- Four colors: black, orange, gray and pink
- No H2 chip upgrade, and no sign of heart rate monitoring
- IPX4, up to 30 hours battery
Today’s big headphone news is of course the expected launch of the AirPods Pro 3, but a pair of earbuds from Apple’s other headphone brand just leaked: the Powerbeats Fit.
Noted leaker Ev Blass has published some specifications and lots of marketing images showing the ANC buds in all four color options: Spark Orange, Gravel Gray, Jet Black, and Power Pink.
The spec is impressive, but there’s one item on our wish list that hasn’t been confirmed as yet so we’re keeping our fitness fingers crossed.
Powerbeats Fit: what we know so far
According to the leaked information, the pitch here is that the Powerbeats Fit are “high-performance earbuds for working out, with universal secure-fit wingtips” so they don’t fall out when you work out.
The processor is Apple’s H1 chip, and that delivers Active Noise Cancelling with transparency mode, adaptive EQ and personalized Spatial Audio.
The buds are rated IPX4 for sweat and water resistance, they come in four ear tip sizes, and battery life is up to 7 hours per bud and 30 hours with the charging case.
We’d hoped to see the H2 chip plus improved water and sweat resistance over the Beats Fit Pro – ideally IPX7, but IPX5 would be an improvement too – so the H1/IPX4 combination is disappointing. But the new buds do deliver one of our wishes: longer play time than the Beats Fit Pro via the charging case.
The one feature we really hoped to see hasn’t been included in the leaked spec: heart rate monitoring. Having the same tracking as in the Powerbeats Pro 2 but in a smaller, lighter and more modern-looking design would be a big win, but as yet there’s no evidence that the Powerbeats Fit will be able to track your heart. Here’s hoping it’s just been left off the leaked spec rather than left off the buds themselves.
