The adaptive noise cancellation is the latest step for a company that’s working toward becoming a more serious headphone brand. And, indeed, Beats has come a ways since launching as big, flashy, bass-heavy headphones. There’s still some legacy there, of course; the branding is still outsized on the products themselves, and the company pumps a ton of money into celebrity promos — including the constant stream of star spots you’re served up during every NBA game.

But the design product color schemes have trended toward the more subtle, and the company started delivering a subtler and fuller audio experience around the time it introduced the Studio 2, in an attempt to fulfill the promise of the record producers behind the company’s launch. The line has grown up a fair bit over the past few years — if you were put off by the brand’s sound in the early days and haven’t gone back since, it’s worth a revisit at your local big box store (just bring the disinfecting wipes)

Battery life is a big win. The company lists it as 22 hours with noise canceling and 40 hours without, so you’ll be able to drown out plane noise and screaming babies for the duration of the world’s longest flight (20 hours and 20 minutes, London to Sydney). When I got home from Disrupt each day, I found that I hadn’t made a dent.

Of course, the whole Apple acquisition means access to the W2 chip, so you get the same pain-free syncing as the AirPods. That’s a noted leg up for iOS users — Android owners will have to grapple with the same old syncing process.

Bluetooth has come a long way in terms of both sound quality and connectivity, so you’ll be able to walk a decent distance away from the sound source without dropping signal. And, of course, there’s a wire in the box for when that’s the preferred way to connect. Weirdly enough, charging happens through microUSB — which feels a little antiquated for a pricey set of headphones.

Source: techrunch