I Tried the Beats 360 for a Week: The Best Part Isn’t the Sound

Three years after Studio Pro, Beats updated its over-ear flagship with Beats 360. The company just turned 20. The headphone is its next product, not a reinvention of the category.

It keeps the Beats look and borrows two ideas from AirPods Max: replaceable ear cushions and stepless arms. The details differ.

Round, light, and meant to be taken apart

The last model had hard lines. Beats 360 is rounder and simpler. The headband is thin. The ear cups are round. The headphone looks light. You can remove and replace the ear cushions yourself. Dirty? Swap them. Worn out? Swap them. Want a different color? Swap them.

The body comes in Black, Cloud White, Pink, and Sky Blue. There are eight ear cushion kits: six Performance Knit in Black, Cloud White, Pink, Sky Blue, Navy, and Neon Yellow; two UltraPlush in Black and Cloud White. Performance Knit uses a diamond weave, each yarn made from 36 strands of microfiber. It stays soft, breathable, and light, and it holds up. UltraPlush wraps an outer layer of eco-friendly refined leather. It feels smoother and matches the Studio Pro texture.

Four body colors times eight ear cushions gives 32 base combinations. Add the headband cushion and the number reaches 256. The headband cushion is replaceable too.

AirPods Max uses a different headband structure. Beats 360 puts the left and right ear cups in separate systems. Battery, antenna, and processing components sit in each side. Fewer wires and signals cross the headband. That lets Beats make the headband thinner and lighter. It also lets the headband cushion come off and be replaced like the ear cushions. The cushion uses knit material. It should last longer than the breathable fabric canopy on AirPods Max. That canopy can lose elasticity or tear after long use, and you cannot replace it yourself. Beats 360 fixes that.

Fit: close to AirPods Max, but easier to put back on

Beats 360 uses stepless telescoping arms, so different head sizes can find a position. In my time with it, the fit is close to AirPods Max. Beats 360 has slightly better headband support. Its ear cups are slightly smaller. AirPods Max wraps the ears more completely.

One detail works: when the headphones hang around your neck, the logo side of each ear cup faces out. Pick them up and put them on without flipping them around. They look better around the neck, and the motion is smoother.

Noise cancellation and sound: Beats 360 is good, AirPods Max 2 is better

Passive isolation is about the same. AirPods Max 2 has larger ear cups and a fuller seal, but in use, the two cut low-frequency rumble, mid- and high-frequency vocals, and ambient noise by similar amounts.

Turn on active noise cancellation and AirPods Max 2 pulls ahead. Plane and highway drone, cafe chatter, office keyboards: AirPods Max 2 handles all of it better. If noise cancellation is your priority, AirPods Max 2 wins.

Sound starts with Tsai Chin’s “The Ferry.” Vocal placement is close. AirPods Max 2 has a wider stage and more vertical space. Kick drums go deeper. The whole track breathes more. Eason Chan’s “Long Time No See” shows a similar gap: the two place vocals and instruments at similar distances, but AirPods Max 2 images the voice more clearly and lets you hear pronunciation details. Hans Zimmer’s “Why So Serious?” separates them further. As the arrangement builds, AirPods Max 2 goes deeper and keeps the low end layered. It stays stable when the bass gets heavy and stops and starts with better control. Across these tracks, AirPods Max 2 wins on stage width, low-frequency depth, and control.

Beats 360 costs 2,999 yuan. AirPods Max 2 costs 3,999 yuan. A gap is expected. AirPods Max 2 goes further in sound and noise cancellation. Beats 360 answers with a better headband, a lighter build, and customization. On its own, Beats 360 sounds good and cancels noise well enough for most days.

No wear detection, and you will notice

The missing wear detection is the feature I missed most. Take the headphones off and the music keeps playing. If you are done for a while, you have to turn them off by hand. You cannot set them down like AirPods Max. It adds a step every time.

The rest of the Apple ecosystem is here. Connect to an iPhone and you get one-tap pairing and iCloud pairing. Apple devices on the same account switch automatically. Audio sharing, hands-free “Hey Siri,” Find My, and personalized spatial audio with dynamic head tracking all work. Android users get Fast Pair, settings and locating in the Beats app, audio switching, and voice assistant support.

The gym is where Beats 360 makes sense

Several athletes across different sports have been photographed wearing Beats 360. The design shows why. It has IPX4 sweat and water resistance. Performance Knit ear cushions breathe, stay light, and hold up. Wear them for lifting, running, or outdoor workouts. With ANC on, battery lasts up to 32 hours. A five-minute charge gives an hour of playback. You will not charge them every day. During squats, they stay put. After a sweaty session, pull the ear cushions off, rinse them, let them dry, and use them again the next day.

Should you buy Beats 360?

Beats 360 has a look you will recognize and a set of features that cover commuting, office work, travel, and workouts. Replaceable ear cushions and headband cushion, eight ear cushion options, four body colors, IPX4, and 32 hours of battery life set it apart. Noise cancellation and sound are good, not best in class. AirPods Max 2 beats it there. The missing wear detection is annoying.

If you want an over-ear headphone you can customize, wear to the gym, and charge less often, put Beats 360 on your shortlist. If you want the best noise cancellation and sound, save for AirPods Max 2.

Put AirPods Max back in the drawer. Hang Beats 360 by the door. Tomorrow, swap the ear cushions to Neon Yellow.