Beats Powerbeats 2 – Review

Beats Powerbeats 2

 Beats Powerbeats 2

| Dynamic Driver |



? The Beats Powerbeats 2 have been on the market for some time already but this does not mean that they have become an unworthy product, to this day the prices of the Beats Powerbeats 2 have been dropping bringing new potential buyers that used to think that their initial price tag was beyond of what they wanted to spend for an in-ear headphone.

The Beats Powerbeats 2 are also the latest wired Beats Powerbeats earphone that you can buy that has a 3.5mm stereo plug. Beats in-ear headphones have gained an enormous fame and within fame you will always find a lot of people loving them and a lot hating them, sometimes with a valid reason and sometimes not. Here is where we step in, as we have no personal reason to love them or hate them we will review them in the same unbiased and honest way that we review every single other brand and model and will share with our readers the resulting performance during this review.

The Beats Powerbeats 2 are part of the family of sports-orientated Beats in-ear headphones, among them you will find the Beats Powerbeats, Beats Powerbeats 2 (this model), Beats Powerbeats 2 Wireless and the Beats Powerbeats3. To clear things up, we are giving you a brief insight of the main differences of the Beats Powerbeats vs Beats Powerbeats2 vs Beats Powerbeats2 Wireless vs Beats Powerbeats3 vs Beats X. The Beats Powerbeats was the first model of the family which used for the first time the “ear-hook”; the aesthetics of the Beats Powerbeats vs Beats Powerbeats2 were a bit rougher than the models that would afterwards replace them. The Beats Powerbeats 2 was the 2nd model (as the name suggests), the aesthetics were much improved and polished being even to this date that the latest Beats Powerbeats3 vs Beats Powerbeats2 have almost the same design and looks, with the introduction of the Beats Powerbeats 2 there was launched the Beats Powerbeats2 Wireless. As you can guess, the main difference of the Beats Powerbeats2 Wirless vs Beats Powerbeats 2 is the bluetooth feature. As a new version, in 2016 there was the announcement of the Beats Powerbeats3 wireless and as a different model family in 2017 the Beats X was launched, the Beats Powerbeats3 vs Beats X difference was much more drastic than what the Beats Powerbeats3 vs Beats Powerbeats2 was. In this case the Beats X vs Beats Powerbeats3 totally changed the design and style being the Beats X a “neckbud” without any ear-hooks. Both of these latest models left out the possibility to choose between a wired 3.5mm and a bluetooth version, so the Beats Powerbeats 2, as of now, are the latest Powerbeats wired model that you can get. Instead if you prefer the latest wired model from Beats but that not belongs to the Powerbeats family will have to pick the Beats urbeats.

Back to the Beats Powerbeats 2 review. The housings are made of plastic with a metal back plate (the plate where the Beats logo and the Powerbeats name can be seen), the hooks are rubberized and the end section can be bent to easily fit them around your ears, the overall weight feel of the earpieces is very light.

The easiest way to position the Beats Powerbeats 2 is to place them tilted to the front and then twist them back so that the hooks go behind the ears, once you fit them correctly you will obtain an incredible fit and comfort out of them. The cable is flat and rubberized to provide a good aid against tangling issues; a rubberized inline microphone and 3-button control is found on the cable of the left earpiece. The mic-control allows to play/pause songs, answer/reject calls, skip songs and control the volume up and volume down of your Apple device, you can also use them on Android devices but you will loose the volume control feature. The cable bifurcation is made of plastic as well as the the plug section but the plug has a rear metal plate with the Beats logo.

You can buy the Beats Powerbeats 2 in some attractive looking colors:

  • Beats Powerbeats2 Black (classic Beats black and red combination)
  • Beats Powerbeats2 Red (as the one that we are reviewing)
  • Beats Powerbeats2 White
  • Beats Powerbeats2 Blue

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Beats Powerbeats 2 - Review

Tests & Scores

W

Weight

 

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A

Accessories & Packaging

The Beats Powerbeats 2 come inside a square box, similar to the one of the Beats urbeats but a bit bigger. Inside the box you will get 3 pairs of eartips, a cable clip and a hard carrying case with the Beats logo.

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Beats Powerbeats 2 - Accessories
Beats Powerbeats 2 – Accessories

B

Bass & Sub Bass

The bass of the Beats Powerbeats 2 is very punchy and energetic with deep sub-bass too. Beats earphones are famous for their strong bass and the Beats Powerbeats 2 are no exception, they will be able to fulfill the needs of listeners that love fun bass on their listening sessions. They have a clearly strong bass response but we have reviewed other in-ear headphones with even stronger bass, you can find them on our Earphones Scores Comparison Page or through our Earphones Reviews Database.

Applying an EQ there is a strong increase of mid-bass and a crazy amount of sub-bass.





During our extreme bass tests the Beats Powerbeats 2 managed to take up to 50% of a Fiio E12 amplifier’s maximum power (set to high gain, with bass boost turned on and applying a custom basshead EQ). The results were an insane increment of punch and depth achieving a very respectable basshead level of impact and rumble way above the KZ ATE, Xiaomi Mi Pro HD and near the DZAT DF-10Xiaomi Mi In-Ear Headphones Pro or the KZ ZS1.

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Beats Powerbeats 2
Beats Powerbeats 2

M

Mids & Vocals

Mids of the Beats Powerbeats 2 are very warm and exhibit a strong mid-bass bleed over lower mids and lower vocals which will make lower vocals sound congested if the song being listened has strong mid-bass. Higher mids are never harsh but are rolled off. To be honest, we do not think that normal listeners (frankly, any listener) during sports activities would care much about this, as they are mainly intended to be used as sports earphones. With an EQ, lower vocals clear up with a noticeable reduction of mid-bass bleed, higher mids also gain some crispier sound but overall they still will not be a very crisp and clear mids sounding in-ear headphone.

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Side by side: Beats Powerbeats 2 vs JBL T110 | See also: JBL T110 Review Beats Powerbeats 2 vs Sony MDR-XB50AP | See also: Sony MDR-XB50AP Review Beats Powerbeats 2 vs Skullcandy INK’D 2.0 | See also: Skullcandy INK’D 2.0 Review Beats PowerBeats 2 vs Panasonic RP-TCM125 | See also: Panasonic Ergofit RP-TCM125 Review


H

Highs & Treble

The Beats Powerbeats 2 have dark highs with almost no detail or definition. Piercing highs are not a typical issue with them but a extreme high peak of a piccolo can make them show up. Sibilance is not present at any given time. Treble sensitive people can be almost 100% safe of fatiguing highs. An EQ makes their highs much better with a significant amount of brightness added and the ability to resolve a tiny bit of detail. Some very small amount of sibilance arises and piercing highs get just a bit stronger.

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SL

Sound Leak

The sound that leaks out of the Beats Powerbeats 2 is more perceivable than many average earphones. For quiet environments the Beats Powerbeats 2 will be heard by nearby people, on very noisy situations their sound leakage level could blend in.

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Beats Powerbeats2
Beats Powerbeats2

SI

Sound Isolation

Noise isolation of the Beats Powerbeats 2 is quite good, better than most average earphones. Moderate to low levels of volume can be used and they will provide a fairly effective level of isolation

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C

Comfort

The Beats Powerbeats 2 are very light and comfortable to use, no pain or discomfort will be felt by using them. The fixed earhooks add up to the extreme secure fit that they are able to provide, this outstanding tight fit can assure that they will never fall from your ears even if you wear them on high intensity activities and sports. Due to this level of fit they are now part of our Best Sports In-Ear Headphones Chart.

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Beats Powerbeats2
Beats Powerbeats2

 

Beats Powerbeats2
Beats Powerbeats2

EQ

Response to Equalization

Their response to custom equalization was very effective with clear improvement over every sound frequency and minor issues added. Bass got greatly stronger, mids and vocals cleared up significantly without introducing boxy or tinny sound and highs gained some extra brightness while sibilance and piercing highs remained under control.

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Scores Scores

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Frequency Response (raw)

Beats Powerbeats 2 Frequency Response

Beats PowerBeats2 vent not blocked - Frequency Response
Beats PowerBeats2 vent not blocked – Frequency Response
Beats PowerBeats2 - Frequency Response -- vent Blocked
Beats PowerBeats2 – Frequency Response — vent Blocked

Beats Powerbeats 2

Specifications

TypeDynamic
Driver UnitDynamic Driver
SensitivityUnknown
Power CapacityUnknown
Impedance16 ohms
Frequency ResponseUnknown
DiaphragmUnknown
MagnetUnknown
CordY-type, flat cord
Cord LengthUnknown
PlugStereo mini plug
WeightUnknown
Supplied Accessories3x Earphone tips; hard carryig case

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Photos
DISCLAIMER
We highly discourage anyone from trying to apply our testings to your own earphones, the risk of damaging or permanently breaking your iems is absolutely probable to happen. With our standardized equalization and amplification tests we push the limits of the earphones to the extreme. If anyway you decide to do so, we cannot be held responsible of the damage done to your equipment. Do it at your own risk.

Beats Powerbeats 2

7.8

SCORE

7.8/10