Beats Fit Pro 2 wishlist: All the features I want to see

When recommending the best earbuds in the Apple stable, the Beats Fit Pro is at the top of the list. I love their fit, the variety of colors available, and their active noise cancelation performance in noisy environments. Of course, there’s always room for improvement. So, looking ahead to the next iteration, here are all the upgrades and changes I want to see with the Beats Fit Pro 2, likely to be the company’s next wireless earbuds.

The Beats Fit Pro have Apple’s Transparency mode. This is a solid safety feature that lets you simultaneously hear your music and surroundings. It would tickle me pink to see the Fit Pro 2 with Adaptive Transparency.

The difference between Transparency and Adaptive Transparency is that the former relays external noise through your earbuds. The latter does the same and reduces the volume of unpredictable, loud sounds. This leads to a more pleasant listening experience. You can still hear street noise, but car horns aren’t blaringly loud.

A dust-resistant build

The Beats Fit Pro are some of my favorite workout earbuds to date. While the IPX4 water-resistant rating of the Fit Pro is suitable for most athletes, a dust-resistant build would seal the deal for the Fit Pro 2. More and more earbuds come with dust-resistant ratings these days. This reassurance can make a world of difference for us rock climbers. If you practice any sport with chalk or like to run on the beach, a dust-resistant IP rating can save your buds from irreversible damage.

Billed as workout earbuds, it’s no wonder the Beats Fit Pro have a bass-heavy sound profile. This isn’t bad, given that most athletes prefer more “oomph” while exercising. That said, I believe a less dramatic difference between the sub-bass and midrange responses would make for a more versatile sound that would allow vocals to sound clearer.

Ideally, the Beats Fit Pro 2 will have a frequency response curve that more closely follows the SoundGuys Target Curve (pink) in the chart above. This would allow bass to stand out without being twice as loud as important vocal and instrumental content.

I doubt we’ll see a custom equalizer in the Beats app for Android, but its presence would mark a huge step forward for Apple and Beats. Much of the competition (e.g., Sony, Bose, and Google) is fine providing custom equalizers for their flagship earbuds, but Apple is holding out.

With a custom EQ in the Beats and iOS Settings apps, listeners could fine-tune the sound to align with their preferences and match their media. For instance, when watching an action movie, a sub-bass response like the Fit Pro’s is a bit too loud. It can often result in explosions that are too boomy and dialogue that’s difficult to hear. A custom EQ would make it easy to decrease the sub-bass and let vocals stand out more.

I hope to see better microphone quality from the Beats Fit Pro 2 compared to the Fit Pro, especially since this is an easy area of improvement. I saw a significant increase in microphone quality from the Studio Buds to the Studio Buds Plus — particularly when blocking background noise.

Listen to our Beats Fit Pro mic demos to get an idea of baseline mic performance from the Fit Pro 2. I found the Fit Pro worked well for conference calls, but when I tried to take a call outside, the person on the other end could hear a lot of background noise.

Improved battery life on the Fit Pro 2 won’t be a selling point because the Fit Pro already has an above-average battery. With the Fit Pro, you can enjoy up to six hours of ANC listening with an extra 18 hours from the case. Yet, if the Fit Pro 2 can inch closer to the nine-hour battery life of the Powerbeats Pro, they will stand taller among other flagship earbuds.

If Beats wants to continue to capture the workout earbud market, it needs to add wireless charging to the Fit Pro 2 features. Wireless charging is a given with many flagship earbuds. Heck, earbuds that cost closer to $100 come with this feature. If Beats plans to charge $199 or more, there’s no excuse for omitting wireless charging. MagSafe charging would be extra-nice.

A more compact case is a bit of a moonshot, especially if Beats improves the battery life. Shrinking the Fit Pro 2 case to be closer to the AirPods Pro 2 would make the Fit Pro 2 about as portable as the Jabra Elite 7 Active ($179 at Amazon), a top competitor.

When I tested the Fit Pro, I loved most things about the buds except the bulky case. The case fits well enough into a small pocket, but it will ruin the silhouette of your pants.

While there’s no official word on the Beats Fit Pro 2, I expect the company to release the next-gen earbuds. Beats has shown no signs of slowing down with its earbud releases over the years and recently released the Studio Buds Plus. Beats is still clearly invested in the Fit Pro series. It launched new colors for the Fit Pro this year, adding Volt Yellow, Coral Pink, and Tidal Blue to the portfolio. I’d be stunned if there’s no reprise.

First, let’s consider when the Beats Fit Pro 2 could debut. The Fit Pro launched on November 1, 2021, just a few months after the original Studio Buds. I also expect to see the Fit Pro 2 this year because there was a two-year gap between the Beats Powerbeats Pro and Fit Pro release dates. It’s been almost two years since the Fit Pro release date. If Beats plans to stay on a predictable cycle, this fall is the time to unveil the Fit Pro 2.

In short, if you are a particularly patient person and are considering upgrading from the original Beats Fit Pro, it’s unclear how long you’ll spend waiting for them to arrive.