5 Beats Fit Pro features you should be using

While a lot of people tend to gravitate towards AirPods when buying Apple headphones — often treating them as the “default” for iPhone audio — they’re not necessarily the best products for everyone. That’s especially true if you’re into fitness, since anything short of the AirPods Pro or AirPods Max may be prone to falling out of your ears during workouts. That’s where Beats products come into play, including the Beats Fit Pro, which is designed with runners and weightlifters in mind — although they’re certainly usable at home or during your commute.

If you’ve just picked up a pair of Fit Pros, or you haven’t really used yours much yet, there are several features you should be taking advantage of if you want to elevate your experience beyond generic Bluetooth earbuds. If you haven’t bought a pair yet, there are other fitness headphones you might also want to consider too, depending on your requirements.

1 Active noise cancellation (ANC)

Shut out the outside world

Apple

Apple still sells the Powerbeats Pro to fitness enthusiasts, but really, ANC alone is a reason to upgrade to the Fit Pro. That feature can dramatically improve clarity, especially in populated gyms, which are full of noisy distractions like treadmills, heavy barbells, and obnoxious pop music. Apple’s ANC technology isn’t the absolute best — Sony and Bose’s products are often superior — but it’s good enough to enhance your workout playlist. When you’re traveling, ANC is excellent at reducing the volume of engine sounds and fellow passengers.

The easiest way to toggle ANC is by briefly holding down the Beats logo button on either earbud, repeating that if necessary until you hear a chime and outside sounds disappear. If you have an iPhone or an iPad, you might alternately open Control Center, touch and hold the volume slider, and then choose Active Noise Cancellation.

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2 Transparency mode option

Stay aware when you need to

While it’s usually best to leave ANC on whenever possible for your own enjoyment, there will inevitably be times when you need to talk to other people, or keep alert for potential dangers such as incoming bikes and scooters on the sidewalk. Transparency mode uses the Fit Pro’s microphones to pump in external sounds, mixing it with your device’s audio. The tech is good enough that you should be able to hold a conversation with someone without taking your earbuds out, although that might still be considered rude.

Some people aren’t aware that transparency modes exist, after all. Transparency is best toggled the same way as ANC, the only difference being that if you use Control Center instead of the logo buttons, you have to select Transparency.

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3 Spatial audio from Apple built in

For a home theater experience

Like other spatial formats, Apple Spatial Audio scatters sounds around a simulated 3D environment, widening the soundstage. You should usually leave this off for music — if a track wasn’t originally mixed for surround sound, it can make things sound worse — but it’s fantastic in combination with movies or TV shows that support Dolby Atmos. There’s an option to use head tracking as well, although videos are typically better with it off, since your brain expects the locations of sounds to stay connected to onscreen images.

There’s no physical button to trigger spatial audio. You can, however, toggle the feature (as well as its head tracking) by tapping and holding on the volume slider in an iPhone or iPad’s Control Center and finding the relevant icons.

If you’re paired with an Apple TV 4K (see below), you can go to Settings > Remotes and Devices > Bluetooth and select your Fit Pros to see options. On a Mac, click on the Beats icon in the menu bar.

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4 Seamless switching between Apple devices

For those in Apple’s walled garden

Although the Fit Pro doesn’t support conventional multipoint (i.e. multi-device) Bluetooth pairing, if you pair it with one Apple device signed into your Apple ID, it’ll automatically be paired with anything else that shares that ID. On top of that, Apple uses behind-the-scenes sorcery to determine what device you’re currently using and switch audio output automatically.

Apart from buying multiple Apple products, there’s usually nothing else required on your part. If you’re having problems, you can correct any mix-ups by making sure one device is locked before you pick up another.

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5 Ear fins and water resistance

Push yourself further

It’s worth pointing out that the Fit Pro is meant to let you go hard during workouts — take advantage of it. Those fins are surprisingly effective at keeping the buds locked in your ears. That makes them ideal for long runs, and if you’re doing strength training, it’s nearly impossible to get them to fall out short of exercises like handstands or upside-down hanging crunches. Even then, they might stay put if you’ve got smooth form.

The buds also have an IPX4 water resistance rating, meaning they’re protected against light rain and normal sweat exposure. Be careful — they can indeed be damaged by heavy downpours, and if your workouts are always long and drenched in sweat, you might want to choose earbuds with a higher IP rating like Jabra’s Elite 8 Active. I actually wrecked one Fit Pro pair after a year of hours-long weightlifting sessions. Any product’s water seals will degrade over time, so the more you punish them, the closer you’ll be to needing a replacement.

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FAQ

Q: How does ANC (active noise cancellation) work on the Beats Fit Pro?

The simple version is that microphones on the earbuds pick up external frequencies, and during playback, opposing frequencies are generated to cancel them out — hence the name. In the case of the Beats Fit Pro, there are internally-facing mics as well, which help counter sounds in the small gap between the buds and your ears.

ANC is usually best at coping with repetitive sounds such as jet engines or wind. Even so, most outside sounds should be muted.

Q: If I do get extremely sweaty during workouts, what IP rating do I need?

If you’re worried the IPX4 rating on the Beats Fit Pro might not be enough, we’d suggest buying something with an IP57 rating or better. The best possible rating for a consumer product tends to be IP68, which is thankfully becoming more common, even on some earbuds below the $100 mark.

Aside from the Elite 8 Active, here are some other products you might want to consider:

• JBL Endurance Peak 3
• Anker Soundcore Sport X10
• Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro
• Tribit MoveBuds H1
• Jabra Elite 10
• Jaybird Vista 2