The days when Beats headphones have excelled at overbumpy basses are finally over. The Studio3 Wireless are the best example of this. They also sound good in hip hop, but not only.

Instead, they are more like a general purpose sound machine for - in the broadest sense - pop. Their sound is characterized by two properties. On the one hand, this is the height reproduction, which is more silky than silvery, which I find very pleasant when I listen to music for a long time.

On the other hand, it is the basses that are well developed and powerful, but not dominant. For example, the woody bass in Ida Nielsen's "Throwback" is beautifully accented and not too hard and boomy. A bit weak is the midrange. Probably that's why the Studio3 fits well with pop, but less well with classical music. He is not a headphone for the studio, but for the sofa.

Beats Studio3 Wireless in the test

Beats Studio3 Wireless: The design looks classy especially in the so-called Skyline Collection. The ear pads are pleasantly soft, the headband is relatively firmly padded.

The little power button is a bit fidgety and hard to find if you already have the headphones on your head.

For example, to pair the Studio3 Wireless with the entertainment system in an aircraft, a cable jack is installed. An old micro USB port is used to charge the battery.

The workmanship is very good, the material high quality. Even the plastic looks valuable, which is probably due to the color.

The hinges of the hinged headphones make a robust impression, the cables run in a plastic channel.

The left ear cup serves as a remote control, for example, to call Siri or the Google Assistant, to start and stop music and to adjust the volume. Instead of modern sensor surfaces, however, Beats incorporates mechanical switches that clack loudly and look cheap.

Actually very useful is the included transport box, in which the headphones folded place. Unfortunately, the cables have to be stuffed in there unordered.

The advantage of the box is that it is very robust. The disadvantage is that it takes up a lot of space in your hand luggage.

Or for the seat in the airplane or the course. Because like many other modern headphones, the Studio3 Wireless has an active noise cancellation, so uses microphones to detect external noise and hide it by so-called counter-sound in front of the ear.

This works well, but not perfect. For example, on a train journey lasting more than ten hours, the system was able to fade out the lump of the track, but not the screaming of a hungry infant. This works for example with headphones from Bose or Sennheiser a bit better.

Just pair

What works unbeatably well with the Beats Studio3 Wireless, however, is the interaction with Apple devices. The reason for this is that the same Apple W1 chip is in there as in Apple's AirPods. Therefore, it is sufficient to keep the headphones for the first time pairing close to, for example, an iPhone. The connection is then made without further intervention by the user.

If you later use another device that is registered with the same Apple ID as on the iPhone, you can also use the Beats headphones with a mouse click or a tap of your finger on this device. A new pairing is not necessary.

But if you want to use it with an Android smartphone or PC, you have to go through the usual pairing process, hold the power button for a few seconds until the LEDs flash and then select the headset in the Bluetooth settings of the device. Goes too, only takes a few seconds longer.

Long breath, loud keys

On several long-haul flights and long train rides, my Studio3 Wireless never ran out of energy. According to Beats, he should have up to 22 hours endurance with the noise suppression turned on, turning off the noise suppression, even 40 hours. I did not have the patience to verify this, nor did I have the problem that the battery was empty.

This is better, because Beats has the Studio3 Wireless even with a now-old micro USB port provided, for which I often do not have the right cable. Likewise disturb me the somewhat cheap acting switches for music and call control on the right auricle, which are relatively stiff and clack loud.

Conclusion

advantages and disadvantages

Very easy collaboration with Apple devices

Very comfortable to wear

Very good battery life

Good sound for pop music

Loud clicking buttons on the left auricle

At Apple, you still get the Beats Studio3 Wireless at the list price, which was the introduction of this model: 350 euros. A price with which Beats had justifiably positioned itself in the upper class of noise-suppressing headphones. Sound, material, workmanship and technology would also justify this price.

But you get the Studio3 at many dealers currently far cheaper. Price comparison sites list it at prices starting at around 230 euros. Cheap is still not, for a headphone of this quality but a bargain.

Background: Product tests in the network world department

Which products are reported in the network world section?

Which products we report in the network world and which we test or not, we decide ourselves. For any of the reviews we get money or other consideration from the manufacturer. For various reasons, we may not report on products even though we have appropriate test products.

Where do the test products come from?

We usually get test equipment and review copies of games for free for a certain period provided by the manufacturer, sometimes even before the official release. So our reviews can appear in time or in time for the release of the product.

Pre-release versions or devices from pre-series productions are only tested in special cases. As a rule, we wait until we can get test devices or game versions that are identical to the retail versions. In some cases, we also buy products at our own expense if they are already commercially available or online.

Are networld editors allowed to keep the products?

As a rule, test equipment is returned to the manufacturer after the end of the test. The exception are review copies of games and so-called permanent loans: For example, we have game consoles and smartphones in the editorial office, which we are allowed to use for a long time. For example, we can report on software updates, new accessories and new games or make long-term judgments.

Can the network world editors invite companies to travel?

The costs for travel to events, regardless of whether they take place in Germany or abroad, are always covered by SPIEGEL ONLINE. This also applies if, for example, a company undertakes travel planning due to short-term appointments.

Events at which we travel at our own expense include the Ifa, CES, E3 and Gamescom events as well as events from companies such as Apple, Google, Microsoft or Nintendo. At conferences such as the Chaos Communication Congress or the re: publica, we, like other members of the press, are usually given free press tickets because we report on the conference and are not classical participants.

What's up with the Amazon ads in some articles?

As of December 2016, there are Amazon ads in some web-world articles that contain so-called affiliate links. If a user visits Amazon via such a link and purchases online there, SPIEGEL ONLINE participates in the sales in the form of a commission. The ads appear in articles regardless of whether a product test is positive or negative.