondary filter analyze the audio data at up to 50,000 times per second to ensure playback accuracy.

Additional improvements to voice performance focus on noise suppression and voice targeting to make sure speech is as intelligible as possible, while the larger microphones deliver a higher signal-to-noise ratio with greater sensitivity. Machine learning was used to train the system in a variety of noisy environments for optimal voice capture.

beats-studio-buds-plus-3.jpg

Battery life sees a significant boost in the Studio Buds +, with the earbuds providing up to 9 hours of battery life with ANC and Transparency turned off and the case providing an additional 27 hours for a total of 36 hours of battery life,... Click here to read rest of article

Article Link: Beats Studio Buds + Deliver Improved Performance and a Transparent Design Option for $169.99
Well well... the funky-old eMate style is back...

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Excellent review, Dan - thanks! I'll probably buy them.

Also...the call sound of the Studio Buds+ has better clarity.
 
I love the design of these, honestly. But the lack of wireless charging is an automatic no-go for me. I have several MagSafe chargers throughout my apt and the convenience of throwing my AirPods down on one still makes them the best option.
 
I love the design of these, honestly. But the lack of wireless charging is an automatic no-go for me. I have several MagSafe chargers throughout my apt and the convenience of throwing my AirPods down on one still makes them the best option.

That's a good point actually. Haven't used a wire charger for my AirPods in quite a while.
 
please update the Powerbeats Pro line because I desperately need a new pair. The charging case could definitely be improved and I wouldn’t mind the transparent design on them either.
Yeah, the Powerbeats Pro are my go to for working out (especially running). Unfortunately I've had a lot of issues getting them to charge over the last year (it's never been perfect, but seems to have gotten much worse). I'm ready to retire them but don't have a good replacement option yet - thinking of trying the BFP, but not sure how I feel about the wings. An updated Powerbeats Pro with ANC and a more reliable charging case would be an instant buy for me.
 
I've had the originals since the day they came out

With these, I like the case being translucent more than the earbuds being translucent.
 
Consider the original ones are almost always on sale at $99.
This might get a mark down soon.
Glad to see they are addressing the button issue where it is too easily pressed by accident.
 
The return of the 90’s. My favorite era 💫

Ha! I thought the same. From a design language/trends perspective, I'm surprised by translucent's return.
Overall, early 00s was my fav Apple hardware era. Loved when they went white (and Ti in Pro), sleek, clean, uniformed. That's said, I also really like where the product lines are now - aesthetically. As some may know, I do not like where the naming conventions currently sit. But no one wants to hear me talk about that any more. 🤪
 
I like them. But honestly headphone tech is now officially old. Should be getting way cheaper. Things like Bluetooth and drivers would be but a few cents to produce now, given you can buy retail stuff with better battery life and similar or better sound than airpod pros for $30-$50.. I’m going to need better price. And my airpod pros battery are starting to not last so I do need a set soon.. but not spending circ $200+yet again. (I’m in Australia so paid $399 for pros)
 
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Am I the only person that can't stand in-ear buds? I really wanted to like the AirPod Pros but I just found them to have so many downsides compared to the regulars. Sound isolation is nice when you need it, but I rarely ever need it. I want to be able to hear stuff going on around me most of the time. Transparency helps, but it's not perfect and sounds weirdly artificial. It's interesting to me that almost all of these new buds are in-ear.
 
If we didn't have damn Tim Cook in charge you know we'd have super cool translucent AirPods by now
 
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