I’ve Ditched The Pixel Buds A For A New Pair Of Workout Earbuds Made By Apple

For the longest time, I’ve sworn by the Pixel Buds A as my go-to workout wireless earbuds. With their snug wingtip fit, decent sound, and solid battery life, they’ve powered me through everything from marathon runs to intense gym sessions. But after years of service and no replacement in sight, they’re starting to show their age. I’ve been hunting for an upgrade.

Now, it’s not often I find myself recommending an Apple product to Android users, especially in a category as crowded as wireless earbuds. But after a few weeks with the new Beats Powerbeats Pro 2 paired with my Pixel 9, I can confidently say these are the best workout earbuds I’ve ever used. And yes, they’re made by Apple.

It’s all about the fit

Dhruv Bhutani / Android Authority

What initially drew me to the Pixel Buds A was their wingtip design — they stayed put no matter how intense the workout. But the Powerbeats Pro 2 takes that security to another level. The redesigned ear hook might look bulky at first glance, but once they’re on, they don’t budge. Ever.

A hundred miles of running later, the Powerbeats Pro 2 have yet to slip off my ears.

I’ve clocked nearly 100 miles of running in these, and not once have I had to push them back in or adjust the fit mid-run. The flexible, lightweight hooks just lock in place without feeling uncomfortable or heavy. Even during high-intensity lifting or fast-paced cardio, I didn’t feel a single shift. That’s huge. This was my first real experience with ear hook-style earbuds, but I think it’s safe to say I’m a convert.

Another small but underrated improvement is the ear tip insulation. With most buds, sweat tends to mess with the seal, but not here. The Pro 2 also have a repositioned vent that helps relieve pressure inside the ear. Usually, I start feeling pressure build up in my ears after about 25–30 minutes of running, but the Powerbeats Pro 2 fared much better. For the first time, I genuinely forgot I was wearing a pair of earbuds. That level of comfort in a pair of workout earphones is unprecedented.

Heart-rate tracking is hit-or-miss 

The highlight feature of the Beats Powerbeats Pro 2 is the built-in heart rate tracking. It’s not a first for true wireless earphones, but it is a first for Beats, and the company made a big deal about working with athletes to get it right. It’s also the feature that really caught my attention when exploring new options on the market.

I’m not a big fan of chest straps, and ever so often, I don’t want to wear my heavy Apple Watch Ultra on a run. The idea that I can just pop in my earbuds and get HR data straight to apps like Strava or TrainingPeaks via Bluetooth appeals to me.

The heart-rate tracking works, but it’s limited enough to feel like little more than a gimmick.

Sounds great on paper, but in practice, it doesn’t quite deliver. On Android, heart rate data broadcasts fine to Strava while streaming music. On the iPhone, oddly, it just doesn’t. But the bigger issue is accuracy. In steady-paced workouts like long runs, the HR data is fairly spot-on. But the moment you throw in intervals or HIIT, the tracking falters. By all appearances, it looks like the earphones have been designed to simply stop broadcasting HR data when it senses poor accuracy. It’s a nice idea in theory, but it happens far too often to make the data consistently useful.

Dhruv Bhutani / Android Authority

That means the heart rate tracking only works well for certain types of workouts. If you’re doing a steady-state run, you’ll get great insights. But if your training includes intensity spikes, you’ll likely be left without much usable data. Moreover, you have to enable the feature every time you want to use it. This means I didn’t use the HR tracking feature nearly as much as I expected to.

On the plus side, you can also broadcast heart rate to compatible gym equipment using standard Bluetooth protocols. If your treadmill or cycling machine supports Bluetooth HR input, the data just shows up on the screen. It’s a neat touch, though again, it suffers the same pitfalls as I mentioned earlier. Any aggressive shifts in workouts lead to heart rate data dropping out.

Now, if you’re a dual phone and dual operating system wielder like me, there’s another pitfall to keep an eye out for. You can have the Powerbeats Pro 2 streaming music from an Android phone while connected to gym equipment just fine. But if you’re using an iPhone, this feature simply doesn’t work. I thought it might be dud equipment at my end, so I went around testing the earphones with other gym equipment, but it’s a no-go. Maybe there’s a workaround I haven’t found yet. But the issue appears to be consistent enough among users that this is likely a hardware limitation. All-in-all, if earbud-based heart rate tracking is a big criterion in your buying decision, I’d give these a pass.

All about the bass

Dhruv Bhutani / Android Authority

If you’re anything like me, music isn’t just a workout companion — it’s the backbone of your workout. And this is where Beats delivers. If you’re expecting pristine, well-balanced, audiophile-grade sound, you might want to skip this section altogether. That’s not what you get here. Instead, as expected, the Pro 2 leans into that signature bass-heavy sound with a bit more refinement. There’s still plenty of punch, but the mids and highs are clearer and crisper — exactly what I want mid-workout. I’ve run to metal playlists, EDM sets, and even some mellow synth tracks, and they all sounded great on these.

The Powerbeats Pro 2 deliver bass in spades — exactly what I want from a pair of workout earbuds.

Even the active noise cancelation surprised me. It’s not quite at Sony WF-1000XM5‘s levels, but paired with the snug fit and passive isolation, it drowns out the chaos of my gym’s Bollywood playlist to a comfortable hum. I usually don’t care much about the transparency mode on earphones, but I found it quite useful here. It’s not quite as natural-sounding as on the AirPods, but it comes close, and I had no trouble using it for quick conversations with my trainer or toggling it on while running outdoors.

The oversized case of the Beats Powerbeats Pro 2 also ensures that battery life doesn’t suffer. While the earphones themselves last up to 10 hours on a single charge, the case offers an additional 40 hours. It’s been good enough that I never have to worry about charging the earphones. I just plonk the case on a wireless charger once a week and call it a day.

These are my favorite workout earphones, even without the frills

Dhruv Bhutani / Android Authority

If you’re deep in the Android ecosystem, it might feel strange to consider an Apple-made product as your next workout companion. But the Powerbeats Pro 2 genuinely displaced the Pixel Buds A and earned its spot in my gym bag. With an incredibly secure fit, excellent sound, and marathon-worthy battery life, it checks nearly every box for fitness-focused earbuds. The heart rate tracking isn’t perfect, but it’s a nice bonus — and at worst, something I can entirely ignore. It’s everything else about the earphones that ticks all the right boxes for me and makes them a top contender for some of the best workout earphones around.

Powerbeats Pro 2

Powerbeats Pro 2

Heart Rate Monitoring • Active Noise Cancellation • Extended Battery Life

Advanced sports earbuds with heart rate monitoring.

The Powerbeats Pro 2 are premium wireless earbuds tailored for athletes, offering features like heart rate monitoring, active noise cancellation, and a secure, comfortable fit. With up to 45 hours of total battery life and a 33% smaller wireless charging case, they are designed to enhance your workout experience.