Product1 publisher2 min readPublished
Beats 360 costs $50.99 more than the Studio Pro, but adds IPX4 sweat resistance
The 360 lists at $349.99 against the Studio Pro's $299, and the difference buys a sealed earcup module, an IPX4 rating and pads that twist off in seconds. Tom's Guide still puts Bose ahead on noise cancellation.
The Product Desk · Product desk
What happened
- Beats lists the 360 at $349.99 and has permanently cut the Studio Pro to $299 MSRP, putting the new pair well below the $550 AirPods Max 2 in its own lineup.
- The 360 carries an official IPX4 sweat and water rating, 32 hours of battery with ANC and Spatial Audio on, Bluetooth 5.4, multipoint, and native support on iOS and Android.
- Performance Knit cushions ship in the box, UltraPlush leatherette pads are sold separately, and replacement cushion sets cost $49.
- There is no wear detection and no 3.5mm audio jack, and Beats does not include a charger with the headphones.
Compiled by The Product DeskSomething wrong?How this is made
Why it matters
- decision A buyer at this price now chooses between a rating for sweat and the noise cancellation Tom's Guide credits to Bose at the same $349 and Sony at a $299 street price.
- cost Owning both pad types costs $398.99 at list, and every replacement set is 14% of the headphone's price, so the modularity is a recurring spend for the gym user it is aimed at.
- constraint Without wear detection, the 360 suits sessions the owner keeps them on for; Tom's Guide names that feature as Sony's commuter advantage.
The IPX4 rating comes from how the earcups are built. Each one is its own hardware module, with its own battery, antenna and processing chip, and that separation let Beats put a custom acoustic firewall behind the drivers [10]. The cups carry 50% more cushion mass than the Studio Pro's and hang off an ultra-thin headband built around a flexible steel spring [14][21].
Tom's Guide wrote that "Sweat ruins sensitive electronics, and standard warranties will not cover liquid damage when a device isn't explicitly rated for protection" [20]. For anyone who has been taking the $550 AirPods Max 2 into a gym, that is the problem the 360 is built against, and the Beats pair is 91.7 grams lighter [18][5].
$349.99 against a Studio Pro that now lists at $299 is a gap of $50.99 [1]. What that buys is the IPX4 rating and the twist-off pads, plus 34.5 grams of extra weight, since the 360 weighs 294.5 grams to the Studio Pro's 260, about 13% more [16][17][2]. The pads come away with a mechanical snap, and Tom's Guide puts a full swap at under five seconds [13].
The only wired connection is USB-C [4][6]. That same $50.99 separates the 360 from the Sony WH-1000XM5, which Tom's Guide says is regularly discounted to $299, while Bose's QuietComfort Headphones (2nd Gen) sit at the Beats price [19][6]. Tom's Guide calls the 360's noise cancellation easily the best Beats has produced and still puts Bose noticeably ahead on plane engines [22][9].
Two variables sort this decision: whether liquid gets into the headphones in normal use, and how often they come off mid-session. Sweat plus long stretches on the head favors the 360, where the pad is a part the owner can buy and the electronics sit behind a seal [2][11]. Dry use with the cups lifting off every few minutes favors the Sony at $299, where Tom's Guide names wear detection as the commuter convenience the Beats lacks [5][9][19].
What to watch
- Whether Studio Pro discounts below $299 at deals events widen the gap the sweat rating has to justify, as Tom's Guide expects.
- Whether Beats adds wear detection in firmware or holds it back for the next model.
- Whether cushion sets stay at $49, and whether pad types beyond Performance Knit and UltraPlush arrive.