Monster Beats

Who's It For

Audiophiles

Probably not. Audiophiles might like the detailing, but the noise-cancellation’s added noise will get on their nerves. Also, the distortion is a bit too much.

Portable User

The Beats are probably best used as portable headphones. They’re not a bad alternative for in-ear headphones, although they’re lacking a bit in the isolation department. They’re also versatile, because they can, given the right cord, also be used with a home theater setup.

Airplane Traveler

We’re not sure how to judge this one. There are better headphones for isolation, yes, but that doesn’t mean the Beats would be abysmal on an airplane. The noise cancellation will help drown out the roar of the engines, and the battery life would probably last for an airplane ride around the world. If you’re looking for a pair of headphones specifically for airplane travel, there are far better options than the Beats; if you’re looking for headphones that do other things and are also an ok choice for an airplane ride, then the Beats meet that criteria.

Home / Office Use

This is another area we’re reluctant to say yes or no to. No, they don’t have a long cord, but if you have a longer audio cable you can hook it up to these. They also come with a 1/4-inch audio cable. Since they’re over-ears, they’ll provide a good sound-stage, although it won’t sound as open as a dedicated pair of home-theater headphones. While the Beats can be squished into the role, if you’re specifically looking for a set of home theater headphones, there are more appropriate headphones than the Beats.

Conclusion

The Beats are built for mainstream listeners. The detailing is great, and will, to many people, seem like absurdly high audio quality. Add in their comfortable design and interesting aesthetic, and the Beats are a solid option for this demographic.

That being said, the Beats have a few flaws that both limit their functionality and their audience. Although a minor issue, the Beats don’t come equipped with a long cord. Most noise-cancellers try to play up their versatility, including a shorter cord to for daytime portability, and a lengthy extension cord for nighttime home stereo connectivity. The Beats were produced by Monster, who predominantly manufactures cables, so we were expecting a 16-foot long coil with gold-plated, 99% oxygen-free copper, and magical noise-reducing technology in-line. Alas, both cord options were short; if you pick up the Beats for your sound system at home, you’ll need to pick up a longer audio cable as well.

The short cords indicate a focus on portability, but the Beats aren’t necessarily the best choice for commuters. While they have active noise cancellation, it doesn’t block out much more sound compared to other noise-cancellers or in-ear headphones. This will result in your morning train or bus drowning out your music more than it should. Of course, when you boost the volume to compensate for this lack of isolation, the poor leakage control will broadcast your music to those sitting around you.

Of course, there were also the issues with audio quality and the noise created by the active cancellation. To top it all off, you’ll need to feed your Beats AAAs every so often to keep listening to music, which is a bit annoying considering how little the noise cancellation feature actually does.

All in all, we think the Beats are overpriced and under-perform, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t devoid of some solid attributes. We wouldn’t necessarily recommend the Beats as a great buy, since they aren’t for audiophiles by any stretch and they’re priced too highly for most mainstream consumers. We do, however, see the Beats stealing away quite a few Bose adopters.