Beats 360 Review: The First Over-Ear Headphones That Actually Belong in the Gym

Workouts with over-ear headphones seem like a good idea. Until you bend over to pick up the barbell. Or you shove them off your head during a dumbbell shoulder press.

There's an appeal to putting these things over your ears to tune the outside world out. But that experience, at least during exercise, comes with some compromises.

Enter the Beats 360. After getting an early hands-on briefing to inspect every finish and spending two solid weeks putting a pair through daily workouts, long travel days, and multi-hour audiobook sessions, I can say Beats has absolutely the perfect headphones for working out and great headphones for everything else...with one big catch.

For those who prefer to watch a video than read, check out my YouTube review of the Beats 360.

Design and Fit: Stability That Stays Locked In

My first introduction to the Beats 360 wasn't in the gym, but at a special meeting for press during the iPhone launch week in California earlier in September.

So the first thing I noticed when slipping the Beats 360 on was how securely they gripped my head without feeling like an uncomfortable squeeze. At that exact moment I wasn't thinking of these for exercise, I just thought Beats had some new, super secure-feeling headphones.

Unlike the Beats Studio Pro, which can slide during bench presses or high-intensity intervals, the Beats 360 stays anchored. Beats pulled this off by borrowing an architecture closer to true wireless earbuds: each earcup houses its own independent battery, processor, and antenna. By removing heavy signal wiring from the headband, the frame remains slim and light, shifting the weight down into the cups where it naturally balances against your head.

The fit provides genuine passive isolation before active noise cancellation even kicks in, and the structural tension never felt like it was too tight that you're going to get a headache. More like after 5K on the treadmill your headphones won't jostle off your noggin.

The Swappable Cushion System: Real Function, High Fashion

The standout feature of the Beats 360 that's unlike any other over-ear headphones is its modular cushion system. With a simple quarter-turn twist, each earcup cushion detaches smoothly, locking back into place with an intuitive, reassuring snap. The headband pad swaps out just as cleanly.

Beats offers two distinct materials:

• Performance Knit: The default option out of the box. Built using an airy diamond weave made of 36 micro-threads over memory foam, this material is moisture-wicking, highly breathable, and the obvious choice for heavy gym sessions.
• UltraPlush: Wrapped in the engineered leather seen on the Beats Studio Pro. This is the pair you want for casual wear, desk work, or staying cozy on a flight.

I was curious if the leatherette-like ultra plush would sound better than the knit for passive noise cancellation alone. However, Beats is all over it. The headphones use internal sensors to detect which cushions are installed, automatically recalibrating the acoustic tune and ANC profiles so you don't lose bass punch when switching from dense leatherette to porous knit.

The fashion element here will be massive for fitness enthusiasts. Being able to colour-coordinate ear cushions and headbands with gym apparel provides a surprising mental boost before a workout. That said, keeping a collection comes with real-world logistical quirks:

• Storage space is tight: The included woven ripstop case is sleek and spacious enough for the folded cans, but it has no dedicated room for spare cushion kits. If you plan on swapping textures post-workout, you'll need a dedicated pocket in your gym duffle.
• Missing classic colourways: Launching with Black, Cloud, Pink, and Sky frames (plus Volt and Navy cushions) offers solid variety, but the absence of signature Beats Red or a classic Red/Black combo is a noticeable omission.
• Easy maintenance: Sweat will inevitably hit workout gear. Cleaning the knit cushions requires just a light mix of water and mild laundry detergent wiped down with a lint-free cloth—no special chemicals needed.

Audio Performance and Controls: Balanced Power

Comfort is great, but Beats is known for superior audio. Redesigning headphones for exercise-first use somehow hasn't resulted in audio compromises.

The custom 40mm dual-magnet transducers offer clean headroom and controlled, emotive low-end punch without muddying mid-range vocals or dialogue. Testing them side-by-side against the Beats Studio Pro, the soundstage remains just as dynamic and clear across music, podcasts, audiobooks, and even TV shows (I'm rewatching Daredevil on the treadmill).

I think these are going to get compared to the Beats Studio Pro, because they're the closest thing in the lineup; but that comparison isn't really valid because the use case scenarios are SO different (these are meant for exercise first and foremost and are designed to support that).

Having said that, because people will want to make that comparison anyway, here's an at-a-glance look at how they stack up:

Having real buttons, rather than swipes and voice controls that some earbuds rely on is also a great consideration for workouts. When you're in the midst of a long run or sweating through a strength training session, you want to quickly skip a song or crank it up. Rather than confusing multi-button chord presses, Beats sticks with dedicated physical buttons on the back of each ear cup:

• Left Ear Cup: Power/pairing button and a dedicated listening mode toggle to jump between ANC, Transparency, and Adaptive EQ.
• Right Ear Cup: A physical volume rocker and a single play/pause/call management button.

Adjusting volume or cycling into Transparency mode mid-stride with sweaty fingers is effortless and avoids accidental touch-swipe errors.

I did find that I frequently would take them off and forget that I left them powered on. There's no "on-head-detection" or "rest" mode that would stop playback or power these down when not in use (something you find on AirPods Pro Max 2), so that's a "premium" feature that isn't present on these premium-priced headphones).

Battery, Travel, and Ecosystem Integration

Battery life is so shockingly good, in the early days of testing I was actually getting impatient for the battery to drain so I can see if they actually charge and last as long as Beats says they do.

Rated at 32 hours with Active Noise Cancellation enabled, I wore them across days of constant audiobook listening (revisiting the Animorphs books series), daily training, and a cross-border flight from California without reaching for a plug. The battery life is as Beats advertises.

If your Beats 360 hit zero, the Fast Fuel feature gives you an hour of playback from a five-minute USB-C top-up. Perfect if you drained them on your last workout and forgot to plug them in.

Note on the box contents: Beats has followed broader industry trends by omitting a USB-C charging cable and power adapter. You must supply your own cord. A colour-matched braided cable would have been a welcome touch at this price tier.

Connectivity remains an ecosystem sweet spot:

• Apple Users: Full native integration with one-touch iCloud pairing, automatic switching across iPhone, iPad, and Mac, hands-free "Hey Siri," and Find My network tracking.
• Android Users: Beats treats Android as a first-class citizen rather than an afterthought. With Google Fast Pair, Audio Switch, Find Hub support, and complete settings customization via the Beats app, the experience is nearly identical.

Canadian Pricing & The "Purpose-Built" Value Equation

If there's one big catch, it's gonna come down to the price. In Canada, the Beats 360 arrives at $479.95 CAD, placing it $80 above the Beats Studio Pro (now adjusted to $399.95 CAD).

Additional Cushion Kits cost $74.95 CAD regularly, though an introductory promo running through October 31, 2026, drops kits to $14.99 CAD at Apple Store locations and online (limit three per customer).

Conceivably, Beats is going to drop some more colour combos down the road. And at $75 per cushion kit that's going to add up very quickly for people who are looking to customize the look of your headphones. Obviously, no one is forcing you to buy more than one colour of cushion kit. But clearly, that's the big differentiating factor here: these are modular headphones that are meant to be customized.

That $75 CAD kit feels like it's going to keep most people sticking with whatever cushions come with their current headphones and maybe one more. Obviously price is subjective, and perhaps if you're eyeing $500+ headphones after tax then adding $75 accessories is no big deal, but with hardware that nails it in every other aspect, the price, I think, is going to be the only main reason for fitness enthusiasts to pause on whether they're going to embrace the 360.

The lack of wired 3.5mm or USB-C playback means these won't serve audio engineers or studio producers needing zero-latency audio. But holding that against the Beats 360 misses the point. These aren't "pro" speakers for podcasting and audio production (though go ahead and use them wirelessly for these cases if you want - I do for editing videos and recording voiceovers and they're fine). For "real" Pro applications, the Beats Studio Pro aren't going anywhere and are likely the better choice for audio and video producers.

Much like an Amazon Kindle is purpose-built for reading rather than replacing a versatile iPad, the Beats 360 is engineered specifically for active lifestyles.

You are paying a premium for rock-solid stability, IPX4 sweatproofing, and swappable, washable breathable pads. If your primary demand is an elite over-ear headphone that can crush daily workouts and transition straight into the rest of your day, the Beats 360 stands in a class of its own.

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