After almost six years, Beats is back with new over-ear, noise-canceling headphones. A significant update from the Studio 3 Wireless, the new Studio Pro is a familiar formula that’s been reconfigured from the inside out. A second-generation version of Beats’ own audio chip powers this new model, delivering improvements to active noise cancellation (ANC), spatial audio with dynamic head tracking and wired audio modes via USB-C connection. Small design tweaks and slightly better battery life are also on the spec sheet, while the price remains $350 for Beats’ flagship headphones.

Design

To refresh the aesthetics, Beats enlisted the help of Samuel Ross, a fashion and product designer who has worked with Hublot, Nike, Oakley and others. The result is an updated look with new colors, materials, packaging and branding. While the tweaks are subtle and the folding design remains the same overall, there are a few notable changes to point out. First, Studio Pro is available in four new colors and even the black option now has a matte finish. Where the headband hinge used to have a contrasting color for most of the variants, that’s now a tone-on-tone finish and the model name has been removed. The iconic lowercase “b” logo remains on both sides, though.

Another key change is to the earpads. Beats and Ross opted for a seamless design here, with cushions made of a new UltraPlush memory foam, though they’re still wrapped in leather. Beats is clear the clamping force from previous Beats models remains the same, unfortunately and the weight hasn’t changed. Indeed, the new ear pads help to a degree, but after about an hour of use, I start to feel the pressure that’s been an issue with Beats headphones for years.

Since Beats headphones first debuted, the company’s models have become mainstays for gym goers and pro athletes. You won’t catch warm-ups for many professional sports events without at least one person wearing Beats headphones. Still, the company hasn’t issued a proper IP rating for sweat and water resistance. Beats says it’s confident the Studio Pro will be just fine for workouts, but it’s also clear that earpad replacements won’t be available through the company. You’ll need to find a third-party supplier should they get too grimey.

Physical on-board controls are back on the Studio Pro. On the outside of the left ear cup, a multi-function button in the center handles single, double and triple taps to control music and calls. A long press here will activate your voice assistant, even though the headphones support hands-free Siri on Apple devices. Above and below this center button are the volume controls, while the noise modes are toggled with a double press of the power button on the right ear cup. If you’re in USB-C audio mode, two taps of that button will cycle between three EQ presets specifically designed for wired use (Signature, Entertainment and Conversation). A line of five LEDs below the power control blinks when you’re in pairing mode and gives you a battery life estimate with a single press when the headphones are powered on.

Software and features

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Beats continues its move away from Apple’s audio chips with the Studio Pro. These headphones contain the company’s own second-gen platform instead, but a lot of the features that Apple silicon offers are still here. Hands-free Siri, one-touch pairing, iCloud pairing, Apple Watch hand-off and Find My compatibility are all baked into iOS. Multipoint pairing and automatic switching between devices isn’t available on iOS, iPad and Mac right now, but Beats says it may arrive later. There’s no need to download a separate app on iOS to access the settings though, they’re also available in the Control Center. For Android users, the Beats app offers one-touch pairing via Google Fast Pair, automatic connection to Android or Chrome devices through your Google account, seamless device transitions, Find My Device, customization and widgets.

Beats has added Transparency Mode to the Studio Pro, giving its over-ear headphones a very useful tool that was missing from the Studio 3. The company’s audio chip also powers Spatial Audio with dynamic head tracking. While the previous model supported immersive sound, it didn’t offer head tracking or the ability to personalize audio, the latter of which Apple debuted last year.

For the first time, Beats has enabled USB-C wired audio on the Studio Pro. In addition to listening to high-resolution and lossless tunes, you can also take calls while the headphones are actively charging. The Studio Pro has a built-in digital-to-analog converter (DAC) that can accommodate sample rates up to 24-bit/48kHz. That’s enough to handle the high-res streaming from Apple Music, Amazon Music HD and Tidal. Beats has also included three USB-C sounds profiles for wired listening: Signature, Entertainment and Conversation. As the names suggest, each one is tailored to music, movies/TV shows and calls, adjusting the frequency curve for what the company thinks is the best in each scenario. And yes, there’s still 3.5mm playback, which can be used with ANC and Transparency Mode as needed.

Sound quality

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Inside, Beats swapped out the drivers for new 40mm units. A two-layer diaphragm combines with micro vents and fine acoustic mesh to streamline the airflow and minimize distortion. The company says the new drivers can provide “near-zero” distortion even at high volumes, which is an up to 80 percent improvement from the Studio 3. That claim holds true as the Studio Pro doesn’t distort when you crank it up to the eye-watering full volume. However, what the new components have done to improve clarity while providing a more balanced sound profile is more impressive.

In its early days, Beats had a reputation for being too heavy-handed with the bass. While that hasn’t been the case for a while, the company still has a propensity to highlight low-end. For the Studio Pro, there’s still ample bass when a track calls for it, but that boom doesn’t come at the sacrifice of mids and highs – or more importantly detail. Even the driving thump of the kick drum on TesseracT’s “War of Being” has noticeable texture throughout the song. It’s not just a repetitive boom.

Overall, the attention to clarity and the even-handed tuning across the EQ curve gives the Studio Pro quite immersive sound out of the box. Everything seems open and airy, with even the instruments in chaotic metal tracks remaining perfectly discernible. Turn on something softer like Charles Wesley Godwin’s Live From The Church or Nickel Creek’s Celebrants (country and bluegrass, respectively), and you immediately hear the layers of acoustic instruments and finer detail unique to each. Those records can sound like you’re in the room while they’re being recorded on the best-sounding headphones, and there’s a sense of that on the Studio Pro. As you might expect, this latest Beats model excels with hip-hop tracks. The droning bass lines on albums like Killer Mike’s MICHAEL lay a thick foundation for the rest of the song to be built.

While Spatial Audio returns, chances are it won’t sway your buying decision. The integration is similar to previous Beats and Apple earbuds and headphones, with Personalized Spatial Audio added in this time around. The technology still simulates the sound of 64 speakers, capable of moving with you if you have head tracking enabled. If you’ve experienced Spatial Audio before, you know exactly what to expect: slightly louder, more airy tunes where the technology’s immersive nature can vary from album to album and genre to genre. When it hits though, like on Pearl Jam’s “Even Flow,” older tracks have new life. With boygenius’ The Record though, I can’t tell the difference when Spatial Audio is on. I’m also less sold on the dynamic head tracking Beats added on the Studio Pro.

Photo by Billy Steele/Engadget

Then there are the new USB-C EQ profiles. When you’re connected to a computer or other compatible device, ANC and Transparency mode are disabled. Instead, the power button on the Studio Pro cycles through wired presets for music, entertainment and calls. That 5-LED array below the power control indicates which profile you’re on and will be essential until you memorize the audible tones for each one. Signature and Conversation work best for music and calls respectively, while I’m less impressed by the Entertainment setting. All three are fine, but those two are the ones I found myself coming back to in wired mode. Like Spatial Audio content in Dolby Atmos, mileage can vary listening to lossless tunes via Apple Music. Some albums are noticeably better with wired USB-C, while others sound nearly identical to streaming over Bluetooth.

Although Beats doesn’t quantify with a number, it says ANC performance is improved on the Studio Pro when compared to the Studio 3. Fully adaptive active noise cancellation uses outward facing mics to monitor your environment while inward pointing units catch any sounds that might sneak through due to fit. The company explains that the ANC boost is also partially due to updated microphones all around as they have higher sensitivity and a better signal-to-noise ratio. While the Studio Pro doesn’t beat the noise-blocking powers of Bose or Sony, the ANC on the Studio Pro is noticeably better than the Studio 3 – especially for things like television noise and human voices. And similar to the previous model, the latest Beats headphones analyze audio up to 48,000 times per second to maintain pristine clarity.

Lastly, let’s discuss Transparency Mode. While I welcome the inclusion here over not offering ambient sound at all, I did have higher hopes. It works fine, but lacks the natural clarity of Apple’s AirPods Max or AirPods Pro. I thought Beats might come close since it works closely with Apple on several aspects of its products, but that’s not the case. Apple remains truly unmatched when it comes to Transparency Mode. It often sounds like you’re not even wearing headphones at all, mostly due to how natural your own voice sounds fed back through those devices.

Call quality

Photo by Billy Steele/Engadget

Beats says you can expect up to 27 percent better voice clarity than the Studio 3 Wireless, thanks to voice-targeting microphones and a machine-learning algorithm. The company explains that it trained the system on over 7,000 hours of “real-world environments” in order to create a setup that can “precisely hone in” on your voice. Those are lofty claims for sure, and part of them hold true.

The Studio Pro is great at cutting out constant background noise, like a fan or A/C unit. Neither of those came through on calls when I was sitting right underneath one or the other. It’s better than the speakerphone-like quality most headphones and earbuds offer, but it isn’t pristine.

Battery life

When it comes to battery life, Beats says you can expect up to 40 hours with ANC off. That’s the same figure it promised on the Studio 3. However, with noise cancellation or Transparency Mode enabled, the company offers two hours more than the previous model at 24 hours. There’s still a quick-charge feature here, dubbed Fast Fuel, that gives you up to four hours of use in just 10 minutes.

During my tests with the Studio Pro, I still had 23 percent battery left after 25 hours of use with either ANC or ambient sound active. That’s also doing a mix of music, podcasts, streaming TV and taking calls. I powered the headphones completely off several times during that span as well and I plugged them in via USB-C for a few minutes to test those modes.

The competition

Photo by Billy Steele/Engadget

When it comes to flagship headphones at this price, Beats’ biggest competition remains Sony and Bose. Sony’s 1000X line has been our top pick for best wireless headphones for years, as the company’s mix of stellar sound, powerful noise cancellation and a literal truckload of handy features is unmatched. With the latest version, the $400 WH-1000XM5, the company simply packs so much into their headphones that many others can’t compete. The Bose 700 is that company’s best option, which is currently available for about $10 less than Sony’s 1000XM5. Bose doesn’t come close to Sony in terms of features, but it does do slightly better when it comes to ANC performance. If blocking out distractions is your primary goal, the 700 is worth a look.

Wrap-up

While Beats didn’t completely redesign its over-ear headphones for the Studio Pro, its latest model is a significant update. The company did well to incorporate features and technology other companies have introduced over the last five years, and its relationship with Apple continues to enhance its products. The improvements to ANC and sound quality alone are good, but the fact that the company was also able to add in a wired USB-C audio, upgrades to Spatial Audio and better voice performance while keeping the price the same is notable. There’s no doubt these are still premium headphones, but the Studio Pro positions Beats to better compete with the likes of Sony and Bose in a number of areas where it used to fall short.

Beats Studio Pro is available to order today in black, brown, navy and Sandstone color options for $350. The headphones will be available at Apple retail stores and other resellers starting tomorrow, July 20th.

When Amazon introduced its 2nd-generation Echo Buds in 2021, the company redesigned them to address nearly every issue with its first attempt. They had true active noise cancellation (ANC), better sound and a smaller size. Amazon took a much different approach for its third version, opting to move from mid-range to a low-cost model with an all-new design that covers most of the basic features you’d expect. As always, the Alexa faithful will get the most out of the new $50 Echo Buds, but in a lot of ways you could argue a budget model that does well with the essentials is where Amazon should’ve been all along.

Design

While the first two iterations of the Echo Buds had similar designs, Amazon completely changed things up for the third generation. The 2023 model has an AirPods-like stem that extends down from your ear toward your jaw. The silicone ear tips are gone as well and the buds sit in your ear rather than completely closing off your ear canal. There are two sets of silicone “covers” included with the Echo Buds that Amazon says will “optimize your fit.” They don’t really change how the earbuds feel in your ears because they’re so thin. They just provide a tiny bit of grip to help them stay put.

The mostly open design is great for when you might not want to block out the world entirely. However, they’re only IPX2 rated for protection from water droplets. The 2nd-gen Echo Buds offered slightly better IPX4 resistance, so I wouldn’t rely on the 2023 model as your workout partner if you sweat a lot.

Amazon didn’t cut too many corners when it comes to controls to keep costs low, though. The upper, main part of the Echo Buds accept taps (single, double, triple and long press) for music playback, calls and to summon Alexa manually. The earbuds are also equipped with in-ear detection for automatic pausing. You can reconfigure the defaults any number of ways, including swapping out core controls for volume. You’ll need two spots for that though, as volume up is one gesture while down requires another.

The controls are mirrored on both sides out of the box, but you don’t have to keep them that way. You can also reassign the long press to mute the Echo Buds mics or activate your phone’s native assistant. Since these earbuds offer hands-free access to Alexa, you can technically get both. However, the Echo Buds won’t summon Siri or Google Assistant if the mics are muted, even if you’ve assigned them to the long press action. The bottom line here is that there is a lot of customization available and the earbuds reliably accept your taps without having to repeat a touch command.

Despite the longer overall design, the charging case with the new Echo Buds remains small. This one will easily tuck in a tiny pocket. The Bluetooth pairing button is on the outside up front, sitting just below an LED status indicator, and a USB-C charging port resides on the right side.

Software and setup

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One of the biggest issues I have with the Echo Buds is that they require the Alexa app for a full setup. I’m well aware earbuds and headphones need apps to get the most out of their features, but the Alexa app is bloated as it handles all kinds of smart devices beyond just the Echo Buds. There’s a lot to contend with here just to tweak your settings. Amazon has put the earbuds info up top so you don’t have to go looking for it, but there’s still a lot to get lost in down below.

The Alexa app displays battery life percentages for both earbuds individually and the case right on the home screen, as well as an easily accessible mute button for the microphones. Tapping further into the settings shows you Bluetooth connections and gives you the option to disable Alexa hands-free. Note that this doesn’t mute the mics and you can still manually summon Amazon’s assistant with a long press on the Echo Buds. The earbuds also support multipoint connectivity for two devices at once, and in my experience switching is quick and reliable.

As it has in the past, the company allows you to activate and adjust Sidetone. That’s the amount of your own voice you want to hear during a call. VIP Filter returns as well, which lets you decide which contacts and apps you want to receive notifications from. EQ customization comes in the form of three sliders for bass, mids and treble, just above the option to reconfigure the tap controls. Amazon has included a Find My tool in the app and there are feature categories for Entertainment, Communication and Location & Maps that help to further personalize the Echo Buds Setup.

Sound quality

Photo by Billy Steele/Engadget

When it comes to open-type earbuds, sound quality can vary wildly from model to model. It’s understandable that some companies struggle to deliver the best audio without sealing off your ears and the wearer’s ear shape can dramatically impact the results. But Amazon tackled both of those challenges admirably and created a sound profile that’s quite good in a set of $50 buds.

The first thing that impressed me with the Echo Buds was the clarity and detail. Softer and acoustic genres like bluegrass, folk and lighter country sound great, with the warm strums of Zach Bryan’s guitars and vocals on American Heartbreak cutting through the mix. Switch over to the electro-pop-rock of PVRIS’ Evergreen and you’ll notice that these earbuds do lack a bit of low-end thump. That’s common with open designs, so it’s not surprising. If I press the buds in slightly, the bass is more present. Unfortunately, that means audio quality may vary based on how the Echo Buds sit in your ears.

Overall, the tuning is well-balanced across genres. At times, there’s a heavier dose of treble, but it’s not a constant issue. But in general the Echo Buds deliver better audio quality than much of the $50 competition. They pickup plenty of subtle reverb when it’s present and there’s nice texture to drums and distorted guitars across hip-hop and metal respectively. They even adequately render all of the layered and unique sounds of the KAYTRAMINÉ album.

Unlike the previous version of Echo Buds, there’s no active noise cancellation here. Due to the semi-open design it would be mostly wasted anyway. This means the new Echo Buds won’t do much to block a noisy coffee shop or air conditioner, but they should keep you from missing announcements, warnings or any other crucial info that might otherwise go unheard.

Battery life

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Amazon says you can expect up to five hours of use on these Echo Buds. You can extend that figure by one hour if you opt to disable hands-free access to Alexa. There are three additional charges in the case and a quick-charge feature will give you up to two hours of listening time in 15 minutes. The Echo Buds are replenished via the USB-C port on the right side as there’s no wireless charging here. Amazon doesn’t include a cable either, citing its Climate Pledge Friendly commitment, but chances are you already have one. If not, the company offers the option to bundle it for $10 more.

During “regular” use, I still had eight percent left in the tank after five and a half hours. That’s a mix of playing music, taking calls and leaving the buds on my desk outside of the case a couple of times. I also had the wake word active, so I went beyond the company’s stated number. Five hours is near the industry average these days, especially for more affordable models, but it’s nice to see Amazon slightly overdelivering.

Call quality

To assist with calls, Amazon installed two mics and a voice accelerometer on each earbud. As always, companies’ claims about call performance are typically exaggerated to some degree with promises of “crystal clear” quality. That’s exactly what Amazon says about the Echo Buds, but overall clarity isn’t particularly great. Your voice comes across slightly muffled, though it’s perfectly fine for general video and voice calls. I wouldn’t do any recording with these – not that you would with most earbuds anyway. The Echo Buds do a decent job combatting background noise, including a loud fan that came through as soft white noise instead of its raucous rumble and a nearby game of Mario Kart 8 wasn’t picked up at all.

The competition

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At $50, Amazon is significantly undercutting its competition from the biggest names in wireless earbuds. Sony’s cheapest option, the WF-C500s, are $100 and Samsung’s Galaxy Buds 2 are only about $10 less. Apple’s 2nd-generation “regular” AirPods are $129, but there’s a pricier, redesigned model of those that debuted in 2021.

For more apt comparisons, you’ll want to look to the likes of Jabra and Anker for the best budget wireless earbuds. The Jabra Elite 3 are my top affordable pick due to its impressive sound quality for the price ($80), good battery life, comfy fit and reliable touch controls. There’s no automatic pausing and EQ adjustments are limited to presets, but the audio is great out of the box. My colleague Jeff Dunn prefers Anker’s Soundcore Space A40. For $75, you get decent ANC, customizable sound, eight hours of battery life and almost all of the essentials.

Wrap-up

Amazon’s new approach to Echo Buds has produced interesting results. The company was only going to improve things so much at its previous mid-range price point, there’s a limit to how much tech you can add to a $150 set before the price has to go up. Going for the budget buyers instead of building a high-end set of $300 earbuds makes more sense considering its approach to other devices. Still, the company managed to create low-cost Echo Buds with sound quality that punches above the price point while still including all of the basic functionality. Alexa users even get a hands-free assistant, which isn’t all that common on $50 earbuds. There are certainly some omissions, but on the whole, Amazon’s choice to go budget friendly seems like the right call.

I nearly destroyed my hearing during my 20s. I went to a lot of shows in tiny venues with way-too-loud PA systems. Occasionally, I’d remember to grab a set of cheap foam earplugs from a gas station beforehand, but more often than not I just went without. Thankfully, I was never one to enter the pit, so perhaps standing near the back of the room spared me from any severe damage. I have some mild tinnitus, but no hearing loss, and I’m able to fully enjoy all music as I approach 40.

In my 30s though, I got wise to ear protection at concerts. Unless it’s an outdoor show, I’m taking earplugs. However, those generic foam bits completely close off your ear canal and can really kill the vibe. The sound comes through muffled and boring, and you’re likely to miss the more subtle instrumentation. A number of companies have tried to tackle this challenge, offering various takes on filtered audio that allows good live sound to come through with an appropriate level of hearing protection.

Sennheiser recently released its SoundProtex earplugs with the aim of doing just that. They’re soft and flexible, made of medical-grade TPE (thermoplastic elastomers) that don’t contain plastics or other potential irritants for sensitive skin. These aren’t single-use earplugs either – you can rinse them under water before storing them until the next event. There’s also a small pouch included so the individual plugs aren’t rolling around in the bottom of your bag.

The SoundProtex earplugs come in two versions: the regular and the Plus. Each one has three sets of the cone-shaped ear tips in small, medium and large sizes. You can adjust the level of decibel reduction by swapping out tiny round acoustic filters on the outside of each plug. The key difference here is the SoundProtex only comes with the full block filter while the SoundProtex Plus comes with additional low-, medium- and high-blocking filters. The ear tips alone don’t provide any significant protection.

Since each filter offers a different level of protection, they’re meant for different activities. Sennheiser says the low-block filter should be used for “non-amplified concerts,” offices or bars and restaurants. The medium-block option is suitable for festivals, events and traveling while the high-block are appropriate for loud music, motorsports and using power tools. Those three all have different noise reduction ratings (NRR, single number rating or SRR in the EU) for their level of decibel reduction. Low-block starts out at 10dB, medium is 17dB and high is 20dB. Sennheiser doesn’t disclose a value for the full-block filter, but the goal there is to make things air and water tight to eliminate as much noise as possible (yes, you can wear them in the pool too). While that option does drastically reduce the environmental roar, they don’t create complete silence. But, it’s certainly enough to help you tune out the world.

Each of the acoustic filters are made with a “tuned” membrane and sound-dampening mesh. Sennheiser says that the latter equally reduces high and low frequencies. The company further explains that the SoundProtex filters are designed to allow just enough of the higher frequencies through to maintain ambient awareness and the ability to have a conversation while you’re wearing them.

Photo by Billy Steele/Engadget

I was able to test Sennheiser’s claims for the SoundProtex Plus at a recent Thrice show for the band’s Artist In The Ambulance 20th anniversary tour. Thrice is one of my favorite bands ever, and this is my favorite album of theirs, so I didn’t want gas station earplugs to ruin the nostalgia. Throughout the show, I used the large eartips with the mid-block filter while my wife wore the medium size with the high-block option. Not only did the SoundProtex offer a superior experience to generic foam earplugs, they are very comfortable to wear for hours at a time. Which, in my opinion, is equally as important.

While the SoundProtex does indeed dull the high- and low-end frequencies, I didn’t notice a considerable amount of bassy thump missing from the kick drum or treble absent from the guitars. Sure, the overall sonic curve is a bit subdued with these earplugs in, but it doesn’t alter things enough to make me consider going without them. It’s a huge improvement over foam earplugs, and frequent concert goers will get a lot out of the investment. My Apple Watch was consistently hitting 100-105dB on the noise meter, so I would’ve certainly left with my ears ringing. Instead, I was able to drive home normally – no shouty post-show conversations required.

The SoundProtex doesn’t facilitate conversations quite like Sennheiser describes. I had trouble speaking with the bartender, which forced me to awkwardly resort to hand motions. I also had issues understanding my wife with the earplugs in, so eventually I would just pull one out to chat. Results are better in a quieter environment, without the loud between-set tunes, but if you’re planning to converse while wearing the SoundProtex, the low-block filter is the best option. Of course, that limits your protection so you can only use it in certain environments.

Photo by Billy Steele/Engadget

Sennheiser designed the SoundProtex ear tips with a pull tab on the outside. This makes removing the earplugs easy since they’re almost entirely pushed into your ear canal once they’re properly situated. This tiny tab gave me the peace of mind that I’d be able to get the things out, which is not to be overlooked.

One issue concert-goers may have is the price: the SoundProtex is $39.95 and the SoundProtex Plus is $79.95. A 12-pair box of foam earplugs is $3.49 at my local Target. A more appropriate comparison is Eargasm’s high-fidelity earplugs. A set of those comes with one filter with an NRR of 16dB and two sizes of eartips for $41.88. What’s more, Eargasm’s ear tip design is nearly identical to the SoundProtex and they’re made of hypoallergenic soft silicone. There’s also Loop’s line of earplugs which were among the first to promise some degree of hearing protection at concerts without significantly harming the quality of the sound. There are a few options from the company, but the Engage are a good place to start. $34.95 buys you 16dB of noise reduction with four ear tip sizes that are more akin to what you put on the ends of your earbuds.

The SoundProtex Plus is certainly a comfy hearing protection solution that gives you options in terms of the level of noise blocking. They are more expensive than their non-customizable competition, but if you’re just using earplugs at concerts you might not need to swap out filters anyway. However, if you want to adjust how many decibels are being stifled based on what you’re doing, the extra investment will likely enhance your experience. Either way, a set of earplugs designed specifically for use at live music events are a big improvement over the yellow foam plugs. It’s a matter of how much, or how little, you want to dial in the protection.

Porches, decks, patios, balconies, terraces. Places for dads to find solace from the world around them. Those spots, and backyards overall, are excellent places to cook a meal, have a drink or simply relax. We’ve compiled a list of the best backyard gear for dads this Father’s Day, from smart grills and pizza ovens to fire pits and drinkware. There’s something that can help all dads enjoy a little time outside.

Thermacell EL55

When it comes to portable mosquito repellers, Thermacell’s gear is a favorite amongst the Engadget staff. The company’s newest model, the EL55, is much like the E55 we previously selected. The main difference is the addition of a dimmable light for use after dark. The EL55 will last up to nine hours on a charge with the light off, or up to five and a half hours with it on. Like other recent Thermacell products, the EL55 uses liquid cartridges to offer scentless protection for a 20-foot radius.

Marshall Emberton II

A speaker that looks like a guitar amp might be the perfect option for dads. Let them relive “the good ol’ days” while jamming to yacht rock, ‘80s hair metal and everything in between. The Marshall Emberton II continues the brand’s knack for replicating guitar-gear aesthetics on a Bluetooth speaker. With up to 30 hours of listening time and a “Stack Mode” for pairing it with other speakers, there’s plenty to like here. Expect balanced sound with plenty of low-end tone in a unit that can blast tunes 360 degrees.

Meater+ thermometer

Maybe dad doesn’t need a new grill, but could use some help perfecting his skills or would enjoy monitoring food from afar. Meater+ is a wireless probe that sends food and ambient temperature readings to your phone via Bluetooth. Both sensors are in the same probe, further cutting down on any clutter and giving backyard cooks free access to everything they’re cooking. The Meater software can guide you through the cooking process and provides estimated completion times. And with a rated range of 165 feet, dad can relax and still keep tabs on everything.

Brumate Hopsulator Trio

Every dad can use a way to keep canned beverages cold on a hot day, and Brumate’s Hopsulator Trio functions as a koozie and a travel mug. There are a few different models, but I prefer the Trio’s 3-in-1 abilities. For 16 ounce cans, it’s an insulated aluminum holder. For 12 ounce cans, the Hopsulator comes with a reusable cold puck for even more efficient cooling. And as I mentioned, it comes with a lid so you can use it as a cup if you want. I use mine year round, but it gets the most work during the warmer months when I’m out at the grill or sitting on the deck.

TP-Link Kasa outdoor smart plug

What do you get the dad that has seemingly everything already? Something to make his life easier. TP-Link’s Kasa line offers a range of smart home products, including smart outdoor plugs. These work well for things like patio string lights and other items you’d rather not venture outside to simply plug in. You can control the outlets via the Kasa app or with your voice via Alexa and Google Assistant. The app gives you the ability to set timers to automate things and the IP64 rating means you won’t have to worry about dust or rain.

Traeger Ironwood (2023)

Traeger redesigned its Ironwood grills earlier this year, adding touchscreen controls and a host of design improvements. There’s a lot to like about the new changes, even if it doesn’t have all the bells and whistles of the latest Timberline – namely the side-mounted induction burner. The cooking chamber was reconfigured for better efficiency and the company made cleanup easier with a new ash and grease keg system. The Ironwood also utilizes Traeger’s “Pop-and-Lock” rail for tricking out your grill with a range of handy accessories. Most importantly, dad can monitor long cooks from the couch with the company’s app, which also houses a ton of recipes – complete with step-by-step guidance.

Weber Genesis

Weber brought its smart grilling platform to its gas grills in 2021, putting a sous chef on every dad’s phone. With the latest models, the company made some design tweaks to make the grills more versatile, but Weber Connect remains. Via an app, dad can access step-by-step cooking guidance, estimate completion times and even monitor fuel levels (propane models). Weber’s new line of accessories also expand what you can cook, adding things like a pizza stone, roasting basket and flat-top griddle as optional gear for the new Genesis smart grills.

Solo Stove fire pits

I’ve had several fire pits since I bought a house in 2014, and none of them can compete with Solo Stove. The company’s products are designed to channel smoke upward, keeping you from being choked out while you’re trying to enjoy some time outdoors. The pits come in various sizes, so you have options if dad goes camping often or just needs a place to chill in the backyard. The interior design of the Solo Stove pits also facilitates proper airflow, so fires always burn nicely.

Ooni Karu 16

It’s no secret that Ooni’s pizza ovens can help you make restaurant quality pies at home. They’re well built, easy to use and reach cooking temperatures in just a few minutes. The Karu 16 is the company’s latest outdoor model, and it’s also one of the most versatile. You can cook with wood or add a gas burner in order to power your pizza parties. Plus, there’s a viewing window in the front and an ambient temperature display that comes in very handy. The Karu 16 is more expensive than some Ooni models, but it also makes things easier on dad when he’s launching pizzas on the patio.

Brumate Nav 22

Trust me. Even dads who seem to have everything can always use a travel mug. Or in this case, a tumbler. I’ve been a fan of Brumate’s drinkware for a long time, mostly due to how they keep my bevys cold in the summer heat. With the Nav series, the company offers a leak-proof tumbler in a range of sizes (the 22-ounce is the sweet spot for me). In addition to a lid that thwarts spills, the cup itself can keep drinks cold for 24 hours or hot for up to four. What’s more, it’s dishwasher safe and will fit in dad’s cup holder.

BioLite BaseCharge 600

Sometimes dads want to fix things – or simply hang out – where power outlets don’t reach. BioLite’s BaseCharge 600 combines a 622 watt-hour battery with a slew of ports and an informative display panel. When I tested it out, it easily powered a drill and hand sander long enough to finish a simple woodworking project, with plenty of charge left over. And when I pretended to be in a power outage, it kept my laptop, monitor, gateway and lights running for one and a half work days. It recharges from the wall in just over three hours or, for a fully off-grid experience, BioLite’s portable 100-watt solar panels can refill the station to about 75 percent with eight hours of unobstructed sunlight. Combined, the battery and panels cost an epic $1,000, but they are just the sort of cleverly designed gadgets dads tend to love. — Amy Skorheim, Commerce Writer

“There’s nothing in between.”

Ace Championship founder and CEO Dilbagh Gill is explaining the motivation behind building another all-electric racing series. Gill, who was CEO and team principal of Mahindra Racing since Formula E began, left his post last year to embark on something new. His project is one that had been “fermenting” in his mind for a year and a half. “I always thought there had to be a credible ladder in the electric racing series,” he said.

Gill explained that while traditional, combustion-engine racing has had a development path for decades, there’s nothing currently that exists between electric karting and FIA world championships like Formula E. “It’s not something we’re trying to reinvent,” he said. “We’re just trying to take the ladder the other direction.”

A major hurdle for young drivers climbing the ranks in motorsport is cost. It’s not enough for a driver to be quick, they need the financial backing as well. So, in addition to creating a new training ground for future champions, Ace is also working to reduce the barrier to entry when it comes to the cost of equipment. “They have the talent, but they don’t have the opportunity,” Gill noted. “Let’s try and make a championship which can be more inclusive than motorsport is today.”

Ace Championship isn’t just hoping to develop a new crop of drivers each season. The series will also offer opportunities for ages 15-25 who are interested in engineering, communications, marketing and other aspects of motorsport to get real-world experience. Gill said that during his eight years in England at the reins of Mahindra Racing, guest lectures opened his eyes to the fact that nearly 30 percent of university students in motorsport disciplines were from Asia. “What are they going to do next?” he asked himself. “Could something like [Ace] help them find a path?” Gill further explained that Ace would offer a scholarship program to reduce the financial burden even more. “Some talented folks who can’t afford getting in, we will be supporting them,” he said.

As a means of lowering costs, teams will be able to run four drivers with two cars. In most current series, each driver has their own vehicle – hence the high cost to participate. Ace Challenger will be the series’ entry-level format, meant for drivers who found success in karting and are looking for an academy experience. Here, races will run at reduced power so that drivers can acclimate to the car as well as learn about “technique, technology and collaborating with engineers.” Ace Championship is the higher level that runs the cars at increased power output. The focus shifts from the basics to things like detailed race strategy and energy management – two key elements for Formula E and other series.

To further level the playing field, Ace will keep all of the cars at its so-called Powerpark. “We don’t want the cars going back to their garages to start getting modified,” Gill explained. “We want to keep them in a controlled environment.” He also emphasized the importance of building the facilities in Asia. “We think Asia is going to be the melting pot [for electric racing],” he said. “From there, we are within five hours of flying to three or four regions.”

Serving as the series HQ, the campus will offer simulators for each team as well as classroom training on topics like telemetry, working with engineers and social media management. Preparation will be key because the currently proposed format would have each team traveling for around 10 weeks before returning to Powerpark. This means they’ll have to devise strategies for each circuit before they depart since there won’t be simulators to train on while they’re on the road.

With the new championship, Gill and his colleagues are also designing a completely new all-electric racer for the series. When Ace was first announced at the Hyderabad E-Prix in February, Gill showed off a prototype vehicle that was built from a Formula E Gen2 chassis. However, the car the series will use won’t just be modified leftovers from the previous generation forever.

“After eight years at Mahindra Racing, when I left, they gave me a Gen2 car,” Gill said. “So that was an easy acquisition of a prototype – my personal car.”

Ace is currently working to build a brand new chassis, which Gill explained won’t “use anything that exists on the market.” The reason for this, he noted, is that the custom-made cars will run a front powertrain kit and no existing chassis can integrate it “without a lot of work.” The current plan is to have the new cars ready for the third year of the championship, which should begin in 2024. Gill said Ace aims to use its initial design for six years before an anticipated upgrade. Both the Challenger and the Championship series will use the same car with some physical differences – like slight variations to the nose kit and rims. Power output can be controlled by software, which will allow a team’s four drivers to use just the two cars.

Another key element of the car’s design will be LED lighting. Formula E uses lights around the halo of its cars to indicate things like Attack Mode. The Ace Championship aims to make things a bit more dynamic here, with color changes for things like when the driver is accelerating, when a car is regenerating energy through braking or when the driver is coasting. Ace also wants to take a page from the Tour de France and use the LEDs to point out the leader. Gill said the lights could also indicate the driver in P1 as well as green and purple sectors in qualifying or the driver with the current fastest lap. “We have to figure it out,” he admits, but the lights could be a simple way to make races more informative for fans and they’ll undoubtedly provide a unique look during night events.

The series is also exploring the possibility of using two different tire compounds for Ace Challenger and Ace Championship, “so that drivers can understand the different nuances,” according to Gill. He floated the idea that there’s a tire with a smaller performance window for the Challenger series so that you have to bring it to a peak and manage it the rest of the way. And for the Championship, perhaps the tire is “a bit more forgiving… so you can push it without much degradation.” Gill enlisted former Formula 1 and Mahindra Formula E driver Nick Heidfeld to work with tire manufacturers on the various compounds and Ace already has a prototype that it’s currently testing.

Ace Championship

At the end of the day, Gill envisions having a car that’s within three to three and a half seconds of the performance of a Formula E car. “The steps are smaller,” he explained. “New people coming to Formula E, especially on the drivers side, it takes a long time for them to get adapted.” The overall idea is for the Ace Championship cars to offer drivers a translatable experience to Formula E in the way Formula 2 does for Formula 1. “This step up from our championship isn’t where a [driver] will struggle for a year,” he said. Drivers who are new to Formula E may be quick over one lap, but variables like tire and energy management can be very challenging for the uninitiated.

“We believe tire and energy management is going to be valuable across all forms of motorsport,” Gill proclaimed. Internal combustion engines have hybrid components in series like Formula 1, and drivers and engineers must learn how to manage and deploy that energy properly during a race. That is amplified in Formula E where you start the race with less energy than it takes to finish. Teams rely on the drivers’ ability to regenerate the difference on track, as well as their strategy for managing consumption on each lap. And, of course, being able to go quick without using up your tires is a valuable skill for any racing discipline.

The Ace Championship plans to schedule races in four different regions: East Asia, Southwest Asia, The Americas and Europe and Africa. During its first two years, the series will only travel to two of those areas with the goal of expanding in 2026. Grouping races like this allows Ace to eliminate the cost of flying teams around the world between events. Racing in each region could take place over the span of a quarter, with the aim of having a new set of drivers each time. While the series hosts its first events in 2024 and 2025, it will also be building a second set of cars. Gill explained that Ace wants to have enough vehicles to have regional events take place while the others are back at Powerpark getting refurbished for the following quarter.

Scheduling is wide open at this point, though. Gill admitted a regional championship may have to be condensed into three weeks so Ace can “synchronize” with the Formula E calendar that runs from January to July. The goal here is to do tandem events with the FIA-sanctioned global EV championship, taking place around the E-Prix during the same weekend, even though it may only be one Ace category due to the time and logistics of street circuits. Again, it’s much like Formula 2 does at some Formula 1 races. Not only will piggybacking off Formula E events provide visibility for the series, but it will give young drivers and support staff a glimpse of how things are done at the next level.

Other Ace races will be standalone, including two of the six events during a regional championship being doubleheaders on back-to-back days. Gill said the current idea is for the independent races to take place on small circuits. Each regional schedule will serve as its own championship, so at the end of the first year, there will be four winners – two from each Ace category.

The ultimate prize for the Ace Championship is to train drivers, race engineers, mechanics and other members of a motorsport team who move on to FIA disciplines like the World Endurance Championship, Formula 2 or Formula 1. And that by doing so, they’re establishing a talent pool across all of those areas ready to contribute to the success of a world championship team.

“Our goal is to make world champions in the next five years,” Gill said.

We’re in the midst of a three-week break in the Formula E calendar, so now is a good time to take stock of the season so far. This is the ninth season of the all-electric racing series, but it’s the first of the Gen3 era. The new car is a massive leap forward in terms of technology. This model is able to regenerate up to 40 percent of the power needed to complete a race while on track. After a tumultuous preseason and major concerns heading into the first race back in January, there were some indications the series might stumble with its ambitious trajectory for the Gen3 racer. Despite the initial warning signs, the new generation for the series has begun without major issues.

I spoke to Neom McLaren team principal Ian James and Jaguar TCS Racing team principal James Barclay to get their thoughts on how the season has gone, the challenges of Gen3 and what’s to come in the near future for Formula E.

The races have been exciting to watch

Sam Bagnall

One of the major selling points of the Gen3 car was the ability for drivers to race each other in closer confines than Gen2. This was proven true in one turn at the Monaco E-Prix when Envision’s Nick Cassidy passed two cars (he nearly overtook a third) in the hotel hairpin. That’s not typically a spot on the compact street course where there’s a ton of passing, but with the Gen3 car, drivers were consistently running three-wide into that tight turn.

“​​I think the racing has been phenomenal,” James said. “There was a lot of talk at the beginning of the season about tires and the energy side of things, even the aesthetics of the car. But I actually think it's delivered.” He noted that the start of Gen3 has “mixed up the field” and that the competition has been “very close.” There have been six different winners in the first nine races and the championship lead has already changed hands multiple times.

There have also been a lot of overtakes. That’s mostly because no one wants to lead at some of the tracks until the very end of the race. The Gen3 car has considerable drag aerodynamically, so you use a lot more energy staying out front than running in the pack. Starting in Brazil, this peloton effect became apparent where drivers willingly hand off the lead to conserve power until the closing laps. Even the leaders will back off and bunch up the field in a bid to maximize efficiency while out front. For example, Round seven in Berlin saw 23 lead changes with this in-line running.

“It’s a different kind of racing, but it’s no less exciting,” Barclay said. “In quali [the Gen3 car] looks spectacular because the drivers are on the limits, and the race looks spectacular because there’s lots of overtaking. It’s always about making sure we have the best balance of both things, and that’s what we’re all working towards achieving within the championship.”

McLaren’s team principal also expressed the need to find “balance” within the new style of racing for Formula E, but agreed what we’ve seen out of the new car so far has been quite captivating. “It’s about the drivers learning and anticipating, making sure they can turn that into their advantage,” James said. “I think we’ve got to be careful that it doesn’t become the defining feature of Gen3 racing… but if we get the balance right, the racing is going to continue to be phenomenally exciting.” The overtakes will continue, according to the McLaren boss, but there also stands to be “some real speed” from the Gen3 cars too.

Teams have adapted quickly

LAT Images

When I spoke to James before the season began, he explained that teams would face “a very steep learning curve” starting at the first E-Prix of Gen3 in Mexico. That has been apparent in nearly every round of Season 9 so far. Teams like Porsche and Avalanche Andretti who started off strong have stumbled at times. And others, like Jaguar, who struggled at first have begun to find their form.

“What we have seen in these first races of the year is how quickly it has evolved,” Barclay said. “From where we were in Mexico [with] everyone getting to grips with the new car and the new tech, now everyone is absolutely flat out in quali and we’re into really complex race strategies because we’re really on top of the cars.” For Jaguar, its ability to get “on top of” Gen3 was most apparent in two particular races. In Berlin, the team scored its first 1-2 finish and in Sao Paulo Jaguar cars locked out the podium for the first time with Envision’s Nick Cassidy swiping third (Envision runs Jaguar powertrains).

While there have been some temporary issues that caused teams to pull cars from practice sessions out of caution, a major catastrophe has so far been avoided. Perhaps the biggest incident occurred in Cape Town when Mahindra and ABT Cupra pulled all of their cars from that event due to a suspension issue (the latter runs Mahindra powertrains as a customer team). The decision was made before qualifying citing safety concerns over running on a particularly bumpy track. The Race reported afterwards that rear suspension problems were discovered during manufacturer testing before the season began. Mahindra apparently modified the suspension afterwards, but the issue wasn’t sufficiently resolved for the cars to run in South Africa.

The new tires are a challenge, but that’s a good thing

Sam Bloxham/LAT Images

Heading into the season, drivers were vocal about the challenges of the new Hankook tires that were developed for Gen3. The compound is much harder than the previous version from Michelin, but it’s also more durable. Previously, tires would degrade so much over the course of the race that what began as treaded rubber would end up almost completely slick. Now, the series uses a compound that performs more consistently throughout an E-Prix

“What’s amazing is we have a car with less mechanical grip, because we have a harder compound tire,” Barclay explained. “Yet, we’re going faster.”

The tires posed the biggest challenge for the two races in Berlin, where Formula E runs on a temporary street circuit at the decommissioned Tempelhof Airport. The concrete surface is much more abrasive than asphalt. Combine that with the long curves and straights in the track layout and you can easily overheat the tires if you’re not careful. Sure, these two races are outliers for teams looking to unlock the full potential of the new compound, but it only made matters worse for those like McLaren who were already struggling with traction.

“Berlin was definitely the most acute circuit for that particular problem for us,” James said. “It's something that we're working hard together with Nissan to understand and hopefully bring some improvements in the future that will start to close the gap to the competition.” (McLaren runs Nissan powertrains as a customer team)

McLaren doesn’t have an issue with one-lap pace; the team has put its cars on pole twice already. James explained that the larger issue is due to the lack of overall traction and maximizing the energy usage simultaneously. “That’s when things start to become a little bit trickier,” he said. As a result, McLaren is seeing a compounding effect as each lap passes in a race, which James admitted “puts us on the backfoot.” He noted that some teams have figured out how to unlock the potential of the tires in different ways, but for others it’s still a fight. And at times it can be quite costly in terms of overall pace.

Formula E had to introduce in-season fixes

Carl Bingham

Following several big crashes in pre-season tests, Formula E made the decision to introduce a secondary braking system as soon as possible. Because the Gen3 car is regenerating power under braking on both the front and rear powertrains, there wasn’t a backup system in place if those systems became unusable – like in the event of a powertrain failure or a software issue. This led to several incidents where drivers weren’t able to safely slow down their cars. Formula E moved quickly to find a fix, with the first on-track tests of the emergency-use system occurred at the second race in Diriyah.

“The FIA, ourselves, we’re all learning and we’re working together to find the best outcome,” Barclay explained. “I think we have addressed those [issues], whether it be the secondary brake system or the change to the traction control regulations.” He said that all of the critical problems that have popped up are somewhat expected with a new car as both the teams and the series is “in this mode of optimizing Gen3.”

The traction control monitoring system is another area Formula E has addressed with an in-season change. Teams aren’t allowed to have traction control to ensure no one gains an unfair advantage and the FIA polices those regulations with torque sensors mounted on the driveshafts. This setup is meant to uncover any software-based tricks being used to unlock better grip. Speaking to The Race, the new system was described as “an evolution” of previous monitoring tech by Formula E’s technical boss Alessandra Ciliberti. The change had been in the works for months, in consultation with the car manufacturers who were also performing tests. Formula E decided the new tech, which monitors for consistent oscillations that differ from those caused by bumps and kerbs, was ready for use in Monaco earlier this month.

There’s still more to come

LAT Images

Before the first race of the season, Formula E announced that it planned to test quick-charging pit stops at a few races this year. These cars don’t visit pit lane during an E-Prix unless there’s a problem, mostly because it ends any chance you have of keeping up with the pack and remaining in contention. In the early days of the series, teams had to swap cars to complete the races, but battery tech advanced enough that hasn’t been a requirement since 2018.

Of course, it’s not only the act of stopping for 30 seconds — you also have to learn how to use the technology that makes it possible. And there will also be changes to the race format. Currently, drivers leave the racing line to activate Attack Mode for a temporary power boost while remaining on track. With the reintroduction of pit stops, drivers will instead earn two Attack Charges, but it’s unclear how and when they’ll be deployed.

When Formula E announced it would postpone the stops until next year, series co-founder Alberto Longo explained that the technology was ready but that supply chain issues meant the system couldn’t be implemented until the last three or four races. He admitted changes to the race format that late in the season made testing the system “not the right decision.” Teams up and down the paddock are in agreement.

“We need to understand the implications of bringing it in on the race itself and make sure it’s done in a way that adds value rather than detract from the show,” James said. “And because we've afforded ourselves the time to be able to do that analysis, I think we'll put ourselves in a much better position.” He further explained that he’s less worried about the impact the fast-charging stops will have on the team as he’s confident in their ability to adapt, mostly due to their years of experience in the series.

Barclay echoed those thoughts on behalf of Jaguar. “The amount of newness in this Gen3 car, from the new tires to the slightly different race format (number of laps vs. time), there was a lot to go out,” he said. “I think adding those extra things add more complexity and [could have] potentially taken away from what we’ve seen.” He noted that the team has had plenty to tackle already, but they’re looking forward to the new challenge of Attack Charge when it comes.

“We’ve gotten into a place where we’ve seen some great races, and I think that will only be more of the case as the season unfolds,” he said.

For the neutral NBA fan, game one of the Eastern Conference Finals last night was highly entertaining. If you were watching on YouTube TV though, the experience at the end of the game was highly frustrating. With just under five minutes left in the 4th quarter of a back-and-forth battle between the Miami Heat and the Boston Celtics, the streaming service had a major issue that kept viewers in a sputtering commercial loop for several minutes. Restarting the app didn't help as users were greeted with the stuttering trailer for the upcoming reboot of The Little Mermaid.

When YouTube TV finally started to chug along again, it skipped ahead every few seconds (this was captured on DVR recordings too). Users were unable to just swipe to live television either, so they just had to contend with broken up bits of action for the rest of the game. The service quickly admitted on Twitter that it was having problems, specifically referencing users trying to watch the NBA playoff game. However, the issue impacted other channels on the service too, including Bravo where Watch What Happens Live was airing after the highly anticipated Vanderpump Rules finale.

Several hours later the service's support account tweeted that everything was back to normal. The same info was posted to a support thread about the issue, but no details about a specific cause were mentioned. We've reached out to YouTube TV for more information on the problem.

Live TV streaming wasn't the only headache for YouTube last night. While that issue was unfolding, creators were having trouble uploading videos to YouTube proper, including clips for Shorts. Some experienced unusually slow processing times while others were unable to upload at all. This issue was also resolved a few hours later.

For YouTube TV, being completely unwatchable during high-profile live events is sure to leave a sour taste in subscribers' mouths. The service just increased its price by $8 a month to a whopping $73 in March. That's a little more than double the $35 monthly fee the service commanded at its 2017 launch. Streaming services as a whole have been regularly raising rates, so this isn't unique to YouTube TV. But combined with the occasional contract disputes with networks that can leave some channels unavailable — either temporarily or permanently — any issues with streaming reliability could be a major problem for the service. There's no rest for YouTube TV either as the Lakers/Nuggets series resumes tonight and there's one NBA playoff game scheduled each day until both series wrap up.

Amazon has two generations of Alexa-friendly Echo Buds under its belt, and today it's introducing a third. The new model has been completely redesigned from the first two with an AirPods-like stickbud aesthetic many companies have adopted over the years. There are other changes too, but perhaps the most interesting one is what Amazon has done with the price. While the first two versions ranged from $100-$130, the third-gen Echo Buds are just $50.

The company describes the new design as "lightweight and compact" but also "semi-in-ear." However, it didn't go into much more detail about the updated look in the press release. This likely means a fit akin to the "regular" AirPods: the earbuds stay put in your ears but don't have a tip to create a tight seal. As you might expect, Amazon is touting the new Echo Buds as a chance to take Alexa with you everywhere with quick hands-free access via voice cues. Inside, 12mm drivers offer "rich sound and balanced bass," according to the company. For calls there are two microphones and a voice detection accelerometer that work together to pick out your voice. 

In terms of battery life, Amazon says you can expect up to five hours of listening time on the buds with three full charges in the case (20 hours total). The company also gives you the ability to customize the onboard tap controls and offers multi-point pairing alongside a VIP Filter. That latter feature has been available on Echo Buds and Echo Frames, allowing you to limit notifications to certain contacts or apps. 

The new Echo Buds are available now from Amazon at an introductory price of $40. They will be normally priced at $50.

Amazon

An Amazon listing may have spilled the beans early, but today Beats is officially debuting its latest true wireless earbuds. That premature appearance was mostly accurate: the Studio Buds + have a familiar design with loads of improvements on the inside. Those upgrades include better battery life, retooled call performance and updated noise cancellation. There’s also a new transparent design option that offers a look at all of those internal components. However, they come with a slightly higher price tag at $170, which means the new version isn’t quite as good of a deal as the original.

Design

While the IPX4-rated Studio Buds + may look identical to the previous model at first glance, there are some subtle changes. The most significant is the addition of acoustic vents on both the front and the side. Beats says the updated design improves airflow to the transducer, which not only increases movement for sound but also allows for more effective active noise cancellation (ANC) and a better transparency mode. Interestingly, changing up the airflow was a key aspect of the improvements to sound quality Apple achieved in the second-gen AirPod Pro.

The vents also help relieve pressure so that the Studio Buds + are more comfortable to wear for long periods of time. I found that claim of increased comfort to hold true throughout my testing. Additionally, Beats added an extra small ear tip size this time around. The company says it did this after analyzing “fit success” for a variety of people and conducting hours of testing. With the new size the company says it can provide a better seal, and in turn improved sound quality, for more people.

The overall design is unchanged, but Beats says 95 percent of the internal components have been swapped out for new parts. This list includes custom-built transducers which it claims delivers “cleaner” bass with minimal distortion while providing overall “powerful, balanced” sound. The new microphones are three times larger and there’s 16 percent more battery capacity. There are also upgrades to the battery in the charging case and Beats managed all of the power improvements without increasing the size of either the buds or their holder.

Another key aspect Beats tweaked is the “b” button that facilitates the onboard controls. With the original Studio Buds, it was very easy to accidentally hit when trying to adjust the fit. The company says it “revised the design” for “better product interactions” and to cut down on “accidental button presses.” Reliability of the controls was never an issue and that remains true on the Studio Buds +, but after testing I’m happy to report the errant presses are a thing of the past.

Software and features

Photo by Billy Steele/Engadget

When it comes to the companion software for the Studio Buds +, there are no big changes. As before, everything is still baked into iOS for iPhone users. That includes one-touch pairing, iCloud device pairing and hands-free Siri. More settings are accessible via the device name on the Bluetooth menu, where Beats gives you battery percentage and noise control (ANC, transparency or off), alongside the ability to tweak the press-and-hold action, how you prefer to end calls and microphone priority. There’s also a shortcut to show the earbuds in the Find My app here. As is the case on other Beats devices, you can quickly access noise control via the volume slider in Control Center too.

On Android, there’s still a separate Beats app for button customization and firmware updates, but some features are available directly in the OS. One-touch pairing via Google Fast Pair as well as linking the earbuds to all of your Android and Chrome devices is here. Once those are synced, you can quickly switch between them thanks to the Studio Buds + multipoint pairing. These new Beats earbuds will also show up in Find My Device on Android, helping you locate them should they be misplaced.

The addition of onboard volume controls addresses one of my key gripes with the original Studio Buds. However, you’ll have to sacrifice noise control – the ability to toggle between ANC, transparency or off – directly on the earbuds. You’ll also forfeit the ability to summon a virtual assistant manually, which is key for Android users. Once you enable volume controls, the long press on one side turns the sound up while the other will turn it down. You can choose which you prefer on which side though, so there’s that.

Sound quality and active noise cancellation

Photo by Billy Steele/Engadget

Beats hasn’t always been known for balanced sound and clean bass, but that’s what the company is promising on the Studio Buds +. The overall tuning here is indeed a solid mix of highs, mids and lows – all of which stand on their own and cut through the mix with ease. Even more bass-heavy tunes like Underoath’s “Damn Excuses” are quite neutral sounding. The thumping kick drum and driving bass line don’t overpower the gritty, distorted guitars, backing vocals or the more subtle synth and keys underneath.

In fact, I’d like a little more bass on the Studio Buds +. Or perhaps a little fuller bass. There are times where the low end feels flat, like on other songs from Underoath’s Voyeurist. Hip-hop tracks fare better, but the driving, almost droning quality across Run The Jewels’ catalog is noticeably subdued. Beats certainly succeeded in achieving a balanced sound, but it did so by zapping some energy from the bass section of the EQ. And this holds true with both spatial audio and “regular” tunes alike.

In terms of noise canceling performance, Beats touts a 1.6x improvement thanks to the upgraded microphones, vents and the company’s second-gen chip. It’s a modest gain, but there is a discernible jump in the ability to block constant noise sources. There’s still work to be done when it comes to things like human voices and the random racket, though. The first Studio Buds did an adequate job of noise suppression and these are slightly better.

I don’t usually call out transparency mode in reviews because most of the time it’s just… there. But Beats says it improved this ambient sound thanks to the new mics, vent design and sound processing I’ve already mentioned. Indeed, there’s a noticeable difference on the Studio Buds + as compared to the previous version, but it’s nowhere near the level of what Apple achieves on some of its AirPods. Part of the reason for this is that Beats doesn’t feed the sound of your voice back through the earbuds. So while AirPods Pro and AirPods Max can make it seem like you’re not even wearing them in transparency mode, the Studio Buds + aren’t on that level.

Call quality

Photo by Billy Steele/Engadget

Beats says it “completely redesigned” the voice setup in the Studio Buds +. It did so by swapping out components and adding a new algorithm with the aim of suppressing unwanted noise and better focusing on your voice. To develop the algorithm, Beats explains that it used machine learning for the first time to train the system versus “a wide variety” of noisy scenarios with more than 7,000 hours of testing. In addition to new mics and a redesigned port to house them, the company says the larger components have an improved signal-to-noise ratio. The voice mic port was also relocated to the bottom side to underneath the multifunction button for upgraded voice detection.

All of that looks great on paper, but plenty of audio companies make lofty claims about call quality that rarely pan out as advertised. The promise of better noise blocking from the voice system does hold true and I consistently noticed less background roar in calls and recorded memos. However, the overall quality is good but not great. There’s a slightly muffled quality to your voice, and it lacks the clarity some other earbuds can provide. What’s more, the Studio Buds + confusingly disables transparency mode when you start a call if you have it active. Couple that with the fact that the ambient sound feature doesn’t pipe in your voice and that’s a perfect recipe for you to get shouty during a meeting.

Battery life

Beats promises improved battery life with the Studio Buds + over the previous model. The new earbuds can muster six hours of use with ANC or transparency mode on with three additional charges in the case. Turn noise cancellation and ambient sound off and you can get up to nine hours in one go (up to 27 additional hours with the case). That’s one more hour in the buds themselves and 11 more in the case. It’s a significant improvement and during my tests was an accurate representation of battery performance.

Indeed, I managed to hit six hours easily during my testing with a mix of ANC and transparency mode for both music and calls. In fact, I still had six percent remaining at that time, so you’ll likely get slightly better than Beats’ stated figures out of the Studio Buds +. The one knock against this model when it comes to battery is the lack of wireless charging. The first Studio Buds didn’t have it either and the company didn’t see the need to add it this time around.

The competition

Photo by Billy Steele/Engadget

The best alternative to the Studio Buds + comes from Beats’ own stable of audio gear. The Beats Fit Pro are my favorite in the company’s line right now, with fully adaptive ANC, and spatial audio that utilizes head tracking and personalization. I also enjoy the balanced, punchy bass on these. Battery life isn’t quite as good as the new model with ANC off, but it’s the same with noise cancellation enabled (six hours). No wireless charging here either, but the wingtip design offers a more secure fit for workouts. The Fit Pro debuted just months after the first Studio Buds in 2021, so perhaps they’re headed for a refresh too.

If you’re looking for a non-Beats option, Sony’s WF-1000XM4 remains our top pick for the best wireless earbuds. Simply put, no one comes close to the full suite of features the company offers. On top of great sound and effective ANC, the earbuds can automatically change settings based on your activity or location. What’s more, handy tools like Speak-to-Chat make quick convos a breeze thanks to automatic pausing via voice detection. iPhone users will have to sacrifice the tight integration with iOS, iCloud device sharing and hands-free Siri though.

Wrap-up

Like the Studio Buds were before, the Studio Buds + remain the best Beats option for most people. They have the design with the most general appeal and work in lockstep with iOS. The company has done significant work to make sure the earbuds sync up better with Android too. Factor in noticeable improvements to ANC and other tweaks, Beats has another compelling true wireless model here. With the price increase, these have crept out of the mid range and are approaching premium status. That makes them a less obvious value than the original model, but it’s far from a dealbreaker. Let’s just hope the company has some upgrades planned for the Beats Fit Pro too.

The Beats Studio Buds + are available starting today in black/gold, ivory and transparent color options for $170. The new model is currently for sale at Apple in the US, Canada and China.

“It all came about at 11:30PM on a random Wednesday.”

Penelope Bourbon CEO and founder Michael Paladini admitted that late-night calls are a regular occurrence for him. After his wife goes to bed, the kids are asleep and there are no emails hitting his inbox, he has time to get creative. One of these evening brainstorming sessions was with Robert Crandell, a regional sales manager for Tonnellerie Radoux and Pronektar. Radoux is a French cooperage that has been making barrels for decades. The company has been operating in the US since 1994, based in wine country California. What’s more, Radoux has conducted extensive research into the chemical composition and tannins of French oak.

Since 2008, Radoux has completed over 300 trials containing over 10 million analyses to observe polyphenols in the wood that can impact the appearance, taste and smell of wine. The result is a tool that can instantly measure these properties with Near Infrared Spectrometry, rather than using the time-consuming process of taking random samples from various batches of staves. The technology is called OakScan.

Tonnellerie Radoux

“French oak can be wildly inconsistent,” Crandell noted.

All of the variation in French oak can lead to unintended results without careful planning. Combine that in with the fact that the wood is more expensive than American oak and companies using it to age wines and spirits can greatly benefit from knowing how their liquid is going to react to the wood. It’s long been known that trees from different forests that are made into barrels will have different chemical compositions (the concept of terroir), and thus different levels of tannins. There can also be significant variation in trees just a few feet apart or from staves made from different parts of the same tree. What’s more, there can be distinctions in the grain width, which affects the extraction time for getting the tannins out of the wood.

“Even if you’ve gone to great lengths and you bought wood from the same forest, you still aren’t getting the same sort of precision and consistency [as with OakScan],” Crandell said. When Radoux uses OakScan to analyze staves bound for production, each piece of wood is assigned a barcode and a letter corresponding to its “tannic potential,” according to the cooperage. This not only helps with sorting, but it allows the company to build barrels with a specific polyphenolic index (PI), ensuring the wood is suitable for the style a winery or vineyard is trying to make. And since every stave is scanned, there’s uniformity of the tannin content of each barrel and all the data makes the end result repeatable.

OakScan also allows customers to select wood from different forests, but not by sourcing actual staves from those places. Instead, Radoux can build the tannin profile and replicate the terroir in a much more consistent way.

“If someone wanted a Voges-style barrel, we could work that out based on tannin level,” said Radoux national sales manager Craig Holme. “We can be more precise on what [the results are] going to be. Someone else will get a barrel that may be from two different trees [in that forest], and they might be completely different.” According to Holme, Radoux can pull 100,000% extracts from the staves that they can then put in a sample of a prospective customer’s product to show them what it’s going to do.

Originally developed exclusively for wine making, OakScan was initially used to analyze the chemical characteristics of barrel staves. Once the system was developed and fine-tuned, Radoux began using the same technology for tank staves. Thinner than a barrel stave, these pieces of wood allow for a quicker extraction process, which at the time was intended for larger volumes of wine. Where barrels are only toasted on the inside, tank staves are finished on all six surfaces and they’re designed to be completely submerged.

“Typically, the toasting process for wine is much more precise than the charring process for spirits,” Crandell explained. “So we came up with something very precise and very repeatable.” However, OakScan hadn’t really been used extensively in the spirits industry, he continued, except for a “small, experimental project” he had done a few years ago. Eventually, Crandell said he started working with Penelope and another micro-distiller to see if the detailed analysis of French oak could work for spirits.

Penelope Bourbon

Penelope isn’t your traditional bourbon maker. The company doesn’t actually distill anything. Instead, it sources aged bourbon from MGP: a producer of distilled spirits with operations in ​​Kansas, Missouri, Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio, in addition to Mexico and Northern Ireland. MGP has its own brands of spirits (it actually announced the acquisition of Penelope earlier this week), but it also sells bourbon, rye whiskey, gin and more to other companies to package and sell on their own. Penelope buys bourbon of various ages and mashbills from MGP and blends it to their specifications. Sometimes they’ll bottle those blends as-in (Four Grain Bourbon and Barrel Strength Bourbon), while others undergo additional aging before they’re packaged.

While Radoux primarily caters to vineyards in France, Italy, Spain, the US and more, its colleagues at Speyside Cooperage (both owned by TFF Group) typically work with breweries and distilleries. Paladini and Penelope COO and founder Daniel Polise initially worked with Crandell to secure Rosé casks for secondary aging of its bourbon. They then collaborated with Speyside Cooperage to source toasted American oak barrels for a secondary finishing of its bourbon. For that treatment, Penelope would create a blend of aged bourbon and put it in barrels with varying char and toast levels for a period of time. In the end, Paladini and Polise discovered that even with the same bourbon in the same barrels, samples from each would be very different.

“It would go in completely different, wild directions,” Paladini observed. “We found that to be great, and that’s why that product was incredible.” Indeed, Penelope Toasted Series Bourbon won gold at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition in 2022. The company leaned into the variation in the aging results, indicating the char and toast levels on the bottles of each batch. Of course, that means each batch is quite different.

Following the challenges of the Toasted Series, Polise tried using some of the OakScan staves in some samples. “We have so many different products that show up and people want us to try and use them,” he admitted. “I finally tried it and I was just shocked.” Polise explained that the OakScan French oak “stood out from the others greatly.”

Thus the idea for Penelope’s Architect Bourbon was hatched. The company was hoping to tap into the success of Toasted Series by once again being transparent about the types of wood they were using for secondary aging. But while OakScan can create the ultimate consistency batch to batch, Paladini says he and Polise weren’t sure they really wanted that.

Photo by Billy Steele/Engadget

“Our first thought was to take an exploratory approach and highlight the actual flavor profile on the back of the label. That profile is coming directly from the oak engineer in France when they run the OakScan process,” said Paladini. On each bottle of Architect, there’s a spider graph that illustrates the characteristics of that particular “build.” The company is playing up the idea of constructing a flavor profile, so it calls each batch a “build” instead. Hence the name Architect.

With Architect, Penelope has created six different “builds” or stave selections and they’re all different. However, they’re still consistent, as Crandell explained. “We can make a build again, it’s repeatable,” he noted. And that’s because OakScan allows for that consistency rather than the company hoping they can recreate a hit. They will, of course, need to replicate the blended bourbon from MGP that undergoes the secondary aging in order to do so. Even if they can’t, the company can still give a new blend the same “build” as a previous version of Architect. Since the wood analysis gives them so much control over the end result, the combinations – and the creative potential – are seemingly endless.

“[OakScan] not only gives you the ability to be precise, but it also gives you the ability to be creative,” Crandell said. “If you know what the end result is going to be, you can change the end result – you can control the end result.”

For Penelope, French oak that’s been analyzed with OakScan is only being used in Architect right now. But, Paladini and Polise aren’t ruling out using the staves for another product in the future.

“We’re constantly playing with different woods and finishes,” Polise noted. “So whatever matches next, we may release. It just works like that.”