Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I'm just going to get this out of the way: these headphones do not produce accurate sound and their sound quality is easily trumped by a $200 pair of Sennheiser or AKG headphones. Then again, Beats have never, ever been about producing an accurate sound. Marketing aside, the Studio line of Beats headphones has always been about reproducing a live concert environment where the bass and highs are turned way up. This dynamic compression is common with many rock concerts. Go to a Rob Zombie show where the bass moves your clothes and the guitars are piercing, that's what the Beats Studio have always tried to do. These are the new 2013 models and they are vastly improved over the previous editions. They are sturdier, look much better (the matte black make me look like a kid about to go to a rave or a DMX concert), the sound quality has been drastically improved (it's actually more balanced), and the Bluetooth wireless performance has been great for me with my iPhone 5 (iOS 7.0.4), iPad mini (iOS 7.0.4), and 2012 15" MacBook Pro (OS X 10.9.1). I'll start with the design. Beats has implemented a design that hides all the screws. This means that they shouldn't be unscrewing themselves and falling out like the previous Studio model. Beats have retained the plastic-heavy design along with a thing headband pad but these look sleeker. They also don't stick out from the sides as much as the first Studio models. The inclusion of matte black (and even matte titanium) mean that everyday people can buy these. Beats still offers their standard glossy black color for the younger crowd. Fortunately, the obnoxious green, pink, yellow, and red colors are gone from the wireless Studio headphones. I'm OK with bright color and headphones but not for huge cans like these. It just screams "look at me, aren't I special?!" when they come in the lime green color. The matte black is my favorite and looks really nice. As I said, the sound quality is improved over the previous Studio models and I think these are the best sounding Beats to date. Much better than the unbalanced Mixr, Solo HD, Pro, and even their other wireless headphones (which are pretty much Solo HD's with Bluetooth capabilities). The sound is not muddy like the previous Studio models which had way too much bass with everything else muted as a result. A dynamic compression has been applied to the new Studio headphones so the bass, while still more than most other headphones, is more balanced with the highs now. Modern rock, heavy metal, nu-metal, dubstep, rap, and pop all sound great with these headphones. It's like experiencing a concert with the band/artist playing. Again, it's not accurate but it is still a nice experience. People who listen to classical, inidi rock, real bluegrass (i.e. not Mumford & Sons), and other genres of music with simpler setups probably won't like these headphones as those genres tend to be more balanced across the lows, highs, and mids. The new Studio headphones are nice for the lows and highs (albeit a higher than normal) but not the mids, those are kind of lost in their mix. These also feature active noise canceling (ANC) which is a nice feature but it cannot be turned off. You must use these headphones with ANC enabled wired or wireless. Additionally, once the internal battery dies (it's rated at 20 hours for wired use, 12 hours for wireless but I've been getting about 12.5-13 hours of wireless use), you're done and need to recharge them. The nice thing is that Beats includes an AC adapter and USB cable to recharge these. My MacBook Pro charges them up in the same amount of time as the Beats AC adapter: it takes a little over an hour. The battery indicator light is also accurate whereas the last Studio models weren't. Some people don't like the idea of having an internal, rechargeable battery since they can just take a pack of AAA batteries with them. I prefer having the rechargeable battery though. It uses the same USB connection as many smartphones now and it's a better solution for the environment. The battery life seems to have improved as well. My old wired Studio headphones would need new AAA batteries about once a week with my casual listening. I'm charging these headphones about once every 1.5 weeks through casual listening. These Beats come with everything you need to use them. A semi-rigid carrying case, a standard 3.5mm male-to-male cord, a 3.5mm male-to-male cord with Apple device control support (and basic Android functionality), a USB cable, an AC adapter, warranty and product information, and a cloth for cleaning them. The only reason I'm giving these a 4 out of 5 stars is due to the sound quality. For $375, these should have a more accurate and balanced sound. They are easily some of the best sounding fashion headphones on the market and I can wear them for hours without issues but other headphones with this type of sound quality cost less. Had these been more in the $250-$300 range, I would have given them a 5 star rating. I would recommend these headphones for anyone who wants quality Bluetooth headphones and listens to the genres I previously listed. The sound quality isn't perfect but it, along with the build quality, are improved over the previous generation of Beats. The matte black and titanium models look elegant while still standing out as distinct Beats headphones (though not obnoxious like the lime green Mixr headphones).