I'm trying to decide between Airpods and PowerBeats Pro (bought both, will return one). I'm terrible at audio A/B comparisons... by the time I switch headphones, I've largely "forgotten" the details of what the first pair sounded like. And though I am a musician, I don't pretend to be knowledgeable in terms of being able to accurately and definitively describe various characteristics of how a set of headphones perform.
Despite Beats not typically being associated as well-suited for the type of music I mostly listen to (classical/orchestral, and classic rock), I have a more pleasing listening experience with the PowerBeats Pro... it sounds, for lack of better terms, "cozier, warmer, and more comforting" than the Airpods. I love how I can really feel Geddy Lee's bass line plodding along in songs like The Camera Eye, yet something like the delicate violin solo in Scheherazade sounds delightful too, as do fuller sections of orchestral pieces. Don't get me wrong, the Airpods sound fine too, but I just enjoy the sound of the PowerBeats Pro more.
One relatively minor negative aspect of the PowerBeats Pro... though I love the volume controls, I find the side button a little uncomfortable to press (it pushes the eartip further into the ear canal, which isn't necessarily terrible, but it makes a loud popping sound when I do so). I can somewhat minimize this by gripping the body of the earpiece as I push the button, but still I find it considerably easier to double-tap the Airpods to skip to the next track.
And there is one area in which the Airpods seem to have a noticeable edge: wind noise. My primary use is while cycling, and I definitely experience more noise with the PowerBeats Pro, which I would theorize is due to these having a more pronounced and angular cross section exposed to the airstream, while the Airpods, already smaller, are largely hidden in the ear and have a more rounded profile. It might also be influenced by the "sealing" aspect of the PowerBeats Pro transmitting more of the vibrations from the wind into the ear canal. I wear "Cat-Ears" on my helmet (fabric things that velcro to the straps and block a significant portion of wind noise from hitting your ears), and these definitely help, but I still hear a distinctive low rumble from the wind. It's certainly not intolerable, but still is noticeably more pronounced than with the Airpods.
So, it's going to be a tougher decision than I first thought... last night, I was 95% set on keeping the PowerBeats Pro, but now after a quick comparison on the bike it's more of a 60/40 split.