The plastics don’t creak too much. And there’s a well-judged bit of resistance in the fold-up hinge of the headband that stops the stems from flapping around like broken arms with normal use.

That said, there’s something a bit on the nose about the presentation, they’re more confined than airy. The Beats Studio 3 Wireless are also very comfortable. Oval cut-outs in the pads give enough room for most ears, and over-ear headphones like this avoid the ear fatigue problems common among on-ear headphones, like the Beats Solo 3 Wireless and the new Beats Solo Pro. Connectivity and battery lifeConnectivity is easy and hard to beat in terms of connection strength. Switching between devices is painless and if you're signed into the same iCloud Drive automatic pairing is possible. Audio Quality The Beats Studio 3 may be Apple headphones, but they don’t sport the signature Apple look. They’re not glossy white and there’s no fruity logo. The Beats branding and aesthetics remain – and alongside it, their street-cred too. Pure ANC (Active Noise Cancelation) is another tweaked feature of the Beats Studio 3 Wireless. The Studio series has had active noise cancellation since 2014, but this new version claims to put an extra layer of smarts between noise and your ears.

There’s no creaking when you fold the headphones up or twist them; the Studio 3 appear able to withstand reasonable wear and tear. That said, the market has moved on a bit since the first-gen Studio were launched, and similar money could buy you a more luxurious finish. The Sony WH-1000XM2 combines plastic with metal and faux leather; the Bowers & Wilkins PX fuses anodised aluminium with ballistic nylon. We’ve heard this mid failing before in Beats headphones and noted how it makes the soundstage seem constrained, even though the problem is in the “middle”, not the top and bottom. On Android, it’s ordinary. The Beats Studio 3 took an average amount of time to connect to my Huawei Mate 9 or LG V30. Occasionally, they didn’t show up in the Bluetooth pairing menu, or didn’t always want to connect when they were visible. I also experienced dropouts in areas of high wireless interference, such as cafes and train stations. I had no such problems with the B&W PX. Then there’s Class 1 Bluetooth connectivity, which theoretically ups the range you can move from your source from 10m (the distance limited by Class 2 Bluetooth) to 100m. There’s nothing new to see here in terms of build. Most of the Beats Studio 3 Wireless frame is plastic. The pads use synthetic leather that, while soft, looks fake from 2ft away.Even on an Apple device, there were issues. On my MacBook Air, the Beats Studio 3 kept trying to make me go to iTunes whenever I tried to pause or play something on Spotify. Since the Beats Studio 3 Wireless headphones were launched, Apple has improved its wireless technology to bring us the H1 headphone chip, as seen in the new AirPods Pro and the Powerbeats Pro. When it comes to noise cancelling, we’d rank these Beats below the class leaders. But their Pure Active Noise Cancelling tech is more than able to muffle generic hubbub, by dynamically adjusting to what’s going on around you. The verdict is good in terms of sound quality with the Studio 3 Wireless offering lots of bass without being over-powering, and there's plenty of high end frequency too to balance things out. A great listening experience no matter what you're listening to.

Audio Cable, Power Supply, Hardcase, Micro USB Cable, Charging Cable, Audio Cable with In-Line Microphone

What should you get instead of the Beats Studio3 Wireless?

The only issue? Those advantages are limited to iOS, to the exclusion of Android users. This means that the Beats Studio 3 will prove either very good headphones or entirely ordinary, depending on your OS of choice. If you’re an Apple user, you can add a half star to the score. Apple’s W1 chip is one of the key changes in the Beats Studio 3 Wireless. This is a custom wireless chipset that takes the wrinkles out of the connection process when hooking up with an iPhone or iPad.