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When I bought a set of these earbuds last year I liked everything about the Powerbeats Pro 2 earbuds, EXCEPT the poor sound, When these earbuds were first released, the sound quality was significantly worse than that of the Beats Fit Pro. The sound was so inadequate that I returned the pair I purchased and rated the product one star.However, Apple obviously fixed the sound issues. I tried the Powerbeats Pro 2 this week. The sound is now excellent. Along with the much better form factor for active use than the form factor of the Powerbeats Fit, the Apple H2 chip, and generally excellent design overall, these are now arguably the best smart earbuds on the market for athletes.I am pleased to change my product rating from one to five stars.Below is my original review, along with an updated explanation for why I rated these earbuds at one star after a few weeks of use (before Apple fixed the sound.)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~UPDATE after a few weeks of use:After using the Powerbeats Pro 2 for a few weeks, I’ve found that the tinny non-immersive sound and the poor noise cancellation are frankly too bad to live with, especially on a $250 top of the line product.I wanted to like the Powerbeats Pro 2 ear buds based on the great ear fit, the comfort, the excellent user controls and the smaller/lighter form factor than the original Powerbeats Pro. The fit is also a lot more secure than the fit of the Fit Pro, at least for me.However, if you listen to the Fit Pro back to back with the Powerbeats Pro 2, the sound quality of the Fit Pro is heads and tails dramatically better. The Powerbeats Pro 2 sound quality is not even in the same league. The Fit Pro sound is excellent—strong bass, strong treble, well-balanced, immersive. The Powerbeats Pro 2 sound is thin, tinny, lacking bass, lacking depth.And to compare the noise cancellation between the Fit Pro and the Powerbeats Pro 2: when you turn on noise cancellation in a loud room on the Fit Pro there is an immediate and dramatic cut off in ambient noise. On the Powerbeats Pro 2 it’s hard to notice any difference when you turn on noise cancellation in a loud room.All in all, I’m more willing to live with the Fit Pro with its less secure fit but better sound than I am with the Powerbeats Pro 2 with its more secure fit but totally inadequate sound stage.For a $250 set of ear buds, Apple/Beats needs to fix the sound and noise cancellation issues. I talked to Apple about whether there would be any way to improve the sound.Apple technical support first was almost totally unwilling to even talk to me because I purchased these earbuds at Amazon. And then they offered no assistance that would meaningfully improve the sound.The bottom line: I have reluctantly returned these earbuds.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~My original review:PROS:Better, more custom fit in the ears (at least for me) than the original Powerbeats Pro. The fit in the ear canal is at a different angle than with the Fit Pro. With the Powerbeats Pro 2 I get the best fit with medium ear tips. With the Fit Pro I get the best fit with large ear tips.Much more secure fit than the Fit Pro.More comfortable than either the original Powerbeats Pro or the Fit Pro.Can easily be worn for hours without any discomfort, so a perfect accessory for ultra-endurance athletics.Design, material and build quality are all excellent. They look and feel like a high quality product.Transparency function works well—so well that it’s possible to listen to music AND be safe and connected to your immediate surroundings, like jumping out of the way of e-bikes on busy city multi-use paths, and in dodgy neighborhoods where you’d want to be in yellow alert while moving around.The lighter, less bulky feel is great compared to the original Powerbeats Pro.Sound quality is excellent ON PHONE CALLS and for other vocal-heavy uses.The case is significantly smaller than the massive original Powerbeats Pro case.The case is more robust than the case for the Fit Pro.There’s a toggle to turn off the gimmicky heart rate monitor 😊.CONS:The sound quality for music is more tinny and overall worse than the sound quality of the Fit Pro. Bass response is more subdued and there’s an overall midrange bias. For $250 ear buds, this is disappointing.Some reviewers have said that the sound is also worse than the sound on the original Powerbeats Pro. For me, the sound between the Powerbeats Pro and Pro 2 units is comparable—less rich on BOTH than on the Fit Pro.The pulse monitor seems gimmicky and superfluous. Is there any athlete on the planet doing aerobic sports who isn’t already monitoring heartbeat and using a device that is more accurate and effective than these ear buds? And other than athletes doing aerobic sports, who else has any interest in knowing their heartbeat while listening to music?Noise cancellation seems a bit worse than on the Fit Pro.THE BOTTOM LINE?I love that these things stay in my ears no matter what I’m doing—in that sense they’re unique among the most well-regarded ear buds on the market.I also love that they’re really comfortable.And I love that the feature set includes most of what Apple includes on its best ear buds.For me, those factors trump everything else (even though the sound NEEDS to be richer and more immersive—Apple, please fix this in an update).If the same is true for you, and you’re tired of having your ear buds pop out at inconvenient times, you may want to give the Powerbeats Pro 2 a look. Read more